I am Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits.

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When building your profitable practice, certain aspirations may change. What are your lifelong achievement goals? What did you dream of as a child? Has that changed? Aspirations are those dreams that we conjure up throughout our lives. As children, it may have been a career goal of becoming a firefighter, a ballerina or the president. Then we age and gain new responsibilities. Our perspectives change making new things take on more importance. Aspirations are not a one and done kind of dream. They evolve as you grow, and life throws some spitballs your way. Understanding how your long-term plans will change, helps you understand that you’re not failing if life takes a detour.

The four stages of aspirations

Life seems to run in stages, and so too, aspirations. Typically, you may find yourself in any of these stages throughout your life:

1. Unadulterated optimism. This stage is more common in our youth when we don’t have the same fears and responsibilities as our older years. This is the stage to identify your weaknesses and build your knowledge and skills. You create a better opportunity for success when you’re aware of what you don’t know, and you work to grow in wisdom. Since we don’t know any better, we can dream freely and pursue our dreams.

2. Worldly reality. Life does happen and we get burdened with responsibilities. We start jobs, buy houses and have families. This is part of life. Your aspirations will seem like they die at this stage, but they don’t. Instead, they’re weighed down and go into hiding. You may find that you struggle to find a work life balance so that you can continue working towards your dreams.

3. Renewed dreaming. As time goes by our responsibilities lighten or shift, and we find ourselves willing to dream again. For some, this may result in a midlife crisis. It’s easy to become distracted for all of us. It isn’t the time to take a renewed look at our dreams and how we can refocus and refresh our outlook. Often the result is a firm footing and renewed perspective on what we want to do with our lives.

4. Realignment and new momentum. After renewing our aspirations and shifting as needed, we get the desire to jump in with a sense of purpose. We may feel young again and others will notice a bounce in our step. Our fears are also lessened like in our youth, and the momentum builds to accomplish our hopes and dreams.

Aspirations take a lifetime to accomplish, and you’ll go through many stages. Understanding those stages make sense of what’s happening and adjusting to achieve your dreams.

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Sometimes, setting aspirations can seem intimidating. Check out our blog post here for tips on setting realistic aspirations.

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I’m Dr. Hassan, a Board-Certified Physiatrist and Independent Practice Owner. I help physiatrists start and grow their own profitable practices so they can achieve financial independence and live without limits. Please go to businessofrehab.com/contractnegotiations to pick up the free guide to help you negotiate the contract of your dreams.

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Attention, Physiatrists! Stop leaving money on the table. Sign up for the free video series: How To Build A Profitable Practice in 90 Days or Less: http://www.sixtytosuccess.com