Lesson One

Though I’d certainly prefer to learn my lessons in a different way, spending the last 2 months in the pediatric intensive care unit with my son has taught me a lot. Just as I’ve spent the past 8 years sharing what I’ve learned in private practice with you, I want to share this knowledge as well. I know these business lessons from the ICU been applicable to all areas of life and hope they’ll give you some insight in this New Year.

Before diving into the first lesson, a quick update on my kids. Many of my followers will already know that my 10-month old twins were recently diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Unfortunately, by the time we started their life-saving treatment, my son had already become very and susceptible to any common sickness. He caught a cold and it put him in the ICU on October 10th. We had a few days right before Thanksgiving when he was moved to a less-intensive wing of the hospital. But just a few days later he had a scary setback and he has been back in the ICU since then.

Everyday in the hospital, Gray has to endure so much. He has to get frequent respiratory treatments that you and I would consider torturous, but he just keeps smiling.

Every 4 hours he wears a vest that shakes him to break up the mucous. Then a mask blows in and sucks air out of him to assist in coughing, and then they suction his nose, mouth and throat. And within minutes, he’s smiling again.

It has been the biggest honor and inspiration of my life to experience his strength and joy through all of this.

The Takeaway

The first lesson I’d like to pass on to you is quite brief: no matter how tough things may seem, you can always find a way to smile. Find a reason to smile. It will diffuse your stress and put you in a state of mind in which you’ll make better decisions about your business.