Setting Your Private Practice Up For Success: Intention

Over the past three weeks, we have taken a deep dive into the #1 Factor that leads to private practice success by breaking it down into its components.

Thus far, we’ve covered time and money. Now, in this last installment, we cover what is undoubtedly the most important component – intention.

But before we dive in, let’s take a look at an image from Tim Urban over at “Wait But Why“ that will break your heart.

Ready?

You sure?

Okay.

Source: Tim Urban / Wait But Why

 

“Why, my heart isn’t broken,” you say. “That’s just a picture of some snowflakes with some other snowflakes that are crossed out.”

Sure, at its face, it’s just a few snow flakes, 90 to be exact. In fact, these snowflakes are a representation of how many winters the 34 year old illustrator, Tim, has experienced in his lifetime, along with how many more he has yet to experience if he lives to be 90.

And, if he lives to 90 years old, here’s how many more presidents he will see in the White House:

Source: Tim Urban / Wait But Why

 

If you haven’t already read Tim’s original article – The Tail End – I suggest you stop everything you’re doing and read it. Now.

Have you read it?

Yes?

Okay, then let us proceed.

You’ve, no doubt, gotten an inkling about where I’m going with this.

You likely went private practice with vague notions of what it was all about – the desire to work for yourself, the ability to make more money, the opportunity to work in a style that felt more connected to who you are.

Yet, so quickly things become frenzied, overwhelming – work bleeds into life, bleeds into work. Another Halloween passes, a Christmas or two, another birthday and another. All the while, you are consumed with anxiety about gaining clients, building your practice, creating a decent income, networking with colleagues, catching up on notes.

Meanwhile, another election cycle comes and goes. A school year ends and begins again. Leaves turn green, then yellow and then orange before falling off the trees. And then it all starts over.

When we stop to ponder the passage of time, the beauty of each moment becomes clear.

Which brings us back to Tim Urban’s poignant reflections.

Like 60 more swims in the ocean.

When you imagine having only 60 more times to step foot in the Atlantic, setting up an intentional practice becomes not a luxury, but a necessity.

Setting Your Practice Up For Success: Intention.

All of which brings us to the point of this, the most fundamental aspect of creating a foundation for private practice success – the art of being intentional in your actions.

You now know it’s important to be intentional about how you set up your schedule.

You now know it is also important to be clear about your financial expectations when determining your fees.

But at the base of it all is the importance of being intentional about how you set up your practice, because it is vital that you make conscious decisions about how you spend your time.

What is your purpose at the end of the day?

In a remarkable article that has now gone viral, Bonnie Ware – a palliative nurse – wrote about the regrets of the dying. Among the things people regretted the most were working too hard and losing contact with important relationships.

While creating an intentional private practice can actually give you a lifestyle that you prioritize, too many of us spend slaves to the demands of our private practice anxieties.

So here, in the last article of this series, I implore you to take the time to be intentional about creating your private practice in a way that let’s you live with purpose.

Here are six questions to ask yourself when deciding what you truly want out of for yourself when setting the stage for your private practice. Grab a pen and write these down. The more specific you can be when writing, the more likely it is that this exercise will create a shift in your daily activities.

1. Are there things I could be automating in my practice right now that would allow me to have more time to spend on the activities that bring me joy?

2. What are the day to day frustrations that come up over and over again?

3. How could I shift my my daily habits in a way that would solve this problem?

4. If I had 10 more years to live, would my practice be set up differently?

5. How?

6. When you consider your current caseload, are you choosing to spend your time with clients that allow you to be your best self, that – at the end of the day – fill you with jouissance?

Now take a moment to reflect on one of your joys – be that hugging your mother, hearing your first born giggle uncontrollably, or making lasagna for your partner. If you live to be 90, and that is a big “if,” what would that graphic look like? Do you have 20 more opportunities to do this thing you love? 10? 5?

While it can be sad to learn how short your time here really is, to quantify the number of times you have left to experience that which you love – this is exactly what you need to do.

And then, use this as a foundation to create a practice that allows you to truly live, while you still have the chance.

 

 

Photo Credits: Bernard Bodo

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