In last week’s article, I invited you to take a solid look at your business practices for 2016. The point? By taking a close tally of what specific actions led you closer to your private practice vision and which did not, you can make big impact decisions that will allow you to have a dazzling 2017. If you didn’t check that one out, I encourage you to go back and do that now.
In that article, I invited you to answer a series of questions that focused specifically on your income in 2016. So many therapists struggle with finances – so, we started with the hard stuff! I applaud you for diving in deep.
This week, it’s all about your time! We’re going to take a close look at your schedule in 2016 and pay attention to how small policies changes could make a huge difference for you and your clients this coming year.
If you follow my writing, you’re likely someone who’s had scarcity of time and money as part of your narrative. You grew up with social, economic or educational constraints. You, or your parents, had to bust their behinds in ways that many of your peers did not have to do. This struggle has made you sharp in many ways, given you unique, complex and fabulous edges upon which those around you love to cut their teeth. Quite simply – you’re a cool cat to hang around.
This experience has also given you a ton of beliefs that were once so relevant, but now – not so much. One of these narratives is about the art of the Hustle. I have been extremely guilty of buying into this myself and even writing about the Hustle as something I take pride in.
It goes something like this – “The more I work, the more I fill my schedule, the more I deserve to earn and the more I’m contributing.”
Because of this belief, we often answer, “I’m so busy!” when people ask how we are. We nod to each other with self-satisfied grimaces as we list off all the places we’re teaching, all the clients we’re seeing, the many boards we’re serving on. We sigh wearily and heavily, chuckling ironically about our martyrdom and then continue this behavior.
To be fair, many of us had to operate in this way during our pre-licensure years. Many of us had single parents or two parents who were busting their asses to get us into college. So we know about the need for the hustle.
But now you have degrees and people skills and your own business that you can shape to look exactly how you want it to look.
So, it’s time to shuck this martyrdom in a non-ironic way and truly craft an intentional practice based – not in reaction to the schedules and demands of others – but rather as a thoughtful reflection inward. After all, one of the primary reasons we go into private practice is so that we can be the masters of what little time we have on this earth.
Let us embrace that possibility.
To that end, grab a pen. Grab a paper. Or whip out a google doc. We’re going to spend 10 minutes in close examination of how you spent your time last year and use this gift of the past to help you set the stage for an intentional schedule in 2017.
Week Two: Reviewing your 2016 Schedule.
- Make a list of each of the ongoing volunteer gigs you are participating in, be they weekly or monthly.
- Make a list of all of the one-off volunteer talks, trainings, blogs, supervisions or consultations you did for someone else’s vision in 2016. (No doubt, you got a benefit, as well – but we’ll get to that!)
- Make a list of how many clients you are seeing for less than your full fee.
- For each of the answers, 1-3, go back and write out a list of the benefits you received from participating in each of these activities. These could be tangible (i.e. 16 full fee referrals, two of which came through for 1 or more sessions) or they can be less concrete (i.e. a feeling of connectedness by being part of a larger community). Be as specific as you can!
- Make a list of all of the activities or investments you wanted to do for your private practice, but that had to be put on the back burner for lack of time or income (i.e. weekly blog writing on your own site or the capital to pay for a great full fee consultant).
Now – I want you to take 10 minutes to consider which obligations or responsibilities you can let go of in 2017. Write them down.
- Imagine if there are communities that you can invest in which still gives you a sense of well-being and connectedness while also concretely getting you closer to your private practices goals. (Not in the round about way – but literally helps you develop business skills, provides support and education around how to get clients, etc).
Now the good part! Share these answers with a trusted friend. Find someone who is open and eager to provide critical feedback in a kind way.
Got a question – let me know in the comment section below! And, if you want to join me on, not only the reflection part, but also the goal setting part, sign up here to join me and over 600 other therapists for the December Challenge!
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