In this episode, Gordon explains how private practice owners can embrace change. Change is going to happen; the sooner we can embrace the change, the easier it will be to handle it. Some ways to ease the potential pain of change will be preparing ahead of time. Have systems in place, capture everything, and break things up into smaller pieces. Later, Gordon speaks about the importance of having a professional will and the significance of being uncomfortable.
Prepare Ahead of Time
Gordon had no way of predicting his wife’s fall. However, he does have a network of friends in town that could help out. One of his good friends went to be with his wife in the hospital. Your network is important to remember when we think about being prepared for the unexpected. All Gordon had to do was send one text to his intake coordinator to cancel all of his appointments. The systems and people were in place for him to be prepared for the unexpected. Change is always going to happen.
Capture Everything
It is so essential to have a way to capture everything. Throughout the days and weeks, we get a lot of stuff handed to us. You need a way to capture all of these things. Gordon knows he needs some low-tech stuff – he uses a planner as a capture device. As things come up, Gordon starts writing it down and making a note of it. Writing everything down will help us look at our goals and bring it from inside of our brains and into the physical world. Another exercise is to brainstorm everything that you want to accomplish and throw it all on a whiteboard. It doesn’t matter how it’s organized – dump your brain! If you are pelted with unexpected changes, then do a brain dump.
Break Everything Into Smaller Pieces
Write everything down into individual steps, so you know how to accomplish something big you are faced with. Writing things down not only works in a situation where we are overwhelmed, but it works for running our practice in general. We all have a dream about how big we want our practice to be – take those dreams and write them down. Looking at those goals will make it less overwhelming. Write down three things you want to accomplish each day. If you start thinking about too many things, it will become overwhelming. Tackle one thing at a time, because this method is how we will get anything done. Multi-tasking doesn’t exist – we are not capable of handling matters in this way.
Embrace Change
The more we can embrace change, the better we can handle the change. When a toilet overfills, the only choice we have is to get into a mess. Embrace the fact that it’s going to be messy for awhile. After it’s fixed and cleaned, you will be back on the road of life. Anxiety has a way of tricking us into thinking we can’t handle things sometimes. Most of us are equipped to handle the things that are handed to us in life. It might be painful and uncomfortable; however, we can always work our way through it.
Professional Wills
If you were to die tomorrow, what would happen to your private practice? What would happen to your clients? It’s not something we need to dwell on, but we do need to have some things in place. For example, you need a plan for someone to get into your computers and log in to your accounts.
How To Prepare A Professional Will For Your Practice
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Resources
Private Practice Owners: Mistakes To Avoid For A Stress-Free Tax Season
AP 1094: How Do I Pitch My Product Better?
Private Practice Start-Up Guide
Cool Resources
Session Note Helper
G-Suite For Therapists
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Meet Gordon Brewer, MEd, LMFT
Gordon is the person behind The Practice of Therapy Podcast & Blog. He is also President and Founder of Kingsport Counseling Associates, PLLC. He is a therapist, consultant, business mentor, trainer, and writer. PLEASE Subscribe to The Practice of Therapy Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher and Google Play. Follow us on Twitter @therapistlearn and Pinterest “Like” us on Facebook