Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Hey, hey. Shawna here, the delightful clinician. And you are listening to delightful audio sodes, the email episodes filled with tips, tricks and great information designed specifically for therapists to help you build your lucrative career through multiple revenue streams. Today we are talking about taking action and how you can spring into action. Today, what does it mean to take action? The idea of potential energy and kinetic energy is constantly sitting on my mind. And I think when we talk about potential, we talk about it in reference to a spouse or a partner or a significant other, and we talk about how much this person has to become or to do something else. But we really talk about our own potential when it comes to achievements and starting our businesses and things like that. So today we're going to talk about how you can take action and how really taking action is really more of shifting that potential energy into kinetic energy. So let's talk about it. What is potential in kinetic energy? Now, don't ask me to explain too much because I failed physics, but here's the gist. So when we're talking about kinetic and potential energy, we are really talking about movement and the ability for something to go from rest into movement and back to rest again. So potential energy is really just the storage of energy and an object at rest. And when that object is moving, it's called kinetic energy.
[00:01:39] Now, the way that I remember kinetic energy is also like when you think about the science of movement and people taking action, right? When I went to school, there was a whole major of kinesthetics. But going back, when we're talking about kinetic energy, we're really just talking about the energy behind movement. Or at least for the sake of this podcast, remember, I failed physics. So if you want the more in depth experience, that's something you're going to have to Google or find a physicist. Oftentimes when I hear about potential, especially since I work with couples, people are talking about how this one person didn't really live up to their potential, or they are not really seeming like they're utilizing the potential that they have. And again, remember, potential is also the storage of energy. So an object could be at rest, but they have all of this energy that's just sitting there waiting to be used. Waiting to be utilized. I feel like this is a thing with businesses, right? We have all of these amazing ideas, we have the talent, the skills, the expertise, and it's just waiting to be utilized in a different manner, especially if you are in a private practice. Oftentimes we clinicians put all of our potential into the single service basket. Right. We are going to do that one on one therapy because that's what we are taught. But in actuality, we have a storage of energy. We have a storage of expertise and skills waiting to be utilized. I want you to think about potential. And when it comes to you as a clinician and your business, how can you be utilizing some of that storage or some of that time or some of that energy that you have, and how can that be put into other projects? How many times do we stand stuck or we feel like quitting before anything ever really happens or anything ever gets moving? And when I'm asking you this question, think about if you're like, oh, I want to start a side hustle. And you might even build the side hustle. You could put together the whole project and launch it. And you launch to crickets, no one's coming. And then you just chalk it up as a failure. Right? That didn't work. What if that's not a failure? What if we just didn't utilize the full potential that we could have utilized because nobody actually gave us the blueprint to this. What if we need to be better at taking action and following it all the way through the movement? Another thing that I want you to think about when it comes to potential and kinetic energy, think about a ball at rest at the top of the hill. What does it take to get that ball moving from the top of the hill, all the way down the hill and back up to another place of rest? It's going to take some kind of catalyst. It's going to take some kind of push in some kind of movement. But oftentimes, if you think about, like, the game of pool using another ball reference, you have to have a plan of how to get certain balls in certain places and also avoid other balls. Right? Like, you can't just knock around different things. There is a plan. There is the eyeballing of that movement. So it's not just having the thing and creating the thing. It is also having the thing, making a plan, then taking the catalyst to push through that plan the way that you want it to. This episode is all about moving yourself into an action phase. And I've used a lot of analogy today, but I want to get down to the bottom of it this month. This moment is all about taking action. How can you move from storage into movement? And it's not just about kicking the ball. It's about having a plan. So let's talk about what it's like for you to take action in your business. First things first. The goal that you've written, is it actually achievable by you in this moment? Is it attainable? When we talk about goals, one of the things that we talk about is smart goals. Is it specific, is it measurable, is it attainable? Is it realistic? Is it timely? The big thing that happens is we have all of these aspirations, and those aspirations are great, you shouldn't lose them. But those aspirations are not always achievable just yet. You can say, I want to make one hundred k, but do you know how to actually make one hundred k? Have you made your first one k? Now if you haven't gotten there, then perhaps this goal of not realistic, or maybe you have gotten there, but you've gotten super exhausted, you're tired, you don't have a lot of time or energy or space to really create that extra thing that you're thinking about. Now, if that's the case, that's what's realistic. We know, realistically speaking, you don't have the extra. So how are we going to do this again without the extra to do it, we have to be realistic about the things that we want. We have to make sure that it's attainable so that we're not setting ourselves up for failure. And it's okay if you don't exactly know how to get that high just yet. This is not a forever thing. This is again, how do we create movement and get it from point a to point b and then restart that process again? So you want to make sure again that your goal is specific, it's measurable, it's attainable, realistic and timely for who you are and where you are in this moment. And after you've decided that, and after you've gotten to that point, now you have to create a plan. And the plan might be a breakdown of some of those things, right? So let's say you've come to the goal and you're like, you know what? I'm going to make my first $1,000. This seems doable. This 1st $1,000 is going to be on the side. The next couple of questions you're going to probably ask yourself is, do I have a product that I can sell that's going to equal $1,000? How many times do I have to sell this product to get to $1,000? Have I ever sold this product before? Do I have the skills to sell this product? And as you asking yourselves these questions now new steps can be created. And now we are already in part three, you need to create bite size steps to achieve that plan. If you have the question, okay, what am I going to do? I need a product and you don't have a product. One of those first bite size steps might be to create a product. And here we are thinking to ourselves, okay, I have to create a product.
[00:08:44] Maybe you also have to market that product. Maybe you have to figure out if your audience really likes this product. So now we've gotten all of these little mini steps to get to your first $1,000. And you can go back and say, okay, I said I wanted to do this. Over the next month with all of the things that I have to do and the time and the energy that I have, is this going to be enough time for me to do it? So as you're moving through these steps, you're going back and you're checking against what you already have. Now, let's say you're like, you know what? I gave myself 30 days. 30 days is not enough. I'm going to give myself six weeks. Okay, I think six weeks is enough.
[00:09:25] Now, I've written out these bite size steps and I'm going to make them a checklist, right? So every day I have a different thing that needs to get done, or every five days, or every six days, I have a different thing that I need to do to get done.
[00:09:40] And I think I can do this within the time I've blocked out my time. I'm going to spend 1 hour a day on this product or this project to get to this big goal. Now that you've done all of those things, the next thing you want to do is hold yourself accountable to those steps by reviewing the plan and checking it off the list. So at the end of the day, you're going to go back and you're going to say, did I do this today? Yes. Check. And then by the end of the week, you're going to go back and you're going to say, did I do all of the things that I needed to do to get to where I wanted to be? If you did it, you need to check in with yourself. Okay, how can I bring this from here to here? Right? How can I go back and make sure that I'm doing what I need to do every day as well as catch up on the things that I missed? So this is how you're going to take yourself from potential storage through action. You are going to have a goal. You're going to create a plan from that goal, and then you're going to break down that plan into bite size steps to achieve that plan. And then you're going to hold yourself accountable throughout the process. You're not going to wait until you don't achieve your goal. You're going to hold yourself accountable at least once a week to this goal. And now it's time for your homework. For your homework. I want you to create an action plan from one of your own goals. For this to work, you're going to have to have a goal. And I want it to be a really, really small goal, something that you can achieve in six or seven days. If you're listening to this on Tuesday, the day that it's released, great. You can follow this plan. If you're listening to it any other day but Tuesday, just go ahead and adjust the plan as you need it to. You're going to do a check in every two days. So if it's Tuesday, you're checking in on Thursday. If it's Wednesday, you're going to check in on Friday, and then so on and so forth. Right? So Thursday Saturday is your check in on a Tuesday. If it's Wednesday, it's going to be Friday, Sunday, and then you're going to keep going from there. But what I want you to do is have a small goal that you can achieve in the next six days.
[00:11:51] And what you're going to do is get better at holding yourself accountable. So for this goal over the next six days, what I want you to do is write a plan for that goal. And then I want you to break down that plan into the little steps that it takes to reach that goal. Now, on Thursday and Saturday, I want you to do a review of that goal to see how you're doing and if you're on track for accomplishing what you set out to accomplish. And on Thursday and Saturday, depending on where you are, you can adjust as you need to. Now, if you've accomplished it by Sunday, don't add anything new. Just go back and look at the process and think about this. Are you underestimating yourself or are you right where you need to be? Do you have more time than you realize? If you get to Saturday, let's say, and your last day is Sunday, ask yourself, what's going on? Why are we not getting to these goals? Because this should have been something really simple, really easy for you to accomplish. So what's happening that we're not getting to those goals? It could be something in the planning process. It could be something in the time that you've been dedicated to it. I also want you to know that this process is all about accountability as well. So we're really examining ourselves not to put ourselves down, but to look at what it is that we are doing and what we really have, what we are really able to dedicate at this point in time. Do we have the energy to do the things that you want to do? If you don't have the energy, what adjustments need to be made? If you don't have the energy, is it time to work on this right now or do we need to work on something else? And then again from there, you're going to tweak what you need to do. If you're on track, that's okay. That's great. If you're not on track, that's also okay because you're going to adjust and you're going to try again for the next week. And if you've reached that goal, you get to expand into other things and you notice this process and you keep it going. And for extra accountability, you get to post it in the group. So if you are in the therapizing collective group, which there is a link in this post for it, so go ahead and check out that link. Join the group. If you're part of the group, you can post your goal along with the action plans here, and I will be more than happy to come in and check it out and cheer you on, as well as ask you further questions for deeper commitments and achievements.
[00:14:28] So that's where we're at today. I hope you've enjoyed this episode of taking action. I really want to see clinicians build lucrative careers, and my goal is to talk about how you can do that through multiple streams of income. But the big thing about building multiple streams of income is being in action. It's not enough to just say this is something that you want to do. You have to create the steps to get you there. And often enough, they don't tell us these things. They didn't teach us marketing in grad school. They barely even taught about building private practices. If even you got there, they didn't even tell us nothing about how to really go about our careers. So a lot of this stuff we're learning on our own as clinicians, and we have to recognize that we have to put ourselves into action because nobody else taught us how to do it. But this is how people go about achieving their goals is through these steps. So let's try it out. Let's see how it goes. I cannot wait to see what you post in the group and then tune in next week for another delightful audio sode. If you are interested in learning more about side hustles, be sure to join the group as well as be on the lookout for the next first Friday. The next first Friday is going to be the first Friday in March and we are talking about workbooks and worksheets. I'm so excited for that workshop. A lot of people ask about how they can create digital products that are usually like books, worksheets, those kinds of things. I'm going to break it down for you and the big thing about these first Friday episodes is not only is the replay available for free for 72 hours, I bring you from the first steps of market research all the way through launching that product, finding the right spaces where you can launch that product for you. So definitely be on the lookout for the next episode. It is the first Friday of March and you can do so by signing up for my email list. I'll see you next time.
