Moving to the “Just Enough” Stage in your Practice


When I left my job in the accountancy profession to finish my training as a therapist, I was surprised by how difficult I found the transition to being self-employed. I had been self-employed before, so I thought it would be easy to do it again, this time as a therapist. What took me most by surprise was the challenge of feeling isolated. I was lucky to have a close alliance with a colleague with whom I shared a lot of the set up tasks, and this made it immeasurably easier. Nonetheless, there was a deep sense of being on my own, and a shame that with my background and experience, it should be much easier.

It quickly became clear to me that difficult as I found it, those who had no background in business or self-employment often struggled more, and sometimes gave up as the struggle overwhelmed them.  These therapists, skilled and gifted practitioners found it hard to earn enough at the work they love. My wish is that through doing this work, I may in some small way help to make it easier for you.

In a previous post I introduced the concept of the three phases of a therapy practice, Not Enough, Just About chat 1Enough, and More Than Enough. Over time, the practice should grow to a place of maturity where it provides you with an income, and allows you to set aside something for the future, while also being sufficiently robust to withstand the ups and downs of the economy.

Today I’d like to talk about how you can progress from the Not Enough to the Just Enough stage. As I said in the last article, the steps can be summarised as follows:

  • Recognise where you are
  • Set clear goals (including financial goals) for where you want to be
  • Learn about your finances and how to manage money
  • Devise an action plan to take you there
  • Rinse and repeat

Recognise Where You Are

So you aren’t earning enough to cover your costs. That’s where you are. And it can change.

Try to resist the temptation to rush to either judgement (that means I’m…) or to action (I’d better do…) or to give up (I’ll never be…) Take a deep breath. Then ask yourself where you’d like to be instead.

file000321909801Goal

Set a goal to move to the Just About Enough stage. Don’t underestimate the power of this step. Notice what comes up for you as you imagine having enough income in your practice.

In addition to the general goal of moving to the Just Enough stage, you will need to make more specific goals, including specific financial goals. I know, everyone hates goals (so do I). But they give us direction and help us to identify where we’re stuck internally. Setting a goal for more income for example, usually brings up the “yes, buts” that we see as coming between us and where we want to be. As you go through the following suggestions, take careful note of what comes up. Maybe it’s “that’s impossible,” or “I can’t because…” Be kind and gentle, but firm. Something needs to change.

Learn About Your Finances And How To Create and Manage Money

Therapy training tells you little or nothing about how to set up and manage a practice. It also tells you nothing about managing money or making it work for you. If you have always worked for someone else, you will probably have never had occasion to learn how being self-employed is very different. In order to create a viable practice and grow it to the More Than Enough stage, you need to learn how to develop and run a small business, and have a willingness to engage with the process of creating and managing money. A large part of this learning is a mind-set shift, which involves exploring our beliefs and attitudes, and events in our lives that may have left us with an expectation that there will be Not Enough.

Devise an Action Plan to Take You There

The first step in moving toward the goals you’ve set is to make a plan for getting you there. Your priority at the Not Enough stage is to put bread on the table, so when creating your plan, your focus should be on your profitability. Profit is made up of two elements, income and expenses. Your plan should address how you’re going to increase your income, how you’re going to reduce your expenses, and how you are going to create a mind set or attitude of Enough. The details will vary according to your personal situation, but here are some ideas to get you started:

Possible actions:

  • Increasing income:
    • Create more income in your practice, by doing more hours (for which you get paid), or by increasing your fee rate
    • Replace low income or free work with paying work
    • Get another source of income, eg a part time job, running workshops or seminars, selling unused assets, or renting out unused space
  • Reducing expenses:
    • Log all expenditure, business and personal, no matter how small, for one month. (If you have a smart phone or mobile device, try the free app, “Spending Tracker” or similar to help you.) At the end of the month, review your spending, grouping similar items together. Pay particular attention to which items you could reduce with little loss of quality of life.
    • Save money on non-essentials (eg take your lunch to work, walk rather than drive, make your own coffee)
    • Renegotiate existing costs and look for cheaper alternatives
    • Co-operate with others with a view to cost sharing (eg sharing learning from CPD courses)
    • Free up money you’re not using by emptying small accounts, and off-setting against high – interest loans or credit card debt
  • Working towards a mind-set of enough:
    • Taking some of the actions above will probably trigger emotional responses for you. Note what comes up as you read the suggestions above.
    • Explore what feelings are being acted out through your finances. Common examples include unresolved loss, loneliness, guilt, anger and resentment, and most commonly, fear.
    • Explore your beliefs about the possibility of having enough income, and what it might mean for you.
    • Start keeping an “Enough” journal in which you record each day examples of where you had enough. For example, enough air to breathe this breath, enough food in the fridge for today, enough money to pay today’s bills today, enough time to do the important things I wanted to do today.
    • Get into the habit of saving, even if it is only the copper change in your purse or pocket
    • Work with another person who can help you to identify your set points and blind spots.
    • Learn more about business and managing your personal finances. Try Joan Sotkin’s book, “Build Your Money Muscles” which goes into the Mind / Body / Money connection in detail.

There is a huge difference between the feeling place of Not Enough and having Just Enough. Often, we can think because our financial situation is difficult that our Not Enough state permeates all aspects of our life, when this is rarely true.

Love_EFT__web_version01EFT Tapping script: I’m Stuck at the Not Enough Stage:

Click here

 

I will talk about moving from a Just Enough stage to More than Enough in a later article. In the meantime, if you are stuck at the Not Enough stage in your practice, and finding it hard to know where to go next, I’d love to help you. Have a look at the services I provide and see if any of them are right for you. Or contact me here for a free 20 minute consultation if you’re not sure.