That therapist identity…

is strong tho.

Seriously, I don’t think I’ve encountered another profession in which a person’s work so wholly integrates into their sense of self.

And I actually think this is really beautiful. I mean, it’s this sense of calling that urges us to make people’s lives - and the world - better.

We dedicate ourselves to following the latest research, learning the most appropriate and effective modalities, and advocating for our clients. So that the work we do on a daily basis is the most impactful we can possibly make it.

We truly drive change.

But, being a change-agent often comes at a cost.

With long hours, low pay, and heavy stories, there are legitimate occupational hazards to being a therapist.

Because giving everything to our profession and our caseload to the detriment of ourselves doesn’t make us superheroes. It makes us martyrs.

So what happens when we want to unbraid this therapist identity a bit? What happens when we want to weave in something new? And how do we do it without negating the helper within us?

In this episode, I’m challenging the belief that therapists are selfish for wanting more and explaining how Side Hustle Support Group will help you harness the best parts of being a helper while still pursuing your desire for something more.

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It’s not uncommon…

for a therapist’s need to be of service to play a major role in their day-to-day life.

After all, we were called to help and it’s hard to know what to do with ourselves when we’re not actively working with others to make their lives better.

Helping is so ingrained that it becomes our identity.

But what happens when our helper identity encroaches on the other things that are important to us?

Too often, the desire to serve turns into professional people-pleasing and poor boundaries.

Which is what is happening to today’s guest.

Today I'm coaching Dana Belletiere, a Side Hustle Support Group alumn, and Mastermind Member.

Dana has a new podcast, and her program Help Yourself - a four-week intensive for helping professionals to get debt-free - is opening for enrollment soon.

And Dana is feeling the time crunch.

She loves to maintain flexibility with her clinical work, but her clients’ ability to book her at all times of the day and evening and request last-minute sessions has really impacted her ability to block off time for her upcoming launch.

So on this episode, we chat about a schedule that helps her establish boundaries, prioritizes her non-negotiables, and audits her obligations so she knows exactly how much time she can spend on taking her side hustle all the way to the finish line.

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A few weeks ago…

we talked about the fact that reflection is the first step in starting any side hustle.

And with that being the case, I would definitely argue that getting organized is the second.

Whether you love planning, think it’s the most boring thing in the world, or find it overwhelming to sort out your tasks, creating a plan establishes a solid foundation for your side hustle’s success.

That doesn’t mean you need to create a cookie-cutter path and follow what everyone else is doing. The exact opposite actually,

Your side hustle plan needs to be your own, take your unique lifestyle into account, and work around what you already have going on in your life.

This bespoke nature will make it so your side hustle fits around your life - not the other way around.

What’s more, knowing which tasks are most important for your success ensures you use the time you carve out to actually make progress rather than spin your wheels.

Having a plan for your side hustle means that you won’t just find the time to accomplish things, but the energy and motivation to use that time well.

It’s about knowing what to work on when and how each action will move your needle forward.

So this week, I’m breaking down the three different types of time your side hustle requires. Then we’ll look at which types of tasks fall into each category and how the type of offer you choose dictates which type of time is most important.

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2020…

has been a hell of a year.

And not really in that ‘hell of a catch,’ ‘hell of a guy/girl,’ ‘hell of a bowl of chili’ kind of way. But more in the ‘if I never, ever have to do that again as long as I live, I promise I’ll do 50 push-ups every morning’ kind of way.

It’s been rough.

As a collective, we’ve faced serious, legitimate losses and undergone changes we never could have anticipated. All while digging deep into some invisible store of emergency energy that ran out months ago. But we’re doing it. We’re putting one foot in front of the other and we’re making it through.

But what happens when making it through doesn’t feel like enough?

What happens when your dreams, hopes, wishes, and goals didn’t just fade away because there’s more struggle and more suffering this year?

What if that’s the reason you want them even more?

It’s OK if the craziness of this year has made you want your side hustle more than ever.

It doesn’t have to be either/or.

You can grieve, cope, be furious, anxious, and exhausted AND work toward more control of your time and more financial independence. The key isn’t pushing as hard as you can, it’s to pair tiny steps with self-compassion.

Ont he podcast this week, I’m taking a closer look at the energy depletion we’ve all felt the past few months as well as the ambiguous losses we continue to come up against every day and sharing the best strategies for riding these waves while still making headway toward a side hustle in 2020.

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Choosing to start a side hustle…

looks different for everyone.

There are so many things to consider like the type of program you want to build, the amount of marketing you want to do, and the level of impact and income you want to make.

But the truth is, even though our minds go straight toward what this new venture will look like, these considerations are really secondary to what’s best to reflect on first.

The thing to focus on isn’t how great things will be once your online business is up and running, it’s what will happen to your existing lifestyle when you decide to take on something new.

Adding on a side hustle should be just that - ADDITIVE

But if you aren’t quite clear on what making space for something new looks like for you, you might be caught off guard with all the personal growing pains that happen when you grow your business.

So in this episode, I'm trying something I've never done before and showcasing three current students. Not alumni success stories, but three women with different journeys and different experiences to tell sharing the messy middle of creating their side hustle.

I hope you enjoy listening to Nicole, Kimberly, and Cary, that you hear a bit of yourself in these women’s stories, and that you're encouraged to start your side hustle.

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So many therapists I work with…

want to get right to what they think is the “good stuff.”

Mainly, creating their online programs and making money.

If I’m honest, I think this is because of a prolific myth that circulates the online space. Which is the idea that there is one predictable way to build an online business.

The truth is, there are many roads to the end result (which in and of itself changes all the time) and a plethora of ways to grow and scale an online income.

This is why I can’t promise, predict, or prescribe the path that will work for you - I can only guide you to figure that out for yourself.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that skipping over reflection guarantees your path will take longer and be a lot more confusing.

Because if I were to tell you to start anywhere, I’d tell you to start with insight.

It isn’t until you know what your side hustle what it means to you, what it gives you and what it requires of you, that you can move forward confidently in the right direction.

Because your business is about you making an impact and an income on your own terms.

So this week on the podcast, I’m asking you to take a step back from so much of the doing, and instead, challenging you to focus in a bit more on what role your online income stream plays in your life and what role you play in it.

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What if I told you…

you could have a coaching client tomorrow.

And that what's likely keeping you from starting is that you're making it too complex.

• Too complex technologically

• Too complex logistically

• Too complex ethically

• Too complex emotionally

As therapists, we’ve bought into the notion that it’s difficult to maintain our license and be a coach at the same time. That we’re somehow selling out or betraying our profession.

Add to that the idea of much freer marketing and much looser regulation and we can feel a bit lost.

Like we almost have to make it more complicated to feel like we’re making progress.

But I promise, once you move through this and start a coaching business with just the essentials, you can help people in new, creative ways and making money now!

So this week, I’m breaking everything - marketing, technology, audience building, business logistics… - into three categories: what’s vital, what’s nice to have, and what’s totally unnecessary. So you can cut through the fluff and make forward movement.

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We've all been promised…

the dream of lazing days away on the beach sipping Mai Tais while our online businesses rakes in sales.

And while this element of online business exists, it's actually a lot more complicated to make happen than most people think.

Because passive income requires us to become two things

1. an engineer - to build your funnel machine

2. a mechanic - to maintain your funnel machine

And neither of these things feels very relational.

We all want to build a business on our own terms that has less obligation to a heavy case load, less red tape, and less regulation. Where we get to design our days and fill them with the work we really want to do.

This way we get to pursue income and impact in a way where we’re cultivating what really matters to us.

But is being completely disconnected from other people and completely reliant on technology really what we want?

Right now, it’s trendy to move away from coaching, to chase the idea of passive income, and to completely remove the human element from your business. But this business trend goes against everything we're seeing in the social landscape.

People want more connection with others.

And that is why coaching sells more easily than any other online income stream.

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There’s a fine line…

between coaching and therapy.

Unlike selling courses, a digital planner, or a workbook, coaching can be ethically tricky. Because, when you've worn the therapy hat for so long, it’s really easy to use your clinical ear, hear the potential for healing, and slip right into process.

I am of the mindset that if you are a licensed therapist you don’t need a certification to be a coach. But you do have to learn how to perform differently. You can just show up to a coaching call and treat it the same as a session.

This is how you jeopardize your license.

Instead, you need to understand the differences between two things:

1. Setting up a coaching practice VS setting up a therapy practice

2. Performing like a coach VS performing like a therapist

In this week's episode, we dive into both. Lena is curious about coaching so we cover everything from business licenses, taxes, insurance, products to sell, marketing, and informed consent. We also tease out what a coach does on a call VS what a therapist does in session.

At the end of the episode, Lena has a clear idea of how to distinguish coaching from therapy and how each aligns with her purpose and lifestyle needs.

If you want to know how to repurpose and repackage your clinical skills, I invite you to Step Into Success an event on September 3rd co-hosted by Lee Chaix McDonough where you will learn why coaching is the easiest online program to sell and how to step into this role. Register Here

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