Setting Goals for Private Practice Success

Setting goals for your private practice helps you to focus on the work necessary to make it a success.  

All the tasks it takes to build and grow a successful private practice can feel overwhelming.  It is often difficult to know where to start.  The may result in not getting started – or starting and not getting very far. 

Procrasti-Planning versus Overwhelm

Do you write and re-write your to-do lists?  Planning can turn into procrastination if you worry about getting it wrong.

Alternatively, you may juggle everything in your head and feel stressed trying to remember it all. Not getting things planned can lead to overwhelm.

The simple act of having some goals written down can increase your chances of getting them done by 42%.  So there’s something to be said for sitting down and working out what you want.

This blog series about planning aims to help you to work towards making your dream of a successful private practice a reality.

Steps in Successful Goal Setting

 Identify Your Hopes and Dreams

 What is it you’d like to achieve in your business and life?

Remember, there is so much more to life than your therapy practice.  It is much more likely to be successful if you feel good in yourself.

 Feeling good will:

• Give you resilience to meet challenges
• Make you more courageous about trying new things and taking risks
• Strengthen your personal relationships and support network

 So when thinking about your hopes and dreams, remember to consider other areas of your life too.  This could include your relationships, your intellectual pursuits, your physical activities, your hobbies and any volunteering you do.

Your private practice does not exist in a vacuum.  It is part of your life.  Start to consider how you want it to fit with your life.  Look at this blog on Setting Up in Private Practice

 It is helpful during this stage to connect with your creative self and you may like to start this process with a Vision Board – see the blog on Getting Started in Private Practice.

 I look at my 2021 Vision Board and can quickly access the feelings around it that motivate me – my reasons WHY I do what I do.

Questions to Ask Yourself

To help you dream, imagine yourself in business in 12 month’s time.  Ask:

• Why is my business amazing?
• What do I see myself doing?
• What am I most proud of having achieved?

This will help you to define what it is you want and you’ll be setting goals for private practice success that are personal to you.

Reflect on the Lessons Learned So Far

Do you find that self-criticism holds you back?

Noticing what you have already achieved soothes and encourages you that you have what it takes.

You can also learn useful lessons from your existing progress.

So take some time to reflect on:

1. Your previous plans and dreams. What small steps have you taken to reach them?
2. What was good about the last year? Despite all the restrictions of the pandemic, what can you be thankful for?
3. What was missing from your success? What are the lessons you can take away?

How can you implement this learning in your goal setting?

Define Your Annual Goals

Think about the changes you would like to see in your life and business.  Pick a goal for your private practice.

It is helpful for goals to be specific, measurable and time bound.  You can read more about defining goals from master goal setter, Michael Hyatt, here: Setting SMART goals

Have a mixture of:

• habit based goals – for example, a habit to post a daily social media post; and

• achievement based goals – for example, to write your GDPR policy by the end of March

Don’t worry if you’re not sure what tasks you will need to meet a goal.

Your big goal may be to set up your private practice by the end of the year.  At the moment you may not know all the steps about how to do that.  Just take the first step.

That might be to download my free Checklist for Setting Up in Private Practice.

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