Mia Poklopovich [00:00:03]:
Hey, everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Freedom Therapist podcast. I am your host, Mia, a mental health OT, here today to talk about my 3 favorite tips for protecting your energy as a therapist in business. Coming to you today, I have had a really busy season in business lately. We have had some new things on the go. We have had our current clients, which we are consistently serving and looking at ways to uplevel that service and expand that service to for their experience. We've also had our clinical remote outreach trips, so we've had a lot going on. And I know personally I've had a lot of trouble in amongst that too. And if I didn't have my energy tips to lean back on, I think I would be on the bathroom floor.
Mia Poklopovich [00:01:05]:
So this is what really inspired me to chat about this today because I know as women in business, as therapists in business, we are some of the busiest human beings, and we are always really used to doing it all or at least trying to do it all. So I wanted to talk about the things that I do to protect my energy. Running a business as a therapist and being able to show up for my team as well. When you run a business, no matter what stage you're at, I want to acknowledge that it is really hard to switch off because you care so deeply, especially in the beginning. I know most of us started our business to create more time, and it can be a really slippery slope to actually working more and creating a really high stress job over a business. So if you're there, I see you, and I hope that some of these tips will help you along the way today. The first tip I want to touch on talking about protecting our energy in business is having a freedom based business strategy. Now you can go back to our previous episode and I talk about all about what a freedom based business strategy is and why I have one in my business and why I love it so much.
Mia Poklopovich [00:02:39]:
But it is essential when you are protecting your energy in business, whether you're a therapist, a creative, a service provider, whatever business you're in, you need a freedom based business strategy. You need a strategy that is easeful and that flows. It is so important to have flow throughout your day, throughout your week, throughout your year. You want to have a business strategy that is in line with your why, that is super intentional, in line with your values and your goals, and what you truly want out of life and business too because it's so much more than just a profit. So when we create a really easeful freedom based business strategy, it lets us rinse, recycle, and repeat what we can. So we're working smarter, not harder. We're not doubling up on things. We're not crossing back on things.
Mia Poklopovich [00:03:29]:
It lets us work in a way that aligns with our energy, and it also gives us freedom to be able to create, to be able to scale, and to be able to grow. Because I know trust me, I know if you are in the thick of it, freedom feels like such a luxury at the moment, but it is such a necessity to be able to grow and scale a business. And I'm not saying that freedom is going on a luxury cruise or a holiday every month. Freedom is finding those pockets to be creative, to sit with your thoughts, to reflect and debrief, and it is what makes us. It's what sets us apart to be incredible business owners from great business owners. So having a freedom based business strategy is the first thing that helps me protect my energy because it gives me that plan to ground me. It keeps me accountable, but it also doesn't make me feel stuck and rigid. I think that's really important to acknowledge and it lets me work backwards from my end goal, which means that when things are coming in, I love referring to shiny object syndrome in business because I am a sucker for a shiny object or an amazing opportunity.
Mia Poklopovich [00:04:45]:
But when I coach therapists, when I am reflecting for myself or my team, when something comes through the door or when an opportunity comes in front of us, it can be so easy to just say yes. It looks really great. It sounds really great. It might even feel really great. But when we sit with it and reflect on it and take some space, does it align with our freedom based business strategy and does it align with our freedom based business goals? And sometimes it doesn't, and that's okay. But it's through asking these questions that we get better at making these decisions. Our freedom based business strategy actually gives us a safe space to land, to be able to come back to, to ground in, and to figure out if something truly aligns. It also helps us to figure out if something is actually urgent or just feels urgent right now.
Mia Poklopovich [00:05:47]:
Health care in particular is so tricky for this one. Everything is always urgent, and so our body and mind can get really used to operating in this sense of urgency, in this sense of stress. We know that our bodies are always going to lean towards what is familiar over what is unfamiliar, even if it isn't better. So when we lean into our freedom based business strategy, we can ask those questions of, is this actually urgent? Is this somebody else's urgency? Is me doing this and working through the night right now actually going to make a big impact, or does it just feel like something I should be doing? Am I putting too much pressure on myself? Am I avoiding another task? Or am I just getting swept up with something with somebody else's urgency, which can happen too? So your freedom based business strategy is going to keep you so intentional and so supported. It's not to say you'll never feel stressed because we know business has its challenges. It has its ups and downs. Trust me. There's a lot of tears there when you're running a business.
Mia Poklopovich [00:06:53]:
But it makes sure that your business is able to run-in a really easeful way that still allows you to be creative, expansive, and find space to do the things as well. It's finding the systems, the processes, and the supports to ensure that your referrals come in with ease, that your marketing is connecting so that you're not spending hours and hours on it every week because you are super in touch with your messaging, and that you have a business model that doesn't rely on you being on all the time. The next point, my next tip around protecting your energy as a therapist in business is working intentionally and in line with your energy. This is one of my biggest, biggest passion projects. We create our dream day in the Freedom Club with all of our freedom therapists straight away. Because until you know what your dream day looks like, it is very hard to work in alignment with it. And you might say to me, Mia, I I don't know what my dream day looks like. I'm so overwhelmed.
Mia Poklopovich [00:08:13]:
I don't know. All I would say is just start to reflect on it. Start to get really curious around what your dream day would look like. Start to get really curious around what your dream week would look like. Do you prefer to do client work on one day and reports on another? Do you prefer to do your copy and creativity and business admin all on the same day? Do you prefer to mix it up? It's really important to sit with how you like to work because you get to choose. You created this business to be able to give yourself more energy, and working intentionally is such a big part of that. I love to work really intuitively, and this was super hard for me to find a way to balance this with the demands of my job. My team would need things from me, which I need to be there to deliver.
Mia Poklopovich [00:09:08]:
Right? But I and then also the demands of client work. So there's a lot to balance. But I sat with this for so long, and now I'm able to work in a really intuitive and intentional way because I always know when something needs to be done. So forward planning in our strategy and knowing when things need to be done by, we're not short changing ourselves on our time. So we need to be really realistic with how long things are going to take and not let ourselves go into a time deficit each week. But when we work really intentionally, it's not being it's it's not being afraid to do things differently. It's letting go of the shoulds of how work should look. Maybe it's working outside.
Mia Poklopovich [00:09:57]:
Maybe it's working different hours. We all work different hours within the Freedom Therapist Club and OT Inspire because everybody is different and everybody has a different way that they like to work. And there are times when we have to come together and we all have to work the same hours, but the trade off is so worth it because we have so much more energy to be able to do that. So listening to your body, listening to your energy, getting really curious and finding a way of working that aligns with you is super important. We don't wanna work our asses off to create a business that we hate, that feels uneasy, and that doesn't feel aligned. We wanna create a business that looks after us and our staff too, and that is going to look after us long term. So when you are looking at working intentionally and in line with your energy, look at creating your dream day. What do you need in the morning to be able to perform your best? Is it going for a walk? Is it having time to do a meditation? What do you need in the morning to be able to perform your best? Is this when you do your writing best? Is this when your creativity is on fire? Work and learn with that.
Mia Poklopovich [00:11:12]:
You know, maybe it's that you go for a walk at lunchtime. Such a simple thing, but going for a walk and listening to an inspiring podcast might be just what you need to come back into that space. Let go of the shoulds. Let go of how it should look and lean into what feels good. Get really curious, experiment with different things, and just use it as a learning experience. You know? If something didn't feel right, was it uncomfortable because it was unfamiliar, or was it uncomfortable because it just didn't work? It's through trying different things that we're going to find something that works for us. My third tip for protecting your energy as a therapist in business is staying present. This is huge.
Mia Poklopovich [00:12:05]:
When you are starting a business, when you are growing a business, when you are scaling a business, when you are launching a new offer, when you are developing something new, when you are doing something for the first time, our thoughts can run mayhem. They can have so much noise in there, and there is so much self talk that can be helpful, unhelpful. There's all your core beliefs. There's all your stories. There's all your past experiences. There is so much that is going on in there that it can be so hard to stay present, but it is crucial to running a successful, profitable, freedom based business. It is only when we are staying present that we can be creative because we're letting that creativity in, that we can find space, and then we can let the good stuff in too. It's so important to find ways to not get swept away in the momentum because we need to sit with our feelings.
Mia Poklopovich [00:13:18]:
Business is a hard game. There are times when you just want to crawl into a ball on the floor and hide away, and it's part of the growth and sometimes it sucks, but sometimes we have to feel it because we're going to learn from it, I know, eventually, and we're going to be able to reflect on it. If you are able to find some practices that let you stay really present, it is going to support you so much long term. It is gonna help you let go of other people's urgencies and stick with your freedom based business strategy, and it is going to help you show up in the best version of yourself. And it's also going to help you to be able to identify when to surrender and when you've just got to let it go and try not to force things. Taking space, running a busy practice, running a busy business, running a service business as a human being is critical for our well-being, for our regulation and for our success. It's all about the 1%ers when we think about staying present, and for me, this is meditation every morning. That is the one thing that I can come back to, and it doesn't get easier.
Mia Poklopovich [00:14:51]:
There are days when it is the hardest thing to do, but it is a way that I have found I can sit with my thoughts, I can find that space, and I can really just realign and ground myself to make more regulated decisions. It could be journaling. I know I've used journaling a lot, and I will release a podcast Our mind is so, so susceptible to what we are telling it, and we know that we are like, our neuroplasticity is going to believe what it hears over and over again. So how are you talking to yourself? What are your thoughts saying? Is it something that you would say to one of your best friends? And sometimes it's not. So finding those practices that are going to ground you, that are going to help you get out of that sense of urgency and find space and get present again is going to be so supportive long term. Whatever is going to pull you out of that overthinking minefield and back into a state of flow where you can make regulated choices and decisions. And it's okay if it feels really dark right now because sometimes seasons of business are really hard and they can feel muddy and murky and dark, and the thoughts can be so overpowering. But even just sitting with them, feeling them, letting them wash over us can sometimes reduce their hold on us too.
Mia Poklopovich [00:16:41]:
It's about finding the space, taking the time to breathe and breathe properly when we need it, and also taking our time to recharge, especially when we are connecting with people. We are taking on other people's trauma and challenges, and sometimes our job can be really sad and really, really hard. And the only way that we are going to keep being able to come back to this space is by finding a way to get present, being able to reflect on it, learn from it, sit with it, let it come up, and be really kind to ourselves here. Because there's going to be hard times. There's going to be times when it feels like nothing's working. There's going to be times when it feels like nothing is moving forward or it all just feels too much. But if you can find those ways to just zip up your energy and just protect it, even just for 10 minutes a day, it's gonna make a huge difference. So in concluding for today, when we are protecting our energy, it's having a really, really regulated and intentional freedom based business strategy that looks at the long term perspective to let us go over after the big thing and create a plan or timeline to ground us and get us there.
Mia Poklopovich [00:18:18]:
It's knowing that you're gonna work really hard in seasons, but also knowing that you get to rest really hard too. It's working intentionally in line with your your energy and how you feel. It's creating your dream day and choosing how you get to work and experimenting with different things and finding what works for you and not making yourself wrong if it is different to somebody else. And it's staying really present through the hard stuff, through the good stuff. And it's finding those 1% practices that keep you consistent, that keep you showing up as your best self or some days just showing up because that's okay too. And it's being present and being able to sit with it and feel really grateful when we need to. Because even though there's going to be those hard times, there's going to be the magical times too. And being able to get really present and feel really grateful is what is going to help us to propel forward too.
Mia Poklopovich [00:19:31]:
These things are necessities. It is so vital to look after our energy. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot help somebody else if you've got no energy left in those stores. And it's an essential for creating an in demand practice that doesn't burn you out because you're creating the practice of your dreams. You're in charge. You get to choose how this practice works, how it supports you and how you support your clients. And I hope that you found something today or found even that permission slip to do something that's going to protect your energy today because you matter and you are so important too, and you get to choose and build the business of your dreams while looking after your energy too.
Mia Poklopovich [00:20:33]:
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being here with me today. You just being here means so much to me, and I hope you know that you deserve to protect your energy in this space too. The Freedom Therapist Podcast will be back in your ears next Wednesday, so don't forget to subscribe because next week's is going to be a goodie. I am so grateful for this opportunity to share. And if you found this episode helpful, I would so love for you to leave me a review. It means the world. And if you know someone else who needs this now, I would love for you to share it with them too.
Mia Poklopovich [00:21:15]:
If you wanna connect, you can find me over on Instagram at miapoko, m I a p o k o, and I love a chat. Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love you. Adore you. Now go create the business of your dreams.
