Every once and a while I have an epiphany that I’ve had maaaaany times before, and I realize that maybe (just maybe) I should listen to it this time.So what was it? “Do the stuff you’re good at and hire others for the stuff that they’re good at, so that you don’t waste your time on learning curves that you don’t care about.”

It sounds so simple, no big deal right? Well underlying that epiphany was the more crucial, “The little part of your brain that is terrified of change- the lizard brain- will shape shift in any way it needs to in order to stop all progress and make you think you are sane for doing so.”

Let me back up a little bit. On January 14th to 15th I was in New York City to go to a Triiibes event (a two day meet up of those of us who are on Seth Godin’s social network, Triiibes), and then to grab dinner with Seth himself and the rest of the Triiibe (!), and go to his first talk about his new book, Linchpin. I read Linchpin on the train ride down and then lived and breathed the ideas in it for two very inspiring days. If you haven’t read Linchpin, first, go get a copy. Second, here’s a very brief synopsis of the ideas that I’m referring to in this post:

Here’s what Seth’s book is a call to action for: Do work that matters, solve interesting problems, connect, create, lead, give the world a gift (preferably several)- in other words, be a linchpin.

Here’s what’s holding us back: First, you don’t have to be a worker drone for the industrial era/capitalist machine anymore, but unfortunately it is what you were trained to be in school. Schools evolved to create complaint workers. (”Color inside the lines!”)

Second, your lizard brain, otherwise known as “the resistance”, is the first part of our brain that evolved millions of years ago. Its main concern is keeping you safe- so it fears ALL change like it’s a life or death issue, and takes any steps it can to stop your progress.

So I leave New York feeling full of clarity and excitement since I also happen to have this big project brewing that I want to launch in March. What perfect timing! I’m finally putting all I’ve learned from my 10 years in practice, blogging here for over a year, one mega manuscript for a printed book, one free ebook, and many conversations with my fellow CAM providers about their own triumphs and trials into one master place: an online course and community on how to grow and sustain a practice that not only pays your bills, but also feeds your spirit.

Yup, it’s a biggie (more info to follow in my next post…) and I’m feeling pretty confident that my fresh perspective on the lizard brain will keep it from interfering in my course. I’ve got your number lizard brain! This project is going to launch on the day I promised it would launch and no little internal saboteur will get in my way!

Turns out I’ve gotten very good at spotting certain signs that I’m being controlled by the lizard brain. When I spend an hour at the computer constantly cycling between checking my email, Facebook, and Twitter- the lizard is in control. When I start off working on something essential and 15 minutes later I notice that I’ve gone down some rabbit hole and am doing something pointless like cleaning out my sock drawer- yup, lizard brain. And when I keep complaining about how crazy busy I am (I’m a single mom! I have to keep my practice afloat! I need to write on my blog! I’m trying to launch this big thing!) and yet, somehow, I miraculously find time to hang out with my friends and to never miss an episode of 30 Rock? Lizard brain.

Honestly I’m in awe at how much progress I’ve made since reading Linchpin. It’s amazing how much less time things take when you separate out the pointless time wasters from the meaningful work.

This is where my lizard brain went undercover and got me.

Lizard brain (in disguise as sane brain): “Well you know Brooke, if you’re going to build this thing you might as well do it right and build the whole thing on your own from scratch this time. It’ll save you money and you’ll learn a lot about the technical details.”

Brooke (thinking this is her sane brain): “That’s a great idea! I’d feel so accomplished and proud of myself, PLUS then I’d have an excuse to waste endless hours on some crap that I don’t care about and am no good at, which will keep me from doing the important stuff. Thanks, sane brain, for helping me to find a loophole to get out of all this progress I’ve been making!”

Yeah, it didn’t go so well. At the end of all the frustrating time spent trying to understand CSS I had exactly no website, and lots of time lost on the important stuff that I actually enjoy.

Lizard brain: 1
Brooke: 1

For now it’s a tie. I’ve hired the lovely Taryn Wallis over at Phenomenoodle to set up some of the stuff I’ll need on a platform that I know and love (Wordpress). Time to keep it simple. Thanks to Taryn for seeing my distress flags on Twitter and reaching out- glad to have you on my team.

For the rest of you, dear readers, where can you get help on the stuff that’s not your strength and save yourself the angst already?

And- most importantly!- where is your lizard brain shape shifting and keeping you from doing the important work? How can you get back to it?

Parting tip one: my lizard brain and I have been talking lately as in, “Hi Lizard Brain, I know you’re scared and threatened and all, but I really don’t think I need to check my email for the 20th time this hour. I’m pretty sure nothing important has come through. But thanks.” It’s working (for now…)

Parting tip two: The single best time management technique that I’ve found is the Pomodoro technique. It’s what’s kept time wasters at near zero, and I can make progress without feeling like I’m beholden to some super complex organizational/time management protocol. It’s simple and it works like a charm.

I had the great good fortune to head over to In Good Company a few weeks ago to talk shop with their group of lovely holistic ladies. As we were chatting, one of the women mentioned that she’s always had a thriving practice, and yet a few months ago- with no changes at all to either how she builds her practice or practices her practice- business dropped waaaaaay off. Specifically, she went from having 70% of those who did a free consult become clients, to about 10% now. Because the economy tanked long before her practice did, and because this isn’t a standard, ‘how can I best [insert strategy idea here]?” question, I had to ponder for a couple of days.

As I combed through what had changed in her life right around the time things got quiet, the culprit was clear: she had started a retreat center. Oh that’s all! Just launching a whole other demanding, screaming, crying newborn baby of a business. Because she had managed to devote just as much time to her private practice while taking on this new enterprise, she couldn’t understand why her practice had suffered.

It’s about energy units people. When something new comes along and fills all available energy units, there’s no room for new clients. Even though as you speak with a potential client you’re thinking consciously that you want this person to work with you, on a subconscious level your quivering little energy units are screaming, “Noooooooooooo! Not another thing- when would I have time!!”

It’s as if you’re stranded in the ocean, treading water, and hoping that a rescue boat will show up on the horizon. When you find yourself in this situation it’s impossible- and ridiculous- to think about swimming to shore. You’re trying to conserve energy because you don’t know how long you’ll be adrift, how far you even are from shore, or where the hell shore is- not to mention the unknown challenges that might crop up (hungry sharks, dehydration, leg cramps- good times). When you feel this way internally, your subconscious self is in full on conservation mode. Your potential clients’ subconscious selves can smell said mode, and they go elsewhere looking for the practitioner who they feel can devote full attention to them. Who can blame them?

This doesn’t mean that you can’t take on new things, even if they’re big, bold projects-I’m pro big, bold projects. The world needs more of them. There’s one simple equation that will help to navigate those times when your energy units are feeling like they’re treading water: multitasking = that stranded in the ocean feeling.

Set clear boundaries on your time for each endeavor. In this case, I’d make clear boundaries on “retreat center” time and “private practice” time. When doing anything at all related to her private practice, there shouldn’t be any tinkering with thoughts or actions related to the retreat center. Likewise, when working for the retreat center, there is nothing at all happening related to her private practice.

It takes some getting used to- trust me I’m no pro. Think of it as you would a meditation practice. When meditating, you bring your wandering thoughts back- gently- either to your mantra or by simply noticing and letting go of the thought. When clarifying your time boundaries, you’re noticing when your energy units start to wander over to the other Thing when it’s not the time allotted for that Thing. When that happens, just gently bring them back, and turn your full energy to whatever Thing you’re currently focusing on.

Clarify what projects you have brewing and write them in your calendar with specific blocks of time- and don’t forget to add non-work time! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go take my own advice and write up a clear schedule for each of my Things. I see a rescue boat on the horizon- who’s with me!

*don’t forget to evaluate the passive energy unit suckers too- piles of bills, that dentist appointment you keep putting off making, your train wreck of an email inbox: Set aside whatever time you may need to clear out the clutter so you can focus fully on what matters.

I spend a lot of time talking with wellness providers of all different modalities about practice building. More often than not, I’m giving one core piece of advice over and over: “take action!” It gets more finessed than that- how to work from their strengths, how to connect with the why of their practice to fuel their desire to bother with practice building- but at the end of the day, ya gotta take action on all the handy tips and tricks or nothing will change.

However, the other evening I had the opportunity to talk with a lovely Pilates teacher who just opened her  studio this past January and she got me thinking: hmmm, sometimes “take action!” is the absolute LAST thing someone needs to hear.

This lovely and talented Pilates teacher has been kicking ass and taking names since she set up shop, and from where I’m sitting, she’s doing an amazing job. In a really tough economy she’s started a new business and she’s got lots of great clients coming through the door. She’s not at her maximum capacity, mind you, but she’s doing great. Light years better than I was in my first few months of my first practice. Truly. Light years.

So what burning question did this wonderful woman have for me as we sat across from one another over some mighty tasty Indian food? She wanted to know if it was at all reasonable that she might like to take one day off per week, and at what point (i.e. how many years down the road) might it be okay to start doing that.

Aaaargh! I had to resist the simultaneous urges to hug her and tell her that her Pilates studio is going to rock, and to grab her appointment book out of her bag and put large black marks through two days of each week.

So here’s the deal- if you are running around like your head is on fire trying to get clients through the door please, stop. You absolutely, positively, need to set up your business in a way that is supportive of your own sanity (side note: the running around like your head is on fire approach to practice building is also felt by your clients as desperation. Desperation is uber repellent- so cooling it will dial down the desperation vibe and establish you with more authority in your client’s minds. It’s a win-win). If you work like this for too long you’ll burn yourself out and before you know it you’re sitting in a cubicle somewhere complaining about that time you tried to be a Pilates teacher, massage therapist, acupuncturist- whatever. At this point, you’re no good to anyone.

Trust me, self-care is and has been my weak point in my own practice. I’ve learned the hard way (I feel your pain my fellow overachievers!) The first year that things started to come together for me I felt like it was crazy to say no to any request. A session at 10 pm, no problem. Squeezing in an extra day of work when I’d sworn it would be my day off, why of course! I worked like a dog for a solid year and I made a boatload of money. But I was shredded. The next year I decided to get super clear about what felt like a healthy practice for me. The result is that I now know that maximum capacity for me is 4 clients per day, 3 days per week. That’s it! The rest of my work time is spent on all the minutae we always forget about- scheduling, bookkeeping, and- oh yeah- that big ol’ job of practice building. At this pace I’m happy, my clients are happy, and things hum along beautifully. The result was that, yes, I did sometimes have a waiting list for people to see me, and yes, I did sacrifice some income. Honestly though, it wasn’t enough of a bummer on either end. Once you have a waiting list your clients elevate you to super-genius standing in their minds so that has its clear upside. As for income- I went from about $86,000 to about $67,000. $19,000 is no small number- but I didn’t even feel it. I paid significantly less in taxes- so it didn’t feel at all like a $19,000 loss- and most importantly I had a practice that was sustainable over the long haul.  

If you’re working like a dog- slow down! Please remember that one of your most important jobs is self-care. When you approach growing your practice, think of working economically and put clear boundaries on your time. The Pilates teacher who got me thinking on this said that she felt like she couldn’t say no to anything. I’d like to amend that by saying you can’t afford to say yes to everything. What you can’t say no to is the stuff that really counts. If someone approaches you to be a part of a thriving networking group; say yes. If a local tv channel calls to feature you on their fitness segment; say yes. If the gym that pays $10 per class calls and you know the class will be sparsely attended; say no. Be thoughtful about what is in alignment with your goals for your practice and your life. If something comes along that doesn’t support that- say no!

Now go breathe deeply, take out your appointment book, and mark down your days on and your days OFF.

If you’re reading this blog, my guess is that your practice is a bit quieter than you would like. Want to know the only way to build your practice? Action. What do you need in order for action to occur? The will to do it, and the time to do it. That’s all. If you’re passionate about what you do, then you can summon the will to partake in practice building activities. If you can’t summon the will to do this, you may want to save yourself the angst and rethink your career sooner rather than later.

 The time issue can be a bit more slippery. We’re all time poor these days, so how do we find the time to grow the practice we see in our mind’s eye? First, I recommend you spend a week keeping a diligent time log. Keep a small notebook with you- or even just a piece of paper (or an iphone for the tech inclined)- and jot down how you spend every hour of your day. Be unflinchingly honest. How many hours did you really spend watching TV? How many hours went by surfing the web? I can assure you, after a week of doing this honestly, you will be shocked by the amount of time that slips by while unconsciously engaged in unproductive habits. It’s not that I’m not a fan of the occasional unproductive habit (if I don’t see 30 Rock and Flight of the Conchords every week I get a bit disgruntled), but the issue is bringing consciousness to the equation. When you know you’re making the choice between the practice of your dreams and watching the same Simpsons rerun for the 15th time, it’s easier to turn off the TV and commit to your goals.

The second thing I recommend is to get yourself a copy of Leo Babuta’s book The Power of Less (and check out his blog Zen Habits). So many books on organization make the act of organizing your life an uber-complicated mess full of color coding and elaborate filing practices. It’s counterproductive. Babuta takes an excellent approach of clearing time clutter without replacing it with new, pointless minutiae. By doing this, his process truly works to move you closer to your goals without it feeling like an uphill slog. I first read this book about 6 weeks ago, and it’s already had a dramatic impact.