1.D. Creating SMART Goals For Your Private Practice

everything therapists need to know about smart goals including 8 reflection questions if you could do anything you wanted without failing, what would you do? what dreams would you begin working towards? what goals would you establish? whether your goal is to leave your 9 5 job so you can develop your private practice caseload and manage your practice full time, or to keep your full time job while developing a small practice on the side, smart goals are one of the most proven and effective ways to achieve your private practice dreams what are smart goals? smart is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time specific, and a smart goal is any professional or personal objective that meets this criterion a smart goal is like an objective and an action plan all rolled into one and learning how to implement a smart goal can be a very useful tool for measuring the success and growth of your private practice here are some reflection questions to help inspire you with ideas for what types of smart goals may be best for you and your private practice this year important the questions below are designed to prompt you in helpful ways, and as you ask yourself these questions, see if a thought or prompt naturally emerges if so, consider creating an action item list from the prompts that inspire you an “action item” could be something you plan to research, a client persona you want to create, a scope you want to define, an update you need to make within your practice, etc as you go through the list, you may find yourself making a to do list that’s great! that is an excellent starting point for selecting a handful of smart goals for the next year smart assessment – reflection questions take a moment to reflect as you read through each section and write down the responses to the following questions do this in any format that works for you, such as typing on a document, writing in a notepad, or downloading our worksheet for part 1 here what is your vision for the type of private practice you dream of having? what types of clients do you have? what type of online presence or marketing exists? what are your ideal work days and hours? how flexible is your schedule? does your availability match the client needs for your niche? (ie afterschool, weekends, etc ) how much are you earning in your ideal practice? is there a therapist or practice that you admire that you would like to emulate? now ask yourself what you need to do to make that vision a reality as you make a list, try to identify which two or three things would build momentum towards accomplishing this vision are these things you could begin working on over the next 6 12 months? if so, how? what could you do within the next week or month to get you one step closer to achieving this reality? 2\ what does “success” mean to you? what do you base being a “successful therapist” on? what does a “full” practice mean to you? how many new clients are you interested in taking on? what parameters can you set to define your caseload? (age, days/times you work, etc ) how do you measure your success? is it by number of clients, income, patient success or outcome or other? 3\ who do you want to work with, either now or in the future? defining the scope of your private practice and choosing a therapy niche can help you focus on your goals and gain more clients if you haven’t given your scope or niche much thought, then now is the time! what makes you unique as a therapist? what sets you apart from other therapists in your area/state? how would you answer if someone asked you, “what is your niche or specialty?” 4\ telehealth and in person visits what percentage of your private practice would you like to be telehealth? do you ever envision having a completely telehealth or in person practice, or a hybrid of both? do you feel telehealth is as fulfilling for you as a therapist as an in person visit? do you think a telehealth session is as effective for your ideal clients (niche) as an in person visit? 5\ describe the “ideal clients” for your private practice who/what do you love to work with? (adults, kids, teens, parents, anxiety, etc ) what types of client work feeds your soul, boosts your confidence, brings you joy, and makes you excited to go to work? what client personas have you had the most success with? (teens, adoption issues, anxiety, depression, trauma, single parents, children, etc ) are there any client personas that you dread because they leave you feeling drained or unfilled? 6\ what training, development, certifications, or networks would add value to your private practice? do you have all the required qualifications? how are you staying current on industry knowledge? are you connected to relevant resources, such as peer networking and peer consulting? setting smart goals for your private practice by now you should have a list full of specific ideas inspired by the questions above, so scan over your list and select three to five objectives to create smart goals around for example, let’s say one of your action items is to build my caseload with more new clients that’s a great idea! let’s turn this action item into a smart goal just about any action item can be made into a smart goal simply by asking the question by this time next year, what do i need to do to make this a reality? if we apply that question to this action item, then the smart goal would become leverage network connections, referrals, and online presence to build my caseload by booking 1 new niche specific client each month for the next 12 months specific this is now a very specific goal that clearly articulates what you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve it measurable this goal is now measurable because it is countable (previously the goal only stated “more clients” – which is ambiguous and uncountable ) achievable this goal is reasonably spread out into manageable sections relevant it’s relevant because niche specification was added (acquiring new clients beyond your niche does not necessarily bring you closer to your specific vision for your private practice ) timely the timeline is distinctly set at a year and broken down into 12 month long timeframes my smart goal new year’s goals for therapists smart goals are a proven system for implementing and tracking your goals, and creating a few smart goals for your private practice can help ensure that you turn your dream into reality when you apply smart goals to your vision, suddenly, the future you imagine becomes more real, and as you check in on your progress throughout the coming year, the progress you achieve will add encouraging fuel to the fire finally, be kind to yourself at https //www joinhopscotch com/ , we know that many therapists at some point or another may feel undervalued and unappreciated (and even underpaid), but these feelings don’t determine your value – so please don’t be too hard on yourself good things take time and life can and does get in the way while you may need to adjust the timeline for a goal, you certainly do not need to compromise the goal or settle for less it’s not selfish to know your worth and build the life you dream of the vision you have for your private practice is worth the courage and the effort it takes dream big, and may all your goals be smart ones