The Filter I Use to Make Every Business Decision (Episode 15)
If you’ve been circling a decision, second-guessing your copy, or feeling stuck in your practice—not dramatically frozen, but caught in that loop of “I’ll get to it later”—this episode is your lifeline. I’m digging into what it really means to “remember your why,” beyond the usual inspirational fluff. This isn’t about finding a fleeting spark of motivation. It’s about building a compass you can actually use when fear or overthinking try to take the wheel.
Together, we’ll unpack the moments therapists most often lose sight of their why—like marketing, networking, or making big investments—and how you can start using yours as a clear, confident filter for every next step. If you’re craving more clarity and less spinout, this is your grounding reset.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ Why “remember your why” can feel hollow—and how to turn it into a usable tool instead
2️⃣ The simple filter I use in my business to make aligned decisions (especially when fear shows up)
3️⃣ How to refine your why so it actually supports your marketing, not just your mission
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Welcome back to Marketing Therapy. Today's episode is one, I think every therapist and maybe honestly every person needs in their back pocket, especially when the doubts start creeping in. Not if they start creeping in, but when, because they're such a normal experience for anyone who runs a business or really puts themself out there in any way.
Now, you've probably heard the phrase, remember your why. It gets thrown around a lot and depending on the head space you're in, it can feel really grounding. Like, oh yeah, I'm gonna remember my why. I'm operating from my why, or it can feel kind of hollow. Yeah, yeah. Remember my why, whatever. Today I wanna offer you a bit of a different take on this idea because I don't believe your why is something you feel, I believe your why.
Is something you use, not a mood, [00:01:00] not a moment of inspiration, but a filter in internal compass really a tool for making decisions in your practice. And that becomes especially important when you hit the moments that feel unclear, uncomfortable, or just straight up scary. Like when you're trying to write about yourself on your website or when you're debating whether or not to reach out to someone to establish some sort of networking relationship, or when you're staring down a program or a service, that could probably really help your practice.
But the price tag makes your stomach flip. Those are the moments when you need your why the most. Not because it's gonna magically make everything feel easy. Unfortunately, I don't have that magic bullet, but because it can help you figure out what to do next. So [00:02:00] here's the question I want to offer you today.
It's where this whole episode is grounded. It's when I use in my own business over and over again. Are you ready for it? Does this help the people I most want to help find me faster? Feel safer or say yes again. Does this help the people I most want to help find me faster, feel safer, or say yes?
If the answer to that question is yes, and the only thing standing in the way is your fear or your discomfort, then that fear probably doesn't deserve to make the final call here. So in this episode, we're gonna talk about what it really means to remember your why. Not in a fluffy, woowoo way, but in a really strategic and grounded way.
I'm gonna walk you through the moments where therapists often tend to lose sight [00:03:00] of their why, and I bet you can identify with at least one or two of them why it matters to reconnect with it. And how you can start using your own why as a decision making filter starting now, starting this week. So let's start with the moments when it's easiest to forget your why.
Because in my experience, it doesn't usually just disappear all at once. It kind of gets buried under tasks, under fear or discomfort under, I'll figure that part out later. It's really easy to push it aside, and usually that happens in really vulnerable parts of running a business. One of the biggest ones that I see, and in many of these students that I coach in Confident Copy, is writing about yourself and putting yourself out there.
So whether it's your website or your Psychology Today profile, or your little elevator pitch for your [00:04:00] Next networking event. It's where therapists freeze and not because they don't know what to say, but because it feels personal, vulnerable a little bit, or a lot cringe, right? And it becomes really easy to overthink here because you're trying to sound credible, but not sound robotic.
Sound warm, but not too casual, but not too buttoned up confident, but not bragging. So instead of leading with your why, you start editing and second guessing and looking at what everyone else is doing. And just like that, the core of what you do, who you do it for, why you are the incredible clinician that you are, gets lost in translation.
I've talked about this before, but when you are marketing your practice specifically as a solo clinician. You're not marketing a practice, you're marketing you, and [00:05:00] so anytime you're having to put you out there or put words to what you do, it's really easy to let that vulnerability keep you from getting clear.
Another big one here is networking or outreach. We did a recent episode talking about networking. If you haven't caught it, we'll include it in the show notes. Networking is huge. It reigns supreme when it comes to getting clients right now, but it is the hands down number one marketing strategy I get the most pushback about from the students and clinicians that I work with.
Reaching out to a colleague, attending an event, introducing yourself to a new provider. It feels like a lot, especially if you identify as an introvert or it just really feels out of your comfort zone, and I get it for so many therapists, it's bringing up those thoughts, like, what if I say the wrong thing?
Or what if I come across as salesy? What if they don't like me? So again, visibility here is becoming a trigger for fear, [00:06:00] and instead of marketing and making decisions and taking action from your mission, you just start avoiding it. Can you resonate with that one other category where I see clinicians lose sight of their why is when it comes time to invest in their practice.
So that might be a course, a coach, a service, a resource. It's one of the fastest places where fear gets loud. Because unlike grad school where you complete the courses and know what's gonna happen or licensure where you pass the test and do the hours, there's no guarantee attached to it.
It's just you, your resources, your goals, and a really big decision. And if you don't have a strong internal compass in place. When it comes time to make these decisions, it's really easy to just stay stuck. Now, I wanna [00:07:00] be clear here, fear is normal. What we're talking about right now is not mitigating fear or removing it.
In fact, it's almost always underneath these stuck points. Fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being seen, fear that you'll spend time or money and it won't work. But here's something I want you to remember, especially if you're finding yourself in one of those stuck places right now. I know you tell your clients all the time, the answers are already within you.
As a clinician, you probably see yourself as a guide for your clients. Back to those answers. You're not giving them the answers they already have them. Therapy is about uncovering what those are and helping them discover them for themselves, right? In this case, your why. Is also already within you.
You do not have to wait for someone else to give you permission. You do not have to wait to feel perfectly ready, but you do need [00:08:00] to reconnect to the thing that made you want to do this work in the first place. And when you bring that back to the center, it gets a whole lot easier to figure out your next move.
So let's talk about how to actually use your, why not just remember it, okay. Remember your why. Yeah. How about use your why? Because like I said earlier, I don't think of your why as a feeling. You don't need to feel inspired or fired up every single day. That's not realistic. You don't have to have perfect clarity before you make a move.
That's also unrealistic. Your why isn't something you feel into. It's something you can filter through. It's a tool. And when you're trying to decide what to say, what to invest in, what to show up for your why gives you something to measure that decision against. So you're not out there floating without an anchor.
You can actually bring yourself back to something. [00:09:00] So here's that question again. The one I posed at the beginning. Does this help the people I most want to help? Find me faster, feel safer, or say yes, that's the filter. So let's say you are staring at your Psychology Today profile and thinking about rewriting that hook, the thing that's gonna jump off the page to the right fit client, okay?
This is one very small exercise, although as we know it's a powerful one. This isn't about overthinking it. It's not about impressing your peers. It's about helping your ideal client recognize themselves, feel understood, or take a next step. If it does that, great, if not, make a change, or maybe you're thinking about joining a consultation group or signing up for a training, the question becomes, will this help me serve my clients more deeply, more [00:10:00] confidently with more ease?
If the answer is yes. But the only thing holding you back is the fear or discomfort, then you probably already know what to do. That is what I mean by using your why as a filter. It doesn't erase the fear, but it definitely clarifies the path forward. I now, sometimes things can get in the way of being clear on your why.
I see a lot of therapists get stuck, not because they don't have a why, but because the version of it they're working with. That internal compass isn't actually specific enough to guide them. An example of that is, I just want to help people. Okay, that's beautiful, but it is way too vague to actually make decisions with help Who?
With what? Toward what kind of change. You can't write a homepage, market yourself, build a referral network, invest in your next step with a why That [00:11:00] is that broad. Or probably the most common why that I see clinicians operating from is some variation of, I want to build a full practice, or I want a full caseload.
Also a totally valid goal. I share that goal with you, but that's a business need my friend, not a why. If you're only focused on being full, you'll say yes to whatever comes your way. Which is often a very fast path to burnout or misaligned clients. Or maybe you've sat with your why and you have something like, I want to do deep work with people who are ready to heal.
Okay, that's closer and it sounds like a why, but it's still centered around you and the kind of work you want to do. It doesn't yet connect to what your clients are actively looking for [00:12:00] or how they would describe what it is that they're struggling with. So try flipping it. Ask yourself, what does this kind of work actually help my clients feel or experience?
What do they want, even if they don't have the language for it yet? That's the beginning of a why. That can guide your marketing. Not just your choice of modality. So that could look like not doing deep trauma work with people who are ready to heal, but helping women reclaim their power and step into their full self.
Or maybe your why is empowering parents to see and believe. That they are the perfect parent for their child and giving them the skills they need to practice that.
Maybe your why is helping couples. Come back to one another and remember why they fell in love to begin with. Your why is the [00:13:00] deeper goal here. It's the transformation that you want your clients to experience.
It's that deep seated desire that maybe you felt as a teen when you engaged in therapy yourself and realized what was possible with good, solid, real support. It is why you do this work? What are you wanting to make happen? What are you wanting people to experience? That is your why. So if you're listening to this and realizing your why feels a little fuzzy or maybe is more of a business need than a deeper motivation, that's okay.
This is your invitation to zoom back out and to reconnect with what actually led you here. And not just because it's emotionally grounding, although it absolutely is, but because it has the potential to make everything else in [00:14:00] your business clearer. Your copy, your content, your investments, your visibility.
When you know your why and your using it as a filter, marketing stops feeling like guesswork and starts feeling like alignment. Imagine how freeing that could be if marketing felt like alignment. Not guesswork, so let's bring this down to earth, okay? Because maybe you're not frozen in the dramatic, overwhelmed sense of the word right now.
You're not panicking, you're not flailing. But maybe you're sitting here right now with a decision or a task that you keep circling around. You know it matters. You want to do it well. You've maybe even drafted the email or outlined the update or open to the tab to enroll, but something keeps you from actually following through.
That's the version of stuck I wanna talk about the kind that shows up as overthinking or [00:15:00] rewriting or waiting for just quote unquote, a little more clarity before you move. This is where your why becomes more than just that grounding idea. This is where it starts to become a tool. So again, start with the filter.
Does this help the people I most want to help? Find me faster, feel safer, or say yes? If the answer is yes, but you're still hesitating, it's probably not about strategy. It's probably fear. Fear of doing it wrong or wasting your time or money being seen in a new way. But that doesn't make you unprepared, and it doesn't mean the next step is the wrong one.
It just means you're human. These are natural feelings. So what I wanna offer you is this one, define your why. Remember why you chose to do this [00:16:00] work. Keep it simple and clear. Again, not a business need, not too broad. But that strong internal compass that led you to do this work to begin with, and then run the next step you're considering through the filter.
And if the only thing standing between you and action is fear, not real misalignment with your why, but just fear, then that's your sign to go ahead and move forward. Because the most powerful decisions you make in your business won't always feel comfortable. I can attest to this. Over the last six years, the best decisions I've made have been when I have been the most afraid.
But despite the fear, they did feel aligned. You're never gonna feel a hundred percent ready and you don't need to wait for total clarity because it will probably never come. Clarity tends to come [00:17:00] after the action. Clarity comes from commitment. Confidence comes from commitment. So whether you're reworking your copy, defining your niche, investing in support, trying something new in your marketing or your practice, don't wait for it to feel easy because that day may never come.
Instead, let your why lead you. I think there's one area where this conversation around your why gets especially real, and I don't see enough therapists talking about this. And that is investing in your practice. It is, as I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest fear triggering decisions a therapist can make.
And no wonder anytime our money's on the line, fear is a really natural response. Because there's likely no guarantee that the investment you make is going to turn into exactly what you're hoping for. There's no client on the calendar yet. [00:18:00] Right, and I wanna hold space for the nuance here because sometimes the answer really is, I can't afford this right now.
And that's okay. That's valid. It is never a good idea to put your financial wellbeing at risk. I do really believe that. There are certainly people that put their neck on the line to make investments and I believe there's a time and a place, but it's not that every single investment is one worth making.
But I wanna say this part plainly because I think it really needs to be said. The most successful therapists I know, the ones that I'm, are coming to mind as I sit here today, the ones with the strong referral streams, who are actually considering having to tone down their marketing. Because their caseload and referrals are so strong, the full fee, premium fee clients that they see on a regular basis, the sustainable practices that support the lives they want, they've invested in support.
[00:19:00] They don't just white knuckle it alone. They don't stay stuck in research mode. They don't try to bootstrap every single thing. They know when something is beyond their zone of genius. And they bring in help to fill that gap. They spend money to make better decisions, to stop spinning, to move faster, to go further.
And I know how hard that can feel, and I know you're hearing this from someone who is paid to help therapists, but I mean this, regardless of who you work with, regardless of what it is that you're paying for, anytime fear comes up around spending money on your business. I want to remind you that this is investment, that it's possible to spend money to get better outcomes
every year, my business coach raises her rates as she should , just like you should. And every year I sit with that decision.
It happens in October. This is about to be [00:20:00] our fourth renewal, so it'll be our fourth consecutive year working together. And I know she's gonna hit me with her increased rate, I'm prepared for it, but every time she sends it over, woo. I do. I have to sit with it. It is not a small decision. It's not a small investment.
It brings up absolutely everything for me. Scarcity, doubt, the voice that says, maybe I can just figure this out on my own this time, but every year I come back to the filter. Is this gonna help me do my work more clearly, more powerfully, with more ease? Will it help the people I'm here to serve?
Find me faster? Or say Yes with more confidence. And every year, at least so far, the answer's been yes, and I know what to do. Here's the thing, even if that investment doesn't unfold exactly the way I expect, even if I don't use every single [00:21:00] piece of the resource or the support, I don't view this as betting on my coach.
I view this as betting on myself. And you know what? I trust myself. To act on what I learn. I trust myself to make it worthwhile.
I trust myself to get a return on my investment because I'm the one in control of that. And that is the mindset I see in the therapist who succeed. A level of ownership over their results, a willingness to bet on themselves, not looking for certainty, not necessarily looking for guarantees, but betting on what they know they are capable of.
So if you've been hesitating to invest, whether it's in your marketing, something else related to your practice, this is the moment to pause and ask. Is the resistance coming from misalignment because this isn't the right choice? Or is it coming from fear? [00:22:00] If the answer is fear, but the investment still aligns with your mission, with your why, with your values, with your goals, then fear.
It doesn't get to make the call here. Hear me. Spending money on your practice is a good thing. It's not irresponsible. It's not indulgent. I think I see some therapists believe that, whether they know it or not, that this is indulgent to spend money or to hire someone or to get support. It's how you grow and staying stuck, spending months spinning, tweaking, guessing, waiting often costs more in time, money, and impact than a clear and aligned investment ever will.
So as we wrap up today, I want to remind you that your why isn't just a mission statement on a sticky note, okay? It's not a paragraph in your notes app or something you slapped into the about page of [00:23:00] your website. It's a filter. It's a compass for you. It's a tool you can return to, even when fear. Or uncertainty or second guessing, try to hijack your decision making.
So the next time you are hesitating in your practice or in your marketing, ask yourself this. Does this help the people I most want to help find me faster, feel safer, or say yes? If the answer is yes, then the next step is clear. Not always easy, but clear. And that's what I hope you take from this episode because you don't need to feel 100% confident to move forward.
You just need a reason and a direction. You already have that. So let your why lead today, this week, and as you move into the next seasons of your practice. Thanks for being here today. I'll see you next [00:24:00] time.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Confident Copy: walkerstrategyco.com/cc
The Walker Strategy Co website:walkerstrategyco.com
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About Marketing Therapy
Marketing Therapy is the podcast where therapists learn how to market their private practices without burnout, self-doubt, or sleazy tactics. Hosted by Anna Walker—marketing coach, strategist, and founder of Walker Strategy Co—each episode brings you clear, grounded advice to help you attract the right-fit, full-fee clients and grow a practice you feel proud of.
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