Your Intentions Aren't Enough: What *Actually* Leads to Practice Growth (Episode 45)
It’s easy to set big intentions for the new year. But let’s be honest: intentions alone don’t build the practice you want.
In this final episode of 2025, I’m sharing the quote that’s been sticking with me lately: “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit—but it is the most significant day.” This episode is an invitation to move beyond just dreaming and into doing. I’ll walk you through how to recognize the places where you're stuck in reflection, and how to gently—but firmly—start making progress, even in the face of uncertainty.
If you’ve been waiting for confidence or clarity before making a move in your practice… this one’s for you.
Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:
1️⃣ The quiet trap of intention-setting—and what most therapists are missing in the middle
2️⃣ What ACT therapy can teach you about values-driven marketing and imperfect commitment
3️⃣ Why action (not certainty) is the real foundation of confidence and growth
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Hey everyone. Welcome back to Marketing Therapy, episode 45 and our last episode of 2025. I'm excited about this episode. It's inspired by a quote I came across, actually, and some writing. We've been doing recently for our clients, but my hope is that this episode is a gentle. Kick in the pants a little bit as you head into the new year.
Now, when I get to describe the work that I do to, you know, parents at school or people that ask what I do, they always kind of chuckle when I say therapist.
And often I'll get the quote back. Well, that's a niche, and I say, you know what? Therapists make the best clients, and I really do believe that. I absolutely love working with clinicians. You are often fantastic communicators. You're very insightful, and you're incredibly reflective by nature, which makes you a joy to talk to and to work with, but also really serves your business.
You are intentional about making decisions that feel aligned and ethical and thoughtful. That defines the personality of most therapists, at least the ones that I've run across. And so as you're staring down the new year in just a handful of days, there's some really common behaviors you're probably thinking about.
I see a lot of therapists name a word of the year, you might be setting revenue or caseload goals, which is excellent. You might be deciding, you know what, this is the year I focus on my practice. This is the year I dpa. This is the year I launch the practice.
This is the year, and I love that I'm actually a really bad goal setter. Personally, I hate setting goals I can't reach, and so I tend to avoid them. And so anytime I see someone setting those goals and setting those intentions, I'm inspired by it. I think it's fantastic. However. There's a pattern. I see, and this isn't exclusive to therapists.
I think we all know what this is like. We set a clear intention. We feel the energy of the new year, the energy of a new season, and then the follow through wanes. You're real motivated at first, and then the self-criticism kicks in. The Why didn't I do more? The self blame, the frustration that you didn't actually.
Move toward that intention, you'd set so earnestly early on. Now we both know this is not laziness, this is not avoidance, but intentions alone do not create behavior change. You and I both know that. So it's not that wanting something for your practice is the problem. It's about what you do after that.
It is about recognizing that intentions alone aren't going to get you where you want to go, and that a clear plan, commitment to a plan, and then follow through are what is going to ultimately result in you reaching those goals. Now I mentioned that this episode is inspired by a quote I came across. I actually screenshotted this. It was from someone's Instagram story. I don't regularly screenshot people's Instagram stories or quotes. I'm not a kind of a quote collector in the way that some other people are, but this one just really stood out to me.
I had to go back and grab it, and that quote said this, the day you plant the seed. Is not the day you eat the fruit, but it is the most significant day because without it, there would be no purposeful growth. The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit, but it is the most significant day.
Often I see therapists over focusing on fruit, over focusing on outcomes, on revenue, on caseload, numbers, on de paneling, or they get stuck in reflection, the intention building, but they skip the commitment moment. You want it? You're super focused on the fruit. Are you planting the seed? Are you tending to the seed?
We both know that a website doesn't convert the day you decide to work on it. Sometimes it converts the day you launch it. I love when that happens, but it sure doesn't convert the day you decide to prioritize it. Your niche doesn't pay off the day you finally name it, but without that first decision, nothing can compound.
So here's what I want to gently and lovingly say to you. Having goals, resolutions, setting intentions is good. It's not enough on its own. Wanting things for your practice is incredible. Knowing where you want to go, what you want that fruit to look like is important. But in order to do that, you have to have a clear plan.
You have to have steps to get there. Without it, you stay stuck in intention setting and you never actually get where you want to go. Now, we get to write on behalf of many, many clinicians every year in our done for you services. Plus we get to see what other people write in Confident Copy and as a result of that. We get to do a lot of research into different therapeutic methods.
It's another reason I love working with therapists because I find these so fascinating and one that we've been writing a lot about has been act. In order to write well about act, we've gotta learn pretty deeply what it does. I've also been on the receiving end of ACT in some of my recent therapy work, and it's been incredibly transformational for me, and I think there are some elements of act and values.
No pun intended of ACT that could apply here.
Now, we both know, that act is fundamentally about creating psychological flexibility, right? The ability to be okay even when things aren't okay to stay in contact with the present moment, to get clear about values, and then choose actions aligned with those values. Even when. Thoughts and emotions, uncertainty show up.
I think that's one of the cool parts of ACT and one of the reasons I personally as a client have benefited so much from it because ACT is not symptom elimination, right? It's not coping skills per se. It's behavior change in the presence of discomfort. Recognizing that the circumstances might not change the relationships, the people might not change, but I.
It can change. I can choose differently. I can act aligned with the way that I want to show up. Act doesn't say think differently, so you feel better. Act says, tell the truth about where you are, and act anyway in service of what matters to you. Psychological flexibility is what ultimately allows progress without waiting for the certainty or the confidence to come first.
Remember, the day you plant the seed is the most significant day, because without it, you'll never bear the fruit. So it's making a decision to plant even if you don't have that certainty or that confidence Yet.
So if we look first at the idea of acceptance, it's about making room for reality, not arguing with what is. And I think sometimes clinicians think that they need to put on rose colored glasses or put in earplugs in order to be successful. Listen, you can accept that the market is saturated and still build momentum.
You can accept that marketing feels uncomfortable and take aligned action anyway. You can accept uncertainty about what's to come without postponing decisions indefinitely.
Acceptance is what frees up your energy to actually take action when you resist it, that consumes energy acceptance, redirects it toward. Forward momentum.
So it doesn't mean you need to like the reality of where you find yourself, whether that reality is external, the economy, the saturation of your market, or internal the discomfort or uncertainty anxiety that you feel. But it means working effectively within it.
Now when we look at the commitment piece, commitment is ongoing. It is imperfect, and it is chosen again and again and again. Commitment is not certainty. It is not motivation, it is not confidence. It is not running on vibes. Okay? Commitment is deciding what you'll do, even if it feels uncomfortable, even if you're not 100% sure.
Even if results aren't immediate or guaranteed, and that's scary. I mean, when you really think about the idea of building and launching your own business, that is radically uncomfortable. It is radically uncertain. We have no idea what could possibly happen. Commitment is deciding that you're still gonna do it, because if you don't make that commitment, then you just stay stuck.
You could tie this back to the idea of niching. Niching is something I hear from many clinicians. They feel a lot of resistance around because they feel like they have to marry themselves to one population or one presenting issue for the rest of their career. What if a values driven commitment is choosing a niche direction, knowing it might evolve,
or when we think about putting yourself out there? The idea of being vulnerable in your marketing can be incredibly uncomfortable. What if this looks like publishing a website? Even if it doesn't feel perfect? Spoiler alert, it never will. What if it means starting to follow a plan instead of just endlessly researching?
Researching is one of those things that feels productive. Well, I went to another webinar. I downloaded another freebie. I read another blog post. I asked chat GBT about another thing. What about doing it? What about committing to a plan instead of staying stuck in that research mode?
So again, we come back to this quote. The day you plant the seed is not the day you bear the fruit, but it is the most significant day. So setting the intention, knowing you want the fruit is good, but commitment, that's the seed you plant. Outcomes are the fruit that full caseload, the full fee clients, the practice revenue, the feeling that you want, but the middle, the waiting time.
You either have that or you don't. That's that clear plan that must be in place if you're ever gonna get from intention to outcome. So you set the intention, you commit to plant the seed, and then you follow a plan to reach the outcome.
Now, I mentioned earlier that I don't enjoy setting goals, but people in my life coaches, my director of operations, they all encourage me and push me to do it anyway, but maybe, maybe you do too.
Maybe you resist plans or you resist goals because you fear the pressure of them. That's me. I fear the pressure of a goal staring me down that I might not reach. Maybe you fear the rigidity of it, that it doesn't give you the flexibility to change course.
You probably fear, failure, that's also me, right? The pressure of not reaching it AKA, the fear of failure when I don't, that's real. But when you commit, when you start taking action and following a plan , it actually reduces the cognitive load. On you because you're no longer staying in the what if, the imagining the scenario, planning, you're actually moving.
And as a result, there are actually fewer decisions to be made because you're doing something. You're not just staring down in endless list of possibilities and that gives you more capacity for actually taking action.
Random effort, the panic. Hair on fire. Spaghetti at the wall. Thing that we often talk about around here, it leads to exhaustion. You and I both know that when you're following things in a clear sequence, even if it's uncomfortable, that's what builds the momentum. So a plan commitment, it doesn't remove flexibility, it actually protects it.
It steadies you.
It provides some safety and some framework for you to start moving.
Where are there places in your practice that you are resisting taking action? You have all the intentions in the world, but you haven't yet. Done anything. When you think about what's coming for 2026, sit down and set some of those intentions if you haven't yet, those are important. Get clear about what you want.
Get clear about what you want your practice to look like one year from now as you're thinking back on 2026.
But then, then you've gotta do something. You can think about the seed, but you've gotta plant it. And then after you plant it, you must nurture it. The planting of the seed is the most significant day, but the willingness to stay committed, the willingness to tend that soil, that's what leads to the fruit.
So as reflective as you likely are as a clinician, where is there room to keep moving? In the midst of the uncertainty, the discomfort, the anxiety that surrounds building a business. Again, this isn't about finding certainty 'cause you're never gonna find it. It's about taking action in spite of it.
Remember, you can accept that the economy is challenging and still build a successful practice. You can accept that the market is saturated and still build momentum. You can accept that marketing feels uncomfortable. And still put yourself out there taking aligned action. Anyway, you can accept the uncertainty of business ownership and practice growth, and the economy and the world, and your client's behavior and your caseload ebbs and flows without postponing decisions indefinitely.
Don't stay in the intention setting stage. After you do that, then start moving. Then plant the seed, then tend to it. That's what's going to bear fruit for you in 2026.
And what if accepting and committing actually frees up the energy and the cognitive space you need to start moving forward. What if confidence? And clarity come after doing those things. In my experience, that's exactly what happens. Confidence does not proceed.
Action. Action breeds it. So where can you begin moving? Where can you begin setting intention, making decision, and then taking action?
That's what I want to really charge you with as you start 2026 in just a handful of days.
If you're sitting here knowing what you want for your practice in 2026, if you're tired of revisiting the same goals and that cycle I talked about, where you set intentions and then the motivation wanes, and then you look back frustrated with yourself, if you're ready to get out of that. Then maybe joining the wait list for Confident Copy is a commitment step.
You're not actually committing to anything other than getting extra savings if you decide to join Confident Copy,
but it is doing something. It's showing commitment to the practice that you want to build. And then if you choose to join us in Confident copy, when doors reopen next month, then you've planted that seed. Is that seed a promise of instant results? It's not, but it is planting something meaningful that has the potential to grow into incredible, incredible outcomes for you.
Confident copy is the place for clinicians who are clear on where they want to go and want support. A clear plan in getting there. It is about helping you get really, really clear and confident on what it is that you do through action, through deep self-discovery, through the learning of new skills, through the flexing, as I say, of new muscles, but doing it with support, doing it with a proven framework that is designed specifically for therapists in your position and in community with others doing the
same. maybe joining the wait list is one way for you to choose movement before certainty. Maybe it's something else, but I encourage you as you move into 2026, to move beyond just the intention setting in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of anxiety. Take that values aligned action. Move toward where you want to go.
It is those decisions while scary, while overwhelming, while uncertain, that will lead to the ultimate fruit that you want to be bearing in your practice.
All right. With this, I am signing off until 2026. I hope this one was helpful for you. Again, if you'd like to join the Confident copy waitlist walker strategy co.com/waitlist, doors will reopen in just a handful of weeks in the new year. Whatever you do for New Year's, I hope whether you stay up late or are in bed by eight 30, everyone, raise your hand that it's a good one and I will talk to you in the new year.
Resources & Links Mentioned:
Join the Confident Copy waitlist for early access and an extra discount: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
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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