Have you taken the time to reflect on the lessons you learned in 2021 yet? Or are you still in go go hustle mode and have promised yourself you’ll take that time over the holidays? Because I’m usually the one who doesn’t do much reflecting until I’m sitting on the beach and looking at the ocean and then the tears come - mainly happy tears of WOW we made it through the year and look at what we’ve accomplished! But sometimes the tears are for the fact that I still haven’t reached some of my goals. Goals I made at the beginning of the year somehow got buried under other priorities or kicked to the side because they felt too big and scary. Well, I promised myself this end of year reflection was going to be different. Instead of realizing what I didn’t accomplish and being frustrated with myself, I’m making a plan for moving forward and getting crystal clear on what I need to do to reach those goals. And in this episode, I’m sharing lessons I learned in 2021 and how I plan to take action on going after those dreams. We just returned from our annual family Christmas trip to Edisto Beach, South Carolina. We had such a fun time. The weather was perfect, and we did a lot of fishing. I actually caught fish this year. I have been listening to Neville Goddard’s talks on manifesting. I was telling Billy about how to manifest what you desire, and I kid you not I reeled in 2 fish after I stated my manifestation to the universe. Now I don’t know if that’s too woo woo for you, but it worked! Ok so let’s get into this episode. Truth be told these lessons have more to do with my personal life than the podcast however they affect the podcast and my vision for moving forward. (Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at NO cost to you. Please read my terms of service and privacy policy for more information.) So let me just dive right on in and share lesson #1. I can’t do all the things I want to do and be successful. This is something my husband has been telling me for pretty much all of 2021. I have many many irons in the fire - being a mom, being a wife, my job, the podcast, activewear business, creating continuing education, life coach, professional interviewer - just listing them out has me feeling overwhelmed but also excited. The problem is that I love each one of these roles and it’s hard for me to choose where to put my focus and energy some days. Don’t get me wrong, my family always comes first yet that’s where things start to get even more overwhelming. Our girls started playing club volleyball this year which means they each practice 2 days a week and I'm the main chauffeur around here. So, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I’m taking them to and from practice. Some days I am able to sit and get work done but I really love watching them practice so more often than not, I get nothing done.  Here’s why this is a lesson. My highest priority is my family. For me to feel successful in focusing on my family, that means less time to focus on other things, like creating continuing education. It also means less time on social media, which I really don’t mind giving up, but that’s where I do the majority of my networking and connecting. When I put my family first, I feel successful. One of the reasons this is so important to me is because when I was a kid, my family life was a lot different than the one I've created with my husband. My parents were divorced, and my mom was our main caretaker and many evenings we were on our own while she was in grad school. When you’re a kid that’s a big deal to not have your mom around, right? We were pretty good kids and didn’t get into much trouble and she had us surrounded by people who loved us. Yet I knew that if I had kids, I would be there for them more than my mom was able to. I’m not a helicopter parent, I've seen the issues that come from being one of those, but I am accessible to our girls when they need me. And that to me is success.  What does this lesson mean for 2022? I’m unsure. However, I know it means less irons in the fire. So, stay tuned, you know I'll keep you posted. Lesson #2. Self-care is critical but it’s hard to do. Raise your hand if you’ve discussed self-care with your clients this year? Ok now raise your other hand if you’ve put your own self-care on the back burner. Because I've got both up and I’m waving them wildly! Over the summer I realized I had to get more intentional with my self care. The first thing I did was take Facebook off my phone. That was a self-care gift I didn't know I needed until I did it. I do love connecting and networking with friends and peers, but that algorithm is just too much. I finally realized that it wasn’t good for my mood or energy. So, I just deleted it one day. Poof. Gone. I’ve also cut back on the amount of news I take in too. I also started walking. I sit so much, and my body was starting to revolt. My tight hips and hamstrings were constantly barking at me. One day I just went for a walk, and it was an instant mood and energy boost. Yes, I’ve added a stretching routine too. Speaking of exercise, I get asked a lot about what I do for workouts. I lift weights 3-4 days a week and I walk. Here’s the workout plan I follow if you’re curious.  Self-care also means eating nutritious foods and taking my vitamins. Staying away from processed foods and sugar means I’ll sleep better, have more energy plus my skin glows when I eat whole foods. Speaking of glowing skin and energy, here’s my current favorite breakfast - unsweetened almond milk, vanilla protein powder, mixed frozen berries, banana, coconut oil and frozen spinach or kale, a few ice cubes and blend it up. Fills me up for hours and helps me reach my nutrition goals.  I’ve also been sticking to a sleep schedule and less time watching netflix during the week before going to bed. Sticking to my sleep schedule means sticking to my wake-up time. I get up by 5am and either get a workout in or work on the podcast. I find the early am hours to be my best time to focus and create podcast content. I love getting up early and getting stuff done, it helps me get a jump start on my day and I check things off the list. Plus, it’s super quiet in the house. I’m really liking the self-care schedule I have set up right now. Other things I do for my self-care: I get a facial every month, I limit my alcohol consumption to 1-2 adult beverages a week, drink my water, keep my boundaries in check, say no to things. The 3rd Lesson. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s ok. This is an idea that in the past I would say yet didn’t truly understand the full meaning of it until this year. What changed? 2020 happened and we had to make decisions for ourselves and kids that not everyone agreed with. My people pleasing ways would come out and I’d bend over backwards to explain our decisions to others. I would find myself worked up and emotionally flooded and I'd start to second guess my values, ideas and beliefs. Whoa. This is not the person I’ve worked hard to become. It’s ok we’re different. It’s ok that not everyone is going to like me. This year made me realize that I have to stop hiding myself because there are people out there who get me and want to be a part of my life and my community. I asked a few people in my community what 2021 taught them and here is what they shared: Damien Hatfield, Owner of RA Martial Arts in the UK shared: "I am not an Island" I have an amazing team and I need to allow them to help. Nature of a control freak I'm afraid.  Yes! I love this! Damien, thank you for sharing. Working so much in the details of your business may not allow you to use your skills to grow the business. Delegate the tasks that keep you from reaching your business goals.  Tosha Rollins of the Autism in Action Podcast said her goal for 2022 is to simplify and streamline and put herself first to increase successful outcomes. I’m excited for her! I wonder what this will look like for her. Maybe it’s setting up new systems. Perhaps it’s setting boundaries with her work? Self-care may be something she’s referring to as well. What we do know is that when we neglect our own needs, we just aren’t as productive or helpful for others.  So, looking forward to 2022 here are a few things I’m committing to doing. First is to grow my business with less time on social media. We’ve been told over and over again that we must have a social media presence. But I am beginning to see that less is more. In the past I had been taught (and was teaching) that we had to post 3-5 times a day to get visible. I’m here to bust that myth and also apologize to everyone I said that too! Yes, it’s important but we don’t need to be a slave to sharing content to get seen. It’s more about creating valuable content that your audience wants to see. What does that mean for me? More podcasts and blogging and less time fighting the algorithms.  Speaking of blogging, I have my blog up and running on my site. I’m planning to blog at least once a week and I’ll cover a variety of things so be sure to check it out.  I’ll also be doing more solo episodes. Don’t worry I’ll still be interviewing therapists and other helping professionals; I’ll just be spending some more time teaching what I’m learning about growing my business and podcast.  So, what are your biggest lessons from 2021? And what are you looking forward to in 2022? Send me a DM on Instagram or an email - I’d love to hear from you.  Related podcasts and blog posts: Creating a Self Care Plan for Your Practice and Life How to Move Through Burnout and Compassion Fatigue With Sherry Collier How To Avoid How To Avoid Burnout And Overwhelm Beat Burnout While Working In Community Mental Health With Rose Skeeters Therapist Self Care During A Pandemic: How are YOU doing? Living In The Land Of Possibilities with Bill O'Hanlon The Magic in Asking the Right Questions With Bill Mayer Your Focus Determines Your Direction with Dr. Seth Scott Building Resilience - The Stoic Way With William B. Irvine The Best Tips For Starting A Side Gig With Melvin Varghese PhD Energize Your Work & Office With Feng Shui With Patricia Lohan Psychedelics, Burnout & Pivoting Your Skill Set with Dr. Steve Thayer Side Gigs For Therapists That Have Nothing To Do With Therapy With Lisa Mustard Stuck In a Therapist Rut? Feeling burnt out? Unfulfilled? Are you a therapist who is thinking about leaving the field? Or maybe you’re unsure what your next gig needs to be? I may be able to help. Work with me one on one. Schedule a free consultation here.  Need continuing education contact hours? If so, I got you!  I have 9 Podcourses available for your listening and learning pleasure! You can find them on my site and get your first one FREE! (And did you know I’m a NBCC approved provider?)  I’ve made it my mission to provide you with continuing education that fits your busy lifestyle. No more having to sit in front of a computer to obtain your contact hours. You can listen to the Podcourses in between sessions, on your commute, while you walk your dog or make dinner! Just head to my site to check them all out.  This episode brought to you by: Want to be more comfortable while sitting on the therapist couch? I sure did and went looking for athleisure wear and activewear that was soft, wrinkle resistant and would match just about anything I already had in my closet. I wanted stylish and high-quality apparel that wouldn't break my bank account. And now Zyia Active makes up about 80% of my wardrobe. Want to learn more? Head to lisamustard.com/active-wear. Don’t think this is just for women, they have men’s and kids’ clothes too. Our family is loving the styles and quality while I love the price tags! So, head over to my site to check it out. ZYIA is available in the US and Canada (and coming very soon to Australia!). My current faves for work: the everywhere pants and peak joggers. and parallel tanks. And I love these black leggings for any type of workout. Sign up here to receive the latest activewear releases, restocks, customer appreciation specials and offers. Take my Activewear Personality Quiz! It’s fun and fast and tells you what you should wear based upon your preferred ways of getting fit. 

Why a side gig to begin with? Want an extra stream of income. Want to pursue other passions/interests. Feeling burnt out and wanting to test the waters of what else is out there. I truly love what I do in my day job, however at times I get burnt out and need to switch gears to challenge myself and use other parts of my brain to keep things fresh and interesting. I have 2 stipulations for side gigs. I need to be able to do the gig anywhere and it can’t interfere with my family time. Why those 2 things? When I was truly burnt out a few years ago, I finally realized that to stay in a healthier mind set I had to get real about my priorities and values. After a lot of exploration with my life coach, 2 main themes or values emerged: family first or focus and time freedom. By the way, if you're struggling with burn out and want to explore the reasons behind it, I may be able to help you. My life coaching is geared towards helping you live your best life and that means getting crystal clear on how congruent you are living out your highest values. Some people don’t even know what their values are. If that’s you, let’s connect and see if I'm a fit to help you. Schedule a free consultation here.  I went on the hunt once for the best side gigs for me now that I knew what I needed in terms of lifestyle. I knew the gigs would appear now that I had my values on the forefront of my mind. The first gig I tried was a part time therapist with an online counseling service. I know I said this was going to be about not doing therapy as a side gig but stay with me as there’s more to it. I started taking clients on an online counseling platform in the summer of 2018. I was booked up quickly. I really enjoyed the work and the variety of issues I was working with was really cool and at one point I even thought about moving to full time with them, however that’s when I started to come up with the therapy show idea. As much as I liked the online counseling, I couldn’t keep it up if I wanted to start the podcast, but before I left, I knew I needed another source of income to help pay for the podcast. So, I went looking! Enter interest and passion #1 - fitness!  I love working out and of course to do so, I need activewear. I interviewed at a retail store, and it was a no go because of my values, family and time freedom. As much as I wanted to say YES, I ended up turning it down.  But the seed was planted so I got on google and on page 3 or 4 of my search I came across the idea to be a brand rep. I was instantly intrigued and started to do my research and a few days later I signed up and began my home based activewear business.  What else gets you excited? Makeup, jewelry, organic healthy household items, health and wellness supplements, books - are there opportunities out there for you to rep a brand and earn some side money?  Yes, a lot of these opportunities are direct sales models yet there are plenty of affiliate opportunities out there as well. Before you go poo pooing on these models realize that they are legitimate and can be very lucrative if you have the right mindset and a work ethic. Consistency and perseverance are needed to be successful in these gigs.  I love and live in leggings so it’s an easy yes for me. People are always asking me where I get my leggings (or tank top or jacket or joggers) from and all I do is refer them to my website.  Here's another side gig that I've found to be fun and a way to use the creative side of my brain - Tales.com. Tales is a company that interviews your loved ones and delivers a professionally produced, private podcast episode so you'll have their stories forever. This has been the perfect side gig for me. I love talking with people and hearing their stories, love asking questions and going deeper, love building relationships and giving space for others to share, and I love that family members have their own private podcast. I wish Tales had been around when my grandparents were still here. Why do I love tales? Checks both boxes of family first and time freedom. Tales work around my schedule in setting up the interviews. Once I give them my schedule for the week, they set up the interviews which last about 35-40 minutes. Will you get rich off of tales? Probably not but you will love this gig if you love people and building relationships.  And working with tales has made me a better therapist, storyteller, listener and human.  I mentioned you may not get rich off of being a tales interviewer but what if it opened up other doors and opportunities for you? Think about that for a little bit - other solutions and possibilities may appear for you. I love that mindset and it’s my default these days. The cool part is that Tales is hiring! Here's a short description of the interviewer position: Tales.com is looking for part-time podcast interviewers to speak with our customers about a subject of their choice - most often about their life stories. Interviewers are matched with our customers to conduct remote interviews that are generally 30-35 minutes in length over the phone or over Zoom. Ideal interviewers embody the below characteristics: - Good listener - Empathetic and non-judgmental - Curious about other people – even those they’ve never met - Have a feel for storytelling and how to guide guests through an interview in a way that makes sense (our pre-interview questionnaire we send to our guests helps facilitate this) - Bonus points if you have experience interviewing others or a background in audio storytelling Interviewers must have their own professional-grade audio equipment and have familiarity with Zoom.  If you’re a podcaster, this could be a natural fit for you. And if you’re not a podcaster, you’ve already got the skills as a therapist. Email Spencer to learn more - s (at) tales (dot) com. [email protected] Another side gig that is interesting is Upwork. Upwork is the world's largest freelance talent marketplace. Their vision is to connect businesses with great talent faster than ever before. I have found some cool and interesting side gigs on Upwork: Blog writer Social media coordinator Content creator Narrator Editor Life coach Website creator/developer Researcher And much more Yes, you need some specialized skills for these positions however they are also looking for entry level freelancers. Once you set up your profile it’s possible you will get invitations to apply for freelance positions. I've received requests to submit proposals for relationship coach, writer, reviewer mental health information for accuracy, just to name a few. There are other freelance marketplaces out there, but I don’t know much about them. An internet search is all you need to find out what other sites are out there.  So, these are my favorite side gigs I've found so far. Others I've considered, dog walker (I love to get my steps in) there’s a site -https://wagwalking.com/dog-walker that you can check out. Hanging out with dogs and walking are 2 of my favorite things. Personal trainer/group fitness instructor. I've thought about these over the years and even thought about being an online trainer. Nowadays you can write programs or do virtual workout sessions. If you love fitness and health, this could be a great fit for you. You definitely will need and want specialized training. Of course, there are the go-tos that therapists often consider when they are looking for a side gig that takes them away from their clinical roles yet still allows them to use specialized skills - coaching, course creator, consultant. While I love these side gigs as options, you may need a guide or mentor to help you get these gigs off the ground. Not everyone needs a mentor to figure out the coaching, course creating and consulting worlds, but it does shorten your learning curve and saves you valuable time. There are plenty of coaches out there who can help you, even therapists turned coaches who offer programs.  So, there you have it. My ideas for side gigs that have nothing (or at least not as much!) to do with therapy. Take what you like and leave what you don't. These are just a few things I've looked into and considered over the years. If none of these ideas resonate with you that’s ok because there are endless possibilities out there. What I would suggest is figuring out your highest priorities and then identifying your interests and passions. Like I mentioned earlier, mine are family first and time freedom so any opportunities I look at need to check both boxes. If the gigs don’t check these boxes, then it’s a NO for me.  Stuck In a Therapist Rut? Feeling burnt out? Unfulfilled? Are you a therapist who is thinking about leaving the field? Or maybe you’re unsure what your next gig needs to be? I may be able to help. Work with me one on one. Schedule a free consultation here.  Need continuing education contact hours? If so, I got you!  I have 9 Podcourses available for your listening and learning pleasure! You can find them on my site and get your first one FREE! (And did you know I’m a NBCC approved provider?)  I’ve made it my mission to provide you with continuing education that fits your busy lifestyle. No more having to sit in front of a computer to obtain your contact hours. You can listen to the Podcourses in between sessions, on your commute, while you walk your dog or make dinner! Just head to my site to check them all out.  This episode brought to you by: Want to be more comfortable while sitting on the therapist couch? I sure did and went looking for athleisure wear and activewear that was soft, wrinkle resistant and would match just about anything I already had in my closet. I wanted stylish and high-quality apparel that wouldn't break my bank account. And now Zyia Active makes up about 80% of my wardrobe. Want to learn more? Head to lisamustard.com/active-wear. Don’t think this is just for women, they have men’s and kids’ clothes too. Our family is loving the styles and quality while I love the price tags! So, head over to my site to check it out. ZYIA is available in the US and Canada (and coming very soon to Australia!). My current faves for work: the everywhere pants and peak joggers. and parallel tanks. And I love these black leggings for any type of workout. Sign up here to receive the latest activewear releases, restocks, customer appreciation specials and offers. I am an affiliate and receive a commission if you decide to purchase from the above links.