Episode Summary

It’s the final full week of the year—and maybe, like me, you’re feeling both reflective and ready for some real rest. In this more personal episode, I’m sharing how choosing presence over performance has shaped my holiday season, my home, and my business.

If you’ve felt pressure to do more in your marketing (especially during the holidays), I invite you to consider a different approach. One that’s rooted in simplicity, intention, and a foundation that actually supports the business—and life—you want to build.

You won’t find any complicated strategies here. Just a warm reflection on what it looks like to step back, strip away the extras, and focus on what matters most.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this episode:

1️⃣ Why more marketing “twinkle lights” won’t fix a practice built on shaky foundations

2️⃣ How I created more joy this season by saying no—and what that might look like in your own business

3️⃣ The difference between marketing as performance vs. marketing from a place of trust and clarity

Resources & Links Mentioned:

1. Join the Confident Copy waitlist for early access and an extra discount: walkerstrategyco.com/waitlist
2. Take the 2025 State of the Industry Survey (open through Dec 31): walkerstrategyco.com/survey
3. The Walker Strategy Co website: walkerstrategyco.com

Connect + Subscribe

Enjoying the podcast? Subscribe so you never miss an episode—and feel free to share it with a fellow therapist who’s building their private practice.

Explore more marketing support for therapists: The Walker Strategy Co website

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.

Hey everyone.

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Here we are.

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The week of Christmas, the

final, full week of the year.

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Hmm, isn't that crazy?

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This episode isn't gonna

be anything super tactical.

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We're not getting deep into

strategy here, but I hope to

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offer perhaps a few reflections

you can take into your holiday.

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To take into 2026 and to just be

marinating on, as we say around my

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team as you head into the new year.

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Now if you're like me, the week

between Christmas and New Year's is.

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Mostly about sitting around eating more

cheese than I probably need to, trying

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to find ways to get outta the house

'cause I get a little bit stir crazy.

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But it's also a really beautiful

time if you let it be right.

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A time that is reflective, a

time that offers you a bit of

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a natural pause in your rhythm.

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And I think in the past I haven't

appreciated that enough, but the fact

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is that the holidays fly by Hanukkah's

already over, if you celebrate Hanukkah,

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Christmas is about to become and gone.

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New Year's is basically upon us

and it feels like just yesterday

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we were celebrating Thanksgiving.

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Right?

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It's just a handful of weeks every year.

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For me this year has thankfully

felt a lot different.

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Different in a good way,

intentionally different in both my

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personal and my professional life.

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This holiday season, I have chosen

presence, literal presence with a

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CE over performance and simplifying

our life, our schedule, instead

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of adding to it in this time.

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And I love what it's done for

myself, for my family, for my team

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as a result of those decisions.

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Now, I've mentioned previously that our

family lives in Colorado and we're here

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in Nashville, Tennessee, and this is

a year we don't travel for Christmas.

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It's going to be the first year that

my kids get to wake up at home in

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the new home we purchased in 2024.

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So it's our first Christmas here and

the idea of not having to go anywhere.

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I mentioned to my husband as I was

getting ready this morning how glad

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I was that we didn't have to be

packing up to go somewhere right now.

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Knowing that we just get to be has really

allowed me to kind of sink into this

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season in a way I often don't get to.

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I've also been really intentional

about our space and creating a home

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that feels just special to be in.

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I'm sitting here recording this podcast

episode in my office and I have a little

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Christmas tree whose lights are on?

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They're on throughout my entire workday.

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And this window looks out at the

street and coming home, even when

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it's dark out and seeing this

little Christmas tree lit up.

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It's those little things, right?

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And it's not for the sake of Instagram.

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No one in Instagram knows this Christmas

tree exists, but it does something

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for me and creating this environment.

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We put on Christmas music every

night while we make dinner.

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It creates something for me.

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It creates something for my

family, and it's not flashy.

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It's not overdone, but just focused on

being, I think there's a lot of pressure

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on moms, so if you're a mom listening,

you know this to create Christmas magic

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for your family and for your kids.

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And this year I just kind of trusted that

that magic didn't have to be anything big.

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We tried to do something Christmasy

each weekend as a family, even

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if that's just driving around and

looking at lights or baking some

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cookies or something like that.

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And for me, I have felt more aware.

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This holiday season has gone slower

for me than in any year I can

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remember ever since I was a kid.

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When you're a kid, Christmas seems to

last forever, but in my adult life,

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this is truly the first season that

I've soaked it up and I think it has

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been a result of making these decisions.

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Not adding more, not doing more things

or adding more magic, but just choosing

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what mattered and letting that be enough.

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I mentioned that this shift has occurred

for me both personally and professionally

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this year and back in January , I

decided we were going to close between

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Christmas and New Year's for the

very first time, Walker Strategy Co.

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Our offices would actually close,

and here we are on the cusp of that.

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Today, the day that this episode

is going live is our final day

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in the office until the new year.

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I've owned Walker Strategy

Co for six and a half years.

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For about three of those

years, it was just me.

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And then since then, I have grown an

incredible team of women who support

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me in those six and a half years.

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I have never closed for

longer than a long weekend.

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I've never taken this much time off.

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Even when I was on maternity

leave, I was available to my team.

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That's a big deal for me, and

I'm equal parts excited and a

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little bit nervous about this.

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I also have to make clear that this isn't

just happening In the same way that I

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made some intentional decisions about

our home life this holiday season, I

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also had to make some serious decisions.

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About the business.

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So we've had a lot of planning.

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There are some systems in place,

and at the end of the day, there's

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just gotta be some trust in the

foundation of what we've built.

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Things are gonna be okay

and nothing's gonna break.

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The business will be fine.

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And now I get to gift myself

and my team rest like true.

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Rest,

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An opportunity to recharge

and to come back refreshed.

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And there's some sacrifices

certainly that go into this.

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We've had to turn down a couple

of projects and move some things

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around, but it's in service

to our wellbeing as a team.

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And we're only able to do that

because of the strength of

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the foundation we've built.

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Stepping Away doesn't feel as

risky, although, like I mentioned,

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I am a little bit nervous.

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It feels earned and supported

instead of anxious here.

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And that's a really cool feeling.

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So that's why as I reflect on this

holiday season, I think I've been able

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to be more present and enjoy it more.

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Is because I got back to basics.

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I got back to basics.

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Personally, I am getting back

to basics professionally.

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I wonder if there's something in

there for you to reflect on in your

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own life or in your own practice.

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I see a lot of you wanting

to add more Christmasy things

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to your marketing, right?

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You're wanting more decoration,

more twinkle lights.

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Another platform, another

post, another strategy.

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I was just talking to a clinician

earlier this week who talked about how

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early in her practice she felt like

she had to do literally everything.

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She had her hands in every possible

strategy you could imagine,

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but just like getting back to basics

at home, there's an opportunity here

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for you to get back to basics too.

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Because if your foundation of your

practice isn't solid, then it all starts

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to feel really cluttered and it starts

to feel overwhelming instead of joyful.

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What if your practice could be joyful?

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And sometimes it can feel like more

of a performance than it is a presence

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in something that you are creating

and you should feel proud of like

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you're putting on a show or a facade.

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Instead of building something truly

authentic and sustainable for you,

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you and I both know that

decorations don't matter if the

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house doesn't feel good to be in.

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Does your practice feel good to be in?

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Do you trust the bones and the foundation,

the basics of what you've created?

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Or have you just been trying to string

twinkle lights around something that

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you don't actually enjoy twinkle, like

they can't fix a shaky foundation.

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In my experience, most therapists

don't need more marketing ideas.

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They don't need more Christmas-y things.

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They know what they should

probably do, and fundamentally,

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they need that foundation that

actually holds everything together.

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Often, that's your website.

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It's what gives your marketing

a solid place to land for your

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clients, for your strategy.

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A place that you can trust.

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Your website is where trust is built.

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It's where clarity either happens or

doesn't for your clients and even for you.

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We know that when that is clear.

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When you get back to basics and the

basics perform well for you, that your

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marketing feels simpler, that you don't

have to perform as much, that you can

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enjoy what you've built far, far more.

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And when it's not, everything

feels loud, everything feels

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urgent, and you keep adding those

decorations, hoping it will help.

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I heard from a confident copy student.

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Just this morning, who said you honestly

saved my practice with that program?

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I was feeling defeated, not enjoying

what I was doing, and feared.

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I made the biggest mistake of my

life going into private practice.

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I learned I was marketing myself

wrong, taking the wrong clients

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for me, and that when you get it

right, everything about running

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your practice doesn't feel so hard.

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She was building a house she didn't

enjoy living in, but once she changed

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that, everything else changed too.

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It got easier.

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She started to enjoy the clients

that she was working with and

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she started to get more of them.

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I don't know, I just can't help but

think that there's a lesson here.

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Do you like the house you're building?

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And if not, how can we change that?

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How can you become more present

in this business you're creating

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in 2026, and resist that urge for

more decorations when maybe the

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foundation is what needs attention.

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In the same way that we've said no

to a couple of gatherings or partings

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this year, in order to just be together

and decorate some cookies at home.

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What could you be saying no to and how

might that ultimately serve the end

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goal of what it is that you're building?

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I've mentioned that our confident

copy wait list is open, and as

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part of reopening confident copy,

we always put on an incredible,

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if I do say so myself, workshop.

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So we're bringing back clear website,

full caseload, which is one of our.

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Most popular workshops we've ever done,

and as part of that, I get to bring

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in our state of the industry data.

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We've had over 500 therapists take

our state of the industry survey.

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If you haven't, you can still jump over

there, walker strategy co.com/survey

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through the end of the month.

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But after the year wraps my first.

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Project when I get back into the office

is going to be analyzing that state

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of the industry data so that I can

bring to you the trends, the data,

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what we're actually seeing for 2026.

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And that is going to be shared in that

clear website, full caseload workshop.

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So in addition to showing you how to

build that foundation for your practice,

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I also get to share with you the actual

numbers of what we're seeing, the trends,

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what's changed, what hasn't, and what

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about building a house you like to be in.

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It'll be a great opportunity for a January

reset and to really just strip things

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back to the basics in order to make sure

that those are performing well for you

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before you go and add more twinkle lights.

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And of course, if you are interested in

joining the wait list for the reopening

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of Confident Copy next month, which

will follow our Clear website, full

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caseload workshop, please do that.

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You secure early access and an

extra discount on top of what

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we're already offering publicly.

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You can hop on there walker

strategy code.com/waitlist.

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A bit of a shorter episode here

today, but hopefully, like I

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said, you get something here.

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It has your gears turning

in one direction or another.

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Maybe it's on the personal side of things.

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Maybe there's an invitation here to

slow down on that side of your life and

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maybe it does relate to your practice.

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I hope that whatever it is that you're

thinking about and in whatever direction

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your gears are turning in right now, that

it encourages you to choose what really

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matters, and to let simple be enough

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Enjoyment and fulfillment so often

come from getting back to the basics,

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from stripping away what isn't

working so that you can truly enjoy

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what it is that you've created.

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You're building a business, something that

should serve you, your family, your goals,

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not just now, but for years to come.

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And in order to do that, often getting

back to what you know works, making

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sure that foundation is sturdy,

that is the best place to start.

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I do have an episode coming out

right before the new year next

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week , so this is not my final episode

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Thank you for being here.

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If you told me a year ago

that I had launched a podcast,

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I wouldn't believe you.

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This is not where I expected

to be, but man, this podcast

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has been such a gift to me.

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So thank you for being

here, for listening.

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I hope it's useful for you that it

offers even just a little bit of

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encouragement or comfort, that you're

not alone, that you're seen, that

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you're valued for the work that you do.

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And I hope you're giving yourself

some permission to rest here

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in these next couple of weeks.

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Like I said, I'll be back for one

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you celebrate Christmas, a Merry

Christmas to you, a happy holidays,

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and I'll talk to you next week.