Staffing stress? You’re not on your Pat Malone! Many of you have recently brought on your first staff members, and I hear you. YOU. ARE. STRESSED. Building a team can be a truly exciting and rewarding time in any business, but it often comes with traumatic growth on the part of the business owner. This isn’t because you’re a bad leader or a bad business owner … You’re a great “technician” (skilled clinician, in the case of most of my clients), with no training on how to recruit and retain staff or how to build a great team culture.  You’re so great at what you do, that you’ve built a wond ..read more

Why exactly am I so excited? Well some of it is a secret for now, but here’s what I can tell you … EXCITING NEWS! In addition to new online courses (announcement coming next week), I’m putting together a series of in-person events in Melbourne! It’s been such an incredibly long time since I’ve been able to run workshops, and I can’t wait to get back into that space again.  I’m planning something incredibly spoiling … think stunning views, expert catering, and a whole day of indulgence (which is how I think of time spent working ON our businesses instead of IN our businesses).  If you ..read more

This week I’ve been speaking about this with my Like A Boss members (in BIG detail) and also introduced the concept to my No Quarter members. The key issues everyone is weighed down by seem to be: (i) A need to work “smarter-not-harder” after our past brutal couple of years; (ii) The need for several changes to how their businesses function in order to achieve this (time management, fee structure, recruitment, etc); and then (iii) complete overwhelm at how much work needs to be done with so little time and energy.   But here’s what’s a given … no one will achieve anything if their diary d ..read more

What’s it like to be a member of Like A Boss? Well, for starters the retreats are just magic - so much work ON your business, so much support, so much problem solving! This is Day Two of our current retreat, and this one’s a hybrid with some members on-site and some members zooming in. And it’s still magic! I’m only admitting ONE more member to this special group this year, so if you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge and joining us, now's the time to reach out. Visit https://bit.ly/LikeABossInfo for more details, or send me a message, I’m happy to answer all your questions.   Tin ..read more

You already know what works to put you into a better frame of mind. Do more of that. And if you can’t find motivation, override it and take opposite action. * Don’t feel like walking? Go anyway. * Not in the mood to talk to anyone? Call a friend. * Feeling miserable? Watch a movie that always makes you laugh. You get the idea. You know what works for you. It’s just that sometimes we just can’t be arsed, right? Decide. Then do. Best wishes, Tess x p.s. If you need help with your mental health, my team at The Crawley Clinic (Melbourne and Launceston) can help - www.thecrawleyclinic.com.au - as c ..read more

One of the main stressors in modern life is not having enough hours in the day. Trying to juggle working from home and remote learning for those of us in lockdown magnifies the problem. It stirs up the background noise of stress around getting things done at all (let alone on time). How’s your email inbox looking? What about your bills? How are you juggling remote schooling? I find the biggest time bandits in my day are common to most people: * Distraction (including constant interruptions) * Procrastination (including social media) * Perfectionism (not getting anything finished unless it’s “g ..read more

We all need to feel seen and heard, especially when times are tough. We need to know that when we’re struggling, others see our pain. This provides validation that what we are experiencing is real. We also need to know that our reaction to difficult times is not “crazy”, but a normal response that anyone in the same situation would also experience. This helps normalise our response and take some of the self-judgement out of the equation. As mental health professionals normalising and validating peoples emotional experiences is a common aspect to our work with clients. It’s not a ‘treatment’ bu ..read more

One of the easiest things we can do to improve the moment we are in (which can have the added benefit of refreshing our mood) is to grab a reset minute. What’s that? Something super simple that creates a pattern-interrupt when you’re in a bit of a mood fug. Even something as simple as changing your posture or vocalising can do it. * If you’ve been sitting at your desk and feel your forehead  stuck in a frown, stand up and give yourself a bit of a shake. It will reset you physically and refresh you mentally. * The same with vocalising - Been working silently for a while? Sing. Or yell. Or ..read more

October is mental health awareness month. I’ve decided to bring some of my top tips for maintaining good mental health. A bit like cleaning your teeth to avoid decay, there are little things we can do each day to reset, refresh, and manage our moods. Today’s tip is GROUNDING … What does this mean? If we think of how our emotions have the occasional potential to spiral out of control, escalating higher and higher into the stratosphere, it can be really helpful to know how to head off that process and keep your mods grounded on planet earth. There are many ways to achieve this, and I’ll talk abo ..read more

It was so exciting to be interviewed by the wonderful Gerda Muller about the forthcoming Elevate 2021 conference, where I’ll be speaking on the topic of #CEOMindset. Can’t wait!  Elevate 2021 is the Private Practice Success Conference for Allied Health & Mental Health Professionals scheduled for 15th & 16th September 2021. Details at: www.elevateconference.com.au/2021 ..read more