67. How Radical Responsibility Can Boost Your Time Management

In today's episode, I'm sharing the concept of radical responsibility and exploring how it can transform your time management and overall well-being as an SLP, PT, or private practice owner. Learn what radical responsibility means, how it empowers you, and practical steps to start taking ownership of your circumstances. Join the SLP Support Group for more insights and updates on upcoming events. Ready to shift your perspective from feeling helpless to being empowered? Let's go!

Time Stamps:

00:00 Welcome to Episode 67

00:42 Recap of September Lunch and Learn

01:55 Introduction to Radical Responsibility

02:49 Defining Radical Responsibility

05:09 Client Story: Applying Radical Responsibility

08:04 Empowerment Through Radical Responsibility

10:24 Practical Applications for SLPs

13:16 Challenges and Overcoming Obstacles

22:44 Taking Ownership in Personal and Professional Life

24:14 Conclusion and Next Steps

Are you sick and tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the things? I can help. Schedule a free consult today.

Come join the SLP Support Group on Facebook for more tips and tricks!

Follow me on Instagram! @theresamharp

Learn more about Theresa Harp Coaching here.

Transcript

Hello, podcast listeners. Welcome back to the show. This is episode 67, and I'm recording both on video and audio. So for those of you who are watching, welcome. For those of you who are listening in, welcome as well. Happy to have you here. If by the way, you want to be able to watch These videos for those of you who are more of a visual person, you can access these in the SLP support group.

That's where I share them for Facebook group members. So make sure you click the link in the show notes to join the SLP Support Group. And I'm recording this episode shortly after finishing our September Lunch and Learn all about procrastination, it was really fun. I was so excited to meet other clinicians who maybe I've [00:01:00] seen before.

their names or, um, yeah, seen their names or, or sort of comments pop up in the SLP Support Group, but hadn't had the opportunity to meet them face to face or, you know, screen to screen. And then also there were current clients who came, former clients who came as well. So it was just a really good opportunity to talk through procrastination, how we think about it, and, And that sort of common denominator that we busy clinicians all struggle with and really talk through some strategies of how to manage it.

So it was really, really fun. I will be doing another Lunch and Learn at some point. I plan to do one more before the end of the calendar year, so I have not decided exactly when that's going to be or what the topic is, but stay tuned. I will absolutely keep you posted. But today! We're talking about this concept of [00:02:00] radical responsibility, and I'm going to walk you through what it means, why it's relevant, and how it will help you as an SLP or a PTOT, private practice owner, regardless of what it.

capacity or setting you work in, how this concept of radical responsibility can help you in terms of time management and overall just general well being. And I want to be really clear, this concept, it's not my concept, this is not my term at all, so in case you haven't heard this Phrase before Radical Responsibility, it was, I believe it was, it's credited to an author by the name of Fleet Mall, M A U L L, I believe.

Um, and the way that I would define it based on sort of Dr. Mall's sort [00:03:00] of overview of Radical Responsibility, This, what I'm going to talk about today is sort of my interpretation, my perspective of radical responsibility, so I just wanted to make that really clear before I dive in, but the way that I think of radical responsibility is taking action.

ownership, like maximum ownership and authority over as much as you possibly can. Not saying micromanaging. I'm not saying be a control freak. I'm not saying that you need to do everything yourself. That's not at all what this is about. Instead, radical responsibility is. is, in my opinion, the belief or the approach that you take responsibility over circumstances, over your thoughts, over your opinions, over your perspectives.

You take responsibility for your [00:04:00] beliefs, for your actions, and then for your results. Okay. Now, I think that for some people, if you sort of take this out of context, or if you take this and use it against yourself, it can be very easy to say that this is something, this is a concept that is maybe unfair for certain people, like without getting into all of social injustice and equity and all of that, I really want you to look at this through the lens of you as an SLP.

And you as a mom or you as a daughter or you as a son or you as a whoever you are, whatever you identify as, whatever sort of your self imposed labels are, you know, your roles, all of that, okay, thinking of how being radically responsible for what is [00:05:00] happening to you, by you, for you, around you can actually empower you.

That's really the idea. Now I'll share a little story without giving too much away. I, the reason why this is top of mind, I had a session with a client, a coaching client earlier, and we were talking about a specific situation, a family situation, where She was feeling like she didn't have control. It was this situation that she had sort of been placed in, if you will.

And she, we had, we have a goal, right? I, she and I, we have set a goal. And, I asked her, she was talking about some situation unrelated in, um, in our coaching session. And I asked her, well, how does this situation relate to your goal, to the goal that we are [00:06:00] working towards? What is the connection here? And basically she was like, well, I'm not going to be able to hit my goal because of, because of this situation that I'm in, like, this is, this is what situation is with my family.

And unless like, Something changes. I'm probably not going to be able to meet my goal. And when I was coaching her on that, we first looked at, okay, well, how much of that is true? How much of this scenario is factual, like, outside of your control, and will truly prevent you from hitting your goal? And then if, in fact, this is true, and you can't necessarily Change the scenario.

What can you control? It seems like you were talking about the things that you cannot control right now, but what are the things that you can control? Focus on the controllables. So we started talking about that, and The [00:07:00] way the words that she was using and the way that she was talking it clearly her brain was still in this sort of victim mentality like this is happening to me and I can't do anything about it and I hear this and I see this a lot in our field.

I see this where clinicians are saying or SLP's are saying things like. This is what, this is how it is when you work in a school, or this is what I signed up for, or, well, you know, I've got too many cases, too many clients, and I don't have time built in for lunch, or breaks, or whatever, and you know, that's just the way it goes.

And to me, that implies if you are unhappy with that situation, and usually most People are when they're talking about it. To me, that implies a perspective that there's nothing that can be done about it. And I want to [00:08:00] offer when we think about this concept of radical responsibility. It, if you start to shift the way that you think and the way that you see certain scenarios and circumstances in your life, it get, it can get you out of that sort of victim mentality and into action, empowered action into agency, right?

We go from sort of external locus of control to internal locus of control. So what can you yourself control? in my opinion, is empowering. That is something that is productive. That's something that is to your benefit, rather than staying in this place of, well, it is what it is. If you're not happy about it, you saying it is what it is, implies that.

You are going to choose to do nothing about it. [00:09:00] And what I would offer is that even if it's a scenario that you absolutely cannot change, there's always something that you can take control over. And at a bare minimum, that is the way that you think about it. So if nothing else, if you can change nothing else about a scenario, if you're in a situation where you feel really helpless, where you feel stuck, where you feel like there's no way out, one thing that you can still control is the way that you think about it.

Now that's where coaching comes in. This is exactly what we do in coaching sessions is I, if I teach clients, I coach clients how to make those changes, how to change the way that you think, how to change your perspective about situations. It's not easy. It's not like you just flip a switch and then you can do it and you can do it always and everything's great and it's rainbows and butterflies.

No, it's a work in progress, [00:10:00] right? It takes practice. It takes effort. It takes review. It takes support. It takes accountability, but it's absolutely possible. It's possible. You hear the dog. I'm surprised he didn't come down to say hello yet. So don't mind him. Anyway, so back to radical responsibility, right?

It's where you are identifying what you can control. Now, what does this have to do with you as an SLP, with what you can do as a private practice owner, a clinician, uh, how, you know, whatever you, however you identify. So a few things that I want to share now. When we're thinking about time management, right?

If you begin to adopt this philosophy of radical responsibility. It will shift the way you spend your time. You start to realize [00:11:00] that you are in control over your time, at least far more than you think you are when you are operating outside of the lens of radical responsibility. Things that you can control include how much time you spend on certain activities as an SLP.

You can control. In many cases, when you're working on those things, you can control boundaries, you can set boundaries and put a delegation in place, you can outsource, you can make many different shifts to the way you spend your time, to the quantity of time, to the quality of time. Because instead of saying something like, oh, I don't have time for that, or, uh, I wish I could do that, but.

Um, you know, there's just not enough time or. I would love to spend, you know, [00:12:00] hours planning out my sessions and feeling prepared for all of the intervention that I'm doing or providing in a week, but who can do that, right? Well, if you have radical responsibility, if you're taking radical responsibility and that is truly something that you want to spend your time on.

You will. You'll make changes. You'll focus on the things that you can cut out. You'll focus on the shifts that you can make in terms of what maybe you can give to somebody else to do, or what you can ask for help with, or whatever. Maybe you'll have conversations with colleagues or supervisors or staff or contractors about who's working on what and when and how or what's our process, what's our procedure, things like that.

So it becomes a sort of game of, well, [00:13:00] I'm not prioritizing that right now, rather than I don't have the time for that. Or I don't I'm not in charge of my calendar, right? It puts the control back in your hands, which can be very empowering. Now, if it were that easy, everyone would do this, right? If it were as simple as just.

identifying that you have more control than you do and starting to exercise that control, then everyone would do this and no one would be complaining about the time that they have or the time that they don't have. The reason why so many people don't do this or struggle with how to do this is because it can be uncomfortable.

Usually, I'm generalizing here, but usually in our fields, We tend to be people pleasers. We tend to be the people that say yes to things. [00:14:00] We tend to be the helpers and the givers and the doers. And when there's a situation where we say no, to something. We often feel that we have done something wrong. We have feelings of guilt, whether it's provider guilt or mom guilt or partner or spouse guilt, you know, comes in all different forms, right?

But, it often, if we're taking radical responsibility, it often requires us to have difficult conversations, to set boundaries, to tell people no, to cut people off, quite frankly. Excuse me, sorry to interrupt you, but I actually am in the middle of a session right now. I have to, you know, finish this up, or I'm in the middle of writing a report.

I would be happy to talk with you after. It's awkward, right? It's uncomfortable. It's stuff that we're not. overall, in general, very good at doing. It also [00:15:00] requires us, like I said before, to ask for help. Another thing that we aren't that great at doing, and I've heard this before, other SLPs will say, well, who am I asking for help?

I'm asking other SLPs who are also burnt out and stretched thin and overwhelmed. And so we don't want to put anything else on anyone else's plate. Right. But. What I want to offer is that when we start operating from a place of radical responsibility, we start to step up and have some difficult conversations and maybe take some quote unquote risks of offending someone or insulting someone or, you know, putting pressure on somebody.

Like, these are all the things that are the way that our brain interprets these situations. In many times, it's not at all perceived the way that we think it's going to be perceived. Most of this is in our head, but [00:16:00] I'm just, you know, going to try and meet you where you're at. Those are, you know, sort of the way that, those are the ways that we view it.

When we are taking radical responsibility, we start to practice doing things like that. We start to practice saying no to things that we are not willing or able to take on. We start setting boundaries with our families, who we treat. Or the clients who we treat and say, I'm sorry, but I don't, I don't treat clients or I don't provide intervention after such and such time of day, or I don't travel to that particular area.

It's just too far outside of my geographical footprint or. I would love to help take this case on, but it's really outside of my scope of practice or my area of interest or my area of, you know, skill set. Here are some people who could better serve you. [00:17:00] Right? These are the sorts of conversations that we work through in coaching sessions to help sort of empower other SLPs to have those difficult, quote unquote, awkward engagements, awkward conversations in order to start putting themselves first.

So back to the client who I mentioned earlier at the start of this episode. What I said to her was, after we talked through like, what can you take radical responsibility for, I said, it sounds like you would, if you were to take radical responsibility for this, it would mean having a somewhat difficult conversation with a family member.

And so if, instead of just sort of skirting around that, if we sort of address that and, and discuss it, then you can decide whether that's a conversation worth having. And if it is, great, then let's talk about that conversation and what it, how [00:18:00] you want it to go and what you want to say. If it's not a conversation that you're willing to have, then accept the responsibility for choosing this scenario.

You have decided that This is a scenario that you're going to stay in because it is less uncomfortable or less painful than having a difficult conversation, disappointing someone, so on and so forth. And that is said, I am saying that to her as a coach with zero judgment. You get to decide which is better for you.

I just want her and you as a listener, her as a client to understand that. You might be choosing to stay in this situation, and that's okay. Sometimes simply recognizing, Hey, this is less than ideal, but I'm going to remain here. I'm going to stay in this scenario for right now because of X, Y, and Z. These are my reasons.

[00:19:00] And these.

That's empowering because then every time she starts to think about this, this family scenario, where at the start of our session, she was saying that it was outside of her control, and it was going to prevent her from hitting her goal. Now, when she thinks about that scenario, she can. Remember, oh yes, this situation is unfortunate, but I've decided that I'm going to remain here because of XYZ.

Until I decide that I want to do something different or I decide that I'm ready to do something different or whatever, but that's empowering. It's like the clinician who is in works in a setting where you feel undervalued, underappreciated, but maybe you've decided to stay in that scenario because right now what matters most to you.

Bye for now. is the [00:20:00] hours or the travel, the location, the setting. Maybe there's some other part of that position that meets your needs and that is more important than, than, than the other sort of parts of the job that you don't like. And remembering that can help you feel more convicted in your choice, feel more empowered in what you've decided to do.

But if you are operating under the mentality that there's nothing you can do about it, then of course you're going to feel helpless, and of course you're going to feel miserable, no matter what. So, The idea is, through radical responsibility, you start to focus on what you can control. You start to take ownership over all of the things that you can choose, decide, try, shift, [00:21:00] change.

Whatever. And we're doing this from a place of service to yourself, not from a place of shaming you for saying that it's your fault. It's my fault that I'm here where I am. It's my fault that I've got all these, you know, I'm unhappy with these things. That's a different tone. That's a different message.

That's a different mentality. Then saying, you know what? I am the reason why I'm in this situation right now. I might not have directly chosen it, but I did play a role or I can play a role in getting myself out of it. I can choose something different. I can choose to say or do something different. I can choose to change this situation.

Okay, and when we start taking radical responsibility, we start recognizing all of the things that we can control. What happens is there's reduction eventually [00:22:00] in the stress. There's reduction in the overwhelm. There's restrict, uh, reduction in the anxiety. There's reduction in the frustration, in the helplessness.

All of those things start to subside. We start to recognize. What actually matters to us, what helps us feel our best, what helps us operate at all capacity, a full capacity, we start to set boundaries and have better work life balance, we start to prioritize what truly matters to us, we start to hit our goals, we start to set new goals that we never would have otherwise even considered.

Because we didn't even before realize how much power we had over our situation. So my challenge for you as you are listening to this episode and as you go out into the world and back to whatever it is that you do, you start looking for those opportunities where you can take radical [00:23:00] responsibility in the most positive way.

And start slow. This does not have to be something that you just overnight go, all right, I'm taking radical responsibility for everything. And you just sort of wipe the slate clean and go on a rampage. That's not what I'm saying at all. But start to recognize, recognize those little moments, those little moments where you can take control, right?

So pick one area, whether it's a in your professional life as an SLP or if it's in your personal life as a mom or a daughter or son who's caring for elderly parents or maybe it's as a spouse or, you know, whatever it is in your personal life. Either way, but start thinking about those roles and identify those moments where you can.

Start applying this concept of radical responsibility. It's not about [00:24:00] perfection. It's not about massive control. It's just about ownership. Taking ownership and becoming empowered in action. your choices, your decisions, your thoughts. And if this is something that you want help with, if this is something that you're looking to take ownership of, but you don't quite know how, hire a coach.

Find a coach. Reach out. I'm happy to have a consult with you and tell you how I can help. The link is always in the show notes. I would be honored to help you recognize the ways that you can take radical responsibility and to start doing it. All right. That's all I got for today's episode. Hope it was helpful.

Hope it was valuable. Hope it got you thinking. Pop into the SLP support group so that you are up to date on the next Lunch and Learn and I will see y'all next week. Bye.