What To Do When You’re Not “Feeling Ready” to Launch Your Practice
If you’ve been circling the idea of starting your private practice for months (or years), you’re not alone.
Here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud:
No one ever “feels” ready.
Not the new grads.
Not the clinicians with 10+ years of experience.
Not the ones who look confident on Instagram.
Readiness is not something you arrive at. It’s something you build through small, intentional action. And if you wait until your brain decides the timing is perfect, you’ll be waiting for a long time.
If you’re not ready to launch your practice, here are a few grounding steps to help you move forward with clarity rather than fear…
1. Separate fear from facts
Your brain is designed to keep you safe. Safety often looks like staying in the familiar… even when the familiar is exhausting, underpaid, or unsustainable.
When you hear thoughts like:
• “What if I fail?”
• “What if I’m not experienced enough?”
• “What if no one books with me?”
Pause and ask: Is this a fear or a fact?
Fear is loud.
Facts are usually quiet.
2. Get clear on what actually needs to happen first
Many PMHNPs get stuck because they assume readiness requires:
• a perfect website
• a polished brand
• a completed LLC
• hours and hours of free time
Not true.
The first steps are much simpler: your niche, your services, your schedule, and how your first patients will find you. Once those are clear, everything else becomes easier.
And if those pieces feel overwhelming, you don’t have to figure them out alone.
Our 3-Day Challenge (February 18–20) walks you through them step by step — which is why so many PMHNPs finally feel ready after these three days, not before.
3. Borrow confidence from the future you
Imagine yourself six months from now:
• seeing patients you genuinely enjoy
• earning income that reflects your expertise
• working fewer days with more autonomy
• having systems in place that support you
That version of you exists because you made one brave decision: you started before you felt perfectly ready.
Let future you pull you forward. They already know you can do this.
4. Take one tiny action that proves the story wrong
Readiness doesn’t come from thinking.
It comes from doing.
Pick something small:
• brainstorm your ideal patient
• call one collaborator
• draft your first service description
• block off “practice-building time” on your calendar
Each small action quiets the doubt and strengthens your confidence.
5. Get support — clarity happens faster in a community
Trying to build a private practice alone is overwhelming. No one teaches us this in school, and Googling your way through it leads to confusion and overthinking.
If you’re tired of feeling stuck in “I’m not ready,” join us for the Get Your Life Ready for Private Practice Challenge (February 18–20).
We’ll cover:
• Money — what it actually takes and how to plan for it
• Time — how to fit practice-building into a real-life schedule
• Confidence — how to quiet the self-doubt and move forward
You don’t have to wait for readiness.
You can build it — one step, one plan, one day at a time.
And I’d love to guide you through the very beginning of that journey.