Building Marketing as a Sustainable Habit
(when hiding sounds like more fun)
When Marketing Makes You Hold Your Breath
I was staring at my phone the other day, cursor blinking in the empty Instagram caption box, when I realized I'd been holding my breath.
Again.
Twenty minutes earlier, I'd opened the app with a clear intention to share something meaningful about helping therapists build sustainable practices. Instead, I'd fallen down a rabbit hole of other people's content, comparing my ideas to theirs, second-guessing my message, oh yes and the doom, and ultimately feeling that familiar knot of overwhelm in my chest.
This scene has played out more times than I care to admit.
And if you're a therapist or coach trying to grow your practice, I'm guessing it sounds familiar to you too.
The irony isn't lost on me. Here I am, using all my therapy skills in my practice and certainly in my personal life—yet sometimes forgetting to apply these very principles to my own business struggles.
But that's exactly what makes this approach so powerful: when I remember to use the same tools I offer my clients, marketing becomes less overwhelming and more sustainable.
The Values Underneath the Resistance
When I think about what I want my marketing to reflect—as a therapist, coach, writer, and mother—it's pretty clear.
I want to show up as a helpful educator and cheerleader for people who feel confused about building their practices. I want to help them find clarity and pull from their courage to build businesses that not only help others but create the lives they want to live.
That vision feels good and true.
So why is it so hard to actually do the marketing?
The answer often lies in how we've disconnected from our deeper values in favor of what we think marketing "should" look like. We get caught up in algorithms and engagement rates and forget that marketing, at its core, is simply sharing our work with the people who need it.
For those of us in helping professions, marketing can feel especially fraught. We're trained to be present with individuals, to read nonverbal cues, to adjust our approach based on immediate feedback.
Marketing asks us to put our thoughts out into the world without knowing how they'll be received—and that can feel like working blindfolded.
But what if we could approach marketing the same way we approach our most meaningful work? What if we could remember to use the principles that help us navigate difficult emotions and stay connected to what matters most?
For me, that means drawing on what I know about values-driven action, mindful attention, and psychological flexibility—not as marketing strategies, but as life skills that happen to make marketing more sustainable.
Mindfulness: Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows
Let's be honest—marketing doesn't make me feel calm.
And I don't think it's supposed to.
One of the things I've learned from working with ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy)—both personally and professionally—is how it reframes difficult emotions. All feelings are information, not instructions. The goal isn't to eliminate discomfort but to choose our response to it.
This principle has been crucial when I remember to apply it to my marketing practice, especially when it comes to managing attention. If you're using social media platforms and AI tools (as many of us are), your attention is constantly being pulled in different directions.
The flashing lights. The endless scroll. The bright, shiny distractions.
I can't tell you how many times I've opened Facebook with a specific purpose and found myself twenty minutes later wondering what I'd originally intended to do.
Mindfulness in marketing isn't about staying zen while you create content. It's about directing your attention where you want it to go. It's about walking into digital spaces with intention rather than letting them sweep you away.
For me, this looks like pausing before I open any app and asking: "What's my goal here?"
Sometimes it's to share something specific. Sometimes it's to engage with my community. Sometimes it's research. But having that intention acts like an anchor, keeping me tethered to my purpose even when the algorithm tries to pull me elsewhere.
Reframing the Stories We Tell Ourselves
Here's a thought that visits me regularly: "Am I actually doing anything with my marketing?"
Maybe you know this thought. The one that whispers when you've been putting energy and effort into sharing your work, but it feels like nothing is happening. Or when someone responds negatively to something you've posted.
It's the thought that takes those challenging emotions and turns them into evidence:
"See? You shouldn't be doing this. You don't know what you're doing. Maybe you shouldn't even have a business."
These feelings are so common, especially for those of us who didn't go to school thinking we'd become entrepreneurs. We learned to help people one-on-one, not to put ourselves out there publicly.
But here's what I've learned—both from my own therapy work and from stumbling through my own marketing journey: those uncomfortable feelings aren't necessarily signals that we're doing something wrong. They're often just our mind trying to keep us safe.
It's a principle I use with clients all the time, and when I remember to apply it to myself, everything shifts.
When that familiar doubt creeps in, I've learned to pause and check in with myself:
• Am I safe in doing this?
• Does this make sense?
• Am I in alignment with my values?
Usually, the answer is yes.
The discomfort isn't telling me to stop—it's telling me I'm doing something that matters. Something that involves risk, vulnerability, and growth. And that's exactly where I need to be if I want to help other therapists and coaches find sustainable paths beyond the one-to-one burnout cycle.
Committed Action: Taking Steps Even When It's Hard
Visibility has never been my natural comfort zone. I thrive in direct interaction—therapy sessions, group coaching, conversations where I can see faces and adjust my approach based on what I observe. The one-way nature of marketing content feels like working without my most valuable tools.
But my commitment to preventing therapist burnout and supporting financial diversification in our field is stronger than my discomfort with visibility. That commitment has helped me take action even when it feels risky or uncertain.
This is where ACT's concept of committed action becomes invaluable. It's not about forcing yourself to do things that feel awful. It's about connecting your actions to your deeper values and taking steps toward what matters, even when the steps feel awkward or scary.
For me, that has meant accepting that I might not always know how my message will be received. It has meant learning to tolerate the uncertainty that comes with putting ideas into the world without immediate feedback. And it has meant developing systems and practices that make marketing feel more sustainable and less overwhelming.
Building Your Own Sustainable Marketing Practice
So how do we translate these insights into practical action? How do we build marketing habits that actually stick?
Start with your why
Before you create any content or post anything, get clear on the values underlying your work. Why does your practice matter? Who are you hoping to help? What difference do you want to make?
When marketing feels hard (and it will), these deeper motivations can pull you forward.
Practice intentional attention
Before opening social media apps or diving into content creation, set a clear intention. What do you want to accomplish in this session?
Having a specific goal helps you stay focused and makes the time you spend feel more purposeful.
Normalize the discomfort
Marketing will bring up challenging emotions—uncertainty, vulnerability, comparison, self-doubt. These feelings don't mean you're doing something wrong. They mean you're doing something that matters.
Practice sitting with these emotions rather than using them as reasons to avoid action.
Create boundaries that support your values
If doom-scrolling is pulling you away from your intentions, set limits on your app usage. If comparison is triggering overwhelm, curate your feeds to include more supportive voices.
Design your marketing environment to align with your mental health needs.
Take small, consistent steps
You don't need to transform your entire marketing approach overnight. Choose one small action that feels aligned with your values and commit to it regularly.
Consistency matters more than perfection.
The Bigger Picture
Here's what I've come to understand: sustainable marketing for therapists and coaches isn't about mastering the latest platform or creating viral content.
It's about developing a practice that honors your values, supports your mental health, and genuinely serves the people you're meant to help for the life of your business.
The same principles that guide effective therapy and meaningful living—presence, intentionality, values alignment, and committed action—can transform how we approach sharing our work with the world. We just have to remember to use them.
Your marketing doesn't have to look like anyone else's. It doesn't have to be perfect or polished or follow someone else's template.
It just has to be genuinely yours.
Rooted in your commitment to helping others, and sustainable enough that you can keep showing up over time.
Because the world needs what you have to offer. And the people you're meant to serve are looking for exactly the kind of help you provide. Your job isn't to be the loudest voice or the most visible presence.
It's to be consistently, authentically available for the people who need what you have to share.
Your Next Step
What would it look like to approach your marketing with the same care and intentionality you bring to your client work?
What values would guide your content creation?
What small step could you take today that honors both your desire to help others and your need for sustainable practices?
The answers to these questions might just be the beginning of a marketing approach that actually feels good—one that serves your business, your values, and your wellbeing all at once.
Ready to Build Your Own Sustainable Marketing Habits?
If this resonates with you and you're ready to explore what sustainable marketing could look like for your practice, I'd love to support you in taking that next step.
Join my free Facebook group where therapists and coaches are building authentic, AI-enhanced practices together. When you join, you'll get access to my Visibility Journal—an AI-assisted tool that helps you gain confidence and clarity around being more visible online, one thoughtful reflection at a time.
Join the Facebook group here or message me directly if you'd like free access to the visibility journal.
Because marketing doesn't have to feel like performance. It can feel like an extension of the meaningful work you're already doing.
What's one marketing habit you want to build this week? Share it in the comments—I'd love to cheer you on.
