Recently inside the LIT Community, we hosted one of our regular planning and reflection sessions. As we’re now halfway through the year, it was time for our mid-year business review and reflection exercise for online therapists.
We started running these sessions because we noticed a common pattern. Many therapists set goals in January, but then rarely stop to check in again until the end of the year.
A lot can change in six months. Your energy and priorities may shift, or the goals you set at the start of the year might not feel quite right any more. That’s why a mid-year check-in can be so valuable. It creates space to pause, reflect, and make intentional adjustments before another six months pass by.
We thought it would be helpful to share a version of the exercise we use inside the community so you can work through it yourself.
And if you’d prefer to do this alongside other therapists, with some structure, accountability, and support, you’ll find that inside the LIT Community. Our members often tell us that these sessions help them step away from the day-to-day demands of running a business and look at the bigger picture again. Find out more here and join the community here.
How to do your Mid-Year Business Review
Set aside 30-60 minutes, grab a journal or open a Google Doc, and work through the questions below. You don’t need to answer every prompt. Focus on the ones that feel most relevant to you right now.
Try not to rush through this exercise. The goal isn’t to create a perfect plan for the rest of the year. Instead, use this as an opportunity to notice patterns, reflect on what’s working well, and identify anything that may need your attention.
If you can, find a quiet space where you won’t be interrupted. A mid-year review works best when you give yourself permission to pause and think honestly about where you are and where you’d like to go next.
We’ve structured this review around the six stages of the LIT Journey, our framework for building a sustainable online therapy business. If you’re curious about how and why we created this framework for location independent therapists, you can find out more about the LIT Journey here.
Reflecting on the year so far
First, let’s start our mid-year business review with some broader questions:
- How happy are you overall with your business year so far?
- Have you been enjoying your work lately?
- Have you had enough rest and time off?
- Does your schedule feel manageable?
It’s easy to get so focused on keeping things running that you stop noticing your own experience.
This kind of information is helpful data for figuring out where you’re on the right track and what might need to change. It’s also easy to overlook, but so important not to.
Let’s also check in with your goals for the year:
- What goals did you set at the start of this year?
- What progress have you made so far with these goals?
- Have any of these goals changed?
- Do you want to set any new goals for the second half of the year?
Now that we’ve checked in with the basics, let’s see where you’re at in the core areas of your business.
1. Business Mindset
Let’s start by reflecting on your relationship with your business and yourself as a business owner. Your business mindset is crucial as the way we think about our business influences everything else. This section is about checking in with your confidence, motivation, beliefs, and overall relationship with your work.
Questions to consider:
- How have you felt about your business so far this year?
- Has your business vision changed since the start of the year?
- What has felt energising?
- What has felt frustrating or draining?
- Are there any mindset challenges that keep showing up?
- What are you proud of?
Write down three things that have gone well so far this year and three things you would like to improve during the next six months. If business mindset is something you struggle with, read our guide to developing a business mindset here.
2. The Core of Your Business
Now, let’s review the foundations of your business: who you help, how you help them, and whether your work still feels aligned with your interests, skills, and goals.
Questions to consider:
- Are you still excited about the work you do?
- Do you enjoy working with your current clients?
- Has your niche or focus evolved?
- Are your offers still aligned with your interests and strengths?
- Does your website accurately reflect your work: who you help and how you support them?
Getting clear on these foundations is essential for any business owner. It’s also useful to check in with them every now and then to ensure they still feel aligned. If you’re not sure about your ideal client, check out our guide and download our free worksheet to help you clarify who your ideal client is.
3. Systems and Processes
Good systems make it easier to run your business without constantly reinventing the wheel. This section focuses on reviewing what’s working behind the scenes and identifying areas that could be simplified.
Questions to consider:
- What tasks take up most of your admin time?
- What feels repetitive?
- Are there any systems or tools that no longer work well for you?
- Where do you regularly feel overwhelmed or disorganised?
- Are you outsourcing in your business, and if so, how is it working for you? If not, would you like to?
- What could be simplified or streamlined?
Choose one system to improve during the second half of the year. Small improvements often create significant long-term benefits.
4. Marketing
As an online therapist, thinking about your marketing doesn’t always need to mean identifying what else you could be doing. Instead, it’s about understanding what’s working for you and focusing your energy more intentionally. You can use this section to review how you’re attracting clients and whether your marketing feels aligned. (On a related note, you might like to read our blog post on working smarter, not harder, in your marketing).
Questions to consider:
- How much time are you spending on marketing, and how do you feel about that?
- Where have your enquiries come from this year?
- Which marketing activities do you enjoy?
- Which feel like a chore?
- What content has generated the most engagement?
- Are you spending time on activities that aren’t producing results?
- Are there any marketing tasks you could reduce, pause, or stop?
Use these reflections to help you plan your marketing approach for the rest of the year. Consider what’s moving the needle, what isn’t really helping right now, and how you could use your time more effectively.
5. Working Internationally
Whether you’re fully location independent, planning a move abroad, or working with international clients, there are often practical, legal, and logistical factors to navigate. This section helps you reflect on how sustainable your current setup feels. For many location independent therapists, this area is constantly evolving, so it’s helpful to check in with it and see what’s working well and what you might need to tweak.
Questions to consider:
- Are your current working arrangements still sustainable?
- Have any legal, logistical, or practical challenges emerged?
- Is your current location supporting the lifestyle you want?
- Are there any upcoming moves or changes you need to prepare for?
- What support or information would make this part of your work easier?
Write down any international or location-related challenges you’d like to address before the end of the year.
6. Diversifying and Scaling
Finally, let’s look at the bigger picture. Many therapists reach a point where they want to create more flexibility, stability, or impact without simply adding more client sessions. This section invites you to think about your long-term vision and whether there are opportunities you’d like to explore.
(If you don’t feel ready to diversify or scale your business just yet, you might still find these prompts helpful to think about where your business may go in the future. But you’re also welcome to skip them if you don’t feel like now is the right time to think about this.)
Questions to consider:
- Does your current income feel sustainable?
- Are you relying on a caseload that feels too heavy?
- Have you been thinking about additional income streams?
- Are there ideas you’ve been putting off exploring?
- What would make your business feel more resilient?
Choose one idea you would like to explore over the next six months, even if you’re not ready to act on it yet.
Next Steps after your Mid-Year Business Review
A mid-year business review isn’t about creating more work for yourself. It’s about noticing what is working and making sure you’re still heading in a direction that feels right for you.
Before you close your journal or Google Doc, take a moment to look across everything you’ve written:
- What stands out?
- What feels most important right now?
- What would make the biggest positive difference to your business and wellbeing over the next six months?
You don’t need a long list of goals – focusing on just a few priorities is often better. Choose your top three areas of focus for the rest of the year and write down one small next step for each. Then, schedule time in your calendar to review those priorities again in a month or two. Reflection is most useful when it becomes a regular habit, not just a once-a-year exercise.
If you found this exercise useful, it’s worth knowing that this is exactly the kind of reflection we do regularly inside the LIT Community. Throughout the year, we come together for planning and reflection sessions, business discussions, hot seats, skill-sharing, and more. These spaces give you the opportunity to step away from the day-to-day running of your practice and think more intentionally about where you’re heading.
Because sometimes the most valuable thing isn’t another strategy or checklist. It’s having space to pause, reflect, and talk things through with colleagues who understand the challenges of building an online and international practice.
If that sounds like something you’d benefit from, we’d love to welcome you inside the community. Join the LIT Community here!
