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Published on:

29th Sep 2022

325: 7 Ways That Shifting To A 4 Day Work Week Made Me A Better Entrepreneur

Today’s topic is inspired by a Twitter thread I wrote about a life-changing event in our family when our daughter began preschool recently. Since she was born prematurely, going through the NICU experience four years ago coupled with the demands of entrepreneurship brought me to the realization that things had to change. The season of life that was one of the hardest things became the best thing to help me reevaluate and realign my life and goals. As much as I love my work, I wanted my life to be about much more than my work. Join me to learn how shifting my work week has made me a better entrepreneur, husband, father, and person. 

You’ll Learn:


  • Business becomes more complicated with more time. 
  • “You don’t have to suffer in order to succeed.”
  • For any task, look to automate, delegate, eliminate, or systemize.
  • There are more metrics than money. 
  • “Not everything that counts can be counted.”
  • The time I’ve spent and the memories I’ve made with my daughter are priceless.
  • Creativity time is essential.
  • Time to explore and be curious should be an intentional part of the day/week. 
  • Giving your mind time for creativity and play will help you make better business decisions.
  • Business doesn’t have all the answers.
  • Work will not fulfill you in every aspect of life. 
  • “Don’t build your life around your business; build your business to support your life.”
  • Simplicity is key.
  • Concise communication is essential for people to understand you.
  • “Be clear, not clever.”
  • Seasons don’t last.
  • Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride, but time will pass quickly.
  • “Focus on the present and be grateful for now.”
  • The courage of a child is inspiring.
  • Be resilient like a child, and get back up when you fall down.
  • “The only way to fail in building a business is by refusing to get back up.”


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About the Podcast

Selling the Couch
Impact + Income Beyond The Therapy Room
With over 1.5 million downloads, Selling the Couch is the #1 podcast for mental health private practitioners.

Psychologist Melvin Varghese interviews successful therapists about how they've built their therapy practices + diversified their income beyond the therapy room, as well as top entrepreneurs, business/marketing, productivity, and social media experts.

You'll learn how therapists get referrals, make money, work through fears, and how they've stopped "trading time for income."

Melvin also shares the lessons as he grows his impact + income beyond the therapy room (podcasting, video, online courses, masterminds, investing, etc) and the tips, tools, and tech he uses to grow STC from a single-person business to the CEO of a 5-person 100% remote team.

You get bite-sized and highly actionable tips to guide your private practice and entrepreneurial journey.

The best way to get started is to check out https://sellingthecouch.com/start. =)
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About your host

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Melvin Varghese, PhD

Hi. I'm Melvin. I'm a Vanderbilt-trained psychologist, entrepreneur, and online creator living in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2014, I began to think about how to use the therapy skills we learn in grad school, and in our clinical work into different realms (e.g., podcasting, consulting, online course creation, etc).

This allows us to serve others on larger scales while diversifying our income beyond 1 to 1 work.

I make podcasts and videos about business, tech, productivity, and lessons I'm learning from becoming the CEO of a lean, mean 5 person 100% remote team (we're not really mean..it just rhymed =P).