Melvin Varghese: The Creator Therapist | The Pathless Path Podcast

Melvin has a Ph.D. in psychology, but to call him just “a psychologist” would be trying to fit him in too small of a box. He has left a successful clinical career to build his online “healthy business” – he is the person behind the “Selling the Couch” podcast, does sessions with entrepreneurs, and runs an online course where he helps therapists move their businesses online. Everything he does is designed to allow him to be fully present as a father and a husband because “What’s the point of accomplishing all of this if we can’t be fully present with the people we love the most?”

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What We Talked About

  1. Starting a Podcast: The beginning of his podcast, “Selling the Couch”, and how it transformed from a side project to an important part of his career. He talks about the difficulties he faced, the support he received from his wife, and how he balanced his work as a therapist with his passion for podcasting.
  2. Birth of His Daughter: The birth of his daughter was a big moment in Melvin’s life. It made him reevaluate his life and his relationship with work and money. He talks about how being a father changes his perspective and his decision to separate his identity from his work.
  3. Detaching Identity from Work: Melvin shares his thoughts on the risks of tying one’s self-worth to their accomplishments. He discusses the importance of separating one’s identity from their work and focusing more on the process rather than the end result.
  4. Work-Life Balance: Melvin talks about how he maintains a balance between work and personal life. He shares his daily routine, which includes focused work sessions, breaks for physical activity, and time for learning. He highlights the significance of spending quality time with family and pursuing personal interests.
  5. Role Models: Melvin looks up to Pat Flynn and Rachel Rogers as his role models. He admires how they practice what they preach, prioritize their families, and achieve success as entrepreneurs.

Melvin’s 4-Day, 25-30 Hour Week

Melvin likes spending a lot of time with his family and has built his workweek around that.

He works from Monday to Thursday, and each day has its own theme. On Tuesdays, he’s all about podcasting and creating content. Mondays and Wednesdays are for deep work, usually stuff related to his Mastermind group. Thursdays are set aside for Mastermind days.

His workday usually kicks off at 9 AM and wraps up at 5 PM. He takes a break from 1 PM to 1:45 PM to go for a hike. After the hike, he grabs a quick shower and then it’s nap time for 25 minutes. The last two hours of his workday, from 3 PM to 5 PM, are his learning time. He uses this time to learn different things that interest him.

All in all, Melvin works about 25 to 30 hours a week over four days. This approach helps him keep a balance between his work, personal growth, and family time.

Quotes

  1. Identity and Achievement 02:00: “I think one thing I took away is like putting our entire identity on achievement right and letting the ups and downs of our self-worth get wrapped up in that I think it’s such a dangerous game to play.”
  2. Career Evolution 14:00: “I know 2012 Mel would have been like okay I was going to be like a training director at the University Counseling Center or something.”
  3. Determination and Change 20:01: “I woke up at 3:30 A.M to record podcast episodes and I would take a shower at seven and then get on a 7:50 or 8 train to go to Center City see clients for an entire day, come back by 6 and repeat it.”
  4. Podcast Growth 33:03: “I know people differ on this but like after some level the download numbers are a little bit of a vanity metric because ultimately it’s about making sure the right people are listening to your podcast versus you know like all people.”
  5. Detaching Identity from Work 58:00: “I think I’ve started over time I think I started to detach myself from the outcome but more process and getting better at the craft…and I think I much more enjoy that.”

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