July 24, 2025 • 27 mins
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There are so many businesses that will never hit the seven-figure mark—or grow beyond it—not because the owner isn’t brilliant, but because they don’t know how to respond when things go wrong.
In this episode, I’m sharing something I consider one of the greatest superpowers for entrepreneurs: how to bounce back from setbacks.
I’ve been through it all—one-star reviews, launches that flopped, key team members leaving, unexpected personal challenges—and I’ve learned how to get back up fast.
In this episode, I walk you through the 5 things I do every single time to recover and rise.
If you’ve ever felt like quitting after a setback or if you’re in one right now I made this episode for you.
Additional Resources:
- Learn more about my 12-month program.
- Interested in 1-on-1 coaching? Apply here.
- Grab a copy of the "The EntreMD Method" book.
When you are ready to work with us, here are three ways:
- EntreMD Business School Accelerator - If you are looking to make a 180 turnaround in your business in 90 days, this is the program for you.
- EntreMD Business School Grow - This is our year-long program with a track record of producing physician entrepreneurs who are building 6, 7 and 7+ figure businesses. They do this while building their dream lives!
- EntreMD Business School Scale - This is our high-level mastermind for physicians who have crossed the seven figure milestone and want to build their businesses to be well oiled machines that can run without them.
To get on a call with my team to determine your next best step, go here ...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There are many businesses that will never reach
the seven-figure mark or willnever go beyond the seven-figure
mark, because they don't knowhow to respond to setbacks.
There are businesses that cannever become what the visionary
sees them becoming because theycan't respond to setbacks.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi dogs, Welcome to the EntreMD podcast, where it's
all about helping amazingphysicians just like you embrace
entrepreneurship so you canhave the freedom to live life
and practice medicine on yourterms.
I'm your host, Dr Una.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Today, we are going to talk about what I consider a
superpower of superpowers forentrepreneurs, which is how to
bounce back from setbacks.
When I first started my journeyas an entrepreneur, I thought
if I did things right, if I didthings the way I was supposed to
, then everything would justwork out smoothly, and nothing
(01:02):
could be further from the truth.
The truth of the matter is theentrepreneurial experience is
more of a mountain and valley, amountain and valley, a mountain
and valley type experience.
And if you understand this andyou understand how to respond
when the inevitable valleys showup, you'll be well on your way
to thriving as a physicianentrepreneur Okay.
(01:26):
So when we lack the ability torespond to setbacks properly, it
is so expensive, okay.
So let me give you an exampleNow.
Our results as entrepreneurstypically show up 90 days after
(01:46):
we put in the effort.
Now, of course, this is arandom number, but just
understand what I mean.
And so if we think about theyear in 90-day blocks and
quarters, we can say Q1, q2, q3,q4 for every single year.
Chances are your results in Q1are a result of what you did in
Q4 the preceding year.
(02:06):
Your results in Q2 are a resultof what you did in Q1.
The dangerous thing about thatis when you stop taking action,
stop doing what you need to do,chances are you continue to get
results and so you think you'regetting away with it.
And because you think you'regetting away with it, you do it
for a whole quarter and then,boom, it hits and you're like
(02:30):
wait, how did everything dry up?
This happens a lot withentrepreneurs when they start
experiencing success.
So say, you have a privatepractice and your schedule is
full and now you have a waitlist.
Or you're a coach and you havemore people than you usually
have, and then you slow down onselling and you slow down on
marketing, slow down all ofthose things, but guess what?
The result continues.
(02:51):
People still come to yourclinic, people still are
requesting you as a coach.
Then, 90 days later, it's likeradio silence.
I've seen this.
I cannot count how many timesI've seen this.
And so you want to think ofthis like, when I have a setback
and I take 90 days to getmyself back up, I've given up a
quarter of results and it'sgoing to show up later, right?
(03:14):
Okay, so we don't want to taketoo long to recover from
setbacks Now.
Would setbacks trip us up?
Chances are they will.
Would setbacks put things inmotion where maybe you're not
getting results the way you usedto.
Yeah, chances are they will.
So I'm not trying to say, youknow, just push through whatever
happens.
That's not what I'm saying.
But what I am saying is takethe time, but don't take too
(03:38):
much time.
Okay, all right.
So what could this be?
When we say setbacks, what dowe mean?
It could be anything.
It could be something assignificant as you run a private
practice and the insurancecompany that most of your
patients use decide that you'renot out of network.
Right, it could be a teammember leaving.
(04:00):
It could be a one-star review.
I remember when I got my firstone-star review, I was out of
commission for about three days,and when I say out of
commission, I don't mean Ididn't go to work.
It doesn't mean I was sittingaround sulking, but I just
didn't have that drive to keepgoing because I'm like this is
not really appreciated or whatI'm doing is not really that
(04:21):
good, and the more I push, themore I'll be found out, which
was not true, but it's minddrama.
That's what it is right.
It could be.
You know you had a vendor, animportant vendor, that backed
out.
It could be you had a launchthat didn't do well.
You were expecting to get 20new clients and you got two.
Okay, been there, done that.
I have 72,000 t-shirts.
Okay, it could be, and this isit.
(04:44):
Could even be personalchallenges, so it has nothing to
do with your business, but lifeis life, right, it could be
personal challenges.
Maybe somebody's sick, maybeyou're sick, like you know,
things like that.
This is also a personalchallenge, but I want to put it
out separately.
Which could be.
It could be something upsidedown with your personal finance.
It has nothing like.
So there are cash flowsproblems in your life, but it's
(05:07):
not from your businesses, fromyour personal finances.
Right, it could be any of thosethings.
And so when those things happennotice I didn't say if when
those things happen, what do youdo?
What is your response?
That's what we're going to talkabout, because it is too
expensive to take forever torespond.
We want to have a system thatwe use, right?
(05:28):
Okay, so I'll tell you what I'vedone, what has worked for me
over the years, and I've hadthis right.
I've had important team membersleave.
I've had important clientsleave.
I've had one-star reviews.
I've had bad I wouldn't evencall them bad launches.
That's not the language I woulduse, right, because everything
is a learning opportunity for me.
But I've had bad I wouldn'teven call them bad launches
that's not the language I woulduse, right, because everything
is a learning opportunity for me.
But I've had launches that didnot perform as well as I wanted
(05:50):
them to perform, and things likethat.
Yeah so, I've had all of them,right, but I've been an
entrepreneur for 15 years, sothe question now is how do I
respond to those?
Okay, okay.
So the first thing I you know,how do I respond to those?
Okay, okay.
So the first thing, the firstthing I do and I want to invite
(06:11):
everyone to do, and I'm going toshow you how to make it a habit
is I put the challenge inperspective.
I put the quote, unquote,setback in perspective, because
what we usually do is we make ita whole catastrophe.
So a client left and it's like,oh, my goodness, now our
business is falling apart,because if 10 more people leave,
like them and blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, right, someone left
(06:32):
a one-star view.
Oh, my practice is not up topar, I'm so ashamed, and all of
those things A team memberleaves, right, maybe our
business is not good enough, andmaybe the rest of the people
have also been planning to leaveand they're also going to leave
.
I'm not going to have anybodyto work with, and the practice
is going to fall apart A lot oftimes.
(06:54):
That's what we do.
Okay, now, if you're also, inaddition to this, like me and
your Enneagram Six EnneagramSixers are people who have what
was described as pre-traumaticstress disorder Okay, so we can
take anything and, like, make itinto this magnificent, awful
disaster, like in theundisciplined state.
(07:16):
So I don't let my mind do thatanymore, but then you're really
going to make a whole thing outof it, okay, so you want to put
it in proper perspective?
Okay, so we have a team ofeight.
We had somebody who left, okay,and sometimes it's like the
person has been here for twoyears, three years, five years,
right, and all of that stuff.
So that is what is happening.
(07:37):
That's the true nature of whatis happening.
We have a client that you knowused to was working with us, and
then midway they left.
Ok, but in the grand scheme ofevents, we have 40 people, so
one out of 40 left.
Ok, we had a one star review,well, but we also have ninety,
nine, five star reviews, or wehave two thousand patients who
(08:00):
can write us reviews, right,like.
So we put all of these thingsin, like, just put it in its
proper place, okay.
Why is this important?
Because if we feel like nothingis working, we're going to stop
working because there's noreward for doing the work.
Right, we have to understandthat it's working, it's always
working and there's a way andthere's an opportunity and all
(08:23):
of those kinds of things, right,okay.
So if we find ourselves there,we put it in perspective.
But I do want to tell you of ahabit that I've built that kind
of keeps me in that state.
I'm not saying like I don'thave days where, you know, I
think, a day like even yesterdayactually, I had three, four,
(08:46):
five things boom, boom, boom,boom, boom that are setback-y
they're not true setbacks, right, setback-y.
That happened and I had to dowhat I'm telling you to do, okay
.
So did I have a moment whereit's like, oh man, you know,
like of course I'm a human being, but I'm not there anymore, and
it was yesterday Like I'm notgoing to live there, I'm just
not, it's too expensive.
So what do I do?
(09:08):
I have a very solid gratitudepractice.
I used to.
I used to think gratitude wasthis softy thing that people
just did so they can feel good.
No ma'am, no sir, that is notwhat that is.
That is not what that is at all.
I take the time to be gratefulfor the things that I have right
(09:28):
, like for where I find myself.
I'm grateful for my team.
I'm grateful for the fact thatI have multiple companies.
I'm grateful we made the Inc5,000 one of the fastest growing
companies.
I'm grateful that we're growing.
I'm grateful.
I'm grateful for every one ofthese things, every single one
of them.
I'm grateful for the bookswe've written.
(09:48):
I'm grateful, you know, for theclients we've had the
opportunity of serving.
I'm grateful for the wins thatthey've created, the brand new
lives that they have.
I'm grateful for everyone wholistens to the OnTram New
Podcast.
I practice gratitude.
I practice living in awe of thelife I have right now, on the
way to the life that I'mcreating, I practice it Okay,
(10:08):
and what that has done is thatit has put me in a position
where, yes, there are thingsthat are happening, but it's
easier for me to put it in thisproper perspective instead of
just catastrophizing like oh mygoodness, right, you know.
So that's the first thing.
The second thing I do is Ireconnect with my vision, and
(10:34):
the reason why this is veryimportant for me is because if
you don't, if you are notintentional about keeping your
vision in front of you,circumstances will beat it out
of you.
Right?
Like you're saying, I'm goingto build this kind of practice,
I'm going to have this kind ofteam, and you've built the team.
You're building the team youthink you need, and you're like
man, I need one more key player.
(10:55):
And as you're working on thatkey player and the highest
capacity person you have on theteam you have already says, oh,
I found another job.
And if that happens, and thenyour biller dropped the ball,
and your biller dropped the balland a patient left you a
one-star review, like you'rejust like nothing is working,
throw it all away.
(11:15):
Right, it will beat that visionout of you.
It's like you're never going toget there, so forget it.
And so I recognize what it isokay.
I recognize that a lot of times, the circumstance is not as
much of a problem as what thecircumstance does to you.
It makes you believe you can'tdo it right.
(11:37):
And so I intentionally re-engagewith my vision, re-engage with
where I'm going.
Right.
It's like the GPS I'm makingsure the right address is there,
like the circumstances didn'tgo to make that the new address
right and what that does is,again, it takes the challenge
I'm facing, or the quote unquotesetback, and puts it in
(11:59):
perspective, which is what wewant right.
So that's the thing that I doand, again, it's something I
make a habit of, and so everyday is part of my morning
routine.
I'm looking at where am I going?
Where am I going?
What am I trying to accomplish?
Where am I going?
The more I am in tune with that, I see the setback as what it
truly is.
(12:19):
It's a stepping stone, it's abump in the way, something I
have to overcome.
As I overcome it, I build moremuscle, all of those kinds of
things.
Okay, so that's the second thingI do and I hope this like,
pretty please, this is one ofthese ones.
I would really love for you totake a screenshot and post it on
social media and, you know,like, share your biggest aha,
(12:40):
share what you're getting out ofthis, because I'd really love
to know that it's helping.
Ok, so hashtag on term D so wecan find the post.
Ok, you can tag me.
You know, whichever platform.
It is the third thing I do andthis is really important I
decode what the actual problemis Right, because when the
circumstances show is like well,oh, my goodness, nothing's
(13:01):
working.
And I call that anentrepreneurial temper tantrum.
Okay, the best of us have hadthis.
So I call it an entrepreneurialtemper tantrum, but it's not
helpful, because if you don'tknow what the problem is, you
can't fix it.
If you don't know what theproblem is, you can't make a
difference, right.
And so I have to stop and say,okay, what is the problem though
(13:26):
?
So, yes, I feel bad, yes, thisdidn't go according to plan, but
what is the problem?
So, for instance, we had a timewhen, you know, we didn't have a
very stable team, like peoplewould stay nine months a year,
they'd leave and all those kindsof things.
And then we got a really stableteam and it was so fun.
And then COVID hit.
Okay, and then COVID hit and itwas like we had a revolving
(13:49):
door and people were leaving andall of that.
And I could have said, oh mygoodness, everybody's leaving,
catastrophizing.
We don't do that.
Okay, you're on term D, wedon't do that.
So I'm like, okay, well, I putthe challenge in perspective.
Okay, so we have a company, wehave a company that's doing well
, we have a company that haslongevity, all of those things.
(14:09):
It is evidence, it's a greatplace to work and we have a team
member who left.
That's what happened, nothingmore than that.
That's what happened.
Okay, re-engage with the vision.
Where are we going?
We're trying to build thiscompany where we provide expert
medical care on parallelcustomer service in a profitable
way, like with my team.
(14:30):
My vision for my team is whenthey come and they leave, or
when they come, they're like man.
I experienced the most personalprofessional growth in this
place than anywhere else.
I want them to love their jobs.
They work hard at work, butthey love their jobs.
It's not a toxic environmentand stuff like that.
And then for the patients, oh,my goodness, they get great care
, all of that.
So I reconnect with the visionand then I come to decode what
(14:53):
is the actual problem and so Istart researching the problem
because I'm like we've been okay.
So what's going on here?
It's not the work environment.
It's not the work environment.
It's not the work environmentat all.
It was the beginning of thegreat resignation, right?
And then people are just youknow, covid forced them to stop
long enough to say, ok, is thiswhat I really want out of my
(15:14):
life?
Do I want to try somethingdifferent?
There's a whole online thing.
Do.
I want to start an onlinebusiness and all of this stuff.
And so I recognize oh, theproblem here is that the world,
the workforce, is just in acompletely different state and
the things that used to matter astable job, a certain pay they
(15:38):
don't matter as much.
Right, that's the problem, see,now.
But figuring out that problemput me in a position where I
could solve the problem, okay,and get a one-star review.
Oh my goodness, okay, great.
But now they have what's theproblem, okay?
And you go and you look at it.
So maybe it was.
There was miscommunication withthe team.
(16:00):
And you're like okay, so that'swhat the problem is.
Maybe it's that that persondidn't want to pay their copay
and they told your team if youguys don't see me, even though I
don't want to pay my copay, Iam going to go leave your
one-star review.
So if you don't know what theproblem is, you can't fix it.
Okay, okay.
So maybe you're like man,there's so much financial
(16:22):
pressure.
Oh, my goodness, nothing isworking, the business is not
working and that's not helpful.
And you stop Like what is theactual problem?
My business has grown 140% inthe last six months.
So guess what?
Business is not the problemright Now.
(16:46):
In my personal life I probablybit off a lot more than I could
chew and so I have pressure inmy personal life and I'm taking
it out on the business.
That's not yet at a stage whereit can pay that level of stuff
for my personal life.
Then you're not like, okay,let's separate these two so we
don't kill the business becausewe think there's a financial
(17:07):
problem in the business whenthere's nothing wrong with the
business.
The financial problems in mypersonal life.
Do you guys see what I'm saying?
You have to get the diagnosis.
The same way as a pediatrician.
I won't just see a kid, I'mlike, oh, kid, and then
prescribe some amoxicillin andsend them home.
(17:28):
I have to run diagnostics.
I have to see what the problemis so I can fix the problem Okay
.
So that's number three.
That's number three, this righthere, being able to be calm
enough to sit down and say, okay, what is the actual problem.
This will put you in a positionwhere you'll be a much better
(17:50):
problem solver.
You'll train your team to bemuch better problem solvers and
you will get out of setbacks soquick, relatively, because you
understand how to find and solvethe problem.
Okay.
Number four is develop a pathto the solution.
So, now that we know what theproblem is, how are we going to
(18:12):
get out of the problem?
Okay, and once we do, werelentlessly execute.
Okay, so I'm not going to talkabout execution, but so let's go
back to the examples that weused.
All right, so we find what'sthe setback?
Team members are leaving.
Ok, what's the problem?
We're in the great resignation.
(18:34):
People's values have changed.
People are exploring like, oh,you know, what else do I want to
do with my life?
And all of that stuff.
What is the solution?
So for us, the solution becameokay, they're no longer
motivated by whatever we'repaying them, or even many
dollars above that.
They're no longer looking forstability, like people are
(18:55):
quitting and starting like noman's business.
Looking for stability Likepeople were quitting and
starting like no man's business.
And so we said, okay, we need tofind people with whom we can
create a win-win situation,meaning we want somebody who can
come, who can do good work, isreliable and all of that stuff.
So we need to find somebody whowants what we have.
(19:16):
Okay.
And so we thought about it andwe said, okay, the people who
are medical students, pre-mpstudents, pre-nursing students,
pre-pa students.
They want clinical experience,which we can give them.
They're not necessarily lookingfor a salary per se right,
(19:36):
because they did these things asrotations but we're like, well,
we can train them to work andwe can pay them which they would
love and we can give themletters of recommendation.
So now, because we know whatthe problem is, we know who we
can find, and if we can findthese people, it's a match made
in heaven.
(19:57):
You're not going to have themforever.
You may have them for a year,two years or three years, but
the time you do have them, theybring their A game because
you're giving them exactly whatthey want.
And so then we then built itwhere, yes, we still had our MAs
and all that stuff, but we hadthese other people and we built
a system to train them.
Like, within two weeks, theywere ready to go Right.
(20:19):
And so now we had a solution tothe problem, and that was the
solution that served us andserved us so, so, so, so well,
continues to serve us so well,and I've taught so many of our
clients the same thing.
Okay, okay With the with theone-star review.
Okay, we find out that, oh,there was some miscommunication.
(20:41):
Then we go back and we're likeokay, guys, this is a thing that
happened, this is the way we'resolving it and that's over.
You find out it was becausesomebody didn't want to pay
their co-pay.
Not a whole lot you can doabout that other than
communicate even more that yourcopay will be required at the
time of service.
Okay, but people do that.
(21:01):
People weaponize reviews.
But regardless of what youchoose for 99.9999999% of
physicians, it's a smallfraction of people who are angry
and it's a big percentage ofpeople who are excited about you
.
But the thing is they're notgoing to of their own free will,
just go leave a review.
(21:22):
And so, if you got thisone-star review, you want to
figure out whatever was thething and fix that.
And then you want to reach outto your community and have them
dilute that and flood yourGoogle business profile with
five-star reviews.
Now we had a doctor who didthis flawlessly.
(21:42):
It was so beautiful, okay.
So she had a person who left aone-star review.
I don't remember what it was,but if I remember correctly, it
was weaponized.
Right, like I'm going to, I'mgoing to go leave you a one-star
review.
Like you know, that's what theydo, okay.
And so she, she sends out anemail to her patient base and
(22:05):
she says this is what is goingon.
And I wanted to reach out toyou guys because, yeah, that's
great.
That person said there's whatmany of you absolutely love us
and you haven't left us a review.
I don't think that's exactlyhow she worded it, I don't
remember what it was, but shesends it out.
I don't remember she got a ton,maybe 40, 50 new reviews,
five-star reviews, so gratefulfor the work that she did.
Do you see how you problemsolve that?
(22:26):
Okay, okay.
And then number five oh, maybewe talk about the personal
finance one, right?
So the personal finance onethat could be.
You started a business, thebusiness is doing what it needs
to do, but the business is anewborn.
Okay, so maybe the business isa newborn, is a one-year-old or
whatever, and you're trying tomount the weight of your life,
(22:48):
the funding of your life andpaying off of debt and all that
on a business that just can't dothat, right?
So once you've come up withthat diagnosis, you can say,
okay, you know, I can take out aloan, you don't have to, I can
self fund, I could pick up alocum shift a month and it would
take care of my bills, orwhatever.
Or two locum shifts a month, orthree locum shifts a month.
(23:08):
It'll take care of all of that.
So I could give my business thebreathing space it needs to
grow, right?
It could be that, man, I'mdigging this hole with you know,
someplace I'm throwing mypersonal finances.
I'm like I'm done, I'm donethrowing things down the hole,
right?
Okay, so number five.
Number five is very, veryimportant.
(23:28):
I am not a fan of going throughchallenges, going through
setbacks, going throughdifficult times by myself.
I don't do it.
I don't do it.
I learned this so long agobecause I figured I said you
know what?
I used to be a very moodyperson.
I get moody, I get sad, I gotlike all the things.
I was something.
Now I have options.
I have options.
(23:50):
I could be the person who stayssad for two months, who stays
sad for two months.
Or I could be the person whowould lean into my community,
could get help, could getsupport.
(24:12):
Some of it is emotional support, some of it is ideas on how I
can solve the problem, somethingI can brainstorm with.
Some of it could just be aplace where I can go and laugh
and forget about things for alittle bit.
Some of it could be people whohave been through what I've been
through, who could share theirstories and how they came out of
it, so I could be encouraged.
Some of it could just be theteam that I have.
(24:34):
That's like okay, this is achallenge we're facing and we're
all going to solve it and it'sgoing to be great.
But I don't go through thingsalone.
And so number five is get thehelp you need.
Get the help you need.
This is one of the reasons whythe Entree MD Business School I
was so bent on building asupportive community, because
going through a challenge likewe're all going to go through
(24:55):
challenges but going through achallenge with you know other
people who get it and who arethere for you and who are
rooting for you and who willsupport you and who will connect
you with the right people andand all of that stuff it's it's
a game changer.
And so when I'm not at my best,when I'm not at my strongest, I
(25:17):
lean on my community, I lean onmy people, I lean on my inner
circle, I lean on my team.
I don't try.
I am very aware that there's noaward for doing it by yourself,
so I don't try to do it bymyself at all at all.
Yeah, so I want you to takethese five things.
(25:41):
They will serve you well.
There are many businesses thatwill never reach the seven
figure mark, or would never gobeyond the seven figure mark,
because they don't know how torespond to setbacks.
There are businesses that cannever become what the visionary
sees them becoming because theycan't respond to setbacks, and
(26:02):
so I want to invite you to bethe person who puts it in
perspective, who re-engages withvision, who decodes what the
actual problem is, develops apathway and leans on their
community.
I want to invite you to be thatperson.
It will change your business.
It'll make everything so muchbetter, and I'd love to
celebrate every single one ofthose things with you.
(26:23):
So start implementing, startpracticing this right away.
Invite the people in your worldto define who your inner circle
is already, so that when thenext challenge shows up, you'll
be ready and you'll handle itlike a champ.
I can't wait to hear all aboutit, rooting for you.
See you on the next episode.
There are many businesses that will never reach
the seven-figure mark or willnever go beyond the seven-figure
mark, because they don't knowhow to respond to setbacks.
There are businesses that cannever become what the visionary
sees them becoming because theycan't respond to setbacks.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi dogs, Welcome to the EntreMD podcast, where it's
all about helping amazingphysicians just like you embrace
entrepreneurship so you canhave the freedom to live life
and practice medicine on yourterms.
I'm your host, Dr Una.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Today, we are going to talk about what I consider a
superpower of superpowers forentrepreneurs, which is how to
bounce back from setbacks.
When I first started my journeyas an entrepreneur, I thought
if I did things right, if I didthings the way I was supposed to
, then everything would justwork out smoothly, and nothing
(01:02):
could be further from the truth.
The truth of the matter is theentrepreneurial experience is
more of a mountain and valley, amountain and valley, a mountain
and valley type experience.
And if you understand this andyou understand how to respond
when the inevitable valleys showup, you'll be well on your way
to thriving as a physicianentrepreneur Okay.
(01:26):
So when we lack the ability torespond to setbacks properly, it
is so expensive, okay.
So let me give you an exampleNow.
Our results as entrepreneurstypically show up 90 days after
(01:46):
we put in the effort.
Now, of course, this is arandom number, but just
understand what I mean.
And so if we think about theyear in 90-day blocks and
quarters, we can say Q1, q2, q3,q4 for every single year.
Chances are your results in Q1are a result of what you did in
Q4 the preceding year.
(02:06):
Your results in Q2 are a resultof what you did in Q1.
The dangerous thing about thatis when you stop taking action,
stop doing what you need to do,chances are you continue to get
results and so you think you'regetting away with it.
And because you think you'regetting away with it, you do it
for a whole quarter and then,boom, it hits and you're like
(02:30):
wait, how did everything dry up?
This happens a lot withentrepreneurs when they start
experiencing success.
So say, you have a privatepractice and your schedule is
full and now you have a waitlist.
Or you're a coach and you havemore people than you usually
have, and then you slow down onselling and you slow down on
marketing, slow down all ofthose things, but guess what?
The result continues.
(02:51):
People still come to yourclinic, people still are
requesting you as a coach.
Then, 90 days later, it's likeradio silence.
I've seen this.
I cannot count how many timesI've seen this.
And so you want to think ofthis like, when I have a setback
and I take 90 days to getmyself back up, I've given up a
quarter of results and it'sgoing to show up later, right?
(03:14):
Okay, so we don't want to taketoo long to recover from
setbacks Now.
Would setbacks trip us up?
Chances are they will.
Would setbacks put things inmotion where maybe you're not
getting results the way you usedto.
Yeah, chances are they will.
So I'm not trying to say, youknow, just push through whatever
happens.
That's not what I'm saying.
But what I am saying is takethe time, but don't take too
(03:38):
much time.
Okay, all right.
So what could this be?
When we say setbacks, what dowe mean?
It could be anything.
It could be something assignificant as you run a private
practice and the insurancecompany that most of your
patients use decide that you'renot out of network.
Right, it could be a teammember leaving.
(04:00):
It could be a one-star review.
I remember when I got my firstone-star review, I was out of
commission for about three days,and when I say out of
commission, I don't mean Ididn't go to work.
It doesn't mean I was sittingaround sulking, but I just
didn't have that drive to keepgoing because I'm like this is
not really appreciated or whatI'm doing is not really that
(04:21):
good, and the more I push, themore I'll be found out, which
was not true, but it's minddrama.
That's what it is right.
It could be.
You know you had a vendor, animportant vendor, that backed
out.
It could be you had a launchthat didn't do well.
You were expecting to get 20new clients and you got two.
Okay, been there, done that.
I have 72,000 t-shirts.
Okay, it could be, and this isit.
(04:44):
Could even be personalchallenges, so it has nothing to
do with your business, but lifeis life, right, it could be
personal challenges.
Maybe somebody's sick, maybeyou're sick, like you know,
things like that.
This is also a personalchallenge, but I want to put it
out separately.
Which could be.
It could be something upsidedown with your personal finance.
It has nothing like.
So there are cash flowsproblems in your life, but it's
(05:07):
not from your businesses, fromyour personal finances.
Right, it could be any of thosethings.
And so when those things happennotice I didn't say if when
those things happen, what do youdo?
What is your response?
That's what we're going to talkabout, because it is too
expensive to take forever torespond.
We want to have a system thatwe use, right?
(05:28):
Okay, so I'll tell you what I'vedone, what has worked for me
over the years, and I've hadthis right.
I've had important team membersleave.
I've had important clientsleave.
I've had one-star reviews.
I've had bad I wouldn't evencall them bad launches.
That's not the language I woulduse, right, because everything
is a learning opportunity for me.
But I've had bad I wouldn'teven call them bad launches
that's not the language I woulduse, right, because everything
is a learning opportunity for me.
But I've had launches that didnot perform as well as I wanted
(05:50):
them to perform, and things likethat.
Yeah so, I've had all of them,right, but I've been an
entrepreneur for 15 years, sothe question now is how do I
respond to those?
Okay, okay.
So the first thing I you know,how do I respond to those?
Okay, okay.
So the first thing, the firstthing I do and I want to invite
(06:11):
everyone to do, and I'm going toshow you how to make it a habit
is I put the challenge inperspective.
I put the quote, unquote,setback in perspective, because
what we usually do is we make ita whole catastrophe.
So a client left and it's like,oh, my goodness, now our
business is falling apart,because if 10 more people leave,
like them and blah, blah, blah,blah, blah, right, someone left
(06:32):
a one-star view.
Oh, my practice is not up topar, I'm so ashamed, and all of
those things A team memberleaves, right, maybe our
business is not good enough, andmaybe the rest of the people
have also been planning to leaveand they're also going to leave
.
I'm not going to have anybodyto work with, and the practice
is going to fall apart A lot oftimes.
(06:54):
That's what we do.
Okay, now, if you're also, inaddition to this, like me and
your Enneagram Six EnneagramSixers are people who have what
was described as pre-traumaticstress disorder Okay, so we can
take anything and, like, make itinto this magnificent, awful
disaster, like in theundisciplined state.
(07:16):
So I don't let my mind do thatanymore, but then you're really
going to make a whole thing outof it, okay, so you want to put
it in proper perspective?
Okay, so we have a team ofeight.
We had somebody who left, okay,and sometimes it's like the
person has been here for twoyears, three years, five years,
right, and all of that stuff.
So that is what is happening.
(07:37):
That's the true nature of whatis happening.
We have a client that you knowused to was working with us, and
then midway they left.
Ok, but in the grand scheme ofevents, we have 40 people, so
one out of 40 left.
Ok, we had a one star review,well, but we also have ninety,
nine, five star reviews, or wehave two thousand patients who
(08:00):
can write us reviews, right,like.
So we put all of these thingsin, like, just put it in its
proper place, okay.
Why is this important?
Because if we feel like nothingis working, we're going to stop
working because there's noreward for doing the work.
Right, we have to understandthat it's working, it's always
working and there's a way andthere's an opportunity and all
(08:23):
of those kinds of things, right,okay.
So if we find ourselves there,we put it in perspective.
But I do want to tell you of ahabit that I've built that kind
of keeps me in that state.
I'm not saying like I don'thave days where, you know, I
think, a day like even yesterdayactually, I had three, four,
(08:46):
five things boom, boom, boom,boom, boom that are setback-y
they're not true setbacks, right, setback-y.
That happened and I had to dowhat I'm telling you to do, okay
.
So did I have a moment whereit's like, oh man, you know,
like of course I'm a human being, but I'm not there anymore, and
it was yesterday Like I'm notgoing to live there, I'm just
not, it's too expensive.
So what do I do?
(09:08):
I have a very solid gratitudepractice.
I used to.
I used to think gratitude wasthis softy thing that people
just did so they can feel good.
No ma'am, no sir, that is notwhat that is.
That is not what that is at all.
I take the time to be gratefulfor the things that I have right
(09:28):
, like for where I find myself.
I'm grateful for my team.
I'm grateful for the fact thatI have multiple companies.
I'm grateful we made the Inc5,000 one of the fastest growing
companies.
I'm grateful that we're growing.
I'm grateful.
I'm grateful for every one ofthese things, every single one
of them.
I'm grateful for the bookswe've written.
(09:48):
I'm grateful, you know, for theclients we've had the
opportunity of serving.
I'm grateful for the wins thatthey've created, the brand new
lives that they have.
I'm grateful for everyone wholistens to the OnTram New
Podcast.
I practice gratitude.
I practice living in awe of thelife I have right now, on the
way to the life that I'mcreating, I practice it Okay,
(10:08):
and what that has done is thatit has put me in a position
where, yes, there are thingsthat are happening, but it's
easier for me to put it in thisproper perspective instead of
just catastrophizing like oh mygoodness, right, you know.
So that's the first thing.
The second thing I do is Ireconnect with my vision, and
(10:34):
the reason why this is veryimportant for me is because if
you don't, if you are notintentional about keeping your
vision in front of you,circumstances will beat it out
of you.
Right?
Like you're saying, I'm goingto build this kind of practice,
I'm going to have this kind ofteam, and you've built the team.
You're building the team youthink you need, and you're like
man, I need one more key player.
(10:55):
And as you're working on thatkey player and the highest
capacity person you have on theteam you have already says, oh,
I found another job.
And if that happens, and thenyour biller dropped the ball,
and your biller dropped the balland a patient left you a
one-star review, like you'rejust like nothing is working,
throw it all away.
(11:15):
Right, it will beat that visionout of you.
It's like you're never going toget there, so forget it.
And so I recognize what it isokay.
I recognize that a lot of times, the circumstance is not as
much of a problem as what thecircumstance does to you.
It makes you believe you can'tdo it right.
(11:37):
And so I intentionally re-engagewith my vision, re-engage with
where I'm going.
Right.
It's like the GPS I'm makingsure the right address is there,
like the circumstances didn'tgo to make that the new address
right and what that does is,again, it takes the challenge
I'm facing, or the quote unquotesetback, and puts it in
(11:59):
perspective, which is what wewant right.
So that's the thing that I doand, again, it's something I
make a habit of, and so everyday is part of my morning
routine.
I'm looking at where am I going?
Where am I going?
What am I trying to accomplish?
Where am I going?
The more I am in tune with that, I see the setback as what it
truly is.
(12:19):
It's a stepping stone, it's abump in the way, something I
have to overcome.
As I overcome it, I build moremuscle, all of those kinds of
things.
Okay, so that's the second thingI do and I hope this like,
pretty please, this is one ofthese ones.
I would really love for you totake a screenshot and post it on
social media and, you know,like, share your biggest aha,
(12:40):
share what you're getting out ofthis, because I'd really love
to know that it's helping.
Ok, so hashtag on term D so wecan find the post.
Ok, you can tag me.
You know, whichever platform.
It is the third thing I do andthis is really important I
decode what the actual problemis Right, because when the
circumstances show is like well,oh, my goodness, nothing's
(13:01):
working.
And I call that anentrepreneurial temper tantrum.
Okay, the best of us have hadthis.
So I call it an entrepreneurialtemper tantrum, but it's not
helpful, because if you don'tknow what the problem is, you
can't fix it.
If you don't know what theproblem is, you can't make a
difference, right.
And so I have to stop and say,okay, what is the problem though
(13:26):
?
So, yes, I feel bad, yes, thisdidn't go according to plan, but
what is the problem?
So, for instance, we had a timewhen, you know, we didn't have a
very stable team, like peoplewould stay nine months a year,
they'd leave and all those kindsof things.
And then we got a really stableteam and it was so fun.
And then COVID hit.
Okay, and then COVID hit and itwas like we had a revolving
(13:49):
door and people were leaving andall of that.
And I could have said, oh mygoodness, everybody's leaving,
catastrophizing.
We don't do that.
Okay, you're on term D, wedon't do that.
So I'm like, okay, well, I putthe challenge in perspective.
Okay, so we have a company, wehave a company that's doing well
, we have a company that haslongevity, all of those things.
(14:09):
It is evidence, it's a greatplace to work and we have a team
member who left.
That's what happened, nothingmore than that.
That's what happened.
Okay, re-engage with the vision.
Where are we going?
We're trying to build thiscompany where we provide expert
medical care on parallelcustomer service in a profitable
way, like with my team.
(14:30):
My vision for my team is whenthey come and they leave, or
when they come, they're like man.
I experienced the most personalprofessional growth in this
place than anywhere else.
I want them to love their jobs.
They work hard at work, butthey love their jobs.
It's not a toxic environmentand stuff like that.
And then for the patients, oh,my goodness, they get great care
, all of that.
So I reconnect with the visionand then I come to decode what
(14:53):
is the actual problem and so Istart researching the problem
because I'm like we've been okay.
So what's going on here?
It's not the work environment.
It's not the work environment.
It's not the work environmentat all.
It was the beginning of thegreat resignation, right?
And then people are just youknow, covid forced them to stop
long enough to say, ok, is thiswhat I really want out of my
(15:14):
life?
Do I want to try somethingdifferent?
There's a whole online thing.
Do.
I want to start an onlinebusiness and all of this stuff.
And so I recognize oh, theproblem here is that the world,
the workforce, is just in acompletely different state and
the things that used to matter astable job, a certain pay they
(15:38):
don't matter as much.
Right, that's the problem, see,now.
But figuring out that problemput me in a position where I
could solve the problem, okay,and get a one-star review.
Oh my goodness, okay, great.
But now they have what's theproblem, okay?
And you go and you look at it.
So maybe it was.
There was miscommunication withthe team.
(16:00):
And you're like okay, so that'swhat the problem is.
Maybe it's that that persondidn't want to pay their copay
and they told your team if youguys don't see me, even though I
don't want to pay my copay, Iam going to go leave your
one-star review.
So if you don't know what theproblem is, you can't fix it.
Okay, okay.
So maybe you're like man,there's so much financial
(16:22):
pressure.
Oh, my goodness, nothing isworking, the business is not
working and that's not helpful.
And you stop Like what is theactual problem?
My business has grown 140% inthe last six months.
So guess what?
Business is not the problemright Now.
(16:46):
In my personal life I probablybit off a lot more than I could
chew and so I have pressure inmy personal life and I'm taking
it out on the business.
That's not yet at a stage whereit can pay that level of stuff
for my personal life.
Then you're not like, okay,let's separate these two so we
don't kill the business becausewe think there's a financial
(17:07):
problem in the business whenthere's nothing wrong with the
business.
The financial problems in mypersonal life.
Do you guys see what I'm saying?
You have to get the diagnosis.
The same way as a pediatrician.
I won't just see a kid, I'mlike, oh, kid, and then
prescribe some amoxicillin andsend them home.
(17:28):
I have to run diagnostics.
I have to see what the problemis so I can fix the problem Okay
.
So that's number three.
That's number three, this righthere, being able to be calm
enough to sit down and say, okay, what is the actual problem.
This will put you in a positionwhere you'll be a much better
(17:50):
problem solver.
You'll train your team to bemuch better problem solvers and
you will get out of setbacks soquick, relatively, because you
understand how to find and solvethe problem.
Okay.
Number four is develop a pathto the solution.
So, now that we know what theproblem is, how are we going to
(18:12):
get out of the problem?
Okay, and once we do, werelentlessly execute.
Okay, so I'm not going to talkabout execution, but so let's go
back to the examples that weused.
All right, so we find what'sthe setback?
Team members are leaving.
Ok, what's the problem?
We're in the great resignation.
(18:34):
People's values have changed.
People are exploring like, oh,you know, what else do I want to
do with my life?
And all of that stuff.
What is the solution?
So for us, the solution becameokay, they're no longer
motivated by whatever we'repaying them, or even many
dollars above that.
They're no longer looking forstability, like people are
(18:55):
quitting and starting like noman's business.
Looking for stability Likepeople were quitting and
starting like no man's business.
And so we said, okay, we need tofind people with whom we can
create a win-win situation,meaning we want somebody who can
come, who can do good work, isreliable and all of that stuff.
So we need to find somebody whowants what we have.
(19:16):
Okay.
And so we thought about it andwe said, okay, the people who
are medical students, pre-mpstudents, pre-nursing students,
pre-pa students.
They want clinical experience,which we can give them.
They're not necessarily lookingfor a salary per se right,
(19:36):
because they did these things asrotations but we're like, well,
we can train them to work andwe can pay them which they would
love and we can give themletters of recommendation.
So now, because we know whatthe problem is, we know who we
can find, and if we can findthese people, it's a match made
in heaven.
(19:57):
You're not going to have themforever.
You may have them for a year,two years or three years, but
the time you do have them, theybring their A game because
you're giving them exactly whatthey want.
And so then we then built itwhere, yes, we still had our MAs
and all that stuff, but we hadthese other people and we built
a system to train them.
Like, within two weeks, theywere ready to go Right.
(20:19):
And so now we had a solution tothe problem, and that was the
solution that served us andserved us so, so, so, so well,
continues to serve us so well,and I've taught so many of our
clients the same thing.
Okay, okay With the with theone-star review.
Okay, we find out that, oh,there was some miscommunication.
(20:41):
Then we go back and we're likeokay, guys, this is a thing that
happened, this is the way we'resolving it and that's over.
You find out it was becausesomebody didn't want to pay
their co-pay.
Not a whole lot you can doabout that other than
communicate even more that yourcopay will be required at the
time of service.
Okay, but people do that.
(21:01):
People weaponize reviews.
But regardless of what youchoose for 99.9999999% of
physicians, it's a smallfraction of people who are angry
and it's a big percentage ofpeople who are excited about you
.
But the thing is they're notgoing to of their own free will,
just go leave a review.
(21:22):
And so, if you got thisone-star review, you want to
figure out whatever was thething and fix that.
And then you want to reach outto your community and have them
dilute that and flood yourGoogle business profile with
five-star reviews.
Now we had a doctor who didthis flawlessly.
(21:42):
It was so beautiful, okay.
So she had a person who left aone-star review.
I don't remember what it was,but if I remember correctly, it
was weaponized.
Right, like I'm going to, I'mgoing to go leave you a one-star
review.
Like you know, that's what theydo, okay.
And so she, she sends out anemail to her patient base and
(22:05):
she says this is what is goingon.
And I wanted to reach out toyou guys because, yeah, that's
great.
That person said there's whatmany of you absolutely love us
and you haven't left us a review.
I don't think that's exactlyhow she worded it, I don't
remember what it was, but shesends it out.
I don't remember she got a ton,maybe 40, 50 new reviews,
five-star reviews, so gratefulfor the work that she did.
Do you see how you problemsolve that?
(22:26):
Okay, okay.
And then number five oh, maybewe talk about the personal
finance one, right?
So the personal finance onethat could be.
You started a business, thebusiness is doing what it needs
to do, but the business is anewborn.
Okay, so maybe the business isa newborn, is a one-year-old or
whatever, and you're trying tomount the weight of your life,
(22:48):
the funding of your life andpaying off of debt and all that
on a business that just can't dothat, right?
So once you've come up withthat diagnosis, you can say,
okay, you know, I can take out aloan, you don't have to, I can
self fund, I could pick up alocum shift a month and it would
take care of my bills, orwhatever.
Or two locum shifts a month, orthree locum shifts a month.
(23:08):
It'll take care of all of that.
So I could give my business thebreathing space it needs to
grow, right?
It could be that, man, I'mdigging this hole with you know,
someplace I'm throwing mypersonal finances.
I'm like I'm done, I'm donethrowing things down the hole,
right?
Okay, so number five.
Number five is very, veryimportant.
(23:28):
I am not a fan of going throughchallenges, going through
setbacks, going throughdifficult times by myself.
I don't do it.
I don't do it.
I learned this so long agobecause I figured I said you
know what?
I used to be a very moodyperson.
I get moody, I get sad, I gotlike all the things.
I was something.
Now I have options.
I have options.
(23:50):
I could be the person who stayssad for two months, who stays
sad for two months.
Or I could be the person whowould lean into my community,
could get help, could getsupport.
(24:12):
Some of it is emotional support, some of it is ideas on how I
can solve the problem, somethingI can brainstorm with.
Some of it could just be aplace where I can go and laugh
and forget about things for alittle bit.
Some of it could be people whohave been through what I've been
through, who could share theirstories and how they came out of
it, so I could be encouraged.
Some of it could just be theteam that I have.
(24:34):
That's like okay, this is achallenge we're facing and we're
all going to solve it and it'sgoing to be great.
But I don't go through thingsalone.
And so number five is get thehelp you need.
Get the help you need.
This is one of the reasons whythe Entree MD Business School I
was so bent on building asupportive community, because
going through a challenge likewe're all going to go through
(24:55):
challenges but going through achallenge with you know other
people who get it and who arethere for you and who are
rooting for you and who willsupport you and who will connect
you with the right people andand all of that stuff it's it's
a game changer.
And so when I'm not at my best,when I'm not at my strongest, I
(25:17):
lean on my community, I lean onmy people, I lean on my inner
circle, I lean on my team.
I don't try.
I am very aware that there's noaward for doing it by yourself,
so I don't try to do it bymyself at all at all.
Yeah, so I want you to takethese five things.
(25:41):
They will serve you well.
There are many businesses thatwill never reach the seven
figure mark, or would never gobeyond the seven figure mark,
because they don't know how torespond to setbacks.
There are businesses that cannever become what the visionary
sees them becoming because theycan't respond to setbacks, and
(26:02):
so I want to invite you to bethe person who puts it in
perspective, who re-engages withvision, who decodes what the
actual problem is, develops apathway and leans on their
community.
I want to invite you to be thatperson.
It will change your business.
It'll make everything so muchbetter, and I'd love to
celebrate every single one ofthose things with you.
(26:23):
So start implementing, startpracticing this right away.
Invite the people in your worldto define who your inner circle
is already, so that when thenext challenge shows up, you'll
be ready and you'll handle itlike a champ.
I can't wait to hear all aboutit, rooting for you.
See you on the next episode.
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Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.