Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This 1 million I said
I'm going to make.
How am I going to do it?
I cannot tell you how manypeople cannot tell me an answer
to that.
But if you ask them, oh yeah,this is the year I'm going to
build a seven figure business.
I'm going to add seven figuresto my business All of a sudden.
How will this happen?
They don't know.
I'll sell more.
That is not a strategy.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is a math
problem.
We need to have the mathequation.
What is the EntreMD podcast,where it's all about helping
amazing physicians just like youembrace entrepreneurship so you
can have the freedom to livelife and practice medicine on
your terms.
I'm your host, Dr Imna.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Have you found
yourself in a position where you
have set a goal.
You're like this is going to beamazing.
You had a vision of, maybe,what your business would look
like the revenue goals you weregoing to hit, the team you were
going to have, and all of thatstuff.
And you started off and thingsjust did not go the way you
expected and you went from thiswonderful honeymoon season to
(01:04):
this place of almost puredesperation, like what am I
going to do now?
Maybe you're a seasonedentrepreneur and so, because of
that, you're not at that pointwhere you're like I want to quit
or anything like that, but youjust want to throw it away.
You're like you know, I setthis goal.
Maybe you wanted to hit Amelia,you wanted to add Amelia, you
wanted to finally build thatteam so you can separate
(01:25):
yourself a little bit from thebusiness and you start going at
it and no matter what you throwat it, it's just not hitting.
What do you do then?
How do you stay patient?
How do you not quit?
We're going to talk about whatto do when results take too long
, and this is the deal you areeither in a season where results
are taking too long or you'reabout to get into a season where
(01:45):
results take too long, and sothis is something that is just
part of the journey of anentrepreneur.
But the people who are ultrasuccessful know how to navigate
those seasons, whereas everybodyelse is like I just want to
quit, I want to throw it away.
They're depressed, they quitequit on their business for five,
six months a year at a time,and you just cannot make
significant traction that way.
There, six months a year at atime, and you just cannot make
(02:06):
significant traction that way.
There isn't a way to do that,okay, all right.
So big shout out to DrCatherine Tumor.
So if you're listening to this,you can go let her know in the
chat.
Like you're amazing.
You're the reason that Dr Unadid this whole podcast episode,
because she asked a questionlike how can you be patient with
yourself and with your teamwhen results are taking longer
than you expect?
(02:26):
Okay, so she posted this in theEntreeMD Facebook group and if
you're not a part of the group,come join us, okay, so just
search for EntreeMD physiciansin business and you will find
that on Facebook and you cancome join us.
We talk shop all the time there, all right?
So let's say, you had this,this goal, your vision.
Like man, you know we're goingto.
We're going to cross the sevenfigure mark because of what this
(02:49):
means.
Right, what it means for, let'ssay what it means for you is
that there are a certain numberof people you have to serve to
pull it off, and so you'll bealmost doubling your impact.
Maybe it also means that you'llbe able to, you know, hire a
higher capacity staff, so thatthat means you can get some of
your time back and spend moretime with your family or your
health and all these otherthings that matter to you.
You know, maybe you want toprove to yourself that you can
(03:10):
do this.
You, you know, like, maybe youunsubscribed from the lie that
physicians can't build greatbusinesses and you're like I'm
going to do this because it'ssomething I've wanted to do and
I want to prove to myself that Ican do it.
Also, the financial freedom youknow that that sets the stage
for you to accomplish all ofthese things.
Right, like so, for so manyreasons, you're like this is the
year we crossed that and youstarted off going down and
you're full of expectation.
(03:31):
Maybe you've hired a whole teamto handle all the stuff that's
coming and the thing is notcoming Okay, and even the things
that seemed like they wereworking before, and maybe some
of them are not working, orthings are going great and
you're growing, but not at thespeed that you want it.
Whichever, it is Okay.
So let's talk about you know, Iwill tell you five things that I
would do, and I have had thiscycle over and over and over
again, right, like where thingsdid not go the way I planned for
(03:53):
them to go, and you know maybeyou're like me, I'm a speedy
Gonzales, so I'm like wait, youknow, I want this and I want
I've already mapped out thetimeframes and all of that stuff
but the only thing you reallyhave control over is what you do
.
You don't have control over thetiming of the result, and
that's not to say we don't getthe result, but just lean into
this, okay.
So the first thing, the veryfirst thing, and this is a trap
(04:15):
that I see all the time, and Isee this as the trap of 2025,
which is the time I'm recordingthis and it's something we have
to guard against.
Hear me, dear entrepreneur, youmust guard against this.
And what is that trap?
It's a trap of giving up yourvision.
It's a trap of giving up yourvision and sometimes it sneaks
up on you.
You won't even know.
You may have heard me say thatYou're like I would never.
(04:36):
I would never give up on myvision.
No-transcript bank account.
(05:13):
By the middle of the year, thisis how much will come in.
These are the like if I, if I'ma coach and I do a launch and I
have people come into myprogram and say I have a group
coaching program, it's usuallyI'm making up numbers here it's
usually 20 people I expect.
So your subconsciousexpectation is 20.
The fact that you say you wanta million doesn't make you go to
45.
Your subconscious setting is 20.
So if you get to 20, you'reokay, even though your vision is
(05:38):
twice that.
But you're like okay, the priceyou believe people pay you is
the price that you've chargedand all this stuff.
So it conditions you.
You run a private practice.
There's a certain kind of teamyou've had.
The expectation is subconscious.
This is the kind of team.
You can write whatever you wantto write on paper Like, ooh,
this is my vision, all of thatstuff.
But this is right.
That's what the expectation is,you know and these are a number
(06:01):
of patients we see a day andalso as long as what has
happened is happening, for themost part you're okay.
This is the default.
Now let's say you did a lot ofwork and in the Entrepreneur
Business School we do agoal-setting workshop.
It's more vision, right, it'sjust setting the vision for the
following year.
We do October of every year andso maybe you do something like
that, right?
So you lean into where exactlyI want to go, you lean into the
(06:24):
picture of what that looks like.
You make a vision board.
Your reading book's in linewith it.
So you do the work of shiftingwhat you think about yourself,
the way you show up, what youthink about your business, your
team, the revenue, all of that.
So now your expectation is nolonger 41,000.
Your subconscious expectationis that you're bringing in
83,000, right, so you can hitthat million dollar mark.
Your subconscious is patient.
These are the kind of people Iwork with, right, your
(06:46):
subconscious is patient.
This is the way I show up, likeyou've elevated all of that,
right.
So maybe that's you, maybethat's you, maybe you're not
even the person who hasn't donethis at all.
But here comes January, right,and you were like 83 grand.
Now, of course there's greateststuff, right.
So I'm just giving a rawexample.
So you hit 43,000 in January.
If you have not done the workof shifting the way you think,
(07:06):
you're like, yeah, it's 43,000.
We'll try again next month.
And if you've done the work,you're like, no, okay, yeah.
So what do I tweak?
What do I do?
What worked, what didn't work,all that stuff, let's go again.
And you do it again in February.
And so maybe you don't get 43,but you get like 45, like it's
marginally different, right.
And you do the same thing,right.
And then you get to to to March, and then it's like 50,.
(07:30):
Right now it's 50 more than 40.
Yes, I mean it's a whole$10,000 more than 40.
That's a whole six figure.
You know six figure growth,right.
But it's not, it's not going totake you to a million, right.
And so there's something thathappens, especially if the
people in your world are alsonot crossing those numbers and
all of those things, without youknowing.
(07:50):
You may still have the visionboard on the wall, but it's on
the wall, it's not in your heart, it's on a wall, it's not in
you, it's not directing the wayyou show up.
It's not directing how youinterview.
It's not directing how you sell.
It's not directing how you lead.
It's not directing anything,because what is on the inside of
you is a vision of a $500,000business, right?
And so one of the things thatyou have to protect is you have
(08:14):
to protect the vision.
You have to keep the vision topof mind, even in the face of
disappointments, even in theface of delays and all of that
stuff.
Your imagination is free.
Your vision is free, like holdonto it.
You haven't accomplished it,but you haven't accomplished it
yet, right?
You haven't accomplished it yet.
You still can.
If you let that go, what willhappen is you show up like the
(08:35):
person running a $500,000business.
You build a team that willsupport a $500,000 business.
You will lead them to be peoplewho support a $500,000 business
.
You will sell, you will price,you will do everything like
someone running a $500,000business.
And guess what you're going toget at the end of the year?
A $500,000 business.
Nothing else we talk about isgoing to matter if this goes out
(08:56):
of the window.
So when you have challenges,when you have problems, show up
in your business.
I want to show you what thereal issue is.
The real issue is almost neverthe challenge.
The real issue is the way thechallenge shapes your vision.
It shapes the way you seeyourself.
It shapes the way you see yourleadership ability.
It shapes the way you think yousell.
Like a one-star review is notgreat.
(09:18):
We don't want a one-star review.
But the real problem is not theone-star review.
The real problem is are yougoing to make you think about
your business a different waybecause you got a one-star
review?
Think about the kind of leaderyou are.
All of that because of theone-star review.
That's the bigger problem.
That's the more expensiveproblem.
When results are taking longer,your number one job is to guard
(09:40):
the vision, is to guard.
Your vision is to to preservethat picture, is to keep seeing
your business at the light ofwhere you're going.
If you see where it's going,you can go there.
If you see where it is, youwill stay there.
I know I beat that up a littlebit, but it's important because
if this doesn't work, nothingelse works.
The second life beats thevision out of you.
(10:01):
The second your businesschallenges beat the vision out
of you.
You're done.
You're done Now.
Could you not get to 600 doingthat?
Yeah, you could, but thequantum leap you're looking for
you're not going to do it.
It's just not possible.
You go where your vision isOkay, all right.
So that's number one.
That's the first thing I woulddo is I would protect the vision
.
I would protect the visionPractically.
(10:23):
What does that look like?
I can have a vision board, butI'm looking at it.
I will audit my thoughtsthrough the day, like when I
think of my business 80% of thetime, what kind of business am I
thinking it is?
If 80% of the time, I'mthinking it's a $500,000
business, it's a $500,000business.
If 80% of the time, I thinkit's a million dollar business,
it's a million dollar business.
Right, so what am I thinking?
(10:44):
I have done things like.
I would even set alarms threetimes a day that will remind me
to envision the business I'mbuilding.
I'm telling you this is full-onwarfare, if you want to put it
that way, but you got to protectthe vision.
So I've done that.
I have recorded myself readingout the goals that I set for the
year as if they've alreadyhappened, and I just hit play
(11:05):
and it'll play back to me.
I've done all kinds of things.
Do what you must?
You got to preserve the vision?
Okay, number two.
Number two is another placewhere I see a lot of mistakes
made, and that's this the pathis not defined Right.
So when it's taking longer, wewant to define the path Like
this 1 million I said I'm goingto make, how am I going to do it
(11:28):
?
I have spoken and coachedthousands of entrepreneurs over
the years.
I cannot tell you how manypeople cannot tell me an answer
to that.
But if you ask them oh yeah,this is a year I'm going to
build a seven figure business.
I'm going to add seven figuresto my business All of a sudden,
how will this happen?
They don't know.
I'll sell more.
That is not a strategy.
This is a math problem.
We need to have the mathequation.
What is the math equation for amillion dollars?
For you?
I sell something that's $10,000and I'm going to put a hundred
(11:49):
people in it.
Okay, that sounds like amillion, right, like, and all of
that stuff.
But if you can't do the math,if you can't show me how, if
you're working on the how,that's something right, like I'm
still trying to figure it out Iget that.
But when you have magicalthinking and so many
entrepreneurs have magicalthinking doesn't cease to amaze
me.
When someone say, oh, you know,I started a private practice
(12:11):
and it's slow.
What can I do?
I'm doing everything, I knowwhat can I do.
And when you investigate, therewas no strategy and they quit
their job and they bought everyequipment in sight and they have
all these massive bills comingin.
I'm like how sway right.
Okay, so you got to define thepath.
Same old, same old will not cutit.
(12:32):
If you're applying toaccomplish something more, same
old, same old will not cut it.
You have to know where you'regoing.
Being confused about it willnot cut it.
Not changing anything will notcut it.
The plan that got you to 500 isnot the plan that will get you
to a million.
The plan has to change.
The plan has to change.
Okay Now, it may not radicallychange.
It may be a price change, itmay be a volume change, it may
(12:55):
be whatever.
Right, like the container maychange a little bit, whatever.
But we have to have a plan.
So if things are taking longer,I have to ask myself is there
even a plan?
Like I'm saying it's takinglonger but I'm not executing on
anything strategically to get methere, so it's a good time to
audit.
Do I have a plan defined?
The third thing is is then, youknow, this is one of my favorite
(13:16):
.
It's it's a come to Jesusmeeting, right, like are you,
are you working the plan?
Are you working the plans?
Oh, the plan is, you know, wehave had we typically would have
, you know, 500 patients a monthand now we want to have 750,
and we have the bandwidth, wehave the team to support that
number of patients.
Great, so what are we doing?
Oh, you know, we just.
(13:36):
You know, when they call, wejust try to get them in and it's
not going to cut it.
You have the plan.
So you created the plan.
We're going to do the recall Xnumber of times.
We're going to reactivate thesereferral sources.
We're going to go in on socialmedia or YouTube, which, for
everyone who owns a privatepractice I'm going to be
screaming about this, I'm goingto like even at the entrepreneur
business club, hint, hint, guys, hint, if you're listening
(13:56):
we're going to do a whole lotwith YouTube because, my
goodness it is.
It is a gold mine for privatepractice owners, like every
other kind of business, butespecially for private practice
owners.
So he said we're going to doall these things.
So when it's taking longer, youwant to have a come to Jesus
(14:17):
moment with yourself.
Like, am I actually doing thething that we defined we're
going to do to get the result?
Because sometimes I find peoplewho are so stressed out that
they're not getting the result.
It's not working the way.
I want all that stuff and youlook and they're not doing what
they said they were going to do.
They're not even touching it.
They're doing a lot of 80%activities that don't matter,
but the actual things that willmove the needle, they're not
doing them.
So you want to have a come toJesus moment with yourself.
Am I doing this?
(14:39):
Am I doing this?
Especially those froggy ones,right?
So maybe your private practice.
You have a wait list.
I had a doc who and she's soamazing she's such a massive
action taker.
She had over 300 people on await list right In her private
practice so people can see her,for I don't know whether it
would be months or whatever, andso the rate limiting step there
(15:00):
she was going to experiencemassive growth.
What was it going to take?
She needs to hire anotherdoctor because she was at
capacity, right.
And so when it seems like it'staking long, you have to stop
and say did you hire said doc?
Like, have you hired that doc?
Right, okay, if you're a coachand you're like man, I'm at, I'm
at full capacity with demandout the door, right, and I've
(15:21):
been doing one-to-one and I'mgoing to do one-to-many and you
know you're going to need tolaunch that Now.
Have you launched that?
No, that, no, okay, but so why?
You don't mind, you don't havethe million right Like.
So it's is that thing of am Iworking the plan?
Am I working the plan?
Like, am I even doing it?
Because how do I know this?
Like, guys, the reason why Ican talk about a lot of these
(15:41):
things is because I've madealmost every one of these
mistakes.
I've coached people who've madeevery one of these mistakes,
right Like.
So you're not unique, likeuniquely special because you're
making these mistakes.
This is just for like, I'vetaken one for the team, my
clients have taken one for theteam.
Don't take another one for theteam.
You know what I mean.
Like, just understand that thiswill be a problem and this will
set you up and just fix it,Okay, okay.
(16:02):
Number four choose patience inadvance.
Choose that when things are notgoing my way, I will be patient
.
And I want to read for you thedefinition of the word patience.
Okay, because if you can't,ahead of time, say I'm not going
(16:22):
to let this bother me.
You're already so far ahead Now.
The word patience means able toaccept or tolerate delays,
problems or suffering withoutbecoming annoyed or anxious.
I'm going to read it again theword patience means able to
accept or tolerate delays,problems or suffering without
(16:45):
becoming annoyed or anxious.
So if there are things that arenot going our way, we've
decided that we're able toaccept or at least tolerate it
without becoming annoyed oranxious.
I am telling you I have, atthis point, been an entrepreneur
for 15 years.
You're going to have ups anddowns and highs and lows and all
of that, but at the end of theday you'll come out ahead right,
(17:07):
but there is nothing you can doto avoid challenges in business
.
There's nothing you can dowhere you don't have mountain
valley, mountain valley, up anddown, high and low.
Like none of that.
When I work with the doctors onthe on-term to business school,
let me tell you some of thethings that happen.
Our calls are on Wednesday.
We'll come on one Wednesday anda doc is like you know, man,
you know just having a reallyvalue moment.
(17:28):
You know we're having a lot ofchallenges in our business.
We had a lot of turnover andstuff like that and we kind of
work with them and coach themaround it and stuff like that.
And the very next day, the verynext day, they're like oh, we
had our biggest week ever.
They've been doing it longenough to see that these two
things go together and the moresuccessful they are, the more
(17:50):
they see.
So it's not unusual for me tohear the doctors who are doing
over a million say, oh, this wasour most challenging year and
this was our best year, whetherrevenue, team, all of that stuff
, right, so they go together.
And so if you can choosepatience, you can win.
You already know you're goingto have challenges.
You already know you're goingto have ups and downs.
You already know.
(18:11):
So you might as well choosewhen that time comes.
It's not an if.
When that time comes, I'mrefusing to be annoyed.
Now I'm not saying don't behuman.
Of course you can be annoyed,you can get annoyed, just don't
stay annoyed.
You can go like, oh my goodness, how is this going to work?
But just don't stay there,right, okay?
And then the fifth thing, whenresults are taking longer, is
(18:32):
really lean on your community.
And when I say community, Idon't mean everybody.
There are people in your worldand if you don't have them, you
want to acquire them.
And if you're a physicianentrepreneur, there's a place
where there's over a hundredpeople like this Physician
entrepreneurs it's called theEntrepreneur Business School.
Come join us, okay.
You want to have a community ofpeople who are living outside
(18:54):
their comfort zone.
So they get it.
They get it, they get you.
They understand that there arehighs and lows at every point in
time.
Some of them will be at highhighs, some of them will be at
low lows.
They've been where you are.
They can tell you oh, you know,that was me two weeks ago and
you know this is what I did tohandle it.
They'll look out for youbecause they understand what
(19:14):
that season is like, and so youwant to lean into that, right?
And so that the journey ofgoing through and the results
taking longer and all that willbe less painful because you're
with people who get it.
You are with people who willtell you I mean, like, it
doesn't take all that, you canjust quit, or yeah, nobody got
time for that.
Like, you want to be in acommunity of people who are like
you got this, you can do it,and they'll send you virtual
(19:36):
hugs and they will call you andif they live close to you,
they'll stop by and they willencourage you.
Now, when I started my privatepractice, I didn't know anything
about anything, and this is whyI am so determined to support
physicians on this journey.
I didn't know anything aboutanything.
And there was a day, you know,there were patients coming and
(19:58):
you know we'd been doing a lotof stuff and I was so
discouraged, so discouraged, andI remember, I remember that you
know, a surgeon came to myoffice.
Now my office was, you know,there were two suites a suite A
and suite B.
Suite A was the first one, somy office was almost hidden.
Right, it was almost hidden.
It was a smaller office and sohe wasn't strolling by.
(20:20):
He came there and so he comesin and he says, wow, are you, dr
Una?
I'm like, yeah, he's like,you're so brave starting a
private practice.
When I started mine, I wasscared out of my mind.
I was scared, spitless, and hewas like but don't worry, it
gets easier.
Sometimes you will have thetemptation to quit, and I'm
paraphrasing.
I don't remember the exactwords he said but you're going
(20:40):
to feel the temptation to quit.
But don't, it gets easier, itgets better.
Just hang in there.
And if I get referrals and allthat stuff, I'm going to send
them to you.
I will never forget him for aslong as I live, because it was
almost as though an angel walkedin and, like God sent an angel
to just say don't quit, I gotyou Right and that's the power
(21:02):
of a community, right?
So we all have those.
I want to quit.
When I say I want to quit, Idon't always mean like shut down
your business, but sometimesyou're like my goodness, like
why am I doing this?
You start questioning yourself,okay, like I'm even doing this,
right, or does it even matter?
Right?
There's all these things thathappen and just having someone
who gets it to encourage you hedidn't spend up to five minutes
(21:24):
in my office, but that wasenough to take carry me for
months, right?
And so you want to lean intothat community and whatever you
do, don't quit.
And sometimes people questionme when I say that.
But let me tell you what I meanby that.
I don't mean quit on the method.
You can quit on the methodanytime you want.
I mean, don't quit on the dream.
And if you must quit, if youmust change a method, if you
(21:46):
must change a business, if youmust change a business, if you
must pivot your business, if youmust do any of that, you want
to quit strategically, notbecause you were frustrated.
It didn't work, like in themoments where you're frustrated,
second guessing yourself,unsure, discouraged.
That is not the time to make aquitting decision.
You make a quitting decisionfrom a place of strength and you
decide you know what, don'twant to do that, don't want to
(22:08):
do that, I quit it.
I quit stuff all the time, butit's a strategic decision.
It's not out of frustration.
It is hard to make greatdecisions when you're frustrated
, when you're discouraged, right?
So these are the things I wantyou to do, but I want you to
understand their highs and lows.
This is like anybody who tellsyou like business is sipping
margaritas on the beach.
They lie to you.
That's not what it is.
That's not what it is at all.
(22:28):
And so I want to challenge you.
I want to challenge you todecide that no storm is going to
take you out.
I want you to decide that I'mgoing to go all in.
I want you to decide that whenthose things come that take
longer, I'm going to be able totolerate it and I'm going to
lean on all the resources I needto come out on the other side
and just know that I'm rootingfor you.
When you see this podcast, whenyou see new episodes air, it is
(22:51):
for you.
When you see us host workshops,it is for you.
We actually, if you'relistening to this like right
when it's released, we have aworkshop coming on called the
Revenue Boost Challenge ontramdcom forward slash challenge
.
Go, save your spot.
We host this every other month.
I want every other month.
When you come for this workshop, like your business experience,
it boosts, like your new normalrevenue wise changes because of
(23:13):
the strategies you learn andyou implement during that
workshop.
So when you see the workshops,it's for you.
Okay.
So the workshop starts Aprilthe 7th, so save your spot.
It's for you.
When you see us show up onYouTube, it's for you.
When you see us write books,it's for you.
Please understand that you'resupported For those of you who
are in the EntreMD BusinessSchool.
It's for you, those of you whohave been thinking about it,
(23:33):
come join us.
You have questions, come ask,okay.
Entremdcom, forward slashbusiness and come check it out.
But you have support to win,okay.
So, yes, things are taking alittle longer and all of those
things.
It doesn't mean you won't win.
I have a friend who did a littleover $2 million and he decided,
you know, in a year and decidedhe wanted to build a $10
(23:54):
million business and he startedworking at that and year one he
probably did 2.3.
You know, after that he did 2.5, after that maybe 3.2.
And then in his fifth year hedid 20 million.
Right, he did 20 million.
So the idea is this right, like, can you do that long enough so
you can get where you're going?
And I'm not saying hitting yourgoals will take you five years,
(24:15):
especially in the beginning,especially when you're under 2
million.
What I am saying is the ultrasuccessful can tolerate delays,
they can tolerate problems, theycan tolerate those things, they
can tolerate the challenges.
And I want to invite you toembrace that life Now, while you
do it, you're not doing it injust a strong headed way.
You're making sure you have theplan.
You're making sure you'reexecuting on the plan.
(24:35):
You're making sure you'releaning on your community.
You're making sure that,whatever happens, you do not let
life or challenges steal yourvision Right and you keep moving
, okay.
So I'm rooting for every singleone of you.
I cannot wait to celebrate youas you become this person who
can tolerate delays, who can winin spite of the ups and down.
You're no longer as phased bythem.
(24:56):
That's the path of the ultrasuccessful and that's where all
the magic happens.
Rooting for you always, andI'll see you on the next episode
.