Are You a Hero or a CEO? Shifting Your Mindset for Growth with Steve Allred

Do you find yourself constantly rescuing your business? Steve Allred challenges healthcare owners to move beyond the "hero" mentality and embrace the strategic thinking of a CEO. This episode explores how to identify self-sabotaging behaviors, delegate effectively, and cultivate the mindset needed to achieve significant growth and a better future for your business.

Listen to this episode if you want to:

• Understand the crucial mindset shift from healthcare provider to CEO.
• Learn how to delegate effectively and empower your team.
• Gain clarity on your business financials and make data-driven decisions.
• Overcome self-sabotaging "hero" behaviors.
• Develop a strong leadership vision for your practice.
• Unlock your business's full potential for growth and impact.

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. This helps us reach more listeners like you! Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Steve Allred is our very special guest today for the
Willpower Podcast.
Guys, thank you for tuning inToday's guest.
We had the funnest time talkingabout the mindset shift that
occurs from being like aprovider to being someone who's
focused on profits and patientoutcomes.
Steve Allred is a powerfulphysical therapist who went back

(00:31):
to school and got his MBA.
You know how easy that is to goback to college and he's
leveraged both of theseincredible skill sets to grow
large companies and now he'scoaching smaller ones, and
smaller meaning, you know, sub50 million.
So, whether you have $500,000 ayear or you're a practice that
does one to 10 million, this isthe guy for you.

(00:51):
He knows how to take a P&L andmake it entertaining.
But today's topic is going tobe a lot more deep than that.
We're going to be talking abouthow to think differently so
that we can open up our futureand get the future we deserve.
Enjoy the show.
So, steve, you are a mastercoach.
You have been working.
You're a physical therapist.
You've been working withbusinesses for a long time.

(01:15):
You have your MBA, so you weretalking about thinking like a
CEO.
So what's the problem, or themain problems, you see when
you're coaching with clients inthis particular capacity of
thinking like a CEO.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
We get stuck in being good at what we're at, staying
where we're good and where wefeel confident and validated,
and we have to push into theareas where we're not.
And that's really hard becauseit's not about five steps where
we're not.
And that's really hard becauseit's not about five steps, it's
not about five tricks, it'sabout our mindset.
And it's about somebody thatsays here's a blind spot and

(01:53):
somebody's you know, I wastalking to two owners and
they're and he said here's myblind spots.
And his partner says well then,how is it a blind spot If?

Speaker 1 (02:02):
you can see it.
How is it?
A blind spot?

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Exactly, and so they shared each other's blind spots
and you could see, as one said,that hits hard, full stop.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Yes, because they're in that place of like,
recognizing it's a weakness butchoosing not to address it.
Yes, so you're saying thereason they don't choose to
address we, as owners, don'tchoose to address our weaknesses
is because we're gettingvalidation in other ways where
we are capable and we don'taddress it.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
It's hard enough.
Yeah, business is hard enough,so why go into that area that
just says you suck.
But here's the thing.
We flipped it around.
I said what if you becamereally, really good at sucking
until you're not?
Yeah, and they said huh, andthey started thinking about that
and they realized my job is togo into the areas where I suck

(02:52):
and get really good at that andthen move on to the next area.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Interesting.
So there is probably an area ofblind spots, I'm guessing,
where people don't see that,they're not even aware of what
they don't know.
But what you're talking aboutis more of a mindset for people
who, like, are almostsubconsciously stuck because
they're doing the things thatvalidate them but they're not
doing the things that need to beaddressed, like there's that
constraint principle that all ofour businesses have one area of

(03:19):
constraint that's the mostvaluable to be addressed,
because if we address just thatconstraint versus the 30 that we
see, everything else becomeseasier or obsolete.
Let's take delegation.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
I've delegated a lot of different things, but the
business is still stuck.
Why?
Because I feel so dang goodwhen everybody comes to me and
says hey, steve, how do you dothis?
When do you do this?
Why do you do this?
Can do you do this?
Why do you do this?
Can I do this?
I'm at the center of attention.
I've delegated tasks, but I'mrefusing to delegate

(03:52):
responsibility and authoritybecause I just don't know how or
I'd like the validation.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Guys, I want you to hear that rock stars Steve just
said I like to delegate tasks,but not authority.
What I mean that is such aprofound statement because we've
all been guilty of that asowners where we delegate things
to people and we say out loudand we feel at times consciously
frustrated that they can't everget it done, but there's a
validation of being the personwho's able to sweep down there

(04:20):
and be a hero and they're like,wow, you're so smart.
No, it's just whatever.
And you know we go back tobeing frustrated about why we're
stuck.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, and one of the best examples they get, that I
got from somebody, cause Ilearned more from who I'm
coaching than anybody else andhe said you know, I gotta be the
executive chef and the souschef brings me the plate, I
approve it.
And I said, said go, send itout.
And that totally flipped theirmind because they realized that

(04:49):
they were the, the bottle washer, the line cook, the sous chef
and the executive chef andtrying to do it all and they
were doing other people's jobs.
And so what they did is startedto realize I've got to let go,
I've got to give them theauthority.
And we talked about there'sthree levels of delegation in
terms of responsibility, andthat's first one is what are the

(05:13):
decisions somebody else canmake and they don't have to tell
me about it, I don't need toknow about it, just make the
decision go and if it goes wrong, debrief it, make it within the
context of our values and goalsand I got your back.
Second level is what are thedecisions you can make?
And then tell me about itafterwards and we'll debrief it

(05:34):
and if it's wrong or if it's nothow I would really want it to
be done, it's a learningopportunity and we're going to
talk about it.
We're going to learn and keepon going.
And the third one is what arethe things you need to discuss
with me before you make adecision, so that we're on the
same page and I can support youin that and then go make that

(05:55):
decision, and the reality isyou're going to have people that
they all want to go in andconsult with you first.

Speaker 1 (06:02):
And the reason being is because they know what they
consult with you and it's amistake.
It's not on them and you'vetrained them that way.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
You've trained them that way.
Yeah, okay.
And we're therapists.
What do we do?
We get A pluses, because heavenforbid we get an A minus or B
plus.
So you teach them okay, you knowwhat next time, why don't you
make that decision and come talkto me afterwards and let's
debrief it.
And then, when they get good atthat and they trust themselves

(06:32):
and you trust them then you sayyou know what?
Why don't you just make thatdecision?
You don't need to tell meanymore, just run with it.
And so you're bringing themthrough these layers of
decision-making authority sothat they get comfortable, and
you're teaching them and you'repulling yourself out of it and
the best.
This morning I was talking toone of your rock stars and she

(06:56):
said you know, I had a therapistthat flipped their schedule.
And I was like and she said, dowe have front office coverage?
And her front office managersays, oh yeah, we took care of
that like weeks ago.
And she was like, oh, this isthe best.

Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, there's something that that feeling of
relief, Steve over supersedesany sense of the hero mindset,
because that hero mindset islike a validation of oh, thank
you, You're enough.
But when we know we're enoughand our job is helping other
people be enough, we getsomething much better called
time and and like freedattention spans to focus on what

(07:35):
we really care about.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
When I had a client that was going through this and
oh my gosh, it was a knockdown,drag out, fat fight to shift the
mindset and and at one point Iasked his office person, his,
his, basically director ofoperations I said how long would
it take to get him out of theoffice?
She said two weeks.

(07:59):
It took us another six monthsworking together because of
mindset, because of mindset.
And he didn't want to let go.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
No, didn't, didn't think he could, I got to grind
away.
If I don't do this, it fails.
I'm not enough.
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
And then what happened is one morning he's
getting up getting ready to goto the office.
She calls him and says hey,just want to let you know we
office.
She calls him and says hey,just want to let you know we
don't need you today.

Speaker 1 (08:27):
Stay home, please.
No way.
That's amazing that they had.
He had such a great leader andhe was just in his own way to
where she had to like invite himto stay home.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
In the next year he doubled his profits and one and
a half times to his revenuebecause after he got out of it,
he had the creativity to look athis business differently, lead
his team, and here's the beautyof it it allowed him to promote
people, and promotions bringraises, and raises bring quality

(08:55):
life standards, changes forthese people.
So it's like everybody wins andhe's like I'm working less.
Is that okay?
I'm like I'm really happy.
Is that okay?
I'm like I'm really happy.
Yeah, is that allowed?
And so it's a change of mindsetto where you're.
You're.
You're leading your people.
You have to win the hearts andminds of your people behind your

(09:19):
cause, yes, and then they willbuild it faster than you ever
could.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
But they need a leader.
The point is like so I hear yousaid rock stars.
I need you to pay closeattention because this is
there's so many things Stevesaid right there.
That was so big for me in myjourney when I was the PT with
one location who was angry at mypeople because they were never
doing the things the right wayand I was the hero.
I was subconsciously it wasn'tconscious for me, I was

(09:41):
subconsciously sabotaging my ownenvironment and it started with
hiring.
It was like but when I startedhiring better people, I think
that's like the first step.
Yeah, absolutely, because youreally are in that trap if you
don't know how to hire.
But once you start, once Istarted hiring good people, I
was still stuck and that waswhen it was 100% mindset.
And for me, what really becamebig was recognizing what my job

(10:02):
was.
My job as an owner is to be incharge of the culture of the
company and the vision cultureand vision People go.
What do I even do?
I remember I've worked withlots of people in the recruiting
space, steve, who get freed upand they're like what do I even
do with my time now?
Which is laughable for mostpeople who are listening because
they're like I would kill forthat.
But that's literally what everysingle person I know goes, they

(10:23):
go.
What's my purpose?
What am I supposed to do withmy time?
I'm like you create the vision.
You do the funnest part of ajob it's not the easiest, by the
way, oh no.
But creating a vision focusingon building your people by
stepping out like you said,steve and Rockstar, I pay close

(10:47):
attention by stepping in, notout of into the CEO thinking
mindset and that hat we free upall this space for people to
progress, which is how we retainthem and why they're so
passionate about the vision.
Because we always forget theconcept of a leader.
A leader is in motion andpeople are following a leader.
So if we aren't in motion upthe organization's org board,
they are literally stuck the waywe are.
So when we're progressing andwe do our jobs right, they

(11:08):
progress with us, and that's howwe retain and build a dream
team.
And then it's like what do I do?
Vision?
And then the other thing isguilt.
I don't know if you've everseen clients with this.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
They have guilt when they're not super busy.
Absolutely, tell me about that.
It's impact.
And see, here's the shift we'reso focused on.
I got 10,000 things I got toget done.
Yeah, it's all about how much Iget done.
I do more than anybody else.
I'm here first, I'm here, Istayed last.
And it's about impact.

(11:38):
You have to shift it.
You have to ask the questionwas I impactful today?
I was super busy.
I got a ton of stuff done.
Did I make a difference?
Was I impactful?
When you start doing that, itchanges what you focus on.
I had a client that said youknow, every morning I go in and

(11:59):
you know they had a small hobbyfarm and animals and things like
that.
And she said I go in and Ibrush my horses and it really
grounds me for the rest of theday.
And I said that is some of themost important executive work
you will do all day, becausewhen you are emotionally
grounded, you lead differently,your people see you differently

(12:24):
and you have to understand aboutleadership.
And that is we think oh, I'm aleader, people are going to
follow me, I'm the boss.
No, trust me, they don't haveto.
They don't have to.
A phrase that I say is thatleaders lead at the consent of
those that are led.
People who follow you areconsenting to follow you.

(12:48):
They're exercising a choice tofollow you, and how you lead
through the good times and thebad times is really critical,
and this morning, as I wastalking to somebody, they said
you know, my team is shifting.
Where they're at is so muchbetter than it was a year ago
and it is 100% directlyresponsible or related to the

(13:11):
fact I'm a better person.
Yeah, I lead better, I show upbetter, and so that executive
work is some of the work thatyou have to do, and you can't do
it on the floor, you can't doit in the office.
You've got to get out and awayfrom it.
And so it's shifting yourperspective and realizing I have

(13:31):
a totally different role than Idid before.
When I'm right there with mytherapists or with my office, or
my office is there and it's arevolving door of people in and
out asking questions, you'reholding your company back, and
that's the shift.
I'm working with people so thatthey become 10 times more
powerful and the business itunlocks their business.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
It unlocks the freedom.
So, rockstars, I want to hitanother point.
I don't usually talk to theaudience this much, steve.
This is because you're layingdown so many valuable concepts
that were mentally massive forme.
One breakthrough I had in thecurrent business structure that
I have to parallel what you justsaid I was, you know, working
these.
I've been working crazy hoursstarting my companies since I

(14:16):
sold my PT practice and I hadthis revelation that speaks to
what you just said, where I wasstarting to shift my calendar.
So, instead of going from, youknow, six in the morning to
about six at night, which ismost days, I started opening up
my calendar to where I wouldstart a little before six and I
was be done by three.
And I changed what I did.
You know I would wake up and,immediately after some prayer,

(14:39):
go straight to work.
That's been big for me.
I don't have a routine.
I actually do most of my thingsjust for me in the afternoon
after three.
But what I did do is meditationis really big for me.
Meditation, you know,transcendental, where you're 20
minutes, no guided.
I'm just sitting there for 20minutes and I'm counting my
breaths and um I.
I let myself do this because Isaw some executives I wanted to

(15:02):
be like and that's the one thingthey kept in their morning
routine.
So I wake up, pray, hit my work, I work for an hour and a half
and then I'll meditate.
This one day I was meditatingabout these huge problems that I
knew were going to take memonths to solve and in
meditation it's like being inthe ocean.
I was able to drop myconsciousness now to the bottom

(15:23):
part of the ocean, where thebigger, bigger fish slash ideas
are, and literally in a flash,thought of a complete path on
how to solve these two to threethings.
And then, after the 20 minutesI woke, I kind of came back up.
I was very refreshed and I hadI'm not kidding you weeks of
work visualized and I wrote itall down and I remember thinking

(15:43):
that was the best work I didall day brushing the horse and
grounding.
It's different for everybody.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
That was what it was for me.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
How we get there and it's all about being present and
like you know, but like weforget.
We think of work in healthcareas care, patient care.
We don't think of what real.
I want everyone listening tostop thinking about work and
start thinking about what movesthe needle Impact, production.
What's the most productive useof my time?

(16:12):
The most productive use of theleader is envisioning the future
, is creating culture.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
If I spend an entire week meditating and preparing
getting input on a presentation,I'm going to do yeah, and I go
into the office and it's an hourpresentation.
That's the only hour I spend inthe in the office.
The rest of it I'm justpreparing myself, getting myself
in that present mind, and thathour changes the entire

(16:39):
direction of the organization,aligns people yes, gets them on
board to what we're doing.
It will magnet we, the business, magnifies everything we do,
yeah, and so you're wanting tomagnify that lens in a way that
moves it.
You're going to either move itforward or you're going to move

(16:59):
it backwards, but you're goingto move it, and so if you have
to prepare yourself for thatmagnification, then it's the
best way you can do now.
Obviously there's a lot moreyou have to do, but the point is
stop trying to outworkeverybody else as this badge of
honor.
they want you.
A good team is going to say getout of here, let us do our.

(17:23):
You go do the work that onlyyou can do, that only you as an
entrepreneur, as an owner, andyou know, you and I were talking
that it's really about gettingcomfortable, of pushing into the
areas where we're not validated, right.
We don't feel comfortable.
We don't feel safe becausethat's where we have to take the

(17:45):
validated Right.
We don't feel comfortable.
We don't feel safe Becausethat's where we have to take the
company Right and human natureis we want to treat.
I'm really good at insertwhatever it is and when times
get tough, that's where we go to, and so we have to just get
comfortable and put in systems.
Get somebody, I don't care whoit is.

(18:05):
If it's a coach, it's a coach.
If it's a friend, it's a friend.
If it's a mentor, it's a mentor.
Get somebody that is notemotionally involved in what
you're doing.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
Right, who keeps the eye on the prize with you?
Yes, you know um uh 2015,.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
I had an opportunity to go climb Mount Rainier, oh
nice.
About 2015,.
I had an opportunity to goclimb Mount Rainier, oh nice,
and through just some decisionswe made, it was a group of
friends that were going up andthe lead person, who was going
to be our guide, had to takesomebody back to camp.
And the decision we made as agroup and I have to own this

(18:39):
because we said, okay, we'regoing to keep pushing forward,
you go back, you catch up to ussaid okay, we're going to keep
pushing forward, you go back,you catch up to us.
And um, and so I was lead.
I was lead on one of the ropes,had three other people on it,
and we're going up there perfectconditions, beautiful weather.
We made it all the way to thetop, wow and and.
But we had a guide behind ussaying you guys have no business

(19:01):
being up here and we're likewhat are you talking about?
So we're coming back down andI'm watching these guides and
I'm realizing I made a thousandsafety mistakes going up because
I didn't understand everything.
I didn't see it Right and whatI realized is that, having a

(19:22):
guide, maybe you don't need aguide.
If weather conditions areperfect, the trail is perfect,
right, the temperatures areperfect, everybody's great.
You get up, you get down.
Hey pat ourselves on the back,but when was the last time
business was perfect Right?
The guides get you where youneed to be, and in climbing it's

(19:43):
back to the car.
You don't have to get to thetop, you have to get back to the
car, and they're watching you.
If you get altitude sickness,and it's little things, you're
not putting on your puffy coat,you're not eating, you're not
hydrating they know that.
Okay, you're not thinkingstraight, and so they intervene.
And so that's where you need aguide to help you through those

(20:07):
times where you're not thinkingclearly about what you're doing
and so you start making mistakes.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, it's so great.
In my journey I've been veryvocal about this and you've
heard me talk about how I'venever not had a coach in over 20
years.
Um, and listen, I have abrother-in-law who has a third
largest pest control company inthe country.
He got most of the way therewithout coaching, but what I
found later was that he wasreally good at hiring again and
he hired basically expertsinside his company to help him

(20:35):
run and grow it.
So there's really those are thetwo main paths that I see, but
no one figures it outorganically.
You hire people who are at.
You learn how to hire so wellthat you hire experts who are
basically coaches in a sense ofdepartments, and they grow you.
But even then, I mean, at somepoint he still had to hire a CFO
and then he eventually gotcoaching and so, like the

(20:56):
coaching, the reason I'm soaddicted to coaching is because
I'm lazy.
I want to work.
I want the maximum impact forthe least amount of effort.
That's the world I live in.
So working with coaches, theright coaches in particular,
makes a difference.
Now I will say, steve, I'venever had a bad coach.
I've had over 30 coaches.

(21:17):
Some are way better than others, but just investing in that
time with anyone made adifference.
But here's what I tell peopleto find the best coaches.
I was actually speaking at theuniversity of Idaho yesterday
for their PT program and astudent asked me how do I find
the right coach or mentor?
Again, and for clarification amentor is a free coach, someone
who's willing to work with youat no cost I've had a few

(21:37):
mentors or it can be someone youwork with who mentors you.
A coach is a paid relationshipwith someone who's guiding you
up Mount Rainier of yourbusiness Right.
And so my two things come fromthe fact that either they've
done the thing that I want to door they've helped.
They've proven that they'vehelped others do the thing that
I want to do.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Yeah, you know, and that's interesting because I
think we often, like we go to inour industry and I've heard
this a lot have you done this?
Okay, I'll listen to you.
There is a great wealth ofknowledge outside of our
industry.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
Yes, there is.

Speaker 2 (22:14):
People who understand business in a way that we don't
, and we need to adopt thatmentality in this profession.
We need to adopt good, solidbusiness fundamentals.
Yeah, we need to be able toinnovate and think as problem
solvers and not necessarilyalways as clinicians.

(22:36):
Yeah, because you know there'sbeen a lot of talk about Hinge
Health and what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
The reality is Review for the audience.
Real quick so.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
Hinge Health is a digital platform that's really
about gosh, you know, just aboutengaging the patient in their
care.
They use algorithms forexercises and that sort of thing
, and I'm sure they're going togo off into other areas that are
solvable.
But the reality is the factthat Hinge Health is where it is

(23:07):
today means that we are beingdisrupted.
Yeah, not that it's coming,it's here.
It's here, it's here, and so wehave to innovate and think
differently than the way we'vebeen doing in the past, and we
can get those ideas from a lotof different places by looking

(23:27):
them or by working with peoplewho help us see the world
differently, and I think that'sthe key with a coach is, they
can help you see the worlddifferently, yes, so you can
make better decisions.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
Right, and my my current coach right now was the
biggest investment I've had.
I only had one PT coach in myjourney, um, because mostly
there weren't any PT coachesback then Right, and so since
that timeframe, obviously.
I'm outside of the industry.
So, yeah, there's a lot moreand there's a lot of really good
options.
But what's interesting aboutyou, steve, as a coach, is that
we spent so much time at thebeginning of this podcast

(23:59):
talking about mindset and onpaper, the people I think would
want to work with youobjectively or at least probably
many of the people who startworking with you is because you
have this MBA background.
You have an actual, like youknow, tactical approach to
business through numbers.
I got to spend this weekend withAlex Ramosi if you know who
that is, and he's an incredibleleader who's just all about

(24:22):
facts and figures.
He believes in mindset and allthat, but his like the whole two
days was like data doesn't lie,pull emotion out of it, focus
on the decisions, look at theconstraint that the numbers tell
you, monitor your numbers togrow it, and that's how you
scale.
And he's he's he's scaledmultiple hundred million dollar
companies, and so for me, when Ilook at you, it's such a cool

(24:42):
combination.
But I want you to address theaudience.
Like, how do you approachcoaching when I know that for
all your clients, you're reallybig on foundational, fundamental
number training?
Like, what does that look likebetween that and like the
mindset piece.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
You need both, because you can have all the
right strategies, you can haveeverything all in place and if
you don't believe that youdeserve it.
You know, when we were at your,your um, the, the summit, the
rockstar summit, you know we, wehad somebody, we had um an

(25:18):
individual who was at olympiclevel competence but didn't
believe that they.
You know that there was justthe way they thought about it.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
It impacted in their business.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yes, yeah, and and it impacted how they showed up and
what decisions they made andhow they held back.
Okay, so mindset is critical.
But at the same time you've gotto know the technical You've got
to know if you don't understandyour profitability and how you
get there, mindset isn't goingto change it.
If you don't understand how tolook at your metrics.

(25:54):
You know people say, oh, I'vegot the metrics, I'm like, okay,
so what?
Tell me the story?
Well, they tell me the numbers.
I say, yeah, I know, I can readthat.
Tell me what they mean.
Yeah, and you have to understandthat behind every number you've
got people, you've got process,you've got behaviors, attitudes
and decisions.
Those are the five things thatyou can impact.

(26:16):
Go over them again.
So people, people, process,process, behaviors okay,
attitudes and decisionsinteresting, you can't.
A metric is not there's,there's nothing tangible about
it.
You can't go in there and like,shape it, twist it, do
something with it.
But you, but you've got peoplewho are running processes and

(26:36):
and they're either exhibitingthe right behaviors or they're
not they got the right attitudewhich leads them to their
behaviors or decisions you'vemade.
But it's the numbers that guideyou of where you need to look
and say what is the issue.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
Yeah, it drives me crazy because I see this very
clearly for me.
I think I'm an expert coachee.
I've been coached for so manydecades and I've had so many
tens of thousands of hours ofcoaching that I am actually
really defensive when I hear anycoach say, yeah, you've got it,
it's all about learning thefive most important steps, or

(27:11):
it's all mindset.
What I think people need tounderstand about coaching is
that it's an intertwinedorganism that is a lot of both.
I will agree and argue thatmindset supersedes skill set 10
times out of 10, but you can'tmindset your way into learning
what a P&L is.
But on the opposite end of that, if I am only focused on

(27:35):
learning what a P&L is and Ihave zero desire to believe that
I'm a leader and that I can usethis effectively, then what's
the point?
Those two things have to cometogether, and so you're really
big, I know.
Is that where you?
Where do you start with yourclients Usually?

Speaker 2 (27:48):
I start, I say give me your balance sheet and give
me your P&L.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
So you start foundational objective.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
Foundational.
I need to know where are you?
Uh, because we can talk aboutgrowth, but if your owner's
equity is in this negative sixfigures, that's going to
constrain how you make decisionsand what the priority is.
Yeah, because we got to get youout of that hole that you're in
, right, if you know?
Do you have even good books?
Are your?

Speaker 1 (28:18):
books clean?
How many of your clients haveclean books?
But percentage wise, oh well,now um, I mean not, not after
when I start with them uh, manyof them.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
I'm looking at it and saying, hey, let's think about
so even your data that you'regetting initially the majority
of it's not even that clear.
Look, I've had some clientsthinking that they're making 3%.
We get good, we clean up theirbooks, get them organized the
way that they should, andthey're making 12% profit margin
.
You make a different decisionat 3% than you do at 12%

(28:49):
Interesting.
And you know, somebody was likewhy were you so focused on this
?
I said just work with me onthis.
And we really focused on whatare the areas, how do you
improve that?
And then a big issue came upand I said how'd you handle it?
And I said this is the firsttime I wasn't stressed out and I

(29:10):
said that is why we're focusingon that, because now you can
make different decisions and youcan pursue your goals
differently and you understandwhat leverage you have to pull.
And it's not just I need morepatients.
You know if you're, if you're,if you.
There's a formula to it,there's multiple ways you can
increase it.

Speaker 1 (29:30):
all boils down to increasing income and decreasing
revenue.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
is how you are decreasing expenses, is how you
make more profit, like there'sno other way, but there's
multiple ways to influence thosetwo variables and you have to
understand which ones you'reworking on, because your first
one is your gross margin, yourrevenue minus your therapy cost.
If that's not right and dialedin everything, else it doesn't
yeah, it's too hard to make up,because your rent is your rent

(29:54):
and you need certain amount ofstaff and your billing cost is
your billing cost.
You're not going to change that.

Speaker 1 (29:58):
No.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
So it's understanding that and then being able to get
down to it and be comfortablewith numbers, so that you
embrace them, and then you startmaking different decisions
because you're more confident,you're more calm.
And then that's when mindsetand that combination becomes a
potent formula, and so I work onthose foundational things.

(30:21):
So it's not just, hey, we'regoing to work on mindset, but at
the same time I also recognizethat if you have limiting
beliefs I don't care how wellyou know your numbers You're not
making the decisions that youneed to make, you're not showing
up the way you need to show up,and therefore we have to tackle

(30:41):
that belief set to unlock whatyou can do.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
It's nice that you start with numbers, steve,
because it's like you'rebeginning in a very objective,
non-emotional place, but ittells the story where the
mindset is causing, at itsfoundation, the problems that
are resulting in the numbers andthe audience rock stars.
I want you to think about likethis as you're progressing as a
leader the way we can look atthe balance between the mindset

(31:07):
and the skill set is in thisInformation leads to inspiration
.
So you start with informationLike, hey, here's the data,
here's the block.
So why is this like this?
Why is this?
And then you get to well, I'mdoing this.
Then why are we, why are youmaking those, those actions?
We start understandingmotivational behavior.
We start immediately tappinginto mindset and then, from that

(31:29):
place where people objectivelysee the reality, reality is who,
what, when, where, why, what isreal?
They, instead of just being inthis ethereal space of like
counseling from a coachingperspective, you're looking at
objective data, understandingthe decisions that were made and
then, when we look at the whythose decisions were made, now
we're in this, the mindset speedspace, but people, I'm guessing

(31:52):
, are more primed to addresstheir mindset because they're
looking at objective data as thecause and effect.
Here's the effect of my mindset.
They're more open objectively,because it's no longer this
judgment.
It's like, okay, I want adifferent outcome.
It's not personal.
It's like, yeah, I want moremargins.
It's not about being burned outor being enough.
It's like okay, so why did Imake that decision?

(32:13):
Oh, because I'm a hero.
That doesn't make senselogically.
Why would I want to solve otherpeople's problems when I could
have higher margins and workless?
Then we pull that emotion whereit should be.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
Here's a powerful thing You're talking about.
I need more patients.
Yeah, I need more patients.
I've got to hire moretherapists.
If you're at, say, 5% margin,if you figure out and you said I
want to make ten thousanddollars more a year, take that
ten thousand dollars, divide itby 0.05, that's your, your, your
profit margin and that is goingto tell you how much money, how

(32:51):
much revenue, you have to maketo get that ten10,000.
Yeah, okay, make it easy math.
If it's 10% margin, you know Iwant to make $10,000.
I got to get $100,000 inrevenue.
You work on and understand thenumbers, so you understand your
profitability and make thedecisions that bring it up to

(33:12):
20%.
That just dropped down to 50,$50,000 in revenue.
Right, and in a time when it'shard to hire therapists, there
is so much profit opportunitythat we're not tapping into
because we don't understand whatleads to profitability right

(33:33):
we're not digging into thenumber.
So there's just a lot ofopportunity there.
And here's the other thing, andthis is selfish.
I want to know because, look,if I'm coaching you, sure, and
we don't objectively move theneedle of your business, there
will come a day when you say I'mnot making any more money.
Yeah, why am I spending allthis money in coaching?

Speaker 1 (33:59):
Seriously.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Yeah, why am I spending all this money in
coaching?
Seriously, at the end of theday in my mind, people want.
I want to make more money andhave more time.
I want to sleep better at night, yeah, and I want to enjoy my
business more, and that mightmean.
Or at all, or not hate itExactly you know it's like this
albatross, and so we've got toobjectively set what is the roy,

(34:20):
what are we trying to get here,and are we moving the needle?
Is it making a difference?
And if not, why not?
What do we got to change?
So there's a lot of differentreasons why the numbers are
important.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yes, um, and it is foundational it's amazing to
think about how we go back.
It's this dance betweeninformation and inspiration and
mindset Like for me.
One thing that you just hitupon, steve, and I hope the
Rocksters are really dialing inon this point is that before we
invest in coaching I mean mostof the times when I used to
coach more as my main source ofincome people just knew they

(34:53):
needed a coach and they werebasing like I need a coach and I
don't really understand theconcept of it and that's okay,
that's most.
That's usually where we start.
But where I am now in mycoaching, after all these
decades of coaching and havingbuilt and sold multiple
companies at this point, is thatI now know how to maximize my
ROI with coaching.
It begins, for me, with knowingmy vision really clear.

(35:14):
So my current vision right nowwith virtual rockstar I have
many companies, but the main oneis virtual rockstar, with my
virtual assistants I want 4,444families out of poverty by the
end of this decade.
That's 4,444 employees,families, families, and 95% of
which are single mothers.
I am so driven by this metricbecause, yes, it equates to this

(35:38):
large number.
The number means nothing to me.
It's that number means moneythat I get to build more
families with.
That's what that means to meand having that balance keeps me
clear.
So when I hired, I just actuallyengaged my coach on Monday for
this next year.
We start in September and Iwon't tell you how much I paid,
because it was you wouldn'tbelieve.
I mean, you would believe me,but everyone in the audience
wouldn't believe how much I paidin it.

(35:59):
Because for me to get a coachwho's been able to grow a
company to that size, I amtalking about a very different
level coach.
It's very.
But those coaches know that I'mfocused on a specific outcome
and that makes it easier to pickthe right coach because I want
to see people who can producethat vision.
But I've also spent a yearresearching these coaches.

(36:19):
I didn't just talk.
So when we're starting out Iwould say anyone's, anyone is
useful.
But when we get to the point ina PT space, I mean that's very
humbly because you're not, notjust because you and I are
friends, but you would be one ofmy top coaches If I was a
physical therapist and I had oneto five locations and I wanted
to get out of hating my business, or if I wanted to scale it to
10, you would be my guy andreally there's a few people at

(36:42):
Practice Freedom who I reallylike, but you're one of my
favorites because you have thatobjective mindset, information
piece in a way that no one elsehas and honestly you're just
really cool.
But the idea being thathonestly cause you kind of like
the purple.
I'm at a stage where if I don'twant, we're both people who
don't drink, but the phrase ofgetting a beer with somebody, if
I don't want to hang out withthat person, I don't want to

(37:04):
work with them at all.
And a coach is a very coolexperience, because the most
meaningful work relationshipsI've ever built have been first,
with the teams, the dream teamsI've made.
Second, with my coaches Likethose are the people that, like
I'll be at their funerals andthey'll be at mine, because we
were in the trenches fightingthe battle, winning the fights,

(37:25):
putting that flag in the groundgoing.
How did we do it, holy crap?
We're crazy enough to do thisagain.

Speaker 2 (37:30):
Yeah, well, and and you're going to hear as a coach,
or I hear somebody say I'venever shared that with anybody.
Yeah, this is the only place Ican talk like this because, look
, I can't go home and say, ohman, I had a crappy day, I think
I'm going to lose this business.

(37:51):
Yeah, okay, my home doesn'twant to hear that message.
No, they do not.
My employees don't want to hearthat message.
No, they do not.
My employees don't want to hearthat message.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
If anything, it causes problems that you have to
put time and attention on.

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, exactly, and so it's a place where you can show
up and just be.
Yeah, I don't care if it's ahot mess, I don't care if you're
just celebrating whateversuccess it is, but it's a place
where you can be.
You know, you said somethinginteresting, will, is that you
said I'm building a company, soI need a totally different coach

(38:23):
.
Yeah, will, you need to be atotally different Will, exactly.
Will today cannot run a businessthat's doing 4,444 families out
of poverty, exactly.
So you've got this journeywhere you have to step into
things that you suck at untilyou're good at it or learn to

(38:45):
delegate out for yeah.
Yeah, and, and you, you have togrow into the leader that can
run that kind of a business andthat kind of a team and that
kind of inspiration.
And so somebody you're saying,instead of doing it yourself the
long way, the hard way, you'resaying I'm going to have

(39:07):
somebody that's going to help meget there a guide yes, okay, to
do it successfully.
And you know it's we thinkabout.
Oh, I get a guide to get to thesummit.
No, you don't.
You get it to, so you end up inyour end goal and, as I said
earlier, in climbing, your endgoal is always back home.
Yeah, man, so it helps youbecause it's never perfect.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
It's like what a beautiful analogy that you just
painted there, because what I'mexcited about when we get to
that 4,444 families is who I'mgoing to become in addition to
those families.
It's like what you said was sodead on, so much so that when I
just engaged this coach onMonday, just before you and I
met, you saw I was meeting withmy leadership team.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
The conversation I was having with them, steve, was
.
I said listen, we've got thepath now because I don't have to
have a coach to do there, butit would take me decades longer
and those families need my helpnow and, frankly, my kids need
the CEO of that company to bethe leader who he's going to
become for their benefit too.
Right, that's where balancecomes in.
That's a different discussion,but it's one of those where I
told my team I need to know thatyou guys are willing to change

(40:16):
too, because what I saidliterally before we walked in I
don't believe in coincidence.
I said to them I am not theleader.
I said I'm a leader to get usto 10 million.
I'm a leader to get us toroughly 400 people.
I can get us there now.
I put enough decades ofcoaching into it where I can get
us to there and I've done thatbefore.
What I'm not is the person to10 X that.

(40:37):
And for me I said are you guyswilling to join?
I said this are you willing tojoin me on this journey?
But, going back to our initialdiscussion, what that did for
them is it creates two things.
Who doesn't want to go to the?
A players want a company likethat, where they're going to be
challenged but they're alsogonna be compensated accordingly
, sure.
My exact words were Steve, I'mlike I'm going to achieve this

(40:57):
summit.
I want you guys to come with me.
It's going to be harder thananything else we've ever done
and I want to make sure thatwhen we're on that summit, that
you are there with me, both interms of who we've become, and
are compensated accordingly.
I said it just like that andimmediately their eyes lit up.
Not because of the money, butit's two sides of the same coin.

(41:18):
It's the vision, and now I'mrunning their way that way and I
hope they'll stay with me.
I'm sure these people will, butit's one of those where it's
like I don't get to choose ifthey do that or not, but I
minimize my risk by doing thisthan staying the same and fixing
their problems Like it's justnot even in the same realm of
possibility Not everybody whojoins you will finish with you.

Speaker 2 (41:43):
And that's just a reality.
There are some people.
They have their bandwidth.
You know they have tolerance,I'm really good at working in
small companies.
I'm really good at working atlarge companies, or I'm really
willing to go from being good atworking in a small company to
working in a big company.
Yeah, because it's going tochange.

(42:08):
It's going to require everybodyto change as you grow, or
you're going to have to find newpeople, right, and so it's.
You've invited and opened thedoor for people to choose to go
with you.
Yes, and you're going to choosethose who do.
You've chosen your team andsays I'm inviting you to go with
me and that's a key thing.
Yeah, owners need to understand.
You're on a journey and you andyou alone get to choose who

(42:32):
goes with you.
And if you don't like thepeople who are on your bus, make
a decision and change it.
It's hard, it's scary,especially when you like them,
especially when you don't thinkyou can hire anybody else.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
Even bigger.
Because we stick with peoplethat we tolerate or like, who
are just able to do a baselinething, that we don't know how to
replace.
But when you get people who areon board with you.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
It changes everything .
It changes your operations,it'll change your peace of mind,
it'll change how you lead,it'll change how you enjoy your
business.
It changes everything.
So I think right now, one ofthe biggest constraints and the
biggest assets is can you hirethe people you need and want to

(43:19):
build whatever it is you'rebuilding?
Yes, there's enough patienceout there, there's enough
business opportunity out there.
There's enough of everything.
Can you find the right peopleand bring them on board and can
you present that vision?
And that's what you did.
You won over the hearts andminds of your people in just
that meeting.
Say this is where I'm going, doyou want to go with me?

(43:41):
And when they're saying, yes,that's powerful.

Speaker 1 (43:45):
Yeah, and it's you know, guess when.
That guess where?
That vision occurred in a 20minute meditation about a year
ago.
So, like the main thing thathas probably dialed in my best
people, and there's all thosethings we talked about.
Maybe the people who get ushere aren't the people who get
us there, but when people in mycompany, from my experience, are
so committed to the vision andwhat's best for all, there will

(44:05):
always be a home for them.
It may not be the home thatthey initially wanted or dreamed
they could be, because ifthey're not capable, that's a
hard discussion but there'salways going to be somewhere in
our company for people who arecommitted and doing the best
that they can, absolutely.
But that big work, the workthat is going to produce 10x the
outcome, came from changing howI perceived about work.

(44:26):
It was like, no, it's not aboutwork, it's about what's
productive and what's the impact, like you say.
Well, meditation created impactand it's like when we feed
ourselves.
So the one thing I do want tohit really quick I've been
learning about this thing calleda um.
It's called a healer mindset.
It's an actual psychologicalterm that I've seen
psychologists discuss online.

(44:47):
So this is an actual mindsetyou can test for.
So psychologists will testpeople to see if they have a
healer mindset.
It is not for healthcareproviders alone but, as the name
implies, the vast majority ofhealthcare providers are in it,
and I want you to look into this, steve, because maybe we'll do
another podcast on it.
Oh, that'd be great, becausethe healer mindset it would be
so, by the way, that would be soin tandem with what we're

(45:09):
talking about, because we'retalking about mindset and the
thinking like a CEO.
Well, the mindset that's gettingin our way is the healer
mindset, because it's it'sparalleled with people who don't
number one set boundaries.
That's like the number onedefining week.
It's a very positive thing, bythe way, wanting to heal others,
but the thing they strugglewith, by definition, is setting
boundaries for themselves, beingand it's very prone to a

(45:30):
victimization mindset of peoplewho are like, oh man, no one's
working as hard as me and no onecan help me and I don't even
know how to help myself and I'mso tired and I don't even have
time to work out and I, you knowall these things that I've I've
been through and I've coachedthrough.
Yeah, yes, so that healermindset is such a big thing,
because when we put boundarieson it and we change how we think

(45:51):
and I realized that I'm healing4,444 families and if I don't
have the right team on the bus,I'm not healing, I'm hurting and
I'm going to hear.
By the way, I'm going to heal my, I'm going to help my team
become their own healers andthat's my job not to heal them,
but to help them heal themselves, like that I mean.
So I'm actually living withinthat I am.

(46:11):
By the way, in case you haven'tcaught, I took the test.
I'm a strong healer mindset, sofor me, it's like I can
actually thrive in that as a CEO.
But I think in our industrySteve, I thought about this with
PTs it is the cancer.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Unboundaried healer mindset is the cancer to our
healthcare provider businessowners.
When you combine the arroganceand this is mine, I did this the
arrogance of I can help thatperson, yes, I can heal that
person to use your language,yeah, and they don't want it,
they have to want it Then we cando something with it.
But if it's unbounded, wetolerate so much garbage.

Speaker 1 (46:55):
So much garbage as an industry.
It's showing up in ourreimbursement.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
Absolutely.
Oh, don't even get me startedthere, that's a whole nother
conversation.

Speaker 1 (47:02):
But it begins with that mindset Going back to this
conversation, that healermindset no boundaries, Okay
Medicare, you want to drop theokay, Like we're just, we're
victims.
We're also like these pleasers,but yeah, yeah.
And these pleasers, but yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
Yeah, and and it wasn't until I finally said I
can't tolerate this money.
And it was more of my, theembarrassment I had with my team
because they're looking at melike Steve, do something,
anything, I don't care what, dosomething.
And I'm like, okay, I finallyhave to do this because I didn't

(47:33):
want to deal with thedifficulty, uncomfortableness of
important conversations thatmay be hard, right, and then
when that person finally left,it changed the team, it changed
the dynamic and to 100% of thisWill.
Every time and everyone has togo through this it's just a

(47:55):
lesson you have to learn in thisindustry I guess, yeah, but
every owner that has gonethrough this it's like the knee
replacement and somebody says,says, why didn't I do that
sooner?

Speaker 1 (48:08):
yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
I'm so much happier.
My stress levels have gone down.
My team I have team membersthat have come up to me said
thank you, or others said I'vebeen waiting to see how long it
would take you to make thisdecision.
They're watching, they know it,you know it, but we're not
willing to make this decision.
They're watching, they know it,you know it, but we're not
willing to make those decisions.
And sometimes it just takessomebody that holds a mirror up,

(48:32):
a coach, a coach and says, okay, I want an email by Friday Tell
me that you made that decision,and you're like but they do it.
And then it's like, yeah, it'shard, it's uncomfortable, but
they get back and sayeverything's so much better.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
It's.
You know what it is, it's allhard.
I think rock stars I want youto hear this it's all hard, it's
okay, it should be hard.
Like even the good things areespecially hard, but the
hardness is no matter what wechoose.
Like like eating, workout andI'm putting myself in shape and
I'm controlling my diet and I'mreally religious about it.
That's really hard.
Not doing that is hard.

(49:08):
In the exact opposite way beingstuck with my weight, not
playing with my kids, going tothe doctor, taking medication.
So we pick our hard.
And a coach just like using thisanalogy of of being beginning
into shape, that's what we dowith coaches in business.
They train us mentally and solike it's it's.

(49:30):
It's a great analogy becausepeople who get into great shape
they've done studies, they showthey think of themselves
differently.
So if my goal is to lose 10pounds, I don't have a high
probability of of executing onit.
When my goal is to become arunner, a swimmer, a triathlete,
when I embody a transformationmentally, then I still need
someone to say here's therunning program.

(49:50):
You have it's both those things.
Then I become successfulexponentially according to
different research.
And that's in the book.
What's it called?
Not micro habits, atomic habits.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
Atomic habits.
Thank you, that's what's in thebook Atomic Habits.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
So same with coaching .
If that's that's, that's what'sin the book atomic habits, so
same with coaching.
If we can get into a coaches,get with a coach, that help us,
we're exponentially more becausewe have accountability.
So it's hard to have a coachpull out those things and show
you that you you're failing atand you're not choosing to
address it.
But my gosh, is it so in mymind?
So much harder to not have toto go through those crucial
conversations and face a mirror.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
So transitioning from I'm a PT who owns a clinic to
I'm a business person whohappens to be a PT, or I'm an
owner-operator to, I'm a CEO,ceo.
These are all changes and, okay, here's where mindset is really
important is because when Ifinally adopt that mindset that
I'm a CEO, when I finally adoptthat mindset that I'm a CEO, it

(50:52):
changes everything I do and howI see the world and how I see my
team and what I'm focused on.
And we could hammer all theright strategies and until you
make that shift, it's going tobe resistance, yes, but once you
make that change, all thoseother things the numbers, the
strategies, everything like thatjust become that much more
powerful.
So you have to have both toreally accomplish what that

(51:12):
dream is.
And and it's possible, I'mseeing it today People say, oh,
you know, I can't do it.
This PT's, you know, whatever.

Speaker 1 (51:21):
Yeah, they've tried everything they think they do.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
Yeah, and the reality is people are doing it.
A practice owner is gettingpaid 70 bucks a visit.
30, 40% of his business was anHMO and it's like, oh, I can't
drop this, what am I going to do?
It's so hard.
And on and on and on andfinally we just said just drop

(51:44):
it.
Drop the HMO.
Yes, will they do it?
I don't know why don't you justdo it and find out?

Speaker 1 (51:52):
And so and I.
There was more behind it.
But yeah, there's more behindit, but it came down to that
simple of decision.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Yes, take action.
And when that contracttermination went into effect, I
get an email next week that saysmy schedule is still full.
Yeah, next week I'm still here.
It hasn't blown up, and sothey're making a change.
They took control back and saidwe're not going to accept this

(52:21):
kind of payment anymore becausewe value who we are and what we
do, and I think that's somethingthat we need to do more of in
our industry is to value what wedo, and if it means that we go
out of network, go out ofnetwork, totally Be bold, but
again having a coach on thesidelines of the football team
helping us guide us.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
There is so much better than being alone.
And what's crazy is we needsupport entrepreneurs on two
levels.
We need, I believe, a mentorcoach at all times.
The best leaders in the worldall have that, except for the
ones at the very top of thechain, but even then, people
like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezosthey've all had coaches
intermittently.
But you also need thatleadership team.

(53:02):
You need that people underneathyou who are strong and powerful
.
So when you get both of thosethings, you are unstoppable.
Your only limitation is yourcapability of envisioning the
future you want.
If you have a strong leader, amentor, a coach, you have a
great leadership team underneathyou.
You're only limited by yourvision.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
That's an interesting thought, because we build
businesses nine times out of 10.
If you were to go look at anyof the practice owners, most of
them are just building fromwhere they are.

Speaker 1 (53:32):
Yeah, and just trying to survive spinning plates, it
gets bigger.
Okay, I got to add a newtherapy Pain avoidance versus
proactive, yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:40):
So, approach from the standpoint, can I envision what
it is that I want to create andcreate from that space?
Yes, create towards your vision, you know, create it mentally,
create spiritually, and thenwork towards that creation,
because you've already figuredit out in your head, right, and

(54:02):
the more you work on that, themore clear it gets, the easier
the actual building becomes,because you've already done the
hard work.
You're just bringing it to life.
So I love that you have avision of 4,444.
You have a vision of whatthat's going to look like, and
so now it's just a matter ofgoing and creating it with your
team.

Speaker 1 (54:23):
And that's why I was willing to flip the bill for
this massive coach and dip intomy savings and all the things,
because I know from my microgrowth up to that five to 10
million mark of what it's liketo do.
All things are patterns, it'spattern recognition.
So it's not that I know what ittakes to get to 100 million,
but I know the pattern of growthand the pattern for me.

(54:46):
Strong leadership team check.
Now I've got the strong coachcheck.
Let's rock and roll.
Is it going to be hard?
Absolutely Everything's hard.
Anyway, suck it up.
Go back to work, like when Ihave the purpose and the vision
clearly defined for myself.
Steve and I have the rightsupport with like a Steve Allred
and a leadership team like I do.
I sleep at night every night,because at a certain point you

(55:07):
do get to a point of financialwealth and accumulation to where
you just no longer feel inscarcity.
It would take a lot for me atthis point because I've built up
layers of investments, but forme it's like I don't even I'm so
focused.
I'm able to focus now on thefuture to where it's like okay,
let's go and it's going to suck,but it'll be worth it.
Versus.
This sucks.
I don't know if it's ever goingto change.

(55:28):
I never want to be in thatplace again.
Right, this sucks.
I don't know if it's ever goingto change.
It's been years, decades andI'm still.
Maybe I'm marginally better,but never.
The biggest thing I've learnedin that process is to not
invalidate myself and that it'sokay that we all feel that way
at times, or a lot of times, butif we can see the path and get
the right support, nothing isimpossible.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
You know, one of the approaches I take is that
business they have to create aoperational integrity and
financial clarity.
That's the foundation.
If you don't have those twothings, start there.
Start building your managementsystems.
Meaning, how do I overseebilling and making sure that it
gets done right properly?
Sure, and then you have yourleadership that oversees that,

(56:12):
which allows you to step intothat space of more time freedom.
But then you, from there, youget into that investor role and
say where do I want to invest?
Investor role.

Speaker 1 (56:21):
I'm an investor.

Speaker 2 (56:23):
I invest my time, my talents, my resources, my
passions into things that aremeaningful to me for the
remainder of my life.
To me that's the pinnacle.
I want to become that investor.
I want to help people becomethat investor so that they can
say what is meaningful to me.
Sometimes it's going to begoing on vacations, sometimes

(56:43):
it's going to be flying to firstclass to Europe, or it's going
to be going to be creatingopportunities that liberate
4,444 families from poverty.
Because you can do that therest of your life, because
you're now in a position whereyou have built this machine
behind you where you can investin something that's meaningful,

(57:03):
and I'll tell you, for me, thatwhole idea.
I can do that until I'm 90 orI'm no longer competent to do
anything.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
Totally.
I don't want to retire Exactly.
I want to be so passionate andengaged in things because I've
seen the heart of being stagnant.
I don't want to be that hard.

Speaker 2 (57:22):
And it gives you a reason to get up, it gives you a
reason to live.
And if we just keep going, youknow, out here in Arizona
there's there's this heightcalled flat iron.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
Yeah, oh yeah, familiar with it, I've done it.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
So I did that the first time when I moved here 12
years ago.
I finished it and went back tobed for four hours because I was
exhausted.
It's 3,000 feet elevation gainand three and a half miles.
Yeah, if you think, oh, that'stoo hard, things are too hard.
I'm hiking down Flatiron andit's I mean you're, it's almost
like bouldering just about youknow you're climbing, okay, um,

(57:59):
one of the most exhaustingthings I've done.
Up comes this gentleman and hehas this t-shirt that says flat
iron gym on it.
I don't know if you know whoflat iron gym is If you don't go
look him up.
Okay, he's 91.
He's 91 hiking up a trail thatmost people do it once is

(58:21):
considered a bucket list andhe's doing it all the time.
And he's doing it all the time.
And literally the last bit, asyou know, is about a 15, 20-foot
climb straight up.
You have to boulder up to getit.
And he does that.
And I said, jim, how do you dothis?
And he says you know what, whenI was in my 20s, I was a
paratrooper and I've neverstopped Interesting, I've never

(58:43):
stopped.
And so in his attitude, when Ifirst met him, he had a T-shirt
that says 58, or on the frontand on the back it says 85.
You choose.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
In his mindset he's 58.

Speaker 2 (58:57):
And so we keep pursuing those things, we keep
investing in that life andgetting into that spot.
It gives us a runway ofmeaningfulness that we can do
that for as long as we want.
We don't have to do it, youknow, 40, 60 hours a week, but
we have something of meaning andthat's to me that's a pinnacle.
That's where I want to seeowners get to.

(59:18):
Yes, that investor level towhere they can say, okay, now
what?
What do I want?
What's meaningful to me, whatimpact do I want to have on the
world and the people around me?
And to me, that's, that's just,that's the best.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Steve, this has been such a great conversation.
Um, the mindset piece.
I want to leave the rock starswith this idea of getting in the
mirror, looking in themselvesin the eye and saying I'm a
leader investor first.
Yes, I am a physical therapistor whatever.
Every title goes beyond that.
On the business side, I meanhonestly, the first thought for
me is son of God, husband,father, then investor leader.

(59:57):
Because the investor leader partthey did studies to show that
the best CEOs, the mostsuccessful CEOs in the country I
was actually at this event thatreally revealed this research
the mindset is that they seethemselves as investors first.
They invest their resources intosolving constraints to
accelerate growth.
And so if we can look ourselvesin the mirror, say that out

(01:00:18):
loud, even, and then say I'm aPT second and just realize that
every time we sign our name weput a PT, it's like, eh, that's
not the main thing I am Then Ithink we can open up the
possibility of what's out there,because, as we've laid this out
, I mean I would want I hope mykids will see this episode,
because this episode is allabout mindset and understanding
the balance between mindset andtactical approaches support the

(01:00:41):
main pieces for growth andsuccess.
But at the end of the day, it'sabout understanding that we're
only as limited by our vision.
When we hear that at the frontend of this podcast, it would
feel very foo-foo-y.
But now when we say that, itfeels very objective and
tactical that we're literallyonly as limited by our vision.
So thank you so much, steve,for being on the show.
It's been so great.
If people want to get a hold ofyou afterwards, what did they

(01:01:02):
do?

Speaker 2 (01:01:03):
Um, I'll give you a link.
They can you know.
If anybody just wants to talkto me, I'll give you a link.
They can schedule a time.
We'll just talk.
Whether you're interested incoaching or not, let's just talk
, um, because there's thingsthat we can look at that'll help
you and your business, and ifin a half hour, an hour
conversation, I can helpsomebody move the needle, then

(01:01:24):
it's worth it.
So I'll give you that link thatthey can schedule.

Speaker 1 (01:01:26):
Perfect, um, and uh, yeah, yeah, I love that and just
want to throw my two cents outthere.
If you're feeling even a littlebit stuck out there, if you're
not even sure, he's not going tohard sell you into anything, he
will serve you and that's whyhe's been so successful is
because he can help everybody.
But he can only serve so manypeople and those are your paid
clients, right, and so as you'reout there, that's how you vet

(01:01:46):
people too.
As you're helping everyone,you're like I don't know if
that's a good alignment for mehere and there, but at the end
of the day, if you're not surewhat to do, validate through me,
go to Steve.
Steve, thank you for being onthe show.

Speaker 2 (01:01:57):
Well, thanks, it was a great pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to
today's episode.
As a thank you, I have a gift.
In today's show notes there's alink for you to join the
Stress-Free PT newsletter.
This is a comedy newsletter foranyone who works in healthcare
and of course we're going tohave comedy bits.
We're going to haveinspirational stories,
leadership tidbits.
It's going to be a weeklynewsletter just to lighten your
week, to help you do what youlove with more passion.
So click that link below andjoin that newsletter and we'll

(01:02:27):
see you in our next episode.