Ep #127: The Power of Messy Action

Hi docs, welcome to The EntreMD Podcast, where it’s all about helping amazing physicians just like you embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms. I’m your host, Dr. Una.

Well, hello, hello, everybody. This is Dr. Una. And I am doing an unscheduled podcast episode, so you know that this is going to be really good. This is the day before EntreMD Live and I’m just kind of sitting, visualizing the event and working through all the scenarios, making sure that I can bring the absolute best value.

And then I thought about an email I got and I thought about EntreMD Live 2019, which was two years ago. And I was like, there is such a powerful message in all of this that I’m just going to come talk to my people. So, by the time you hear this, EntreMD Live would have happened already, but you’re going to get so much out of my reflections this morning.

So, I have a friend who’s a client, Dr. Chiagozie Fawole. She is the founder of Savvy Docs, investing in real estate. She does real estate coaching for physicians. Really amazing. And she has a really fantastic story. You should go check her out. I’ll post her stuff in the show notes so you can go follow her and check out her stuff.

But she had sent an email to her mailing list and I’m going to read that email. And I can read it because it’s public. She sent it. I wouldn’t share stuff that we talk about personally. But this is what it said. And the title of it is One Event that Changed Everything. That was the subject line.

And then she goes on to say, “In June 2019, I took a flight down to Atlanta to attend the first EntreMD Live. I had spoken to Dr. Una on the phone about how medicine was changing and just knew I had to connect with her in person. Turns out that event would ignite something much bigger in me and now, two years later, this introverted introvert has come out of her shell.”

And then she goes on to list five things she’s done, “Launching multiple profitable real estate coaching programs and events, contributing to Bigger Pockets,” which if you’re in the real estate world, that’s the granddaddy of all things real estate, “Speaking on PIMDCON, launching a Facebook group, and cutting back my time at work.” Someday I’ll bring her on the show to talk about that. But it’s a very phenomenal story.

And then, she goes on to say, “If you’ve ever considered freeing yourself from the shackles of corporate medicine, she’s hosting that event again this Saturday. This time, however, you don’t need a plane ticket. It’s virtual. And last year, I attended the first virtual one and took copious notes, so trust me, it’s still a whole experience. Oh, did I mention it’s free?” So she’s like, “Grab your free seat here, you’re welcome.”

And I read that and I was like, “Wow, the difference that two years can make. The difference you can create in your life by saying yes to something is so powerful.

I was reflecting on that, and then I started thinking about EntreMD Live 2019. And that was my first EntreMD event ever. And I want to take you back there to tell you the story about it because it will help you. It will liberate you. It will make you show up in your business differently. It will make you say yes to things you’ve been holding off for four years or five years. It will radically change your life.

So, I was part of a coaching program. And one of the things that they taught us how to do is do a one-day event. So, I went for a retreat and they taught us how to do one-day events. This was March 30^th. And I was listening. I was like, “Me? Live events? Yeah, we’re not doing that.”

And then, in April, I was like, “You know what? Why don’t I do an event? Why don’t I do a one-day event. I think that would be great.” And so, I decided I was going to do it.

But then I went to go look for a hotel, go look for a media team, all the conventional things you do, look at how much it will cost to cater and stuff like that, and realized that this was the beginning of my journey with my second entrepreneurial venture. And my belief was not quite there, you know.

So, I went to the Le Meridien in Buckhead or Perimeter in Georgia and, you know, they took me around, showed me the places. I was like, “Yeah, you know, it’s kind of nice,” and stuff like that. And they gave me the bill for it, and the base bill was $10,000. And I was like, “I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to sell tickets. I don’t know who’s going to want to come for this stuff,” you know.

And so, I’m like, “Oh wow, boy…” and I think that didn’t include food, so that was a separate bill. And getting the AV systems, the sound and all that, that was a different bill, and on and on and on.

And at this point, EntreMD, I probably had I don’t know three coaching clients or something like that, one on one clients, and that’s it. That was my whole business. So, I was like, “Well, I don’t know if I could do that.” Not doing the event was not an option, but I was like, “I don’t know if I can do that.”

And then my brother, who is the media director for the church I go to, he’s like, “You know in the church we have a place that you can easily use for events. So rather than do that, why don’t you just pay and we can kind of renovate the place for what you want. Put in a stage and all of that kind of stuff.” And I was like, “Yeah, I could do that.”

So, I did that. And you know, I could have said I wanted my event to be downtown Atlanta in the Four Seasons and stuff like that and that’s the only way I would do my event. But I wasn’t going to do it in the Four Seasons in Atlanta. I just wasn’t.

And so, the idea was for me to be excellent. The idea was for me to do the best with what I had, with the skills and the resources I had at the time. So, we did that. So, we built a stage. They already had the sound and projectors and screens and streaming and all that stuff down to a science, so that wasn’t too much of a stretch.

And I was like, “Oh yeah, at events they have sponsors.” So I talked to a financial advisor and I was like, “Do you want to sponsor this event?” And he’s like, “Oh yeah, sure.” So they paid for all the food from my favorite restaurant, Black Walnuts. They closed. I cried tears when they closed. Just kidding, but I was sad.

Anyway, he paid for all of that. And then I went on a rampage. I’m like, “Everybody, this is the best event ever.” And I was going to make it an experience. They were going to get inspiration. They were going to get coaching. They were going to get networking. They were going to get all the things. They were going to leave thinking completely differently. That was my agenda. That was my agenda.

So, I started working on the event, like top to bottom. How did I want them to feel? How did I want them to be inspired? What are the mindset shifts that I wanted them to experience? What are the tools they need? How do I set it up so they can get this? And I went on and on and on.

And at the same time, I am marketing like crazy. So, this is my first event. Like I told you, I probably had three clients. That was my whole business. And so, I told everybody. Like everybody, and their cousins. You know what I mean.

And at the end of the day, I mean, it was so mind-blowing when someone’s like, “Oh, I just bought my ticket.” Like, where are you? “New York.” You’re flying from New York? “Yeah.” Someone else, “Oh, I bought my ticket.” Where are you? “Texas.” You’re flying from Texas?

And people started signing up and signing up and signing up. And we ended up with 47 doctors. 47 doctors in this event place. And you could see the glow. You can smell the transformation. It was so wild. It was so wild. It was a great event. 47 doctors, eight different states. Life-changing.

I mean, when I started talking about EntreMD Live 2021, a whole two years later, there was so many people that came out and said, “EntreMD Live 2019, I still remember, it was a game-changer for me.” Can you imagine that?

And so, it was huge. Yeah, there weren’t 1000 people there, but it was huge. And I am so grateful that I didn’t let perfection stop me from hosting it that year. Whatever year I did it first would have been my first year. So I’m glad I got it out the way. After the event, I could clearly say that I gave it my all. All that I had at the time, I gave it. And EntreMD 2021, all that I have to give, I’m giving it, all of it. I’m leaving it all out there.

So, 2019, I could say that and it was so good. Now, you might go, “That is so great and that’s inspiring. Why are you telling us though?” And I will tell you why I’m telling you. Stop waiting for perfection.

Think about the email that Dr. Fawole sent out. Think about the life change she experienced. Think about the fact that she created this other very profitable income stream for herself and she was able to cut back from work, and she was able to continue to grow in the midst of a pandemic, because she was set up for it.

All of that, I could have aborted by refusing to host my event. What if I held back? What if I had said, “No, I’m not going to do this.” What if I let my fear of people saying, “Well, this is not like the other conference I went to at the Ritz.” What if I let that fear stop me?

I didn’t. I did it. And because of that, so many people are blessed. How many people are out there in pain, dealing with an issue that your business is supposed to solve, and they’re waiting for you, but you won’t show up? You won’t show up.

So, I said this to tell you this. I want you to embrace saying yes. I want you to say yes, okay. Now, there’s this concept of working in your business and working on your business. So, when I tell you to say yes, I want to explain it with that framework. Say yes to messy action. And messy action doesn’t mean mediocre. It doesn’t mean you’re doing messy stuff. What that means is you’re doing excellent stuff. Excellence means doing the best at the time, doing your absolute best with the skills and the resources that you have at the time.

So, taking messy action, saying yes to messy action in your business and on your business. So, in your business, what does that look like? The things you know you should do, do them. You’ve waited four years for the podcast, start it. You’ve waited 10 years for the private practice. Start it. You’ve waited six months. You’ve known that you should have sent that article to this other blog. Go do it.

You know that you should tell people, “Hey, this is what I do. Come use my services.” Start telling them. Say yes. Say yes, start doing it. Stop holding back. Think about the person that your business serves. Think about the pain they’re going through. Think about all of that. Are you really going to leave them that way?

What you have is valuable. It may not look perfect, but it’s valuable. You have to say yes. And the second place where you need to say yes is you need to say yes to the things that have to do with working on your business.

So, there are investments you need to make. There are books you need to read. There are podcasts you need to listen to, to make you better so you can help your people better.

For me, I see my personal development not as a luxury, but as a responsibility. Because if I’m going to lead people, then what I need to do as a leader with integrity is I have to make a commitment to continue to get better. Because the leader is the lid. I strive for bigger goals in my business because I want to be an example of what is possible.

I want to be able to say, “Listen, I was a super-shy socially awkward, introverted introvert who was scared of everything. I am your evidence that your dreams are possible. I want to be that. And there’s no way to do that without getting better.

And so, in the beginning, I used to kick back and reading so much and listening so much and paying so much for coaching and all of that. Well I don’t kick back at that at all. When I make my budget, I actually have coaching in my budget. Even if I haven’t found what exactly I want to do. Why? Because that’s part of my responsibility as a leader.

So, what do you need to say yes to? You’ve been fighting reading? Stop fighting. You’ve been fighting podcasting? Stop fighting. You’ve been fighting coaching? You really need to stop fighting.

People say there’s no shortcut to success. That’s a lie. Of course there is. They’re called mentors and coaches. They’re called mentors and coaches. Hey will help you. They can help you go farther, faster. You guys know I love the NBA, right? Can there ever be a LeBron or a Magic Johnson or a Michael Jordan without coaching? Of course not.

If you’ve worked out before, I mean, you can work out. But if you’ve had a personal trainer before, it’s not the same thing. So, say yes to that to. Why? Who knows what you’ll be saying two years from now? You’ll be like, “oh my goodness, the event that changed everything or the podcast episode that changed everything…” Who knows what you’ll be doing? Who knows?

And the EntreMD Business School is open for enrolment and if you’ve been thinking about it, say yes to it. Say yes to it. It is a year of immersion. It is a year of coaching, accountability, and community to help you thrive as an entrepreneur. It’s for you. It’s to help you figure out how to communicate, how to articulate what you do in such a way that your ideal clients say yes. It’s to teach you how to build a base of raving fans who will become paying clients or patients, to teach you how to build systems so that you don’t exchange one 60-hour workweek for another. It’s what you want. And in community.

So, if you’ve been thinking about it, say yes. Come join us. Come sign up. Now, it’s not for everybody, so if you’re thinking about it and you’re like, “No, I don’t want anything to do with that,” that’s okay. That’s okay. But if you’ve been thinking about it, say yes.

Okay, so I know I’ve given you a lot, but I just wanted to share that with you. So, the bottom line is this. If you have something you know you should do and you’re scared and you’re concerned it’s not perfect, I want to challenge you to do it because there’s somebody who would be sending an email two years later saying, “This is the thing that changed everything for me.” They’re there. They’re waiting for you.

So, say yes to that. And as far as you becoming better, upgrading what you do, upgrading how you do it, upgrading how you think, say yes to that too.

So, if you want to come join us at the EntreMD Business School, it’s entremdbusinesschool.com or entremd.com/business and come join us. But regardless, say yes, okay, yes to messy action.

Okay, so that’s what I had for you. I was just reflecting and I just wanted to come share it with you and take you behind the scenes. So, maybe you recognize that, wow, there’s nothing wrong with me, I mean, this is what entrepreneurs go through, and then you can go give it your all.

I want to get an email from you two months from now, three months from now, six months from now where you’re saying, “Listen, I listened to that podcast episode and I said yes and oh my gosh, Dr. Una, my life has never been the same. My business hasn’t been the same.”

Okay, alright, thank you so much for listening. And I will see you, my friend, on the next episode of The EntreMD Podcast.

Hey, if you love listening to The EntreMD Podcast I want to invite you to join EntreMD On Demand. It is my signature subscription program that gives you access to a library of business courses designed to help you do one thing as a physician entrepreneur, and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com/ondemand and I’d love to have you join us. See you on the inside.