Ep #119: Help! I’m Not the Expert

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.

Hello, hello. Welcome back to another episode of The EntreMD Podcast. As always, I am super pumped that you’re here. And today, we’re going to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart, okay.

There are so many things that so many doctors want to do. And one of the things I hear a lot is, “I can’t do that. I’m not the expert.”

“You should go speak about this thing.”

“I can’t do that. I’m not the expert.”

“You should start a YouTube channel.”

“I can’t do that. I’m not the expert.”

“You should start a podcast.”

“I can’t get up to speak about that. I’m not the expert.”

There are problems that we know that we can solve. There are problems that we notice, and we have a passion to solve them. But we don’t own them. And the reason for that is, “Well, I’m not the expert.”

“Start a business, or scale your business.”

“I’m not the expert. I need to get an MBA first. I need to get some more training. I need to get another certification.”

So, today, we’re going to be talking about, “Help! I’m not an expert.” And I’m going to start off by saying I have amazing news. You don’t have to be an expert.

Entrepreneurship is not about being the expert. Entrepreneurship is about helping. So, the question becomes, can you help? It’s not are you an expert… it’s, can you help?

What does a business do? A business solves problems. A business helps people. And the reward for that is a thank-you note called money. At its basic form, it solves problems.

So, the question, the real question is, can you help? Do you know enough to help? You don’t have to know everything. You don’t need to know everything. You need to know enough to help.

Alright, so I pulled up three examples and we’re going to look at nature, we’re going to look at how you trained, we’re going to look at EntreMD. We’re going to look at all these things to see, “Do I need to be an expert, or do I need to know how to help?”

So, the first example is going to be from my family. So, I have four children. At the time of this recording, they are 13, 11, seven, and five, okay. Now, when I had my second, the first, my first, my daughter Cheta is 18 months older than him. So, there is a newborn and an 18-month-old.

Now, even at that age, if I was holding my son, Chidi, the second, and his little hat fell off, she would run and pick it up and come hand it to me to put back on his head. If I needed to change his diaper, I could tell her to grab me a diaper and she would do it.

If we was sleeping and he started crying, she would run into my room, “Baby crying, baby crying.” Now, she was 18 months old. Was she an expert? No. Was she a helper? Yes. Does she need to know everything to help? No. She just needs to know enough.

So, what if she said, “Well, I’m 18 months, I’m no expert, so I’m not doing anything,” right? So, by the time my third was born, she was six years old, so she could do a lot more because she had learned a lot more, so she could help and she could help at a larger capacity even though she wasn’t an expert. She’s not a mommy. She’s a little kid. But guess what she can do? She can help.

So, I want you to think, if you wouldn’t accept a six-year-old not helping at all and there’s a newborn in the house, then you should not accept it from yourself either. You don’t have to be an expert. You need to be able to help.

The second example is, look back to your medical training. I remember when I was an intern, a pediatric intern, my first rotation was on the general floor. And I had to do all the things. And there are so many things I didn’t know.

Fortunately, I had a lot of second years and third years who were there to guide me, who were there to show me, to show me how to put IVs in, to show me how to do spinal taps, to show me how to present my cases properly, to do all of those things.

Did they know everything? No. Were they experts? No. Did they help me and make a huge change in my career? Yes. So, were they experts? No. Were they helpers? Yes.

What if they said, “I’m not an attending, and because I’m not an attending, I can’t help this intern…” would we accept it? And the answer to that is no. 1000 times no. We’re like, “You know enough to help an intern, so go help.”

So, if you wouldn’t accept it from an intern, I want to invite you today to no longer accept it from yourself. So, that’s the second example. The third example is here at EntreMD.

Now, I remember, I knew I wanted to help doctors. Especially you feel like you’re an introvert, you feel you can’t start a business, you feel like, “Other people are businesspeople. I’m not that kind of person.” You’re terrified of speaking. You’re terrified of putting yourself out there, terrified of owning your voice. Sometimes you want to play small just so that you’re not found out, imposter syndrome, the whole nine yards.

I wanted to help doctors, but I had to struggle with this thing, like who am I to come out and say, “I’m going to help doctors start profitable businesses. Who am I to say I can help doctors build six, multiple six, and seven-figure businesses? Who am I?”

Because I looked around. And they have the Tony Robbins of this world, many amazing people that help people in business, so who am I? But you know what? I decided, like the intern and like my daughter, that I don’t have to be the expert.

I have to help. I may not know everything, but I know enough to help. I know enough to help doctors build profitable businesses. So, what did I do? I helped, I helped, I helped. And that’s what I do.

And my obsession, not in a bad way, but my obsession is to help doctors. So, do I need to be an expert? No. Am I an expert? No. I know a lot of stuff, but yeah, I don’t concern myself with that. Can I help? Yes. Yes, I can help. And at this point, I have evidence that I can help.

There are many doctors that have had many firsts. They’ve launched their YouTube channels. They’ve started speaking. They had practices that thrived in the midst of a pandemic. They started practices that are thriving in the midst of a pandemic. They’ve doubled their prices and they’re doing well in their coaching practices, all kinds of stuff.

And you can listen to the episodes I’ve done with the students from the EntreMD Business School. It’s amazing. Not because I’m an expert. It is because I can help. So, I want to invite you to let go of wanting to be an expert. It is not required.

Now, in all phases of your career, all phases of your business, you’ll need different kinds of help. So, I want you to think about it this way. If you’re 18 months old, you can help the newborn. If you’re six years old, you can help better. If you’re a teenager, you can even go buy groceries. If you’re older, then you can fund your parents’ retirement.

I’m just making all this stuff up. But the point is, start helping from where you are and then continue learning so you can help better. Start helping from where you are right now. That’s what we expect from children. That’s what we expect from interns. That’s what you expect from me.

What if I waited? What if I said I’m not doing The EntreMD Podcast because I’m not the expert? Think about all 120 episodes of absolute goodness that would not be in this world because I’m waiting to be the expert.

So, what is my commitment? I start from where I am. I help. And then, I decide that I am going to keep getting better. And the better I get, the more I can help. But I don’t wait to help.

I don’t wait to help. I start helping right now, and that is what businesses do. Why are you the person that should start that business? Why are you the person that should scale that business? Why are you the person that should start speaking onstage? Why are you the person who should own a problem and say, “I’m going to fix this?” Why? Because you can help. So, help. That is what a business does.

So, don’t wait so you know everything. Don’t wait until you have another certification. And I’m not against certifications. But sometimes we use that for procrastination. Like, why haven’t you started? “I’m waiting to get yet another certification.”

Well, I don’t know, maybe start and get the certification at the same time. Listen, think about our training. You don’t start touching patients after you’re an attending. You start touching patients way before. So, start. Stop waiting.

There are people – let me tell you something. There are people – and if you’re listening to this, it may sound like I’m talking to everybody but I am actually talking to you. There are people who have a pain that your business fixes and they are in pain, waiting for you to say yes, waiting for you to embrace helping, waiting for you to stop worrying about not being the expert.

You already know how you can help. Help them, okay. So, why are you that person? Because you can help.

So, I’m not an expert. Totally reframe that thought. I’m not an expert, and I don’t need to be. I need to help and I’m great at that. And you’re a physician, why did you go into medicine? I have asked this question time and time and time again and over 97% of the people it’s, “I want to help.” So, there you go, perfect entrepreneur.

Now, if someone needed brain surgery, they need to be the expert. But in business, you help people. And you start from where you are and you keep helping better.

I want to invite you to say yes, okay. That’s what I want to invite you to do today. Say yes to that business idea. Say yes to that thing you’ve been putting off. Say yes to owning that business idea. Say yes to… just do it. Just do it. Why? Because you can help.

I would love three months from now, six months from now, a year from now, celebrating the amazing change you’re making in this world with your business because you said yes, because you decided to help, because you decided you are no longer saying, “I’m not the expert.” You’re never going to allow that line to lead you to procrastination anymore. You’re just like, “I’m going to do this.” So, just do it.

So, what do I want you to do? I want you to own this. I want you to write down today’s date. I want you to say, “It doesn’t matter that I’m not the expert. Because I can help.”

I want you to say yes to the idea, write it down, “This is a commitment I’m making. This is what I’m going to do.” That’s what I want you to do. And I want you to share this episode with another doctor and tell them, “Listen, you have to listen to this. You have to embrace the fact that you’re a helper,” and go start that business, go scale that business, go start that YouTube channel, go say yes to that speaking invitation that you were given. You don’t need to be the expert. You just need to help.

So, go do that, 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.