Ep #279: How to Take Control of Your Day

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.

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Today I wanted to talk about something that I didn’t realize had become a problem for me, okay? So we’re going to talk about how to take control of your day. Now, historically I have talked about how I am an Enneagram 6 and how I really had the pre-traumatic stress disorder that they describe when they describe Enneagram sixers. It’s like nothing has gone wrong but an Enneagram 6 has already traveled, has already anticipated all the things that have gone wrong and is kind of living there.

And I have done a lot of work on myself to become this person who is not a very moody person and very optimistic about the future and all of that. And I started this process of journaling, okay. So here I am 43 years old, I have never really been a journaler. Like that has never been my thing. I’ve tried many times, it just hasn’t worked for me.

But I did a lot of research and came up with this five step system for journaling that is like a gym session for my mind, which I love, right? And so I started doing it and one of the things I would do every day is I would stop to think about the lesson that that day has taught me, right? Like so at the end of a day there’s so many things that happened, there’s so many things I observed. And a lot of times these things happen, but we just don’t stop to pull the lessons out of them.

And so one of them is that I’ll stop. And this particular day, it occurred to me that I had started becoming a lot more hopeful. My approach to a day was more of hope, where I wake up and I’m like, Okay, I wonder what would happen today. And it was really subtle. Like I was shocked when I observed that. And I was like, “I hope this will happen today. And I hope this person will do that.” And I know that that is not a strategy that works, right?

And so I was just like, this doesn’t work and it started becoming, you know, like, what if this doesn’t work out well? And so it’s a very passive, reactive hope-based kind of strategy to the day. And I know that that is not the way to win. That is not the way to thrive, especially as an entrepreneur. I mean, with anything you’re trying to do, right? Like, it just doesn’t work that way. You’re going to be playing offense, you’re going to take control, you’re going to be in charge.

And so I started thinking about it and I was like, “Okay, so I need to go back to what I know works, because I know this doesn’t work.” And for many aspects of my life and in many areas, I’m not acting like this, right? But I just saw this and I was shocked and I was like, “Okay, so let’s fix it.” And I figured, well, why don’t I come and talk to you as well, about what I do for that, right?

Because we’re not designed to allow our lives happen to us. We happen to our lives, right, in a way. So we have the opportunity to be proactive, as far as our life goes, the outcome of our lives, the outcome of our businesses, the results we get in our businesses. We have the opportunity to be proactive, not reactive.

Now, are we going to need to react to some things? Yes. But we have the opportunity to be proactive, okay? We have the opportunity to play offense, right? We’re playing offense, you know, we’re going to do 100 points in this game and all that. Like we have the opportunity to do that, but we have to take it, right? We have to take it.

So if you have a business that you want to take to the next level, right, one of the things you’re going to do is you’re going to play offense. You’re going to make decisions and you’re going to make them happen, okay? And a hope strategy is not the strategy, okay?

And no matter what level of entrepreneurship you’re at, I really want you to take a moment to self-reflect and go like, “Where in my life am I just reacting to things? I’m not in charge, I’m not taking control, I’m not forcing the results that I want. I’m just kind of like, oh let’s see what happens, right?

You want to identify those areas and call them out. And you might be saying, “Well, I’m an established entrepreneur, I don’t do that.” This is something that’s really sneaky, okay? I have had one of my best years as an entrepreneur this year, but still this is sneaking up. Okay, so let’s look at some things that you can do, okay?

Number one is decide on the outcome you want. Okay, I want you to think about a day, right? So a lot of times, we have goals for the year, we have goals for the quarter and stuff like that. But in a day, a 24 hour period is a gift, right? It is a gift that you can invest or you can waste. It’s a gift you can invest or spend or waste, right?

And so if you’re going to be an investor of time, right, one of the things you’re going to do is like, “What am I going to get out of this time? What’s gonna be my ROI, my return on investment today?” Right? Many things can happen today, but what are the three most important things that I need to accomplish, I need to create, right?

And so you decide on the outcome you want. These are the three things, I want to close on two new clients, I want to build two new referral sources, and I want to get a new vendor for XYZ. That may be your thing, right? I want to serve X number of clients, I want to get 100 people registered in my webinar that’s going to be happening in five days. You see what I’m saying? Decide what you want, okay? Decide what you want.

And that’s the first thing. The second thing is take charge. Like take control, decide that this is going to happen. You might be saying, “Okay, Dr. Una, hang on, there are so many things that I cannot control. I cannot control the market. I cannot control the economy. I cannot control how some people react. I cannot control this, I cannot control that.” And you’re right.

However, there’s probably the same number or more things that you can control, okay? So yes we understand that there are many things that you cannot control, but there are many things that you can control. You can’t control whether there’s a recession or not, okay? But you can control the number of people you’re going to reach out to and talk about your business.

You cannot control the fact that there’s a great resignation. But you can control the fact that I’m going to be crystal clear on what kind of employee I’m looking for and I’m going to talk to X number of people until I fill that spot. There are things that you can control.

Now, if we focus on the things we can’t control, then we show up as victims. We show up as victims of our circumstances. If we focus on the things that we can control, then we show up as people who may be facing circumstances that are not necessarily ideal. But we’re like, “Nothing is stopping us from getting the result.”

People thrive in recessions. People hire great people in the midst of a great recession. People do excellently in investing in the middle of a recession. So hey, right? So focus on what you can control and show up like, “I’m in control.” Make a decision, I am going to control my day. Okay, so that’s the second thing.

The third thing is now that you’ve made the decision, then you’re going to go take the actions on what you can control, almost as if that is all that matters, right? We’re not going to worry at all about what we can’t control. But in the midst of this, what can I do? And you’re going to decide.

So I’ve said these three outcomes, I have decided that I’m in charge, I’ve decided that I am in control. Yes, I’m very clear, there are things I can’t control, but I have made this decision, right? And then now, what are the things that will give me the outcome?

What are the things that will give me the outcome? And you start itemizing them, right? And let me tell you, when you’re done with this, one of the things you can do, and this is something that will call you out really quick, is for you, at the end of it, when you’re done writing out all those things, you ask yourself, “If I execute on these things I’ve written here, will it give me the result? Will it give me the outcome that I’m looking for?”

And if you wrote a lot of things that, you know, you wrote them because you’re scared or you wrote them because you don’t really want to commit, you know that it’s not going to give you the result. So the question then becomes, what is the thing you’re scared of doing, that you know will give you the result? Write it down. Do it. Embrace it. Do it scared, right?

One of my favorite lines that comes out of the EntreMD Business School almost every single week is, I did it. I was nauseous, but I did it. I did it. I didn’t die, right? Just embrace it and do it, right? So look for what is it that I need to do, okay?

And you can factor in the circumstances. For instance, in the middle of a recession, okay, people may decide I don’t have as much discretionary income to pay for this thing, right? But people are still buying. People are still buying. Even if your market shrinks, there’s still a lot of people.

And so you may need to turn up the volume of your ask. You may need to turn up your skill as somebody who is marketing and selling, right? You may need to turn up your ability to let people know this is the value of working with me. But people are still buying, right?

So you can factor those things in. But you decide what to do and you do what you need to do, okay? And so what I want you to see is every day when you wake up and you have a new 24, a new 24 hours, right? I want you to see it as a gift. It is a beautiful gift. There may be challenges, yes, we don’t have control over that. There may be circumstances we may not have control over, that’s okay, right? But it is a gift.

And from this gift, number one, this is what I want to get out of it. My outcome. Number two, I am making a decision that I am in control. I may not be in control of everything, but I will be in control of the things that I can be in control of, which puts me in control. And number three, I’m going to decide what I need to do to get me the result I want and I’m going to get to work.

Play offense, be proactive, take charge, take control. Don’t roll over, don’t play dead. And don’t let this subtle trap catch you, okay? It caught me a little bit, but I found it, okay?

So I want you to start winning. I want you to show up every day and you’re like, “I’m winning.” Yes, there may be still be some things that are out of whack. But did you get your three things done? Yes. And so we’re just going to keep going. We’re going to win.

There is an unfortunate thing that I see a lot of. And it’s this thing people do of selling people on the fact that entrepreneurship is light and easy, and there’s no real hard work, there’s no hustle, it just happens. But nothing could be further from the truth. And I’m not saying that to say entrepreneurship is hard in a way that’s not enjoyable. I’m not trying to say that you’ll lose your life and you’ll lose your family and your life will be no fun because you’re an entrepreneur. A thousand times no.

I would not trade my journey as an entrepreneur for anything. It has been the most fun ride. It has helped me develop the most. It has helped me discover myself the most. It has helped me serve thousands of people, if you can imagine it. It helped me serve thousands of people, it helped me make an impact in the world. It is brought millions and millions of dollars into my life.

Entrepreneurship has been amazing, but entrepreneurship requires hard work. There are disappointments that will happen along the way. There are days that you will be discouraged. Those things happen, it is part of the journey. And if you understand that as part of the journey, then you can just relax and enjoy the journey.

This is the reason why I set up the EntreMD Business School, and community is a big part of it. Because entrepreneurship is a journey and you will need support on your way. That’s the whole reason for that. So you get the coaching, you get the direction. We’re like, “Okay, this is a recession. But this is how you thrive in the midst of recession.” So you’re getting the direction.

You’re getting the accountability, because I was talking to a group of mentees and one of them said, “My problem, the reason why I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do is that I’m lazy.” And I’m like, “I have yet to see somebody who’s not lazy.” We’re all lazy, right? But we put accountability systems in place to ensure that we’re still doing what we need to do.

For some of us, we create systems where we’re motivated every day, we’re inspired every day. We have coaches who hold us accountable and all these kinds of things. Like everybody’s lazy. In the Business School we’re really big on implementation, we’re really big on action, because that’s where the rubber meets the road.

Learning something and doing nothing with it is very common, and it’s 100% not helpful, right? And so if you’re like, “Man, I’m really struggling with this thing of having hard days and getting discouraged and all of that stuff and maybe I’m thinking entrepreneurship is not for me. Or I just want to sell this business and walk away.” You can enjoy the journey. You can, okay?

So start with what we’ve talked about on this podcast episode that way you take back control, you’re back in charge of your day. And then the second thing is if you’ve been thinking about EntreMD Business School, now is the time. It exists for you. I wish I had it when I started. I created what I wish I had, which would have made my journey so much shorter. Oh my goodness, so much shorter.

And it gives me joy to see the doctors in the EntreMD Business School achieve in their first year of business, things that took me three to four years to achieve. And it makes me feel like yes, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do, which is be the shortcut, right?

Okay. So I want you to think about it, okay? This could be you. This could be you, where you wake up and not react like, “Oh, I wonder what will happen. Oh my goodness, will this go wrong?” You become this person who shows up, you’re awake, and you’re like, “Aha, I’m here. And today, today is going to be a great day. This is what I’m going to do 1, 2, 3. I may not be able to control everything, but I’m not going to worry about what I can’t control. But I am going to be in control of what I can be in control of.”

And then boom, you go to work. Oh, my goodness, that will be so good. That will be so good because what will happen is, one, is that you’ll enjoy your day, right? What is one of the big problems in medicine? Loss of autonomy. But in our personal lives, in our everyday lives, we experience that loss of autonomy because we’re not in control of our days, right?

Until you listen to this episode, and now you can be. You’re back in charge, you’re back in control, right? And you can enjoy your days, you can enjoy your journey as an entrepreneur. Yes, there will be challenges and all of that, but like with every good thing, right? But you can enjoy it and I want that to be your story. I want that to be the way you live. I want that to be your experience as an entrepreneur.

So go apply these and if you’re ready for us in the EntreMD Business School, we are ready for you. And I cannot wait to hear the wins you create with this. And I’ll see you on the next episode of The EntreMD Podcast.

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