Is Your Mindset Holding You Back?

Today we are talking about MINDSET.

I have been helping doctors and providers of all license levels with their businesses, whether it be with the legal side of things, general business consulting, mentoring, and more.  My wife, Linda, and I actually just started a new company that helps doctors start and grow their own membership practices, making certain that all their basis are covered legally and otherwise. Through all of our experiences helping doctors and businesses, there is one common theme that hold people back from growth and from success. The joining thread is all about MINDSET. I have discovered that if business owners want to succeed, they must take on the proper mindset.

So, how can this be done?

Mindset Analogy 

Let's take a look at baseball. Today I have my Tampa Bay Rays shirt on as I anticipate the final weekend of a great season. Baseball is romanticized in many ways, but one thing that is consistent about this sport is that it is a grind. For example, MLB teams play 162 games in a six-month season, while NFL and NBA teams play half the amount of games in the same about of time. Every day, win or lose, these athletes show up daily to play all over again.  For some weeks, MLB players have a game every single day, or more if there is a double-header. Either way, they are working at their craft every single day, no matter what.

This is the same for you in your business. It is a grind. You have to show up every day, ready and willing to improve and make adjustments, as necessary. You have learn to take your win or loss from yesterday and use those lessons to implement today.  These small, consistent improvements over the course of time can turn you into a true Hall-of-Famer when you put your mind to it.

Hot Streaks and Slumps

You will go through streaks of success.  You will go through slumps. Look at baseball players.  You have certainly heard of "hot streaks" in baseball.  A player will have a month where he is so on his game. Everything is going well with his hitting AND his fielding.  But, suddenly, for whatever reason, he starts to strike out. He looks to his bat to see if there is a hole in it. He has to figure out where he went wrong. This is the same in business. You will have hot streaks that you should ride out and capture the feeling of, and you will have slumps that you should learn from and improve upon. Your mindset, however, should remain consistent.  Keep your goal in mind, and keep at it.

Take Stats

Another piece of advice is to use statistics in your understanding of what is working. For example, if you are wondering why your summer is slow, look at statistics. Functional Medicine practices often slow down in the summer time for a variety of reasons. You should take this time to work on other improvements. Look at the statistics of what works for others as well. What are the practices that have the highest patient retention doing? Check those stats. Scout out the other teams. Ask the other successful "players" and "coaches" what their best practices are.  You can learn from others' mistakes, just as you learn from your own.

Also, write down what works when your business is going well so that you can see what you did during these successful times. For baseball players, they can watch video of themselves to evaluate their success.  ("Oh, I can see that I dropped my shoulder in my swing and need to adjust that."). You should be taking note of what works (and doesn't work) for you in your practice. Do you know exactly what you were you doing when you were on that hot streak?   

Celebrate Failure

No matter what you do, there will be failure. And guess what? This is a good thing!  Look at Silicon Valley, Shark Tank, the software industry...failure is expected and even honored in many ways. It gets you closer to where you need to be. You may have even heard to "fail fast and fail often." This is an excellent mindset to have. Please allow for another baseball analogy: if you fail 7/10 times as a hitter, you are an overwhelming success. This would mean you have a batting average of 300 and are worthy of a place in the Hall of Fame with the best of the best. These players have taken each failure and improved upon them. Failure is a learning opportunity to grow in your business and to perfect your strategy.  Is this your mindset when you fail? It should be. 

Show up every day and make the mental choice to prepare, pregame, practice, and have a game-plan in mind. Be intentional about what you are doing in the day. Are you showing up with goals and intention? This is an excellent mindset, keeping in mind that failure is good. Failure is building up opportunities to get better.

The Compound Effect

Even getting 1% better each day is a step in the right direction and will have a compound effect over time that leads to overwhelming success. The book The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy exemplifies learning and growing from your failures and is an excellent tool for business and personal growth. Hardy examines how, overtime, the compound effect of your actions and your thought processes will make a tremendous impact.  It's all about momentum and pushing forward. And, you will find that the more you grind, the more hot streaks you will encounter. 

I hope this inspired you to take on the right mindset on a daily basis. If you need more business help, guidance, or inspiration, don't hesitate to reach out to me at Functional Lawyer. Also, you can subscribe to our YouTube Channel and follow us on all other platforms.