Why you need to stop doing this…and start doing that….

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[00:00:00] Katie Bell: In the journey of building a successful clinic, one of the biggest challenges that I hear all the time, and by the way, I have and also have had and still have in days and weeks within my clinic, is imposter syndrome. It’s that nagging voice in your head that whispers or sometimes shouts quite loudly in my case, you’re not good enough or something like that.

[00:00:26] Katie Bell: What I’ve come to realise is For us as high achievers, that’s you listening to this podcast, it’s very common. Now, as you guys know, I’m a physio by trade, as I like to call it, and I’m a recovering people pleaser. I missed an A in biology A level by two points when I was 18 or whatever you do your A levels, meaning that I did not get my what were they then?

[00:00:52] Katie Bell: UCAS points? Is that sort of thing? To go into, to get into university. So it then meant I had to re sit the entire year, which as a high achiever, for me, was a massive, blow. It was one of probably the worst days of my life. Slight exaggeration, but when you’re 18, you feel like your life is ending.

[00:01:13] Katie Bell: But, because My parents have taught me to be extremely resilient. I decided to turn that into something great. So I actually worked for British Airways, which is a whole other story. And I eventually went to uni one year later. So when I applied, there was 100 applicants for every place. And as long as I could remember, I had been a grafter.

[00:01:37] Katie Bell: I just worked hard. Always achieving in sports at school, and in my, in education. I wasn’t liked by everyone because high achievers often aren’t. But I desperately wanted to be. And this knockback could have meant that I didn’t pursue the career that I’d always wanted to do, which was to be a physio.

[00:01:58] Katie Bell: But you now guys know how the rest of the story goes. I became a physio. I get the pleasure of speaking and coaching hundreds of, clinic owners in a variety of ways every year. And imposter syndrome is never far away in any situation they find themselves. I hope from today’s episode is that A, you become more aware of it.

[00:02:19] Katie Bell: B, that you know that it’s there, it might be below the ground. If it wasn’t, you’d all be living your level 10 life. Let’s give it the space. Let’s delve into what it is. Let’s talk about how, it manifests, and most importantly, how you can overcome it to enable you to grow a thriving clinic and have a confident mindset.

[00:02:42] Katie Bell: So what the heck is it? Imposter syndrome I Googled it is a psychological pattern where we as individuals doubt our accomplishments and we can have a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud despite the fact we have loads of evidence to show we are not only competent. But bloody amazing at what we do.

[00:03:03] Katie Bell: I remember when I first became a physio and you have to do your first assessments and, do all the things for the first few years that all feel very new. I felt like a massive imposter and I was like, why are people going to listen to me? I’m like 19. I’ve got no life experience. I’ve got no work experience.

[00:03:23] Katie Bell: I did a shitty placement. on a ward in Grantham where my clinical educator had whole shit on the bottom of her trousers and I remember leaving that thinking, if this is what being a physio is all about, I am out. This is not for me. I remember going and thinking, why are these patients going to listen to me?

[00:03:42] Katie Bell: I don’t really know anything. I’ve only just learned where the elbow is and now I’m having to do your rehab from a total knee replacement and total hip replacement. So imposter syndrome was like, running. It was, running wild back then. And then you think you, get better, you get more experience, you do more CPD courses and then you start to get into your stride.

[00:04:03] Katie Bell: And then because we’re high achievers, we want the next thing. So for me, it was opening a clinic and then it was like who am I to be a leader? People are going to expose me because I’ve never led a team before and, I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’m just winging this. I’m trying to figure it out along the way.

[00:04:21] Katie Bell: And so if you allowed imposter syndrome to rule, I would never have gone on to own my own clinic. And then it. Started again when I launched Thrive. Who am I to be and call myself a business coach? What what have I got to show for it? What, and, which is ridiculous, obviously. I’m saying all of this to reassure you that successful people have impostor syndrome, okay?

[00:04:48] Katie Bell: But it’s how we overcome it which determines how successful we are going to be. Those experiencing this syndrome, convince ourselves that they don’t deserve the success that they have achieved. And this mindset is Particularly detrimental in the context of running your own clinic, where confidence and authenticity are crucial for building trust with patients and your staff members, and it can manifest in so many weird and wonderful ways.

[00:05:17] Katie Bell: One of our amazing, clients in Thrive is doing all the work, okay? She is following everything we are telling her to do. She has grown, she has got more team, she’s got more revenue, she is paying herself more. Let’s all give her a round of applause. And she has more time to work on the business.

[00:05:35] Katie Bell: Okay, so what’s my point? The thing is, on paper this looks great, but she recently has had people leave the business. She’s back covering reception for some hours. She has a tricky member of staff. The cleaner has started doing some random shit in her clinic. This is Okay, need to rephrase that. She didn’t randomly shit in her clinic.

[00:05:52] Katie Bell: She’s just doing random shit in her clinic. Apologies for the word slip there. This is what we call in the industry self sabotage. Okay, self sabotage is a sneaky chuffer because it’s often a subconscious behavior where we as an individual hinder our own success and well being. And this means that we don’t often know that we’re doing it.

[00:06:15] Katie Bell: Until somebody like Philippa, our gorgeous mindset and success coach, spots it and calls you out on it. And self sabotaging behaviours can come up, when it comes to imposter syndrome and from a fear of success as well. Believe it or not, people fear failure as much as they fear success and vice versa.

[00:06:34] Katie Bell: So we can have the best master plan. For our business, we can have the best marketing tactics, but consistency and success in business is dealing with this stuff first. It’s like going back to the roots of the tree that you’ve heard me talk about a lot now. This client is now aware of her unconscious pattern.

[00:06:55] Katie Bell: She is literally repelling success and money away from her because of some deep rooted beliefs. Don’t worry, we’ve got her back. We’re doing all the work. But I want you to think about what comes up for you when you are about to take that next step. Maybe it’s that you’re going to recruit another team member, or maybe it’s that you’re going to step into, a new develop a new service, or you’re gonna take the next leap in your business growth plan, and you’re gonna hire a coach, and you’re gonna have to invest some money.

[00:07:33] Katie Bell: What happens? What comes up for you? Because it’s really important to not push this back down. It’s really important to see how this is showing up for you in your life. Because if you’re not living your level 10 life in all areas, you definitely have this going on. So some questions to prompt your thoughts here.

[00:07:52] Katie Bell: Like where are you not living your level 10 life? Health? Relationships? Business money? Confidence? Holidays? Spiritually? What happens when you hit success or an achievement? Do you just brush past it? Do you start doing self stuff to self to sabotage it? Do you never stop to smell the roses and it’s always onto the next thing?

[00:08:14] Katie Bell: And do you plus yourself as a high achiever and do not be modest here? The fact that you are listening to this means that you’re definitely gonna be a high achiever. So there are lots of different faces of imposter syndrome and it’s disguised as different aspects of self-doubt and insecurity. And some of the common ways that we see it manifest in clinic owners is perfectionism.

[00:08:35] Katie Bell: You guys set impossibly high standards for yourself, I am also in this category, and feel like a failure when we can’t meet them. So it then leads to this overworking, it leads to burnout, it leads to constant dissatisfaction with our performance. We procrastinate endlessly because things are not quite perfect, meaning you don’t get an awful lot over the line, boxed off, done, dusted.

[00:09:00] Katie Bell: There’s a lot of projects going on without I, A, starting them or B, starting and finishing them. The other way that it manifests is in overachievement, so you feel like you need to work harder than everyone else to prove your worth. This can lead to success but it often comes at the cost of your well being and it will create a very unhealthy work life balance if there is ever such thing as a work life balance.

[00:09:25] Katie Bell: This is something I see and hear a lot. Clinic owners working really crazy hours, unable to delegate. They’re a control freak. I love you all, but we are, etc, The other way is that we undermine our own success. So we might attribute our success to luck, timing, external factors, rather than your skills and your hard work.

[00:09:49] Katie Bell: And this diminishes your achievements. And it feeds into that cycle of self doubt. Oh Katie, I’ve just been lucky up until now. It literally makes me cringe. Luck has a way of showing up after a truckload of effort has been put in. Luck to me is recognition of hard work. Number four. Fear of failure. This is the fear of making mistakes and it can paralyze you.

[00:10:15] Katie Bell: It prevents you from taking necessary risks, embracing new opportunities, and this can stagnate growth, it can stagnate your innovation, and most decisions we see clinic owners make when we first start working with them is from a place of fear, rather than from a place of abundance. We’re often so focused on what could go wrong, we forget to see.

[00:10:38] Katie Bell: Now, I’m going to tell you a little story about one of our members. I’m not going to give you his name, but he’s on our Elevate programme. And he has a member of staff working for him that is not aligning with his company values. He has known this for a while, but because of fear, ruling his decisions, he’s refrained from dealing with this problem.

[00:10:59] Katie Bell: He was fearing what other people in the business would think, because Lady was likely to gossip. He was fearing what hole this would leave in the business, what work he would have to pick up, the effort of recruiting and onboarding someone new. This is all really true. I’ve been through all of that numerous times in my own clinic, but we stopped and I said to him, okay, what if we flipped all of that?

[00:11:25] Katie Bell: What if your team see you step up as a bold, brilliant leader and have a whole new level of respect? What if you showcase how to do things in your business? And that those who do not align with your values are not people that will take the business to the next level. What if it provides an opportunity to systemize and put processes in place for some of her work she was holding on to?

[00:11:49] Katie Bell: What if the work you have to pick up Allows you to see what’s really needed in the business and allows you to hire the right fit person. And what if you follow our 12 step hiring process, by the way, because it’s so gorgeous, and recruiting is a simple process that is already laid out for you. It’s not hard.

[00:12:09] Katie Bell: And what if you go on to hire someone who is world class because that’s what you deserve? How different does that feel? Because you guys get to choose. Are you going to make decisions from a place of fear? Or from a place of abundance and confidence. How many times do you instantly think about what’s going to go wrong instead of what could go brilliantly well and what you will learn?

[00:12:33] Katie Bell: One of the other things that, that comes up is discounting praise, okay? Last but by no means least. When others compliment your work or your achievements, you brush it off as them just being nice or not really understanding the situation. I really like to hold space for this in our Q& As and at the beginning of our weekly Q& As where all of our members join, I always say to them, let’s share a win.

[00:12:59] Katie Bell: Let’s share something like that’s gone really well. And a part of this is I’m habit training them. I’m habit training them into focusing on the great stuff that they are doing, not focusing on the 1 percent of stuff that they’re not doing or they’re not getting right because we all have that in our business.

[00:13:14] Katie Bell: So we do this every single week for 52 weeks of the year. This is a habit that they get into. And what’s amazing is that they all congratulate each other on all of their accomplishments and we hold space for that. One of the other things that I really encourage my clinic owners to do is to not apologize.

[00:13:32] Katie Bell: So when they come on the queue and they go, Sorry, this is just gonna be a really quick thing. And I’m like first of all, we don’t need to be sorry. And secondly, we’ll hold the space for however long you need. So don’t, feel like you can’t, you’re not good enough to hold that space because you are.

[00:13:49] Katie Bell: So next time somebody pays you a compliment, I just want you to say, Thank you. Not, Thank you. Oh my god and you look amazing too. That just pisses on their bonfire, their compliment bonfire. Do not do it. Accept the compliment and say thank you. So now we know how imposter syndrome can show up.

[00:14:10] Katie Bell: Let’s talk about how we can overcome it. You’re not going to eliminate self doubt, okay? And if anyone has mastered that, just, can you call me and tell me how you’ve done that? But it’s about managing it effectively. So some of the things that I use and we advise our clients to use very effectively is I have something called the 7 rule.

[00:14:33] Katie Bell: And in the quest for being excellent, you find yourselves very paralysed by the pursuit of perfection. This is the 7 out of 10 rule. It’s an invaluable tool. The principle behind the 7 out of 10 rule is simple, yet very profound. Instead of striving for perfection, a 10 I want you to aim for a solid 7.

[00:14:56] Katie Bell: Because this mindset helps to overcome procrastination and self doubt. It ensures tasks are completed efficiently and effectively, without being bogged down by unrealistic standards. Because you are all high achievers, because you’re all chuffing brilliant at what you do, Your 10 out of 10 is like somebody else’s 15 out of 10.

[00:15:18] Katie Bell: So if you just go to a 7, that’s their 10 out of 10, even 10. So allow yourself to produce work that’s good enough and just move forwards, rather than getting stuck in this cycle of endless revisions, endless improvements, which just leads to procrastination and ultimately burnout. Just get the shit done.

[00:15:40] Katie Bell: So example of this in marketing is like you’re delaying that launch of your marketing campaign until every single element is flawless. That would be a 10 out of 10. 7 out of 10. Get it well designed, communicate your message effectively, even if there are a few minor imperfections. Go live. This allows you to start attracting patients sooner, and then allows for adjustments based on feedback and results.

[00:16:06] Katie Bell: The other really important tip and things that I talk to my clinic owners about a lot is that comparison is the thief of joy. I don’t, I did not make that up, president. Roosevelt said that. When you first started your clinic, you were probably constantly comparing yourself to the progress of other people, looking at their social media, analyzing their services, measuring your success against theirs, and this comparison trap, we all do it.

[00:16:36] Katie Bell: Like how many times I have to do an audit on my Instagram account every so often when I can feel that I’m getting into this comparison trap and I just have to stop following people for a bit because it’s important to quickly realize that this habit is really unhealthy and it’s also really counterproductive because focusing on what others are doing means that you’ve lost sight of your own unique vision and your own goals.

[00:17:03] Katie Bell: So how would you feel if you just did an audit, if you just stopped following your competitors for a bit? Not staying forever but shift your focus inwards. Concentrate on your clinic strengths. Concentrate on the unique value you offer to patients. By letting go of the need to compare, you then cultivate a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity or lack.

[00:17:31] Katie Bell: It’s super simple. It’s really powerful. All I’m going to say is don’t unfollow me because I still want you to follow me. That’s okay. But I promise that you don’t need to compare yourself against me. But my point here is those people that you are trolling on and scrolling on Instagram and Facebook and wasting endless amounts of time comparing yourselves to.

[00:17:52] Katie Bell: just stop for a little bit and cultivate that mindset of abundance.

[00:17:58] Katie Bell: And the final little tip to help overcome imposter syndrome is hashtag Friday cheers. So I’m going to start a thing on this podcast and I would really, love you to do it and don’t, just pretend that you’re going to do it and don’t because you make me extremely sad. I would really love on Friday.

[00:18:20] Katie Bell: For you to take a picture of something, maybe a glass of wine, maybe a gin and tonic, maybe the sun, maybe your dog, maybe you lounging on the sofa, whatever it is, on a Friday night, wherever you are, at a party, at a dinner party, whatever it is, and I want you to stick it on your social media. And I want you to hashtag Friday Cheers and tag me in, tag Thrive in, because this is about celebrating your achievements.

[00:18:47] Katie Bell: Every Friday in Team Thrive, we share hashtag Friday Cheers. This can be one thing, it can be ten things, whatever you want to celebrate in the week, and we share what has gone really well. It allows our week to finish by shifting our focus. As the working week draws to a close onto the, amazing things that we have achieved.

[00:19:12] Katie Bell: Not the, I didn’t get this done, or this didn’t quite go to plan on Monday, or I let this patient down, or I overran here, or I didn’t get this marketing campaign over the line. Whatever it is, if you finish the week focusing on that, your weekend’s going to be a bag of shit. If you focus on all the great stuff, you’re going to attract more of that into your life.

[00:19:29] Katie Bell: So my challenge to you. If you are serious about creating more opportunities for you in your life, if you’re serious about manifesting more money, more time, more energy, more abundance into your life, then you’ve got to start by doing hashtag Friday Cheers. I dare you. For the yellows listening to this, you know who you are.

[00:19:52] Katie Bell: I dare you. For the reds, I also dare you. For the blues and greens, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you need to listen back to a few episodes when I’m talking about colours. For the blues and greens, you won’t let me down. See what I did there? Anyway, join me this week. Hashtag Friday Cheers. Tag me, at @thrivebusinesscoaching in.

[00:20:14] Katie Bell: I want to see it. I’m very excited for this. And build this support network. Surround yourself with supportive colleagues, with mentors, with friends. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Cheers. I’ll read that again. I’ll say that again. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

[00:20:33] Katie Bell: If you want to create more, and you want to do different things in your life, you need to surround yourself with different people. And I should probably say at this point, that you To overcome imposter syndrome and to move forwards in your business and in your life, you need to get a coach. All great coaches are coached.

[00:20:53] Katie Bell: It helps you work through self doubt, it helps you work through imposter syndrome, it helps you work through the confidence crisis, and it gives you that support and that push that we often don’t get from our close ones. Not because they don’t care, because they don’t really get it, but your coach really gets it.