The EntreMD Podcast

Are You Living a Stagnant Life? 3 Things You Can Do to Move Forward in 2025

• Dr. Una • Episode 448

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The market has changed. Healthcare has changed. The United States has changed. Everything has changed. So why are you still the same?

The harsh truth is, if you stay stuck in your old habits, cling to a mindset that no longer serves you, and operate in outdated ways, you won’t grow. Your business won’t grow.

That’s why, in today’s episode, I’m sharing 3 powerful things you can start doing right now to stop living a stagnant life and begin moving forward. Let 2025 be the year you break free from the cage you’ve built for yourself.

Remember, time is your most precious resource—don’t waste it.

Tune in now and start your transformation!

—

Key Takeaways: 

  • 00:00 Intro 
  • 00:45 The dangers of living a stagnant life
  • 07:10 Why you shouldn't wait to change 
  • 08:02 Grow your mindset 
  • 10:30 Upgrade your skillset 
  • 16:21 Increase your capacity for peak performance 
  • 19:20 Outro 

Additional Resources:


When you are ready to work with us, here are three ways:

  • EntreMD Business School Accelerator - If you are looking to make a 180 turnaround in your business in 90 days, this is the program for you.
  • EntreMD Business School Grow - This is our year-long program with a track record of producing physician entrepreneurs who are building 6, 7 and 7+ figure businesses. They do this while building their dream lives!
  • EntreMD Business School Scale - This is our high-level mastermind for physicians who have crossed the seven figure milestone and want to build their businesses to be well oiled machines that can run without them.

To get on a call with my team to determine your next best step, go here ...

Speaker 1:

The market has changed, healthcare has changed, the United States has changed. Everything has changed. The most dangerous thing you can do is remain the same. Nobody's coming to save us. Nobody's coming to make it easier to run private practices. Nobody's coming to make it easier for the coaches. Nobody's coming to make it easier for you to work at your job. You're going to make it easier. You're going to become different. You're going to uplevel yourself.

Speaker 1:

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 Imna. At the time of this recording, it's the end of the year, and one of the things I spend a lot of time doing at the end of the year is I spend time thinking, and that's because life is strange. You can live one life, the same exact life, year in and year out, for 40 years, or you can change every year and live 40 lives in one, and if you don't stop to evaluate, to think, to ask yourself the tough questions, you can put yourself in a position where, at the end of your life, you find out that you just live the same life over and over and over again, and that is something that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, and it's something that I take the time to think about to make sure that I'm constantly moving forward, because, guess what, when you're 80, when you're 90, it is too late. That doesn't mean you're dying. Then you don't have the strength, you don't have the time, you don't have the time for compounding. When you're young, your youth is a gift. That's the time that we tend to waste the most. So, anyway, this podcast episode kind of has me in my feelings, because there's a lady that I met about a week ago, and the first time I met her was a decade ago.

Speaker 1:

The first time I met her was 10 years ago. At this time she was really young. She was 19, very gifted, very talented, had a lot of opportunity, and I remember talking to her. Talking to her about getting into school, talking to her about developing certain skills that would help her with where she was trying to go, talk to her about reading, about personal development. All of that Because I knew. I said you're young, you have nothing but time. If you invest this time, it's going to be so amazing, not in a way where she doesn't have a life. But this is the thing. How long does it really take to read a book? How long does it really take to develop a skill? These things don't take as much time as we claim they do. But if we have the intentionality, we can do amazing things. So, anyway, no matter what I did, so anyway, no matter what I did, she never did anything. She never read the books, she didn't end up going to college, she didn't develop any of those skills.

Speaker 1:

Her talent is still in its raw form and her life is pretty upside down, pretty upside down. I remember, looking at her, you might say okay, you're talking to a physician and entrepreneurs. What does it have to do with anything? Just roll with me. I looked at her and I said time, life is brutal, and I'll tell you why I said that. I said that because in 10 years she hasn't moved forward, she hasn't changed. She's complaining about the same things. She's the same. I mean, of course she's older and she looks more mature and all those kinds of things, but nothing fundamentally has changed. It's almost as though she's been sleepwalking for a decade. And it made me very concerned because I said, for instance, for you and I, we're entrepreneurs and all these things.

Speaker 1:

When we look at that, we can see oh my goodness, this is a waste of a decade. And life is brutal, or can be brutal, because it's not as though if you waste a decade, that time will say oh, you wasted a decade, let's be nice to you and even if you don't do the work, let this next decade be better. No, it's just going to be a repeat of the decade before. And it's not as though you're the same. You can't be the same because other people move forward. So you're actually moving backwards. Every year you're moving backwards. So I was reflecting on this and as I was reflecting on it, I said for a physician entrepreneur, when you look at that, you'll say this is awful. But the question is, how about our lives? Now? Our lives may not be as stagnant. We went to school, we did all of these things. We look kind of different. But after graduation, after you started that business, after you hit your first million, after whatever, the point is that you're like poof done. You stay in the same spot. You stay with the same limitations, the same challenges, the same story for decades. It is a waste of life.

Speaker 1:

My job is to fight to grow every day. You see, when we're children, we grow by default. You just eat and you grow. You eat and you grow. When you become an adult, growing is something that happens against resistance. It's something that happens. It's almost like you're going against gravity. There's nothing natural about it. The natural state is for you to not move forward. The natural state is for you to stay the quote unquote. Stay the same Because, like I said, you're getting worse.

Speaker 1:

I fight to grow every single day. I fight. I fight to read the book. I fight to dare my fears and learn the new skill. I'm like, oh my goodness, I don't know how to lead a team. I fight to dare my fears and learn the new skill. I'm like, oh my goodness, I don't know how to lead a team. I fight to learn how to do that. I don't feel confident when I speak on stage. I fight to become this confident speaker. I'm uncomfortable talking about money. I fight to get comfortable with it. When I look at profit and loss statements, I just want to break out in hives. I don't know what that's about. I fight to learn it.

Speaker 1:

Guys, this is not a regular podcast episode. We're talking about your life. We're talking about the regrets you're going to have at 90. We're talking about the fact that maybe you've been the same for a decade or five years or two years or 15 years. Now, on the outside, people look at you and they're like, oh, she's amazing, he's amazing Physician has the business, business is doing well, all that stuff. But you know, you settled like two years ago. I want to challenge you today to fight, to grow every day. You're a human with great potential. It's time to fight. It's time to no longer stay the same.

Speaker 1:

If you're listening to this and you're like, oh, I can't build a business that does $250,000 in revenue, it's time to get out of it. How do I need to grow to pull this off? How do I need to grow so this becomes a historical statement? You've been circling. Now you know you want to build a seven-figure business. You've been circling. It's time to grow. You want to lead a team because you know the busier you get, the worse your life is. Because you don't have a team. Everything is falling on you. But like, oh, I don't do people, I can't talk to people, I'm too shy to cast my vision, I don't know what to do. If you don't know what to do, learn how to do what you need to do. We can't stay the same. We can't keep telling the same story. We're burning daylight. We're burning daylight, okay.

Speaker 1:

So recently we had the Entremet Business School open for enrollment and people asked me this question Like is this the only time it's open? Can I wait and join three months from now? Please don't get me wrong. There are legit reasons why people would have to do that. But the question I always ask is the statement I make is it's not about the business school. The business school is here. The business school is going to be here. This business school is going to be here five years from now. The question is are you going to wait five years year, five years from now? The question is are you going to wait five years? Are you going to wait five years to learn the thing? Are you going to wait five years to make the transition? Are you going to take five years to make the commitment to your business? You're going to wait five years before you decide, like I'm going to take matters into my own hands and live the dream life I want to live and build the dream business I want to build. Like, are you going to wait on that. It has nothing to do with the school. So let me talk about this.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I fight to grow right. Let me give you what I do. There are three areas. I fight in three arenas. I fight in One is I fight to grow my mindset. Okay, and you may have rolled your eyes because you're like I used to be where. I'm like, hey, I don't need to do this mindset stuff, I just need the strategy. No, you don't. No, you don't.

Speaker 1:

Those limiting beliefs, those faulty ways of thinking, they will cost you all day, every day and twice on Sunday. The way you think about yourself, the way you see yourself, all of that, it will all cripple you. If it's negative, your mindset is not neutral. It's either an asset or it's a liability. If it's a liability, it's time to work on it. It's time to work on it. How do you work on it? You feed it right. You feed it with the right material. Think about how you've already been challenged, listening to this podcast episode, to think a certain way, right. And so when you think about that sleeping dogs lie and complaining and being the victim and all of that stuff, now you have an understanding that you're burning daylight and you're going to be like this lady that I was talking about that a decade later she's exactly the same, exactly the same, my goodness, okay. So you feed yourself on the right information. You feed yourself. You know where those limiting beliefs are. You feed yourself. You know where those limiting beliefs are. You feed yourself.

Speaker 1:

You reflect, like think about what you're thinking about. What are the thoughts that stop me? What are the thoughts that trigger me? What are the thoughts that make me get in my own way? What are the thoughts about myself that are so bad I would never even say to anybody else? You start thinking about what you're thinking about so you can explore new ways of thinking. You start thinking about what you're thinking about so you can explore new ways of thinking. But we got to think about what we're allowing our mindset to be because it's time to grow it. If we don't grow it, we'll keep it the same.

Speaker 1:

The mindset of if it's going to be, it's up to me, like the only person who can do this work right is me is a faulty way of thinking. It's a faulty way of thinking right If you think about the fact that oh, you know, I'm a physician coach. I could never replace my salary but by coaching business. It is a faulty way of thinking. It's a faulty way of thinking You're playing the victim. At the end of the day, it's your life and the person responsible for the outcome of your life is you. It's a faulty way of thinking.

Speaker 1:

I cannot let my mindset be the same after a 90-day period. I cannot let my mindset be the same for a year. I cannot let my mindset be the same for a decade. Ask yourself the question what am I doing to shift the way I think? Number one, number two my skill set, my skill set.

Speaker 1:

If you want better, if you're going to push for better, if you're going to create better results, if you're going to do all of that, you must upgrade your skillset. For instance, you have a business. Business is not doing up to $100,000 in revenue. It's not doing 300. It's not doing 400. What is the skillset in the way? Is it marketing? Is it selling? If you're further along in your business, is it building the right team? Is it building the right culture? It's time to work on that, and it's not just every skillset.

Speaker 1:

One of the things I've been teaching my clients is this there is one master skill that if you commit to it over the next 12 months, it will radically change your life and every aspect of your life. It is one skill. What is that skill for you? For some of you, maybe selling. For some of you, it's building team. For some of you, it's recruiting.

Speaker 1:

For me for 2025, it's persuasive speaking why. I speak everywhere. I have podcasts, I have YouTube channels. I do a monthly, I do a daily mentoring call for people of faith. I preach at church, I teach at events, I host live sessions at the Ontario Business School. I lead a team. I have trainings for my team. I do vision casting for my team. The physician community I'm talking about a whole movement, all of that. My children they're homeschooled. Guess what I'm doing Speaking all day. At the end of the day, if I upgrade this one skill, everything gets better. I can commit to a year of developing one skill this person I'm talking about for 10 years no new skills.

Speaker 1:

It's a tragedy as a physician entrepreneur, it's a tragedy Like. We have to start being intentional about who we're becoming, be intentional of our skill level, and it's a tragedy. We have to start being intentional about who we're becoming, be intentional of our skill level and how it's growing, be intentional. Every 90 days, people should be able to look at us and say you're different. You're different. We can't stay the same. Guys, listen, the healthcare space is changing at such a speed. One of the most dangerous things you can do is remain the same. We can't remain the same. We're amazing, we have amazing skills and all of that. Now it's time to retool, uptool, upskill, add new skills, add new mindset, add all of that stuff and we adapt as the market is adapting, so we can continue to thrive.

Speaker 1:

It is going to be ugly if you stay the same. I don't care if you're running a $3 million business. It is going to be ugly if you stay the same. I don't care if you're running a $3 million business. It is going to be ugly if we remain the same. It's time to change. It's time to up-level, it's time to learn the skills and whatever if you have to pay for it, whatever if you have to join a program for it, whether it's the Entremet Business School or another one, whatever, whatever. Like, I see people who are happy to pay $100,000 in taxes and they turn around and they tell me the entrepreneur business school is too expensive, they can't make the investment. I'm like okay, listen to the IRS. Then the IRS says if you do this, invest in your business education. We don't even do this for college, but if you invest in your business education you can write that off. But if you want to keep the money you got to pay me taxes, they're incentivizing you to go develop yourself.

Speaker 1:

I totally went off on the tangent there. But this is the deal If you're going to pay the IRS, you're going to pay for vacation. Let's talk about this. Right, you say no, but I have one life and I have to live it. Yes, but you have to understand the sequence I'm telling you. This lady's story got me all in my feelings.

Speaker 1:

When you need to make a sacrifice when I say a sacrifice, what I mean? Like if I went on a vacation that costs $2,000, that's a vacation that I don't have to think about to afford. Okay, at this stage in my life, there was a time it was not that way, but now it is. If I'm going to take a vacation and it's going to cost me $250,000 or $100,000, I have to think about that Sacrifice because I'm going to need to move some things around or whatever, or I'm going to have to give up something I could have used it for? Okay, all right. So let's say that's the scenario when you need to make a sacrifice, you don't make a sacrifice.

Speaker 1:

And please don't misunderstand me, right? Because somebody may say you know my mother's 84. I always promised her we'd travel around the world and do this trip. I'm not saying that. I need you to hear me. I'm on your side, we're on the same page. I just need you to hear what I'm saying.

Speaker 1:

There is a sequence. So I'm growing up in my journey and I don't want to become this physician entrepreneur who builds businesses that can work without her. That's what I want to do, and I have $30,000 I can spend to upskill. Please hear what I'm saying. If I spend this on the vacation, I would have the memories, but I cannot repurpose the money I'm done. If I spend it and invest in upskilling, then I can create an asset that will create that money over and over and, over and over. And so if I can delay this vacation and invest in upskilling, that will create that money over and over and over and over. And so if I can delay this vacation and invest in upskilling and build this asset, then I'll build an asset that will let me go on 10 vacations, not one. Right? There's sequences to this. So I know it's a big blanket thing, but I'm trying to tell you how critical it is that you upskill. You must upskill.

Speaker 1:

The market has changed, healthcare has changed, the United States has changed. Everything has changed. The most dangerous thing you can do is remain the same. Nobody's coming to save us. Nobody's coming to make it easier to run private practices. Nobody's coming to make it easier for the coaches. Nobody's coming to make it easier for you to work at your job. You're going to make it easier. You're going to become different. You're going to up-level yourself. You're going to stop giving excuses. You're going to decide I'm going to figure this out.

Speaker 1:

And then the third one is increase your capacity for peak performance, which is something that I'm doing, and this is around routines and reps, routines and reps, routines and reps. Right, so I have a morning routine, and a morning routine is a requirement for my mental toughness. I pray, I meditate, I listen to a podcast, a lot of autobiographies, because it normalizes the challenges of entrepreneurs. Right, I review my goals, I spend time with my kids, I exercise. I'm doing this every day. I'm doing it. What am I doing? Positioning myself for peak performance? Okay, I'm working on sleeping better. I'm working on what I eat. I'm working on avoiding triggers right, that's also put me in a position that I'm performing at peak level.

Speaker 1:

And then the reps, because nobody ever feels like doing the right thing all the time, like, come on, is selling your business. Who always feels like selling? Leading your team who always feels like leading your team? Holding your team accountable? Who always feels like doing that? Nobody, but peak performers do the reps, whether they feel like it or not. What is discipline? Discipline is doing what you need to do, what you ought to do when you ought to do it, whether you feel like it or not. That's what peak performers do. So we start practicing putting in the reps.

Speaker 1:

You're not ordinary, you're not a victim. The way your business is now, everything could change the amount of time off you have. Everything could change the amount of financial freedom you have. Everything could change your confidence showing up on stage, your confidence putting your brand out there. All of that can change, but you got to change for that to change, okay.

Speaker 1:

So I want to challenge you to take the time and reflect. Am I the same? Is my mindset the same? Are my limiting beliefs the same? Do the things that used to stop me five years ago still stop me? Are my skills the same? Are there levels I should have pushed through that I'm still at? I haven't acquired new skills. The way I used to speak is still the same way I speak. The way I used to train my team is still the way I used to train my team. I used to avoid them all the time. I still avoid them. All of that. Is it still the same? You're a podcaster. Is your podcast better? Can people see and go like, oh my goodness, is it changing lives? Is your program changing lives? Is your private practice having a bigger impact? Are you having more time off? Have you learned to manage your time? Have you learned to buy your time back? Have you learned to delegate Like upskill, nobody's coming? But it shook me a little bit when I saw her 10 years still the same. And guess how she's going to be the next 10 years if nothing gives. She's going to be the same. And guess how she's going to be the next 10 years If nothing gives. She's going to be the same In our lives. That is something you know.

Speaker 1:

I don't talk about fear. It's not something to fear, but it's something to be careful of. That I'm not living the brutal life, staying the same. You want to make sure that you're fighting to grow and you're fighting to become all you can be and you're fighting to. You see, this level that you're at as I mean like the kids do video games right, I'm at this level. I fight to go to the next level and this is not about a hustle and grind and die. You know we talk about dream life and dream business, so you're fighting for both of them. But please hear me, we can't roll over, we can't play dead. We need to stop that. It is time for us to fight to grow. It's time for us to conquer levels we've been at. It's time for us to shatter glass ceilings. It's time for us to own the life, the business we truly want, and go build it.

Speaker 1:

But let me tell you something If you learn to master these things, you'll become a person I have become that person who's different every 90 days. Different Everything I touch is different every 90 days. Different Everything I touch is different every 90 days. And I keep striving, I keep pushing and I know there's more in me and I know there's so much more. I'm not going to stop. I'm definitely not going to be like her. I will support her and help her in every way I can, but I'm not going to be her. I'm not going to be the same. It's scary. She scared me. For her, she scared me. So don't scare me. Don't scare me. Change. The time given to you is a gift. It's a gift, and one of the best things you can do with the gift of time is leverage it to become the best version of you. Leverage it to write a masterpiece that is your life. Nobody's coming to do it for you. You're the artist. So stop waiting, start painting, and I'll see you on the next episode of the I'm Trendy Podcast.