Balancing a Thriving Business and Life: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Success Without Neglecting What Truly Matters

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Well, hello, hello my friend. Welcome back to another episode of the ontremd podcast. I am super pumped to be in your ears and I wanna take a moment to say thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing the podcast with the doctors in your life. Together we are absolutely changing medicine. That's what we're doing. And today I want us to look at something that is. Because it's kind of like living today with the end in mind. Right. Um, I was re recently listening to an interview by Jim Rohn. It was actually the last interview before he died and he was 75 years old at this time. And if you don't know about Jim Rohn, you probably want to check him out. He's pretty, pretty cool. And there are a lot of the people who are in the personal development space, the Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield, the rest of them, who were all directly or indirectly mentored by him. So he' kind of like the father of personal development in a way. And at the time of that interview, he had been doing what he did for, for 40 years. Right. He had been doing this for a long time. And you know, he was kind of talking about the things that he had to pay attention to, the things he would do differently. It was really good to listen to a 75 year old who had a 40 year career reflect. Right. And it kind of, you know, made me start thinking about, you know, my journey and, you know, I'm 44 years old at the time of this recording, and, you know, I talk a lot about my 90th birthday. And I find that when you are building a business, there are a lot of moving parts. There are a lot of new skills you have to learn. There are a lot of challenges you have to deal with. There are a lot of, you know, pivots you have to make. And it's can be. It can be a lot in the sense that you. You may start giving up other aspects of your life to really go all in on your business. And today I want to talk about, you know, five things to really never neglect as you build your business. You want to build your business and build these things at the same time. So the Entre MD Business school, we have this concept where we talk about building your dream business and building your dream life simultaneously. And. And the reason why, you know, I'm really big on that concept is because I don't know, you know, I'll speak for myself. I don't want to build a really great business and find out that there's some critical things in my life that I didn't touch or I didn't enjoy my life or I didn't create my dream life. I don't want to get all the way to the top and find out that I was building only, you know, like, one leg, and I have this other leg that's really short. And so I have a limp anyway. Right. And so I'm going to give you these five things that I. These are things that, you know, they're. They're not urgent, but they're important. And if we don't pay attention to them is going to hurt later. And I would really love for you to go through your journey as an entrepreneur, create a life that you love, you absolutely love, and get there. Realize you paid attention to all the right things. So the things that matter, you. You invested a lot in them, so you have them too. Okay, so. So let's take a look at these. The first one is, you know, five things to. To never neglect. The first thing is your family. Is your family. In my value system, the family comes before the business. It does it. It. It. In my value system, it is always before the business. I have no interest, none whatsoever, in building a business that is wildly successful. And at the end of the day, my marriage is in shambles. You know, my kids don't want to talk to me. I didn't build a relationship with them. I didn't enjoy watching them Grow up and all of those things. I have no interest in doing that. And sometimes we can think, well, with what I have to do with my business, I just don't have time for my family. And you know, I want to invite you to kind of look away from making statements like that. So think about your brain as like ChatGPT, right? Is the prompts that you put in it that determines what this powerful machine will spit back out at you. Right? And so if you put into ChatGPT, well, you know, I'm running a successful business. I don't have time to run my family, to take care of my family, invest in my family. ChatGPT is probably not going to give you a response because that is not a prompt that is going to produce a response. Right? But if I put into it, well, I run a very successful business and it requires a lot of my time and I am married and I have four children. What are 25 ways I could make time, I could create time to invest in my family. So then I've given it a prompt that it can respond to. Right? And so our brains are that way. So we don't want to make these final statements like I don't have time to do that or I just have to give up the business then, or give up my family. Then the question is, how can I do that? How can I build a dream business and still have the time I need with my family? And then your brain, which is a really sophisticated computer, can then come up with some things that you can do. Okay? And so the, the, we don't want to neglect our families. I spend a lot of time talking to people who are older, so 70s, 80s. I hope I'll get to speak to a 90 year old one of these days. That will be so cool. And they talk a lot about family. It is at that stage it is a priority for them. And I think if something's going to be a priority when I'm 90, I want to start prioritizing it now. Right? And so, you know, if you've seen one family, you've seen one family. So I'm going to share some of the things that I do, but it doesn't mean, you know, that's just some starter for you to think about it, but you'll know what works for you. And so for me, one of the things I do with my husband is I make sure that, you know, we, we decided on a date night. And so Tuesdays are date nights and it's a time where we don't talk Shop. We're both, we really like talking shop. So it's a time where we don't talk shop, we both pastor church, we don't talk church. We're kind of talking, you know, checking in with each other and things like that. So it is this time where we spend with ourselves. We would try to do a number of couples vacations a year. Some of them will be local and so in Georgia, but we'll go somewhere or it would be somewhere like Florida or it'll be international. And you know, we just do these trips, no kids, it's just two of us. And again, it gives us this time to really connect and lean in, check in, share vision, share what's on our heart and things like that. And it's something that works really great for, for our marriage. We've been married 17 years at this time and you know, it's, it's been such a, has been such a gift. So that's what we do for, you know, for the, for the marriage piece. Of course there are a lot of other things, but you know, this is a kind of a place to start. And for the, for my kids, you know, one piece is really spending time with them. And I've talked about this a lot on the podcast. You know, I have this thing called, we call it Meets Week. So it's mtwk Meaningful time with kids. And I just make sure that I am stopping to really, you know, check in with them, play with them, have conversations with them, be silly with them, do all of those things. So I'm not neglecting that. I actually schedule that every day. And so that's on one side is the time spent, but the second piece is really the time spent in training. And you know, I've started leaning into this concept so much more because I know for my kids, the, the real legacy that I'm going to leave them is not necessarily money, right. And if I'm a good steward of my money, I will leave that money, right? And quite a bit of it. But it's also the thing that created the money, right. And so the wisdom that I have, the knowledge that I have, my decision making algorithms, the habits I have the habit of reading the habit like all of these things, instilling those in them, I believe is a true legacy. And so I have the time I spend with them, but I have also have the time I spend training them on the things that have made the biggest difference in my life. My life. And then, you know, as the years go by, I have different ways of doing it. But, you know, the things that I'm great at, I want to help them become great at them too, right? And so. But I don't want to neglect that, right? And in the beginning of a business or at a time when you're making a drastic change, it may be harder to. You may have less time to do this, and then as you go along and build teams and all that, you have more time. But the important time is to. The important thing is to give it some time, and you can do more as you. As you get more time. But this is something that is so critical, so vital, so important, I believe, you know, investing in your family, you know, really is a huge legacy. It's what makes your work continue forever because you invest in them and they invest in the next generation. And enjoying your family and your family relationships getting better as you get older. I think that's. That's all fantastic. And I don't believe there's a business in this world that is worth giving that up for. Okay, so that's the first thing to never neglect. The second thing to never neglect is your health. And, you know, the way my husband talks about this, he says your body is your earth suit, and it's what gives you the rights to stay here. Same way if you're in space, you need a spacesuit, and once you abuse it, then you have to leave, right? And so if I want to, you know, I want to live till I'm 90, I want to be strong till I'm 90. Well, the time to start working on my health is not when I'm 90, right? And so it's something to pay attention. Am I drinking enough water? Am I getting enough sleep? Am I, you know, I'm 44, so am I doing strength training? Because I'm going to need that muscle mass, and I'm going to need the strength. What am I? Cardio, all of those things. And am I getting my checkups? Am I getting my screenings? These are things that it doesn't matter how busy the business is. We want to start doing these, right? If you're busy, you're probably going to do a little less. And as you get less busy, you're going to do more. But we never want to neglect it, right? We're going to need that. You're going to need your body later, and you want to. And, you know, there's compounding interest, right? That same philosophy works with, you know what, the habits that you have for your health. And it's, you know, when, when you get older, it's kind of too late to start to prepare for that. Doesn't mean you can't do things then, but no better time than now, right? So nothing. Not a thing to neglect at all. I remember when the pandemic first hit, I was sitting. I was sitting a little longer, you know, doing telemedicine, all of these kind of things. And so the commitment I made, for instance, I'm just throwing this out here. Every time my phone would ring and I had a meeting, that was a phone call. Then I just open the door, walk out, take a walk. So I'm taking a walk during the phone call. And that was just a way of, you know, incorporating some more, walking even while I was working, right? People would get standing desks, People get weights. And so in between calls, they would do some squats and some, you know, arm exercises and all of these kind of things, right? But we want to pay attention to our health. Again, this is not urgent, but it's really, really important, okay? The third thing is your network, okay? So now your network is made up of, you know, people. They could be friends, they could be mentors. They could be people who are referral sources who have been really huge for the success of your business. It could be your team, your. Your human relationships. We refer to those as social capital. And social capital, a lot of times more valuable than financial capital. Like, the people you know will absolutely change your life. And you want to make sure you're nurturing those relationships. So, for instance, for mentors who have made such a big difference, something as simple as sending in a handwritten card to say, look, thank you for this. Had this meeting with you. You told me this. I've applied to my business, I've applied to my family, I've applied to wherever, and this is the result I've got. And I really appreciate you in my life nurturing those relationships. I mean, that is something you never want to neglect. Those relationships are gold. And, you know, human relationships are like, you know, they're like flowers. They're like plants. You're gonna have to water them, right? Want to pay attention to the people who help you with your kids or the teams who help everything go round, all of these things. You don't want to be so into the business and so into the drive and so into the target that you forget to see people. If you are surrounded by great people, you truly are wealthy. And that's the truth, right? You have friends who stood with you in storms and all of those kind of things. When was the last time that you reached out. When was the last time you watered that relationship? Because you, you're going to need them. You really are. And so that's something. Again, you don't, you don't want to neglect. The fourth thing you don't want to neglect is your, is your purpose. And you know, this is, this is something to think about. Usually you may be able to do this through your business. Some of the times it's something that you may do after you have created financial freedom and created time freedom in your business. Right. So for me, if I can use myself as an example, well, I started off after, career wise. I started off working a job as a pediatrician in a practice in Stockbridge, Georgia. And while I was there, you know, I'd been there for, I want to say about eight or nine months. And my boss says, here's a five year contract. And I'm like, you know, like, I can't do a five year contract. I need to move anyway, so I'm not going to be staying. And he says, okay, you should start your own practice. And you know, initially I was like, you're nuts. You know, nobody starts a practice right out of, you know, a year out of residency, but you ultimately went on to start a practice. And. But when it comes to purpose, I have always had this drive to help people become the best versions of themselves. Like, I've always had that drive. I've always wanted to help people. I've always wanted to inspire them, help them develop habits, show them how little things can make big differences, show them how they could do things scared. They can do things messy and still create big results. And my purpose was tied to that some kind of way. Right? And so I had the business which was my private practice, but I also had this purpose. And like, what I do with Entre MD is part of that because what I'm doing is helping doctors build these very profitable, very successful businesses and bringing them to this state where they're bucking the status quo. They can live life on their terms, they can practice medicine on their terms. And it's, it's true, truly magical is part of my purpose, right? And so, so it's this dream that I have. And so you're listening to this. You, you may have this dream and you've been busy and all of those kind of things, you have been able to touch it. Well, you don't necessarily, if, if you're at a stage where you're building a business and you need the time, you're not gonna, you're probably not gonna build like multiple things at the same time, especially if you want to build big. But then you understand, okay, I have to create the time freedom for this. So what that means is I'm going to build the current business I'm in as a business asset, meaning that I, you know, I have the service, I have the systems, and I have the team. So this can function like a well oiled machine without me. And so that way I have the freedom to then chase whatever purpose, passion, projects, any of those things that, you know, any of those things that I want to pursue. But keeping that at the forefront of your mind means you don't lose that. You still go on to do that, right? You still go on to accomplish that, which is huge, right? So we don't want to give that up because it's, you know, like it's something that doesn't go away, right? Like you may be 50 years old listening to this, and this has been something that's been on your heart since you were 10. It doesn't go anywhere, right? And so at some point we want to take some, some action on that. And the, and then the final thing is, the final thing you never want to neglect is your evolution. And when it comes to your evolution, I want to kind of think about it this way. Your life and your business are the way they are because of the version of you that currently exists. The version of you that currently exists created it. And if you want your life to be different, if you want your business to be different, then you need to evolve. And so when we think about this, you know, like, I want you to think about you as a doctor. So you were in high school and you decided, you know, the doctor thing is what I want to do, it required your evolution. And so because of that, you went to pre med, and because of that, you took the mcat and you did what you needed to do to get a great score, and then you went into med school and then you went into residency and all of that, all those years, what you were doing, you were evolving to become a doctor, right? And sometimes when we get to that point, we're like, oh my goodness, I am never doing this again for as long as I live. But who wants to be the same for 40 years, 50 or 60 years, right? Because if we're the same, then we're going to produce the same result in the same life and the same, like the same level, but what if we could continue to evolve? And so for instance, I finished up with, you know, my residency, I got My first job. And then I evolved and became a practice owner. And then I had a practice where I was a solopreneur, as a solo pediatrician. And then I evolved again and became a private practice owner who had other doctors working and had built systems, I had built teams, right? And so I was, you know, think of it like a lead pediatrician, if you would. And then I evolved again to be this person who built a business asset. And so my practice now has systems, has processes, has teams in such a way that I could walk away and take an extended sabbatical. And the business continued to grow. And then I evolved again to become this person who is a podcaster, who is an author, who owns an online education business, who hosts conferences, who hosts retreats, and all the, all of those required me to evolve. I had to learn new skills. Leading people, hosting events, leading leaders, like all of these kind of things. And if I said I was not going to evolve, then I would not have the result, right? And so, yes, we want to build our businesses, but we also want to pay close attention to make sure that we are continuing to evolve. We are continuing to become the kind of person who will have the next level of results that we want to have, right? And this could look like there are podcasts you listen to, there are books that you read with the intention of gaining specific skills, or even better still, you. You join the entremd business school where it is all about your evolution, right? And so, for instance, one of the things we're focusing on for the next the next 12 months is really this thing of owning the vision of your 10x4 only life, your 10x only business, and going through the process of evolution to become the kind of person who creates that kind of business, right? And so these are, these are things like you can actually neglect them. And you have a version of your life that's really nice, and you have a business that's really great, but at some point you're going to run out of steam. At some point you're going to find that, well, I'm not able to create massively bigger results because I lacked. I, you know, I didn't develop these things or I've created a life I don't love because I didn't pay attention to the things that matter to me. Okay? So your family, your health, your network, your purpose, your evolution. These are five things. Please do not ignore them. What I have done to make sure that I don't is that I have built scheduling around all of these things. So I told you about scheduling date night, Scheduling them. Each week I schedule my exercises. I live in my purpose. I have a running list of the people who are in my inner circle with strategies in place to make sure that on a quarterly, biannual, annual basis, I'm touching each of them in a meaningful way. And I invest heavily, heavily in coaching to ensure that I'm constantly evolving, I'm constant, constantly being stretched, being called to become the higher version of myself so I can continue to create greater results. Okay? So I want to invite you to do the same thing. Look at these five areas. Make some decisions, schedule some things. Please pay attention to this. This is not something that is urgent. So there's this temptation to procrastinate on it. Please don't. Your future self is telling you, please do not procrastinate on these things. Make some decisions today, okay? Because I want you, you know, 10 years from now, 15 years from now, to absolutely love the business you have and absolutely love the life you've created and to find that the things that matter the most, you paid attention to every last one of them. Okay? That's what I would love for you. That's what I would love for all the physicians in your world. So if you would, I would really, really love for you to share this episode with another doctor in your life. They'll thank you for everything, ever. And you can share this on social media. Use the hashtag. Hashtag entremd. I'd love to reshare what you post and I would love to give you a big shout out. So go do that and I will see you on the next episode of the entremd podcast.