How to Take Control of Your Day
30 Jan 2026 · 1 min
Dr. Nneka Unachukwu teaches physician entrepreneurs a three-step daily method: decide your desired outcomes, focus on what you can control, and execute specific actions to produce those outcomes. She contrasts passive hoping with proactive planning.
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If your business isn't working the way you expected, it's not because you're bad at business. It's because no one ever taught you.
How it actually works.
We were trained to master algorithms in medicine, but when it comes to revenue teams and growth, we were never taught anything. We weren't even told to figure it out. We just assumed somehow we'd know. Like it would magically make sense. But it doesn't. The era of the seven Figure Physician CEO is here. And it's not about working harder. It's about learning entrepreneurship as a system. The same way you mastered ACLs and pals, you can master the algorithm of building a profitable scalable business. That's why I recorded the seven Figure Physician CEO audiobook. Whether you're building a medical or non medical business, and whether your goal is your first million, first 2 million, first 5 million, first 10 million, this is where the journey starts. There is no calvary coming to save us. We are the Calvary.
So.
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Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD 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. Hello, friend, and welcome back to another episode of the Entre MD podcast. Thank you so much for listening. If you haven't already, please take a moment to leave us a review on itunes. It really helps us get the word out. And you know that ontremd is more than a podcast. It is a movement of change. It's a movement where doctors are rising to become the Calvary. There's a million of us. We can change medicine. We can change our experiences. We can change the narrative for the physician community. And we can do this one physician at a time. So every time you review, every time you share an episode, you are part of a movement. You are making history. You are turning things around for physicians. And I appreciate you so much for it. So do it. And thank you. Okay, 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 about how to take control of your day. Now, historically, I have talked about how I am an enneagram6 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 it's 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. I'm very optimistic, optimistic about the future and, 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, you know, 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 about the lesson that that day has taught me, right? Like, so at the end of the 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, you know, to pull the lessons out of them. And so one of them is, you know, 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, 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, you know, I hope this will happen today and you know, 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, 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, you know, areas, I'm not acting like this, right? But I just saw this and I, you know, 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. We. 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, you know, like, oh, you know, 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, you know, 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? 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 going to 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, you know, 100 people registered in my webinar. That's going to be happening in five days. You see what I'm saying? Like, decide what you want. Okay? Decide what you want. 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 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's 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 gonna go take the actions on what you can control. Almost as if that is all that matters, right? We're not gonna worry at all about what we can't control. But in the midst of this, what can I do? And you're gonna decide? So I've set 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. 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 they 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, 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. 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, 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. 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 entreprene 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 know, you'll lose your life and you 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's been the most fun ride. It has helped me develop the most. It's helped me discover myself the most. It's helped me serve thousands of people. If you can imagine, it helped me serve thousands of people, helping me make an impact in the world. It has 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 you will be discouraged. Those things happen. It is part of the journey. And if you understand that it's 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. 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, you know, I was talking to a group of mentees And. And one of them said, you know, 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 am 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, you know, coaches who hold us accountable, all these kind 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, you know, having hard days and get discouraged and all of that stuff, and. And maybe I'm thinking entrepreneurship is not for me, or I just want to sell this business and walk away. You can enjoy that journey. You can. Okay, so start with what we've talked about on this podcast episode, and 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 it on trendy 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 entrepreneur 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 you're not reacting like, oh, I wonder what will happen? Oh, my goodness, will this go wrong and all that. You become this person who shows up, you're awake, and you're like, aha, I'm here. And today. Today's gonna be a great day. This is what I'm gonna do. One, two, three, right? I may not be able to control everything, but I'm not gonna worry about what I can control, but I am gonna be in control of what I can be in control of. And then, boom, you go to work. Oh, my goodness. That'll be so good. That'll be so good. Because what will happen is one is that you 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'll 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, an entrepreneur 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. Hey, if you love listening to the EntreMD podcast, I want to invite you to join Entre MD on demand. It is my signature subscription program that gives you access to a library of business courses designed to help you do one thing as a physician entrepreneur, and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com ondemand and I'd love to have you join us. See you on the inside.
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