Sometimes in my work, I can initially feel a bit of resistance from new Clients, to doing things differently. Moving out of our comfort zones, even if they’re unpleasant, can still feel daunting.
However, a point has clearly been reached where reality is worse than the effort required to change things.
So we work together to create a shift, approach marketing from a completely different angle and learn new skills to attract new patients. Because our world is evolving at breakneck speed, it’s vital that we keep up lest we get left behind!
However, once I’ve developed my Clients’ mindsets, I can notice a shift in their confidence. And once I’ve coached them in highly targeted marketing they begin using their bespoke strategies to easily attract new patients.
Watching children at play
Sitting on the tube the other day, I noticed two little girls swinging around the central pole by the doors. It was delightful to watch their simple pleasure and also to note that their mother wasn’t micromanaging them! They spun around in opposite directions, the smaller child skimming under the arm of the taller girl, her fluffy topknot ponytail bobbing back up each time.
I realised after a few minutes that they were largely oblivious to us onlookers. They were living in the moment, playing with what was available to them and exploring their surroundings. They didn’t care what we thought and they had no regard for ‘rules’ or what was ‘expected’ of them.
It’s a shame that during our teens we start overthinking everything, something which can often continue into adulthood. The fears in our heads are almost always about what others will think of us or, worse still, peer judgement. Our thinking can ‘make up’ stuff that has no basis in truth but which stifles our ability to reach our potential.
And in business that can threaten our success because if we can’t market ourselves confidently, our results will likely be mediocre.
How to easily attract new patients
That’s why the first thing I work on with Clients is clarity of purpose, playing the long game and developing their expectation of success. They soon shift up their thinking, get over themselves and get out into their communities with powerful messages.
Then they’re soon coming back to me on their coaching calls saying:
“3 new patients yesterday.”
“6 new patients booked in this week already!”
“35 patients last week – and that’s the most ever.”
“I’m so busy I need to look for an Associate soon.”
and after only one week of opening a brand new clinic…
“3 new patients last week, 5 new patients this morning and 3 more booked for Friday!”
It may surprise you to know that these are all actual Client quotes from only the last TWO days!
So strip back that stifled persona and unleash your inner child on the world.
I promise that your new patients will applaud you for it.
When a new Client comes to me, or indeed a new Patient to you, they are looking for change.
They may be fed up with the status quo, they may be in so much physical or financial pain that they have made a decision to act.
Some may stay very stuck in their own pain, unable to create that shift because of the fear of change and what that might mean. To someone in pain, it might mean that feeling better may alter the dynamics in their relationships and that could feel scary.
Change may lead to us fulfilling our potential
Some may feel fearful of the process they need to go through to achieve better financial stability. What would success actually mean or say about them? Would it make them appear arrogant even? Or would it mean they had deservedly reached their potential?
I have seen people stay rooted to the spot resisting change for all they are worth. And I have seen people take a deep breath, get clarity, focus and stride forwards into the unknown with courage, knowing that ultimately they will be fine.
Change has been a major factor in my life; for a start I’ve moved home 15 times and who knows, I may not be living in my final one…
Having a child with twenty years of major life-threatening illnesses has meant huge changes, massive uncertainty and mega episodes of fear.
Eventually, I was able to stay grounded, solid and focused. I accepted I was on a roller coaster of change that I was not in control of. Instead of worrying myself to death I (eventually!) gave thanks for every single day I spent with both my boys. I felt gratitude for the opportunity to protect and nurture them to the best of my ability. And ultimately I accepted that if I lost my son, I would still feel massively privileged and honoured to be his mother.
My work is all about creating positive change
I keep my eye on business strategies, what’s working and what’s hot! I invest hugely in my own development and put myself on advanced business and coaching courses to ensure I stay ahead of the curve of change.
When a new person starts working with me I encourage them to dream big and imagine a different and more fulfilling life. Our lives are a whole and my mission is to develop the person, not just the business.
Embrace change and strive to always improve
By far, the biggest and most positive changes I see in those I work with are always in improved confidence, personal growth and happiness. Despite the key goal being to increase patient numbers, I have to say that a more confident practitioner and business owner is always my ultimate goal.
Some years ago I realised that change is a constant in our lives. I kept hearing people complaining that ‘things’ had changed and they usually didn’t like that. But really that’s like saying the tide has turned and we don’t agree with it!
We might as well embrace it. And if we don’t like how something is in our lives, then we have the power to change it. Even if that’s really tricky we can still decide to change our thinking around it and keep striding torwards our dreams and goals.
We live in extraordinary times of phenomenal change. Change means that there are new possibilities opening up to us. If we do embrace change and new ways of working or doing things, we continue to grow. Otherwise we could risk stagnation in our business and ourselves and could end up feeling like we’ve been left behind.
Last Friday I hosted the Osteobiz Inspiration Day in West London. Usually I work online about 99% of the time which means I can reach and inspire the global community of Osteopaths, which is very important to me.
However, one day a few months ago, I got a message from Walter McKone on LindedIn. He said, “Golly – how can I help you?” (Don’t you just love autocorrect?!)
I was taken aback as I know that Walter is a highly respected Osteopath, Lecturer and Philosopher. I replied with something vague as I didn’t quite know what he wanted. He asserted, “Answer the question!” a couple of times until I said I’d sleep on it
When the Universe/HIgher Self/Opportunity gives you a prod, it’s a good idea to notice and reflect on what’s possible.
So many keep their eyes down, their possibilities limited and their life experience boxed firmly in.
But when we open up to chance, opportunity, synergy, synchronicity and coincidence, we can explore further and decide if this is indeed the next indicated step in our lives. Being awake and open to these signposts can lead us to grow and develop within ourselves and our work.
Walter’s nudge prompted an idea…
And so the Osteobiz Inspiration Day was born!
The day was planned to be a smorgasbord of tasty, bite-sized lectures and practical activities which were all designed to inspire and stretch the group. Once or twice I felt their resistance to moving outside their comfort zone BUT very quickly they embraced it AND thoroughly enjoyed the gentle challenge of it!
We discussed video marketing, having a clear vision of our future lives, bringing extra tools to our skillset and thinking in a very different philosophical way. At the end I shared several examples of Osteopaths I had worked with who were playing a bigger game.
This conference achieved what was promised – ‘Inspirational’. Such a friendly conference with inspiration from the talks, practicals and colleagues. Gilly loves to do things differently and somehow it works!
Deborah Smith
Steven Bruce and Claire Short, Academy of Physical Medicine
Steven and Claire do excellent work in bringing us great CPD which is available online to suit busy schedules. Since I had the cutting edge idea for Osteobiz some 5 years ago, it makes sense to have even more opportunities to learn online. It saves on time, money and energy travelling to distant places and having to find childcare in many cases. It’s lovely to spend valuable time with others sometimes but easily accessing quality learning and CPD has to be a great resource.
I’ve long admired Emma Wightman’s intrepid spirit, as I’ve watched her traveling to Kenya and treating the Maasai Mara people. As you might imagine, facilities are basic and the team work tirelessly to help as many as 400 people a day who queue up in the heat to get vital help.
Emma’s presentation was so poignant and powerful that several in the room were inspired to look into joining Emma on her next trip in October.
After a hearty lunch, Anji Gopal, Osteopath and Yoga Teacher gave us clear insights into the benefits of adding yoga to the Osteo toolkit. We could have listened to her reassuring velvety tone all day! She guided us through a few moves which energised us after a spell of sitting and post lunch sleepiness.
Dotted throughout the day I shared some new material around business development. But by the end of my afternoon session I had many powerful and inspiring stories to tell about some of my own Clienits’ brilliant succeeses. Between them they’ve created rapid growth, added in a rehab facility, developed a real community health hub and built a clinic which is so elegant and beautiful that I well up with emotion every time I look at it!
An eclectic mix of speakers kept us engaged. By 5pm I didn’t want the day to end…
Juliet Richards
Osteopathy and the Philosophy of Empathy
Walter McKone’s talk on Osteopathic Philosophy soon had our jaws dropping as he sped us through the history of the great thinkers. He explored ways of changing our thinking and perspective and I’ll admit my head practically exploded! He demonstrated the change he could make in his treatment. Changing his intention via the touch on the shoulder of a senior Osteopath and she was clearly amazed at the greateer level of impact he could make.
The entire room were left wanting more.
At the end of the day, Team APM returned to share with us a video they had created for one of our group. We were all suprised at how powerful it was, after much of it was filmed whilst we had watched. The editing was excellent and Lucy came across as friendly and expertly skilled.
My heartfelt thanks to all these speakers who helped me to create a superb day for our delegates! Also to my sons, Max and Toby, who dealt wth the tech, organisation and time-keeping!
Well organised event which captures your attention the whole day. You come away with lots to think about and even more to implement. Thank you Gilly and team!
Karen Snowling
In conclusion, this room of Osteopaths were inspired to return to their Practices and play a bigger game!
Shyness and confidence issues are huge within the Profession and it’s something I always tackle on my courses and in my VIP work. I’ve witnessed the struggling and nervous, develop and flower into the epic Osteopaths they were always meant to be.
And that’s a superb goal for you too. Helping more people in your community back to health. Helping them to feel empowered to take better care of themselves. Guiding them to live their lives with less pain and greater freedom is a gift and an wonderful path to be on.
And if or when you decide to play a bigger game, it would be an honour to nurture you and your Practice to serve your community like never before.
Meantime what can you do today to motivate and inspire your potential new patients to find their way back to health?
It’s that time of year again when we’re all busy setting intentions for 2018 and thinking about all that we want to achieve. However, we all know that many of these good intentions get forgotten about and sidelined by about February!
You’ll no doubt have a rush of gym bunnies booking in who have been over ambitious and overdone it. Likewise, I’ll have a rush of Osteopaths who’ve decided enough is enough with their dismal bookings.
Some gurus at this time of year will say that making resolutions is a waste of time. Others will write whole books on how to do it successfully.
I’m somewhere in between! Reflection is something that you are already encouraged to do as part of your work and I think there’s very good reason for this. Without taking time out to review what we do and look at ways to improve that, we’d all be blindly stumbling on and staying stuck in a rut of underachieving.
And if I’ve got anything to do with it, that just won’t do!!
But how do we set intentions for 2018 and actually stay accountable?
Firstly, I think that if we set some goals both in writing and visually, they will be easier to keep top of mind. And that begs the question, “What will you do differently in 2018?”
But equally, it’s not just about looking at where we need to improve; it’s about sussing out what’s working well and doing more of that.
So here’s my take on a good New Year Review:
1 Ask yourself some simple but effective questions
Take some time out and answer these ten questions. Simply review your past year and look at what you want for your life in this next year. Rather than stick these answers in the back of the drawer to gather dust, keep them close at hand and continue to review regularly.
Then contemplate what SPECIFIC actions you need to take in the next 90 days. Where are the gaps in your knowledge or skills? What do you need help with? What extra training would benefit you?
What boring or time consuming tasks could you farm out to save you time, worry and energy? For instance could you get a cleaner in to save your energy? Or could you hire a geeky teenager to file your papers or do the data entry for your accounting?
Inspired action and constant implementation are the only way to make changes and achieve success!
2 Create a Vision Board
Because Vision Boards are made up of a selection of images of what we want in our lives, they are a daily reminder to keep focused. I am a great believer in these – as simplistic as they may seem. I have found tremendous success throughout my life since I created my first one back in 2007. I was freshly divorced, living in Athens with my two young boys and, frankly, quite battered and lost!
But a wonderful Mentor who was supporting me through difficult times there encouraged me to create a Vision Board of all the things and experiences I wanted in my life. It may sound woowoo to you but in the past 10 years I’ve gone on to attract major business success, a home I love, healthy children, peace of mind and even the Old Boy!
Getting clear on what you want your life to look like is the quickest route to getting there – and don’t forget to dream big!
Members of the Osteobiz Inner Circle will be working on creating these these Vision Boards during January.
NOTE: Until the end of the month the Osteobiz Inner Circle is only £10 per month to be a member and won’t be subject to the price increase in February when it gets an upgrade and revamp – all current members will remain at the lower price. No contract; stay as long as you like or leave when you wish. Supportive Facebook group, a new topic to download and keep each month and regular live Q&A sessions with me. Join here.
3 Take inspired action and implement!
What are the next indicated steps you need to take in order to bring about the fabulous 2018 you currently aspire to? Make time in your diary to take those action steps.
Indeed one of the biggest pieces of advice I give out to each and every Client is to make space in your diary to work on the front end of your business and on your bigger goals and dreams.
Even though I’m currently travelling around Australia and New Zealand, I’m still working. In the past few days I’ve done my own review and set my intentions for 2018. Right now I’m planning how to better help hundreds more Osteopaths to get their vital message out and help more people in pain.
Without implementation, nothing will change and we don’t want that do we?
The creative art of language has always been immensely intriguing to me, be it English, French, Greek or even shorthand!
Recently, I attended a seminar about the way we can influence outcomes by better use of language. And I thought this would be a very interesting topic to share with you.
Little words that wreck outcomes
What do you think when you hear the words, “I’ll try to do more exercise but I don’t have much time!” or “I’ll try to lose some weight but it’s not easy!” or “I’ll try to do the stretches you showed me but I’m worried it might hurt!”
Deep down you’ll feel disappointed because the word ‘try’ means they won’t actually do those things! Yoda understands this perfectly:
‘But’ is another little wrecker which precedes the big fat excuse! Deep down, we know they’re definitely talking themselves out of doing something. Hearing that ‘but’ is always so disappointing. isn’t it? The reason is that what is said after the words but or however or nevertheless has the most power in the sentence. Those words simply dismiss the first part of the sentence and make it redundant.
That’s why it’s better to change around a sentence like this:
I think your website is a little outdated and tired BUT I really like the content and the inspiring words you use.
The power of one word
Imagine this: you’re stuck in a long queue at the supermarket check out and a lady walks to the front and says, “Do you mind if I go first?”
You’re probably going to think, “The cheek of the woman; how dare she?”
But if instead she walked up to the front and said, “Do you mind if I go first because I only have two items,” you’d probably feel OK about her request and allow it.
So why is that?
The reason is that she has cleverly used language to influence the way you felt. In her first statement she fails to give any reason for wanting to push in front of the queue and therefore appears cheeky. The difference in the second sentence is that she uses because and gives a slightly plausible reason which you can accept.
Logically it makes no sense that she deserves to push in at the front of the queue just because of the number of items she has. But our brains don’t need a definitively logical reason to be influenced, just a plausible one.
Don’t use don’t!
Don’t is a word which is unhelpful in the way we use language. If I say to you, “Don’t think of a blue elephant in your fridge!” what do you immediately imagine?
Using this negative word can cause the opposite of our intention, so it’s helpful to think about how we might avoid it.
How damaging to our desired outcomes are statements such as these, “I don’t have enough money to get help right now!” or “I don’t have enough bookings” or “I don’t know what to do about this!”
Language and the truth of “I am”
All too often I hear, “I am hopeless on social media!” or “I am not creative!” or “I am no good at marketing myself!” and so what is the reality? Yup those statements are affirmations of that person’s perceived reality.
Now look at how adding the word YET can totally change the mood behind the phrase, “I am not creative yet!” or “I am no good at marketing myself yet!” Those 3 little letters actually give us some hope that we can achieve what we want. YET means that it’s just a matter of time before our desired outcomes are realised.
Wherever possible banish the negative ‘I am’ statements and replace with positive ones, “I am always fully booked!” or “I am successful!” or “I am doing a great job in my community!”
It’s a fact – those who are most certain, WIN!
The possibility of possibly
When we have a problem we can’t solve or something we want to achieve, we can sometimes just give up. Let’s imagine you wanted to grow your Osteobiz. Your bookings are down, your bank balance is dismal and you’re feeling fed up. You know you need help to change things but you worry that you won’t find the right help or that you can’t afford it.
Ask yourself the question, “How can I possibly get help?” or “How can I possibly afford to get help?” or “How can I possibly find out what steps to take?”
Deep in your subconscious you will begin searching for ideas and inspiration. You could write down everything that comes to you, without filters. As the answers present themselves you can begin to choose the actions you need to take to create the outcome you want.
For instance:
You might search online for help
You might look for some free resources
You might look for a special offer
You might book a free consultation to find out more
You might ask for a more favourable payment plan
When we search for possibilities we can quickly discover some clever ideas we would never have found otherwise.
Why not test out the ‘possibly question’ the next time you encounter a problem? I think you might be surprised at how many creative solutions you can find!
Self confidence is a tricky customer! I spent my childhood wondering why all my school reports said, “Lacks confidence”! You might find that surprising, but it’s true!
I thought I was confident but now, looking back, I can see that I was hesitant and unsure about raising my hand or standing out from the crowd. It’s taken a few decades to sort my head out and stop those self destructive notions from affecting the outcomes I’ve wanted in my life.
Even when I launched Osteobiz four years ago, the old mind monkeys were laughing and poking fun at me.
Who on earth did I think I was, eh?
What made me think I was best placed to help Osteopaths to build their Practices?
What if it all crashed and I looked like a right numpty?
Dreaming big is something I’ve always done but my own self confidence has often got in my way and made me doubt myself, my skills and my worth to the world.
Being self confident is not about being arrogant
Issues around self confidence is a common problem I find amongst Osteopaths too. Thankfully though, arrogance is a trait I rarely see in the profession. Having self confidence in our own value, our skills and our abilities is absolutely critical in business.
When we don’t particularly rate our own worth, it can transfer to our potential customers. They can feel that reticence and feel unsure about whether or not you are the right fit or right Practitioner for them. This all happens on an energetic level. You know how it feels when someone doesn’t gel with you or just isn’t your cup of tea?
Over the years I have worked on my own self confidence and picked off those annoying mind monkeys one by one! I have looked for the evidence that indeed I do know what I’m talking about. I have checked that what I offer is fit for purpose and tweaked and improved things to ensure I’m giving the best value possible. And yes, I have increased my prices when I believe that I’m selling my services way too cheaply.
How does self confidence affect bookings?
Call me woowoo but I have come to believe that the kind of vibe we put out there dictates what we receive in return. The more self confident I have become, the more of my perfect clients have come forward to work with me. More than that, wonderful opportunities, collaborations and inspiration make their way to me. All these things allow me to help the very people who want to build better businesses and help more people in pain.
It’s win win all the way.
So here’s a tip. If you ever struggle with self confidence, start your day with a few minutes with yourself.
Now imagine all those new patients happily rushing to their appointment with you. Imagine how grateful they are to have finally found your magic hands. And imagine how happy they are to pay you a fair fee for all that you give them.
How exciting does it feel in your belly when you see your diary as full as you wish it to be? How rewarding is it to hear the testimony of your happy Patients? Will that put a self confidence token in your piggy bank so that you can continue to stride forwards?
Do you see the correlation between your self confidence and your success?
It must feel amazing to help people back to health every day. I can only imagine how exciting and rewarding that must feel.
Talking of self confidence, I was again interviewed by Steven Bruce at the Academy of Physical Medicine yesterday. Having battled up the M1 and arrived just 5 minutes before transmission, thankfully, those pesky mind monkeys didn’t have time to get started!!
It was a great discussion and actually not at all scary! We were talking all things Facebook and how to get the most out of it. Check out the video recording here – you can skip past the (carefully selected) music if you wish.
APM provides high quality online CPD on a variety of topics relating to your Practice and development of your skills. They will even make and host a FREE website for you! I think that’s astonishingly good value.
And if you’ve never been on Steven’s First Aid Course, you’ve missed out on some thoroughly rewarding training and his highly entertaining delivery. I got to see some of his teaching yesterday and I cried with laughter so much that my mascara ran! I certainly won’t be forgetting those key messages as they’re now deeply embedded in my memory!
Self confidence is a tricky customer! I spent my childhood wondering why all my school reports said, “Lacks confidence”! You might find that surprising, but it’s true!