Violating Social Norms and Outdated Levels of Thinking
Paul Gough
#1 Best Selling Author | CEO & Founder of the Paul Gough Physio Rooms | International Speaker and Business Coach | Helping Private Practice Owners Succeed | paulgough.com
Dear dedicated reader, please pull a chair up.....
This is a longer than usual blog...
"A rock isn’t going anywhere unless someone picks it up and throws it."
It's one of the most basic of principles that even a school boy understands.
(Am I allowed to say school boy/girl - or should I be saying school person? lol)
It's a law of motion that says something will remain at rest until it is acted upon by an external force.
That's a very profound statement that a lot of people are taking "literally" in todays society (even pre-covid), who are apparently waiting for that external force to arrive from their TV, on election day, or from their social media feeds.
It seems that taking action and actually doing something - that is of real *value* - not destructive and mostly mob like - is a dying art.
Why?
Well, there are a few reasons.
People are worried that taking action might create conflict.
And since most people prefer to avoid conflict, we take the easier road, follow the crowd, and abdicate decision-making to other people.
Or, we have a great fear of the unknown.
And, as the amazing Tony Robbins taught me, we’d rather suffer a known danger than accept the risk of an uncertain outcome.
Or (especially these days), more and more people are being taught to think of themselves as helpless victims who have no control over the direction of their lives.
In todays society, we’re rewarded for coming up with excuses rather than for taking action.
Imagine a tax-system where you're FINDED 30% if you DON'T make $100k?
And, rather than being labelled greedy for making more money, you were labelled as lazy if you didn't??
I'm not suggesting I advocate either - I just often wonder what the level of action would be like if the system was designed to favour and reward action.
But it isn't that people are just inherently lazy...
Although there is some of that going on, it's actually that it's so easy to succumb to a way of living that is driven by inertia.
And inertia only leads to one thing; inaction.
Inertia holds us back.
It prevents us from achieving what we really want from life.
But overcoming inertia is simply a choice.
There's nothing special about choosing to over come it and in the case of a business owner, you don't need any special course or program on how to beat it.
It is a *decision* that you make right NOW, today, and yes, especially as the world is being forced to "stand still."
I wonder how you're viewing the current situation Paul??
Is it an opportunity to stand still and wait to be told to get your life on track again (based on what the governments say?).
Or, is it an opportunity to get moving and find momentum in your business - and your life?
Most of the world are being told what they can and can't do right now - and sadly, they're believing it to be true.
As if they have no choice but to sit and wait.
Now I am not suggesting break laws or violate the requirements to keep COVID at bay...
...but I am suggesting your violate the SOCIAL NORMS and levels of THINKING that suggest all of your ability to do things, create things, make things and ultimately achieve a life that still, even in the midst of government restrictions, gives you great CHOICES.
(The quality of your life is defined by the quality of your choices).
As an entrepreneur, you're in a very special position right now...
The rest of the world has no choice but to put the news on and find out how their life will play out for the coming days and weeks...
Their choices will be mostly limited to what to watch on Netflix and/or what to order from DoorDash.
But you and I, we have the wonderful ability to CHOOSE how we're going to think, how we're going to work, how we're going to create and ultimately how we're going ensure that no matter what happens, or even if the government try to enforce new rules upon us this coming winter, we're still able to live an AUTONOMOUS life at the level that is most important - our *thinking*.
The world is short of people who can genuinely think for themselves.
Think about it ... it's why governments exist in the first place.
They exist to define rules and create conditions so that people don't have to think about keeping themselves safe.
Call me cynical, but when I'm in a restroom, in a coffee shop in California, and there's a sign on the wall that is teaching me how to wash my hands (this was even pre-covid!), I know I am living in a world that doesn't have the most faith in the ability of its people to think independently or autonomously.
For me, this is the sole purpose of being a business owner.
My "why" is not my kids (gasp!).
I do not go to work every day for my kids.
If it was FOR my kids - I'd have a job. I'd be coming home at sensible hours, I'd never miss a soccer practice and I'd be mentally present all weekend, every weekend.
That isn't the life of a business owner.
I chose to be a business owner as it allows me to the expand the level of my thinking and simultaneously, the level of choices that are available to me in my life - regardless of the situation or the conditions around me.
And because of THAT, my kids get to benefit from me and through me, and most importantly, I get to teach them how to do it themselves.
That is my REAL why.
Anyhow,
In other news...
Back on "Planet Paul" (my community of 450+ clinic owners)
Google Ads + Facebook continues to be the most dominant of forces in the fight back against COVID-19 for out types of businesses.
And here's a very simple explanation why:
People are not going to the doctors - but they ARE still looking for help and advice.
COVID-19 hasn't stopped people looking for or wanting to get help for their back or knee pain.
It never will.
It just means there's been a SHIFT in how they find and access such help and advice.
That shift is obvious - if they can't or won't or don't want to go to their doctors office, they're going to be looking online - Google - and the most popular phrase we're seeing right now is a simple, "PT near me".
Closely followed by "best PT near me".
It means if you are the best, and can come up first, you're in the money.
Want some help to get there?
Details of how my team can partner with you are here:
- How To Get Going With Google and Facebook by partnering with my Team
Here's to you living an autonomous and independent life - even in the age of COVID.
Sincerely,
Paul Gough
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Check out Paul’s Best Selling Books for Physical Therapists on Marketing, Hiring and Selling:
https://www.paulgough.com/books
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PAUL GOUGH is a multi-time No.1 bestselling author of The New Patient Accelerator Method, The Physical Therapy Hiring Solution, To Sell is Healthy, and The Healthy Habit. He is also a former professional soccer physical therapist turned successful clinic owner from the UK (a country where healthcare is free). He is the founder of the Paul Gough Physio Rooms – a successful cash pay clinic he started from a spare room in his home with no money down and with no business or marketing skills. He has since scaled his clinic from one to four locations, and zero to $1m in cash pay revenue and he now helps clinic owners all across America and around the world to get more cash pay patients using his proven systems.