The 3 Hats Of A Podiatry Practice Owner

This information was taught to me by good friend and business mentor, Creel Price.

But, before I talk about the 3 Hats, I want to explain something to you, which is extremely important to understand.

Work harder on yourself than you do on your business

Jim Rohn was the pioneer of this saying, and it is so applicable to finding success in your business and our lives.

It’s really important you take the time to let this sink in. The key to a better future is YOU. Working on changing YOU, and the way you think, is the fastest way to success in your life.

One of the best ways we can work on ourselves is through self education. In the forum section of www.PodiatryHive.com, we have attached a list of books that we recommend you purchase and start reading. Personally, I like to read one book per week. If this is too much start with one every 2 – 3 weeks.

Now, back to the 3 Hats.

Running a business is a game. And we need to treat it that way.

When was the last time you watched a child play a computer game, or a Nintendo or a Wii Look at the engagement they have. They are glued to the screen, 100% focused. The ultimate goal is to win the game (or as children refer to it clocking the game).

They can only do this 1 level at a time. If you watch them, they will exert most of their energy just to get to the next level (after using the gap between levels to attack and clear out the contents of the fridge – because computer games take up so much energy)

Business is exactly the same.

It’s Just A Game!

So this leads me to Hat 1.

Hat 1 – You Are An Adventurer

I don’t know about you, but I love a good adventure. I enjoy the new experience, the challenge, the unknown. If you really don’t like adventure, take my advice – don’t run a business!

Just for a moment, I want you to imagine you are in an adventure race.

You and 3 friends have been dropped in the middle of a rainforest, and your goal is to reach a small town 28.3km away. All you have is a compass, map and water.

I want you to tell me how fun you think the adventure race would be if there was a brick road that led you directly to the town?

If the road was straight, with no interferences, you and the four of your friends could walk smoothly to your goal.

How Boring Would This Be?

You signed up to this adventure race – BECAUSE YOU WANT AN ADVENTURE!

If you were in the race and you reached a small challenge let’s say you reached a river crossing that was too wide for you to cross.

Would you get frustrated? Would you panic? Would you whinge?

No. Because this is part of the deal.

When we start getting excited about the challenging times in business we begin to enjoy the game of business at a much higher level!

The more FUN we have, the more fun our team and our customers have, and the more successful our business will be.

This … leads to me to Hat 2.

Hat 2 – You Are A Leader

Developing your leadership skills is critical if we want to thrive in our business.

Let’s be honest. Sometimes in business (actually it can be more often than sometimes) certain unexpected things can happen that completely throw us off course.

Imagine for a moment you are in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

You are half way through the race and the weather turns. Within 2 hours, the sea has turned from your friend to a 30ft monster (this does happen every News Years Day, in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race)

Are you able to think about the end point when this happens?

Absolutely not.

The only thing you can think about in that moment is SURVIVAL!

And what would you like to see from your Captain in moments like this?

Do you want them to stress out and panic?

You want them to lead! You want them to make decisions. You want them to be calm, collected and decisive.

And so it is with running a business. We lead by making decisions. By moving forward.

What decisions do you need to make right now to lead your business?

We are only in huge seas from time to time, and we have plenty of time when the ship sailing on smooth seas.

And, this then leads me to the third and final Hat….

Hat 3 – You Are An Experimenter

Do you know that the inventor of the light bulb, Thomas Edison, took 2 years to invent the light bulb?

After 9000 attempts, a reporter asked him ?why do you keep on persisting after 9000 failed attempts?

Edison replied, ?I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 9000 ways that don’t work which means I’m getting extremely close to find the one way that will work

We cannot succeed without failure.

Ponder this for a moment….

There is no such thing as failure only feedback

If you read this really slowly and you can get it, I promise you it will change your life.

The faster I fail, the faster I succeed

In business we need to put our Edison hat on and TRY NEW THINGS.

Then we need to keep trying until we find ways to get it to work.

And We Need To Never Give Up!

And I promise you, with the right attitude, the right commitment, you will succeed.

It’s inevitable.

So, what experiments are you working on right now?

Why do you share them in the Forum with other members …

Remember, you need to switch between 3 Hats.

1. Adventurer

2. Leader

3. Experimenter

But most of all, business is a game. And it’s a game we play because we love it.

til next time,
The Team at The Hive