Limiting Mindset #7:

“I’m Just Going to Make Up My Own Program”

We want to continue chipping away on the various ways doctors and wellness professionals tend to have LIMITING MINDSETS, poor self-talk and/or “IN-THE-BOX” thinking when it comes to their business growth and expansion… specifically as it relates to adding a proven, science based weight loss program to their already functioning (and hopefully successful) practice. Up till now, we have hit on the following “Limiting Mindsets”

• #1: “Tolerations”
• #2: “It’s Not That Bad…YET” or “Nothing Has Happened…YET!”
• #3: “It’s My Town”
• #4: “It’s just not my practice style”
• #5: “I’ve tried it once before”
• #6: “I’m comfortable where I am” – the reality of deciding on your discomforts

We love the fact that many doctors and wellness providers are very creative and intelligent thinkers. Several are also a bit rebellious. These qualities serve them well in many ways. Some, however, tend to take this potential strength to a point that it winds up (as we are discussing in this blog series) LIMITING them.

Getting TOO much into this solo way of thinking and doing things may minimize our potential. At times, some individuals simply refuse the benefits of a well proven program that brings solid systems and support and is available to them for a fair and reasonable investment. They may fail to step back and considering the real COST of a “start from scratch” approach. So, that’s what we want to do here. Let’s look at some of the factors involved in “re-inventing the wheel” when it comes to a clinical weight loss program.

Time: this may be one (if not THE) biggest factors to focus on. We can all agree that nothing is more precious than our time. The reason we add services and expand our model of wellness is to serve more and earn more … not to work more! The time that must be invested even in the upfront stages of development of an effective weight loss program is enormous. This is especially true when you think about the strategies and resources needed to help your weight loss clients achieve legitimate LIFESTYLE changes. After all, that’s what we want to do, right? They do not need another short term fix that provides them a 30, 40 or 90 day patch up plan. A patch up plan is fairly easy to create. What we provide is not. Do you really have that time? If you have that much time on your hands there may be a bigger issue at hand.

Focus: Trying to dive into the development, design, research, manufacturing, promotion, etc. of a “do-it-yourself” program will likely distract and scatter your efforts. A key saying and motto for us and our doctors is “ONLY DO WHAT ONLY YOU CAN DO”. Stay focused on rendering great care. Do that as much as you possibly can and delegate the rest. Limited focus gets limited results.

Professional appearance: Weight loss clients have almost all tried the popular commercial programs out there. We can all name them … and we know they don’t (or rarely) work. While one should never “judge a book by its cover”, the truth is branding matters. Quality matters. Image matters. To compete with those popular programs and to stand out you must have a professional look. This is a whole other matter that, besides the clinical aspect of a weight loss program, requires a whole other level of time, energy and investment.

Another project bigger than you think. As a clinic owner you are clearly an entrepreneur. So are we! That personality type is a unique breed to say the least. They find it easy and thrilling to dart off onto “bunny trails” thinking they can knock something out real quick. Then, they frequently find those “little projects” are much more work than expected. As a result they get lots of little things started … yet fail to complete many of them. Sound familiar?

The Power of Numbers: Whether it’s the benefit of negotiating prices on things like marketing strategies and testing costs or the wonderful access to call on other doctors for clinical input, the power of a cooperative and like-minded group is HUGE. Flying alone all the time can be a challenge. It can be lonely and it can even be risky. Whether it’s through our leadership team, the one-on-one coaching, our clinical advisor or simply the use of our Activate google group, our doctors and their teams have a powerful and ready-to-help brain trust available to them. Experience is golden. Collaboration is key. Why go it alone?

Ability to Delegate: The most effective way to serve more and earn more is NOT to have YOU DO MORE as the doctor or clinic owner. Learn to delegate. Learn to oversee things. Right from the start Activate DNA Weight Loss takes the training out of your hands and positions this program into the hands of your staff/team. They can lead, promote and direct this weight loss program. Yes, you will have a small ole. As the owner and trained professional you will want to oversee it. Have a finger on the pulse of the program and of clients’ progress, but do not allow it to consume your time, energy and effort. If it does one of two things will happen: (1) other areas needing your focus will suffer or (2) the weight loss program will never really take off. It will flop, flounder and fail. This is exactly what happens with most solo, do-it-yourself programs. Agree?

A proven plan: You are likely very intelligent and creative. Your current clients obviously love and appreciate you. They are probably impressed by things you come up with. Yet, when it comes to something like weight loss they are going to want to see results. They will want to know it works before they invest and give it a go. With dozens of clinics which have successfully helped thousands of people lose tons and tons of weight, Activate DNA Weight Loss provides our doctors that credibility and proof. Does yours? How long might it take to build the numbers up with your self-created program to develop the level of social proof we provide you?

Organization & resources: Let’s face it: health care moves fast and is always changing. Despite the attempt to go “paperless” with E.H.R. there is always tons of stuff hitting our desks. Piles and loads of files seems to accumulate. Organization is tough. So, when you throw another new self-created program into the mix (with new forms, tools, products, etc.) it may very well create one more organizational pain in the … you know what! Putting the necessary pieces of the puzzle together in a way that a program can be consistently organized, replicated and delivered in a professional and effective way is no easy task. We have invested hundreds of ours and gobs of money on our dashboard or “back office”. It has all of the training steps along with the systems, forms, promotions, power points, etc. etc. etc. right at the click of a button. Our website’s “store” is very simple with all of the products and tools (like professionally branded manuals, journals) you will need. The resources are all there … and organized! Plus, you have on-call support when needed.

Marketing and Promotion: Despite the points made above, many smart doctors and wellness providers have invested time, energy and effort to concoct their own weight loss program. They have maybe even developed the tools and branding to make it look great and work well. Then comes the real challenge: how do they let people know about their creation? How are they to promote it in a way they can serve more people … and earn more money? This is routinely an irritation and frustration for doctors. They may have an awesome program that they spent hours and hours (maybe even years!) developing. But, it never gets used! UGH! Because this is such a common hurdle, Activate DNA Weight Loss has sought out and invested in an extremely well experienced weight loss marketing expert to be a part of our team. This advisor is one more value added factor of being a part of The Activate family! All of the coaching, strategies and professional resources needed to market and promote our clinical weight loss program is available to our providers … at NO additional cost.

Simply put, Activate DNA Weight Loss provides you a proven science-based weight loss program along with the systems, branding, marketing, strength in numbers, accountability and a support team much bigger than you will ever have in an individual or even a “group” clinic. While many doctors and wellness providers are trying to “blaze a new trail” on their own and struggling to figure things out, our doctors are just helping people lose weight and move toward wellness … and earning a nice income as a result.

Interested in learning more so you don’t have to re-invent the wheel or go it alone? Click or Call us today!