Harnessing Consistency For Success With Will Humphreys



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Harnessing Consistency For Success With Will Humphreys

I was on my friend and business partner's new show, Will Humphrey’s Will Power Podcast, one of the first episodes that he's had on his show. This is a recording of that episode that I did with him all about harnessing consistency for success, achieving our goals, and overcoming barriers. Hopefully, you enjoy it. Please check out the rest of his show. He's got some great guests as well and great insight regarding the profession. Check it out, the Will Power Podcast.

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This episode features Nathan Shields. He's the CEO and Founder of the Private Practice Owners Club Podcast, Facebook group and coaching. I've known Nathan for 30 years. He was my first boss coming out of physical therapy school. We became partners. We expanded a business together. We sold that business. We've collaborated on multiple businesses. To pinpoint what he has taught me into one introduction would be impossible to do, so let me say this. I wouldn't be who I am without this guy. Nathan has helped me realize my strengths in multiple ways more than anyone else. He has helped multiple people in this coaching space make a difference in their world.

Turning Vision Into Action

We're so excited to have this episode because we're going to be talking specifically about how to take vision and turn it into action and how small and simple steps are often the only path to making a massive impact in our world and the world around us. Pay very close attention to his superpower, which is what I kick the episode off with, in understanding how this leader operates. I promise you'll learn lessons that will increase your impact over time. Without further ado, here's Nathan Shields.

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Nathan Shields, what is your superpower?

This is a struggle for me because I'm not quite sure. Maybe I'm not introspective enough. My superpower is I feel like I have consistency and stability about me which leads to production. I'm always feeling the need to produce, sometimes to an unhealthy extent, but I'm always feeling the need to constantly improve, create, and produce. That mindset has benefited me overall.

I would add to that and say that having known you for decades, which is a long time, one of the ways that show up is routine. You are a very routined person. I remember back when we worked together. I knew there was Arby's Day for lunch down to what you would order. The thing is, it's not that you were the same because you would vary. Consistency is the right word. It's a matter of understanding the power of routines in terms of how to create results. I would rephrase it back that way. You have a superpower of understanding how to get results by taking those small steps most people take for granted and sticking to them over time. How has that helped you in your life?

That's the beauty of how I can really relate to the phrase, “The small and simple things are great things come to pass.” I feel drawn to that as I look back at my lifetime. We always hear stories about the one-hit wonders, the guys that bought Bitcoin when it was $200, and it's flourishing and going to crazy amounts. That's the small minority of people that we hear about in the media and that get celebrated.

Whereas the large majority and the people who get the most work done are the ones who consistently produce. They not only have an idea of what they want to do, but they also start taking action towards that. They take actionable items that they do and don't sit and dream consistently. As I look back at my life, it was a matter of consistent steps along the way that led to action that led to the next action. I can look back and say, “Look what I created. That's really cool.”

The first thing that comes to mind is the podcast you started a couple of years ago. This podcast is the dominant force in the physical therapy industry for entrepreneurs. I'd love for you to tell me a little bit about how that was tied to what we're talking about.

My experience there was funny because I had never really heard of podcasts before. This was several years ago. My brother sent me a podcast that he found related to my children. I thought, “That's really cool.” I listened to that podcast. That guy was highlighted on Entrepreneurs On Fire. I started listening to Entrepreneurs on Fire a ton because he puts out episodes every day.

If you listen to it every day, all these people start sounding the same. I then thought, “I wonder if there's a podcast about physical therapy business ownership,” so I started searching for physical therapy business ownership. There were podcasts out there about how to treat patients better and how to market, but there was nothing like how to hire a physical therapist, how to get more production out of your team, and that kind of stuff. The instant vision was, “I want a podcast that talks about physical therapy business ownership. That's it. I don't care how to treat patients better. Marketing is a portion of what you do as a business owner, but it's not what I want to cover.” That was my vision for it.

I struggled for a couple of years because I had this vision and I wanted to do it, but you know me and tech. At the time, they recommended GarageBand as a good audio source to edit audio audacity. I was sweating bullets, like, “I'm going to mess up this audio track.” It was a practice audio track that I was sweating bullets over and I didn't know how to get it done.

Finally, this light bulb went off, like, “Maybe there's a third party that does all this for me.” As soon as I figured that out, I was like, “I need to find that third party.” I found them and within a month. I had started doing my podcasts. I thought it was really cool. I'd find myself being excited every time I did a podcast and nervous before each one. It was a little adrenaline rush.

Seven years later, I can look back and say, “I'm really proud of this library of audio slash video that pretty much any small business owner can look back and get some value from.” It started with little things. It was those little podcast snippets that were like, “Courage comes before confidence,” and those kinds of things. I'm not going to be confident as a host until I've done the episodes. It was that kind of stuff that kept me going.

I love it. It’s the power of small and simple things. You could be the master of the small, consistent things that matter. At the end of the day, you have hundreds or thousands of episodes out. You've got this audience. I don't go to any industry event without hearing about you. We walked together, and then later, I had people come up to me and go, “I heard that guy's voice. Was that Nathan Shields?” It's because of the consistency of the small things that were done.

I love that phrase that we greatly overestimate what we can do in a week but dramatically underestimate what we can do in 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years. It's so true. Sometimes, we get wrapped up in wanting to be there, recognizing that it is the small things and being consistent that add up over time. It is the impact of interest rates, that multiplier of those types of investments in yourself. As a coach, how does this show up for you? You have the podcast. You're an experienced coach. How do you leverage the power that you have over routine and small and simple things to serve the people who work with you?

The example I want to use is something that we experienced ourselves and that I've done with you during the annual strategic planning sessions that we do and that you do with your team. You have this goal for the end of the year. There's this milepost marker, like, “We want $1 million in revenue. We're at $400,000 now,” or whatever that marker might be.

The beauty of Scott Fritz was how he would say, “That's out there. That's what you want to do by the end of the year. What are you going to do in the next 30 days to get there?” We're like, “We need to come up with a plan and marketing.” He’s like, “You're making it too hard. Do you need to send an email?” I'm like, “Yeah.” He’s like, “That's your next step. Send the email by the end of the week.” He would always challenge us by saying, “That's too much work.”

I do that with a lot of projects. Honestly, I'm trying to build a spec home in Minnesota. I have this list of things that need to get done in order to get through the sale and hit the profit margin that I want to make. I look at that and I'm like, “Am I even at that step yet? What do I need to do to check that step off?” There are smaller steps to get to that step. That's something that maybe you or maybe the team can relate to. You have these big goals, and those are cool, but what are you going to do in the next week to get that done? Move towards that.

The Power Of Routine

As you're reading this, I want you to really dial in on this idea that mountains get moved in the minutia. Mountains get moved in these small and simple things. Inch by inch, it's a cinch. Yard by yard, it's hard. As Nathan is expanding upon the superpower he has, and he's going to be getting into how he leverages that with clients to go from vision creation to action, I want you to take a second and ask yourself what are the steps that you're looking at that you're not accomplishing.

Usually, we look at weight. We’re like, “I want to lose X number of pounds.” If we're focused on this big result and want to get there quickly, we're missing out on the lessons learned on the very small and simple steps, leveraging the right who. Maybe it's getting up a little bit earlier for five minutes and walking a day. We know that's not going to move the needle dramatically quickly, but it's the building of those foundation steps that create the building that becomes who we are later and, most importantly, the impact.

As Nathan's talking about these things, remember it's not just about leadership and business. It's about home, family, and what we can develop within our relationships. Nathan, I can tell you, has tremendous power as a father with his six boys and a girl. He has seven kids in total. I've seen him do this with me. I've seen him do it with others. He operates by being consistent, creating stability while still being mobile and moving in change.

Overcoming Self-Doubt

Please remember when we're not getting something done and we're stuck, oftentimes, it is because we're looking at the wrong action step. We're not making that step small enough for us to feel confident to take action. Nathan, let’s go back to you on the main focus of helping people go from vision to action. Let's start with what you think gets in the way. When people create a vision, what is the thing that stops them from progressing into action around it or the right action?

There's always the negative self-talk. When I look at something that's relatively new or another level that I want to get to, immediately, the voices in my head are like, “What makes you think you can do that? That's crazy. You're not like that. That's not who you are.” Getting past that negative self-talk is huge. How people are going to perceive you and see you, especially if you make mistakes along the way, might keep you from making the phone call or sending the email. You’re like, “I don't know the vocabulary of that industry. As I'm learning real estate, that's a big hiccup. Am I even asking for the right things and saying the right words? They might look at me like I'm stupid.” One thing that keeps people is that fear of how they're going to be perceived.

I agree with that from personal experience. We talked about this in an episode with Adam Kessel about how oftentimes with success, we create it around the idea of what we were taught we're supposed to want. We want to please others or show up in a way. At the end of the day, we're all looking for meaning. We're all looking for this thing about how we matter. If we're in question around it too much, it becomes this thing that we let other people default. We default to other people's perspectives of what matters. We want their input. It's that mindset that keeps us in the gap, as Dan Sullivan says. We are unable to tap into what we want and how to get there. Self-talk is a big part of that. Any other factors you can think of?

I keep thinking in my head as we're talking, like, “What's one thing that moved the needle?” I want to say the thing that's going to help you get over that hurdle if I can take that next step. Is that okay?

Yeah.

It is making a commitment. I'll give you a few examples. A couple of years ago, I wanted to lose weight. I would go to the gym. I did CrossFit and gained muscle. I didn't lose weight. I was getting thicker, but I wanted to slim down. Nothing ever happened until I bought into a diet program. No one wants to buy a diet program but I finally bought it. Guess what? A few months later, I lost twenty pounds. I hit the mark that I wanted to hit, I've been able to keep it off, and I know how to eat better to keep it off.

The Power Of Commitment

Let’s go back to the podcast thing. Until I committed, I had to pay upfront for those episodes. I had to commit financially. Maybe it's the financial commitment part of it because that's really key. You can try to do it yourself, but you might as well pay the experts to learn how to do it better and faster and accelerate your growth. I had to pay for these episodes up front. It's thousands of dollars for multiple episodes. Once I made that commitment, guess what? I was going to start producing some episodes, whether they were good or not.

Consider us. What was the turning point in our ownership? For me, it was our trip to Seattle where they put the package in front of us for coaching and consulting, which was five figures, tens of thousands of dollars. We were like, “I don't know, but something's got to change.” I made the commitment. We took the step and our lives have been completely different since then.

I met with a physical therapist who wants to open a clinic in 2024. He doesn't have a clear vision of what that clinic looks like, whether it's in-network with contracts or out-of-network. He thought about maybe doing mobile PT, but maybe not. Once he gets clear on what that looks like and his ideal scene, what's the next step for him? That commitment is, “Go sign a lease. Guess what's going to happen? You're going to have a clinic really fast.”

At some point, you have to make the commitment. When we buy the gym membership for $20 a month, we don't go. When we pay $200 a month to go to the gym, guess what? I'm there 3 or 4 times a week, making a difference. The fear of the financial commitment where you’re like, “Maybe it won't work. Maybe I won't trust myself to follow through,” bet on yourself. Make the financial commitment. That's when I've seen things change. When I've gotten coaches and have bought programs from experts, that's when I've paid the tuition to get better and learn.

What's interesting about that concept, too, is that I've experienced it on both sides. With you, for example, when we signed up in Seattle for those tens of thousands of dollars of coaching, we showed up. Since we paid, we paid attention. I've also been the coach where I've had people pay me. I've gone in at lower levels because I didn't believe in myself and I wanted to make it easy for people to afford it.

I couldn't believe the difference when I took the same course or the same coaching and I tripled or quadrupled the cost. When I did that, it required more on the sales end to explain clearly what we were doing and why that mattered, but it resulted in people who were super committed. When they paid, they paid attention.

People are out there saying, “Throwing money on its own won't do it necessarily.” I would argue that if you research the right solution, that's the difference. None of us know for sure when we invest big money. I have never not had a coach in the last couple of years. I have paid money year after year. Every time I write that check, it hurts. It hurts a little bit less year over year, but the reason it hurts is because there's a risk involved. I'm betting on myself.

I will tell you directly that I've never had a bad coach. I've had coaches that were better than others. Typically, the more I pay, the better they are. More than anything, for me, having that dedicated space where I've put my commitment in there almost calls forth the universe to produce results in a way that really matters.

If it doesn't hurt to invest financially, then we're gauging that commitment around it at that moment. As a coach, how do you help people? They've paid you. People come, and they pay money to invest in you and your team to help get results. They have a vision. Maybe you can even help them clarify that. After they get the vision created, what do you do at that point to help them take the next steps?

Coming back around, what you're investing in with me and other coaches that you might find is the small steps that need to happen to make progress. Someone mentioned it. I was listening to a podcast. Maybe you experienced it as well. I was experiencing the same year over and over again. It was like Groundhog's Day every year. My revenues were the same. My complaints were the same. The issues were the same. The employees might have been different, but it was still the same stuff.

The Coaching Relationship

It was finally when I got some coaching guidance that, number one, they showed me the steps that I needed to take that I wasn't taking and avoiding either ignorantly, naively, or whatever. I wasn't taking the proper steps to growth. That's what we do as a coach and teach clients. That's what I expect from my coach as well, to show me the steps, be my guide, and be my Obi-Wan so I can be the hero of my story and lead me to greater things.

That's the idea with coaching. It’s to, number one, show you the steps, hold you accountable, and then work through some of these hurdles. There are times when I have to let some of my clients go, and maybe you've seen it the same, where they're not taking the steps. That's not a fit. You can't move an immovable object if they're so set in their ways. If you’re like, “This won't happen,” or, “I feel this way about it,” then you're not coachable at that point. We need to part ways. A coach-and-client relationship is best when the client is willing to be teachable, coachable, committed to change, doing something different, and not being stuck in their ways.

I agree completely. Having the ability to be coachable and take action is the magic formula that always must be present for people to move forward. That investment you mentioned helps inspire action. When people have discomfort around what they've invested in, they start to show up differently. We've scratched the surface of these topics.

Rockstars, no matter how you're consuming this, whether it's on the show or on the YouTube channel, I want you to mention where you would like to learn more from this step with Nathan. We're going to have him back numerous times. He is a fountain of knowledge. What would you like to learn in this domain called taking action toward realizing your dream and your vision? Nathan, what's your call to action for people if they want to get ahold of you?

If you're a physical therapist in that space and whether you're looking to open something or you are a physical therapy owner, check out the Private Practice Owners Club Podcast. We also have a Facebook group that consists of physical therapy owners as well as wannabe owners. Through the website, PPOClub.com, you can book a call with me and Adam. He is the director of our coaching services. We can talk to you about business and connect with you. Also, reach out to me at Nathan@PTOClub.com. My show has the reels that go through the social media apps and stuff like that. I'm all around with that stuff.

I've known Nathan for many years. I can't give him enough validity and appreciation for the impact he has made in my life and the lives of many others. Please reach out to him. Nathan, thank you so much for being on the show. We scratched the surface of your superpower, and we're going to be talking about it in future episodes around helping people realize their vision. Thank you so much for being on the show. I appreciate it.

Always. I'm ready.



Important Links

• Will Power Podcast
• Adam Kessel – Past Episode
• YouTube - Will Power Podcast
• Facebook Group – Private Practice Owners Club
• Nathan@PTOClub.com
• https://Calendly.com/adamrobin/dr-adam-s-30-minute-connection



About Will Humphreys