E850 | 8 Lessons From 850 Podcasts

Sep 18, 2025

cash based physical therapy, danny matta, physical therapy biz, ptbiz, cash based, physical therapy, how to start a physical therapy clinic, hybrid physical therapy, physical therapy website

850 Episodes In: 8 Lessons That Actually Move Your Business

Hitting episode 850 of the PT Entrepreneur Podcast is more than just a milestone for Doc Danny Matta—it’s proof of what happens when consistency meets purpose. For over eight years, Danny has released two episodes a week without fail. Along the way, he’s built not just a podcast, but a community, a movement, and a mission: to add one billion dollars of cash-based services to the physical therapy profession.

Looking back, Danny shares the lessons he’s learned—insights forged through trial, error, and relentless showing up. These lessons aren’t abstract theory; they’re practical, hard-earned truths that any clinician can use to grow a practice and a life they’re proud of.

Episode Summary

The PT Entrepreneur Podcast started as a spinoff of the old Doc & Jock show, where business questions kept bubbling up from listeners. What began as side content quickly grew into its own channel and eventually became the main focus. Eight years later, with hundreds of clinics and millions in revenue influenced, Danny has more clarity than ever on what really matters.

The thread running through it all? Consistency. Whether in content, business building, or personal habits, showing up day after day compounds in ways that talent and motivation alone can’t.

Key Lessons from 850 Episodes

Start before you’re ready.
The perfect time never comes. Danny and his co-host Joe launched their first podcast with donuts, a few drinks, and a lot of mistakes. It didn’t matter. The point was getting started.

Content creates connection.
Over time, content builds a bridge between you and the people you serve. It reveals your values, creates trust, and attracts the right patients—or pushes away the wrong ones.

Systems beat motivation.
Motivation fades; systems keep things moving. From editing podcasts to publishing posts, it was building processes—not bursts of energy—that made 850 episodes possible.

Leadership is lonely.
Entrepreneurship can feel isolating, especially in the early days. The cure is finding peers who understand the grind and can share the burden.

Recurring revenue changes everything.
Danny admits he once resisted the idea, but continuity services not only stabilize income, they also improve patient outcomes. It’s a win for both the clinic and the client.

Protect your sleep.
Early on, Danny burned the candle at both ends, running on four hours of sleep. It crushed his health, his mood, and his relationships. The lesson? Sleep isn’t optional—it’s foundational.

Ignore the trolls.
Negative comments and online critics can sting, but they don’t pay your bills. Staying focused on serving patients and clients matters far more than appeasing strangers on the internet.

Delay gratification.
When your income grows, it’s tempting to expand your lifestyle right away. Holding steady, reinvesting, and banking the difference creates freedom down the road.

Pro Tips You Can Use Today

Write down one recurring task in your business and hand it off to someone else this week.
Pick a publishing cadence for your content—then protect it like it’s a patient appointment.
Add a basic continuity option for patients (monthly performance or wellness plan).
Commit to a minimum of seven hours of sleep a night, no excuses.
Reach out to two local entrepreneurs and start a monthly meet-up.
Keep your lifestyle stable for 12 months after a revenue increase—invest the extra.

Notable Quotes

“Be a consistent person—it’s rare.”

“Systems crush motivation every time.”

“Recurring revenue stabilizes your business and changes lives.”

“Trolls don’t pay the bills.”

“Delay gratification—it’s the fastest path to freedom.”

Action Items

Map a simple content system (idea → record → publish).
Launch one recurring revenue service.
Protect your sleep schedule for 30 straight days.
Start a local founder circle for support.
Track one business metric for eight weeks and review progress.

Resources & Links

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Ready to elevate your practice? Book a call at the link below with one of our expert consultants today and start your journey to delivering unparalleled physical therapy.

Podcast Transcript

Danny: [00:00:00] Hey, Danny Matta here, and in the words of the great Phil Rosenthal, every show gets canceled, so you might as well make the one that you want. [00:00:10] And for the last eight years straight, I've been doing this podcast twice a week, and this is episode number 850.[00:00:20]

So I rarely celebrate a milestone. It's something I'm actually quite bad at. I just keep going [00:00:30] to the next one and the next one and the next one. But this week I sat down with my team and they said, Hey, how long have you been doing this, uh, [00:00:40] podcast? How many years has it been that you've been putting out to a week?

And as I looked back, I was shocked that it's a little bit over eight years. So for over [00:00:50] eight years, I put out two podcasts a week, and haven't missed a single week of that like that. Kind of caught me off guard as far [00:01:00] as the consistency, the effect we have. And it's just something that's a part of my process now, and I don't really think about it too much, but I felt it would be helpful for me at least to [00:01:10] reflect back on this, uh, duration of time, the things that I've learned, and honestly just how much my life has changed in the last eight years.

And, and what's interesting, if you're [00:01:20] listening to this or if you're watching this on YouTube, you know, you can go back and you can listen to any number of these podcasts that you want. I'm not sure if we have it indexed all the way [00:01:30] back to the first one right now, but I'm, I think we're pretty close and.

The thing is, you know, when I first started this podcast, it [00:01:40] was, um, it was a side project from another podcast that I was doing called the Doc and Jock podcast, which is, I don't think actually available, [00:01:50] uh, to listen to anymore on iTunes. But that podcast we did, I think 250 episodes. So if you really bring it back to [00:02:00] CU cumulative numbers, it's over a thousand, uh, that I've, that I've been a part of or put out in independently.

And the Pt Entrepreneur podcast, me talking about business in the [00:02:10] clinical space literally came from questions that we would get on the Dock And Jock podcast, who, first of all, shout out, shout out to Joe Shamanic, who was my co-host with the Dock and Jock [00:02:20] podcast for years. One of my good friends and just somebody that I learned so much about the health and wellness and and rehab world with, because we were able to interview so many smart [00:02:30] people on that d docking jock podcast.

But when we would put out. You know, ask me anything sort of, you know, questions, topics that people want to hear about. I would get a lot of people that would ask [00:02:40] me about business topics. Hey, how are you running a clinic? What are you charging? How are you able to get people to pay without using their insurance?

A lot of questions that we get early on. [00:02:50] So I started to answer some of those on the Doc and Jock podcast and eventually realized that this, in its own right, probably deserved its its own, its own podcast, its own [00:03:00] dedicated stream of information that we could put out. And that's what I did. And eventually that's all that I did.

And I, I stopped doing the Doc and Jock podcast and I just focused [00:03:10] on the PT Entrepreneur podcast. And I wanna talk about a few lessons that I've learned getting to this point. And [00:03:20] more than anything, the power of just being consistent and showing up because the, there's a lot of things that, [00:03:30] that we can accomplish.

If we give it a long enough horizon, you know, like I, I've heard people talk about, okay, give it a year, and this was the [00:03:40] advice that I was actually given. It was like, don't commit to a podcast unless you can do it for a year. Right? So if you can't say once a week for a year, I'm gonna do this, then you probably shouldn't do [00:03:50] it.

Right? Like, if, if you don't think you can even get to that point, and I think it's even longer than that. Yeah. I think it's like a decade. If you can't commit to doing this for 10 years, so maybe you should do something else [00:04:00] because. Compounding is a beautiful thing, you know, and it's, it's a, it's an incredible thing that you need time for that to happen.

Whether that be an investment or that be in content or [00:04:10] that be in a business, or that be in a relationship with somebody that you're trying to grow with. It takes effort over a long period of time and, and you gotta be able to show up. And of, of all the things that [00:04:20] I've probably learned over the last, let's call it 10 years, if you include the, the Doc and Jock podcast, right?

Over a thousand podcast episodes to date [00:04:30] it, the importance of just showing up, I can't overstate that. And what I mean by that is, if you apply this to just your business in general, if [00:04:40] you say, okay, I'm gonna commit to doing two local. Events a month, maybe it's, you need to do more, whatever, it's, but let's just say it's two.

I'm [00:04:50] gonna commit to doing two every single month. Whether these are local events that you're gonna sponsor, or you're going to do a workshop or whatever it is, but I'm gonna build a local presence for my business and [00:05:00] I'm gonna stick to this twice a month, no matter what for a year. At the end of that year, you now have 24 in-person interactions, events, or you know, [00:05:10] workshops you've put on with dozens of face-to-face interactions.

And when you first get started, you know, it can feel like, well, this isn't [00:05:20] really doing much for me. Like, where's the return? And it's, it's like, dude, you've done one, maybe two in-person events. You can't expect relationships develops that [00:05:30] fast. It doesn't happen that that quickly. And there's something to be said for you just continuing to show up.

For those of you that listen to this or are watching this on YouTube, just the fact [00:05:40] that. Like, I'm here every week. I do this every single week. And there's people that start and they can gain some, some, you know, some steam and they, they, they gain some traction and then they [00:05:50] fall off because of shit that happens in their life because of they get distracted by something else.

Maybe they don't see the importance of it. Maybe they get frustrated 'cause they're not seeing the, the growth that they want to see, [00:06:00] whatever it is, right? But just the fact that I've now done this for so long in, so in many ways it gives me credibility within the industry because I'm [00:06:10] committed to sticking to that.

I, I think that's the differentiator that you see whenever you commit to just showing up in your business. It's the same thing. You show up locally in your community and [00:06:20] you're the person that's there, you're dependable, you're somebody that is consistent. Consistency is a rare thing in our society.

Consistent people [00:06:30] are rare. Be a consistent person. Pick something that you wanna do and be consistent. It is hard, but that's what separates you from other people. [00:06:40] And that's what'll separate your business from other people, or that's what will separate your health from other people. If you're consistently, you know, doing the right things, if you're consistently putting the right things into your body, you're getting [00:06:50] enough sleep, all these things, like you're gonna, you're gonna see that in your health, but that's not gonna happen in a month.

Right? So there's a lot of power in showing up, and I think that's the biggest lesson that I've learned just in general. [00:07:00] My willingness to show up is just something that has become a superpower of mine. And I can't say that I'm, I don't think I'm any smarter than anybody that we work with, which is really interesting for me to be in a room sometimes [00:07:10] with hundreds of clinicians that we work with as clients.

And I do not think that I'm any smarter than anybody in there. In fact, there's plenty of people in there that are, have way bigger brain than I have. Right. And, [00:07:20] but at the same time, the things that you can do that even though maybe you not, you aren't a, aren't a genius compared to other people or whatever it might be.

Like, you can show up. This has been. Me [00:07:30] my entire career. I didn't have the best grades whenever I got into PT school compared to other people. But you know what I did do? I did literally like 800 observation hours when the, [00:07:40] the minimum was like 50. I did 800. I spent an entire summer getting observation hours and recommendations from people that I thought helped me get into the school I wanted to get into.

I just outworked [00:07:50] everybody else. I didn't have the best grades or the, the, the best opportunities as far as just like pure intelligence was concerned when I was in PT school. But I would show up every single morning. I would [00:08:00] get there an hour and a half before school would open up, and I would study in the library by myself every single day just to stay on target for the things that we learned the day before.

Every day [00:08:10] I put in a lot of work, and that's something that has now bled over into other things that I'm doing. But the power showing up is huge. You don't have to have all the advantages. You don't have to be the smartest person. You don't have to [00:08:20] have whatever, all the best connections to make something work locally.

You gotta be committed to showing up and not giving up, period. That is probably the biggest thing that I could share with you based on what I've learned over the last [00:08:30] decade of putting things out like this on an ongoing basis and having sticking power is basically just showing up. Get up every single day, put effort in whether you feel like you [00:08:40] should or not.

It doesn't really matter. It's just about you developing that, that muscle of being consistent, of showing up and actually, you know, putting yourself out there for the things that are gonna help [00:08:50] move you towards the goals that you have. But there are eight things that I would say that I wanna share, uh, that are specific to.

The last, you know, 850 [00:09:00] podcast episodes specifically that I've put out on business. Um, and, and what's interesting is things have changed quite a lot for me, right? When I first started doing that podcast, [00:09:10] Ashley and I were deep in, you know, uh, running and growing athletes' potential. And as I started to put out more business [00:09:20] information, I started to get more interest in people working with us.

And that turned our attention in a lot of ways. So we went from really actively growing and scaling athletes' potential [00:09:30] to using athletes' potential as a testing clinic for things that we were going to then be sharing with our, uh, with, with, with our clients. And it changed the way that we were running it, [00:09:40] right?

We weren't trying to continue to grow to multiple locations and all these things that we had that were our big goals initially. It then turned more into, cool, let's test things. Let's share things. This is a convenient place to do [00:09:50] that, and it's a really cool resource to be, for us to be able to have that.

And we made it very, very lean and simple. So the. Approach that I had for business has changed dramatically over the last eight [00:10:00] years. And you can actually hear that in a lot of things that I talk about. I'm talking about things that are very tactically relevant to different parts of the business. And now what I get a chance to do is from a 30,000 foot view, [00:10:10] I get to see that you know, what's going on in these businesses and share those from more of an elevated position, uh, because it's hard to see the forest through the trees.

And, and, and seeing that [00:10:20] transition, I think is pretty interesting if you wanna go back and listen to some of those. But let's go through these eight things that I think are big takeaways that you can learn from, uh, for me over the last [00:10:30] 850 podcast episodes. So number one is start before you're ready. So quick backstory.

The very first podcast I did was with Joe Shamanic, [00:10:40] who I did the Doc and Jock podcast with for years, and he was in town. His wife and I went to school together at Baylor. [00:10:50] She stayed in a career in the Army, and they were stationed at Fort Jackson. We were living in Atlanta. They came down to see us. Joe and I, uh, did a weightlifting, like Olympic [00:11:00] weightlifting session.

We shared a dozen donuts post workout to back load after the fact. And then, uh, we got kind of drunk and started a podcast. And, [00:11:10] uh, we did it in, in my living room, um, o of the, the house that we moved to when we first moved here. And it was so bad that our wives would not let us release it, but we had [00:11:20] such a fun time doing it and connecting, uh, you know, on the topics that we have a shared interest in, that we thought, Hey, we should do this.

[00:11:30] And not only that. This would be a fun way for us to learn from other people in the industry. Like who could we have a conversation with that we could learn how to be better [00:11:40] strength coaches and, and physical therapists and where those, that gray area happened. Uh, let's go for it. Let's do it. But we didn't know the first thing about doing a podcast and in fact I had friends that I've been doing a lot of [00:11:50] content and they were like, be careful.

'cause these, these continue to be very time consuming and um, you know, technically we didn't know what was going on. We had to figure all that stuff out on the fly. So I would say [00:12:00] number one lesson start before you're ready, like. Everybody. I see a lot of people that delay and they're like, well, I'm gonna wait until it's perfect.

Ideal situation. Now, don't get [00:12:10] me wrong, there's definitely better times, better periods of time to start things or to get involved with a new project, and there's worse periods of [00:12:20] time, but there's, there's never gonna be the most ideal circumstance. And I see this with people a lot. Whether it be, you know, an, uh, starting a [00:12:30] business or, uh, a change they need to make to their business.

A deviation in the business model, uh, a content project that they wanna do, a book that they want to write. You know, many things that people put off [00:12:40] forever and ever because they're like, well, this isn't the right time. I'm too busy. I, I don't have enough X, Y, and Z, whatever it is. Um, these are just reasons that stop people from doing things.

So. [00:12:50] You're never gonna have the right time. And it's, it's never, you know, too early to start, start before you're ready. That's huge. Just get going, number one. Uh, the other [00:13:00] thing, number two, content creates connection. So, content is an interesting thing. Some of you are listening to this, you're watching this, [00:13:10] and I've never met you in person.

You don't know the first thing about me. I could be a complete psycho for all, you know, right? I could be a complete sociopath. [00:13:20] But if you go back and you listen to, you know, 50 podcast episodes that I have, you probably get a pretty good idea for the type of [00:13:30] person that I am, the, the, the type of core values that I have, the things that I value, that I, that I prioritize.

And it's hard to [00:13:40] fake those things, you know, as, as, as you put out a massive amount of yourself out there into the world. It's hard to fake those things. Some of you, [00:13:50] you may listen to this and just be like, I don't really like this guy. And that's fair. And some of you may say, I kind of like this guy. He seems honest, he seems like he knows what he's talking about.

He seems [00:14:00] like he's, you know, very, very interested in the profession, doing better. You don't like, these may be things that you come to conclusions. Uh, based off of the things that I say, the people that I [00:14:10] talk to, the interactions that we have, the topics that I find worth sharing. So when you put content out, this is, [00:14:20] this is for in many cases a business, right?

I don't know why you'd put content out unless you're trying to build a personal brand, I guess, but that still leads to some sort of business opportunity. But let's say you have a clinic [00:14:30] in this example, when you put your content out, number one, we already talked about this. Show up, be consistent, but number two, share.

Yourself in that [00:14:40] because your content is creating connections with the right kind of people. And you have to think of it like a mirror, okay? Like if you want to [00:14:50] attract a certain kind of person that you work with, then most cases has similar core values to you. You have to put the things that you believe out there because that is going to attract [00:15:00] those people back to wanna work with you.

If you are, uh, out of alignment with what you actually believe and you're saying other things, you're gonna attract [00:15:10] people that don't share the same beliefs as you. You're gonna attract whatever it is you're putting out there. So. The best thing you can do is just be [00:15:20] yourself and be into the things that you are into and share those things, you know, and it can't be the only thing you're doing.

You need some relevance as far as the [00:15:30] topic you're talking about, the content. It needs to be helpful. You know, if, if you, if you have a local physical therapy clinic and. All you're doing is sharing the types of music that [00:15:40] you like, uh, and you never do anything of value as far as like talking to people about how they can resolve injuries, well, you're probably not gonna get a lot of patience because of that.

You're probably gonna have people reaching out [00:15:50] to you about going to a concert with them because they like the same kind of music. So like you have to have part of that in your content. It can't be the whole thing, but think of content as creating [00:16:00] connections and we connect with other people based on shared common interests.

That could be health and wellness factors that you talk about in your business. That could be your view of longevity and how people should be living their life. These are really, really [00:16:10] common core values that we share, and we have to be able to express those that other people, because that is what creates a connection that that little bridge, think of it that way, like content is [00:16:20] creating like little pieces of a bridge that eventually when you have enough of those in place because of trust, you're able to build through reciprocity of helping people through [00:16:30] them feeling like they're, you're the right type of person.

You're your business is the right type of fit. Well, then they can get to the other side of that bridge and then you can help with them. Whatever that problem is that you help people with content [00:16:40] creates connections. Make sure you look at it that way. Alright, number three, systems beat Motivation. So when we first started [00:16:50] doing the Doc and Jock podcast, it was a scramble to try to get people scheduled to interview topics.

We were gonna talk about, [00:17:00] uh, you know, get things up and, uh, and, and in the actual feeds as far as like being able to push the podcast out. And, you know, my, my, uh, my co-host Joe, [00:17:10] he did a lot, uh, on the technical side of that, but also for, he and I are, are not technical ninjas by any means. We are not really tech savvy people.

Um, but as [00:17:20] we transitioned to doing the PT Entrepreneur podcast, the systems that we've been able to put in place allow me to do the things that I [00:17:30] need to do for the content, which is. Put thought into what I'm gonna say, put together the frameworks of what I want to share, uh, to actually put the content together, [00:17:40] you know, to record it.

Um, and then from there we have a very specific system in terms of what I do as far as where I put the content, who is [00:17:50] editing it, who is putting the videos together, who's putting posts together, who's putting, you know, emails together, sharing the types of, uh, you know, content that, that I'm putting together.

[00:18:00] And all of this is a system that runs behind my ability to be able to actually create the content. And if it wasn't for that, I can tell you this much. There's no freaking way, [00:18:10] no way that I would have, uh, eight plus years of two podcasts a week straight, 850 put out in that period of time. [00:18:20] No chance. Like the, the systems are huge and you may not be able to have a team the way that we do now, but early on, for me, it started with [00:18:30] someone part-time.

They would take the episodes, they would edit them and they would put 'em up on my behalf. And it wasn't that expensive, but it saved me a ton of time and it's what helped [00:18:40] me create stability and consistency so that I could focus on the things that I could do and not necessarily have to do the things that I didn't really know how to do well.

And I knew that I would [00:18:50] delay doing those 'cause I didn't like it. And eventually that would create a problem for me, being consistent. So we outsource that. So a system. If you want to be consistent with anything, [00:19:00] you can't just, you know, oh, I feel really good about this. That's gonna last like a week, maybe a little bit longer.

You know, you're like, oh, I, you know, I, I'm feeling motivated to do this. Motivation, it, it [00:19:10] drops off. Systems are what keep you on track for long-term success when it comes to things like this. And frankly, when it comes to almost anything, anything repeatable that you need to do. If there's a [00:19:20] system around it that you can build that allows you to focus on the thing that you do really well and allows other people to focus on the things that they can do effectively to help with the end result, you're gonna [00:19:30] have a far better chance of being.

Consistent, effective and getting the outcome that you want, which in the end, in most cases, is gonna be some variation of improved [00:19:40] business function from the content that you're putting out. So make sure if you're trying to do it all by yourself, start documenting what you're doing and start handing those things off.

The things you can hand off to other people [00:19:50] as soon as you can so that you can keep your energy focused towards creating content that's really good, that resonates with people, that shares your core beliefs so you can [00:20:00] attract the right people to your business. So systems, systems beat motivation, you know, 10 outta 10 always.

Alright, number four. Uh, [00:20:10] leadership is lonely and I'll, I, I've talked about this before and it's funny, like I was at, I was at a, uh. [00:20:20] A dinner party, uh, for a friend of mine, it was his birthday this past weekend, and there's, uh, it was him, me, and another guy. So [00:20:30] there's these three couples there. Um, and the three of us were, were watching, um, uh, the, the late game, uh, on Saturday.[00:20:40]

Uh, late football game, college football game. And the guy whose birthday it was, he owns a, um, he, he, he owns a local [00:20:50] company that puts in, uh, turf here in the area in Atlanta. And. He was talking to me about, you [00:21:00] know, dude, just like the challenges of running a business, the challenges of entrepreneurship, right?

And I'm like, dude, I got you. I can relate. You know? And he was basically saying [00:21:10] like, it's hard, you know, if, if something's going poorly, you can't really talk to your staff about it. If something is going well, you have to be careful how you're celebrating those things. And you have to, you can't be [00:21:20] like friends with your staff.

You have to, you know, you have to want the best for them, but at a slight distance, you know? Um, and that's a, that, that can feel very lonely when you're, it's just you [00:21:30] and you're just starting, it's obviously very lonely 'cause you're the only person, and you probably came from a clinic where there's other clinicians.

You guys are having conversations about patient case studies or whatever, just social [00:21:40] interactions. And you take yourself out of that environment. You stick yourself into a sublease office where it's just you and. And you have these days that are erratic where it's like, oh, I'm doing awesome. This business is great, [00:21:50] and then now it sucks, and now it's doing better and now it sucks.

And to not have somebody to talk to about that is tough. And you don, you definitely don't wanna dump that on your spouse. Like, you don't wanna just dump your stress on [00:22:00] somebody, you know, that's, that's such an important person to you. Like, it's not that they won't listen to you, but it's not, they're not the right person either.

And they don't, they don't need that from you. Right? They, they need other things from you besides [00:22:10] you just like unloading all of your stress on them. So, you know, entrepreneurship is, is lonely. But this third guy, uh, who's awesome and he works for a major company, [00:22:20] he couldn't relate one bit. You know, he could relate to the frustrations of maybe employees that he was struggling with or a boss he didn't like or something to that effect.

But like, [00:22:30] the level of stress you carry as an entrepreneur is hard to describe until you are around other people like that. And leadership is lonely. [00:22:40] The best thing that I've found to help with that. 'cause it doesn't go away. Is to be around groups of other entrepreneurs or maybe find a couple [00:22:50] friends who are entrepreneurs in your area and get together with them on a, you know, semi-regular basis.

And, you know, enjoy being able to talk shop [00:23:00] about the things that, you know, you do feel isolated with. And that makes it much, much easier for, for us. Obviously, you know, we have the pg ent entrepreneur mastermind group, uh, [00:23:10] through, through PT Biz, and that's been a fantastic, you know, group of people for, uh, the clients we work with that get a chance to get together with each [00:23:20] other.

It's, it's huge to have that, that alignment. But even for, for, uh, for me, I love it because it's, you know, it's, it's my people man. It's the same stuff that [00:23:30] I'm dealing with. And to be able to talk to people at different. Phases of the business and to be able to help them figure things out without having to do it [00:23:40] the hard way.

Especially some of the, you know, the, the isolation, the, the anxiety that comes with starting and running a business like this. Um, that's been, that's been awesome. And, [00:23:50] uh, but for everybody, I mean, they're gonna feel it. What, you're gonna have these isolated lonely moments where you're just sitting in an office by yourself wondering if this shit [00:24:00] is gonna work and it sucks.

And I've been there. I know what that feels like, and I'm telling you, you gotta find other people besides yourself that you can interact with. Otherwise, um, that [00:24:10] builds up and, and it doesn't get any better. Uh, you have to learn how to manage it, and it does help a ton to find the right group of people around you because leadership is lonely.

Alright, number five, [00:24:20] uh, recurring revenue. It changes your business. So when I first started Athlete's Potential, I didn't even know what [00:24:30] recurring revenue was. I'm not even joking about that. I had no idea. Uh, I thought a dollar was a dollar, whatever, and I turned away a lot of [00:24:40] business because I didn't want to be viewed as a maintenance provider or whatever that means, uh, you gotta, you gotta understand like the world that I was coming from in the army there, we wouldn't bring [00:24:50] somebody back for, you know, proactive visit even if we had the opportunity because it, it wasn't a skillset that we had.

I mean, we barely get somebody in for [00:25:00] an eval within two or three weeks, uh, post-op, right? I mean, dude, if you were, if you were, you know, had a minor injury, good luck getting in to see us. Uh, so we were just seeing people [00:25:10] mostly evaluations, reevaluations. We'd see the same person maybe once every three weeks.

And, um, we discharge 'em as soon as we got them even, you know, remotely close to where they [00:25:20] needed to be, to not be in our office anymore because we were swamped, overwhelmed, didn't have enough staff. So whenever I started, uh, athletes' Potential, I was very [00:25:30] concerned about, um, volume. I didn't want people seeing me very much, partially because I, I had a lot of issues with charging people for what I was doing.

I had a lot of money, mindset problems with that. [00:25:40] And I felt like, I don't want you to come back unless there's an absolute, like significant reason, meaning they're dealing with an injury, right? And that's not really the [00:25:50] best approach generally at all either. But that was my mindset. So with that, I would discharge people really fast.

I would give them no reason to come back. I would have no conversation with them [00:26:00] about what they might want to do, that we could help them with. And eventually I had to get to the point where, you know, I, I legitimately had a patient that kind of yelled at me in my [00:26:10] office. She was trying to run a marathon in every state.

She was in her fifties and she kept coming back and I started to get a little irritated 'cause I didn't want to just do maintenance on, uh, injuries [00:26:20] that she had, like minor injuries that she had. And she basically told me if I don't wanna work with her to help her find somebody else, because this is a goal that she has and she needs to take care of herself along the way.

And [00:26:30] it really reframed my view of value that we provide. Um, and it's not about just solving a problem, like people want to have a [00:26:40] problem solve for sure, but there's a lot of people that want to have an advocate and, uh, someone that's a health and wellness specialist in their corner long term. They can [00:26:50] also, you know, change and correct movement patterns that can do hands-on work that understands these other domains of, you know, sleep and, uh, movement and stress management.[00:27:00]

Nutrition, um, you know, and can, can have a conversation with somebody they trust in an ongoing basis. More and more people are looking for this, by the way, now, uh, it was not as [00:27:10] common, you know, 11 years ago whenever I started Athlete's potential, but it's far more common now. And as I look back before we started to actually [00:27:20] even like recommend people come back for different things, uh, we had probably seen 500 new patients that had come through.

You know, then you're talking about the first two years of being in [00:27:30] business and I always had a lot of patient volume. I mean, I was getting 20 to 30 new patients a month, sometimes as high as 40 new patients a month by myself, and I would only see [00:27:40] them two to three visits because I would discharge them so quickly.

So number one, we could have grown far faster. The amount of revenue we left on the table for the business because of not having [00:27:50] any recurring revenue service is, it makes me sick. And the other thing is. I think about the people that we worked with, that we missed out on the opportunity to help [00:28:00] them do something that they really wanted to do outside of dealing with that injury.

You know, I didn't, I didn't have those conversations that were like, what would you like to do? What things are you interested [00:28:10] in that we can help you with and support that are physical goals of yours? And, and, and that moment where we get a chance to ask people that, and they get excited about, well, what about this?

Like, I mean, I remember I had somebody and they were [00:28:20] like, would you think that I could run to 10 K? You know, and I just remember like, it was this, uh, it was a lady and she had, she'd hurt herself trying to run. She was [00:28:30] just, it was like couch to 5K kind of thing, right? And we got her to the point where she, she could run and, and didn't have, uh, pain running a 5K.

And she's like, do you think I could run a 10 k? You know? And I just remember [00:28:40] being like, fuck yeah, let's go. Let's do it. And she got so excited and I got so excited. And this is somebody that to this day still works at that clinic. And it's because, [00:28:50] you know, you're able to help somebody sort of. Have these sessions where they think about what's possible and, and to, to you and I maybe we're a 10 k, it's not a big deal to this lady.

It [00:29:00] was a big deal. It was a huge confidence builder for her. It's also a social thing for her and how she traveled with her friends. Like, these are all the things that we've, we, we just don't perceive are as valuable as they [00:29:10] are to other people. So recurring revenue is huge. It stabilizes the heck outta the business.

It decreases the, the amount of new patient volume you have to have. At the [00:29:20] same time, it helps people live a high performance, pain-free life that they want. And that you help them with, they don't, that they don't understand. They don't have that information, that [00:29:30] knowledge base, and you're imparting that on them along the way, and they're imparting that on their friends, and it's a pay it force forward sort of effect that happens.

And it's amazing. So if you don't [00:29:40] have that as part of your business, you gotta, you gotta start doing that. Like that, that's huge. Recurring revenue will stabilize your business. It changes everything and it changes the lives of a lot of people that you get a chance to work with. [00:29:50] Okay? Uh, number six, you, you cannot just deprive yourself of sleep.

Sleep deprivation will crush you. Okay? This may seem [00:30:00] obvious, but the amount of entrepreneurs that I talk to that are in fight or flight mode early on in particular, this is a huge thing that ends up, [00:30:10] you know, uh, being sacrificed. I did this for years, I would. I wake up early, I would get up at [00:30:20] four 30 so that I could get a little workout in before my six o'clock patient that I had almost every single morning.

So at six o'clock I would be at the office all day. I would [00:30:30] usually have some sort of something to do afterward, uh, networking with a coach or another clinician in the area where I was teaching a workshop or something like that. And it was very, very common [00:30:40] that I wouldn't get home until, I don't know, six, seven o'clock.

Uh, and then it would, it would be okay, cool. I'm like, you know, dinner, [00:30:50] helping get the kids to bed. I have the smallest amount of time with Ashley before she would fall asleep. I would stay up and I would work on things that I had to catch up [00:31:00] on from the day until usually, I don't know, midnight or so. And then I would go to sleep and I would, I would do it all over again.

So I was getting [00:31:10] four and a half hours of sleep or so a night. And not only that, but going to bed basically as I was falling asleep on the couch with my computer on my lap, trying to catch up [00:31:20] on these things I had to do. So it wasn't like my sleep quality was great. Um, and over the course of, I did that for probably two years, over the course of two years.[00:31:30]

I mean, my health just deteriorated in a substantial way. I, I didn't even wanna pull blood panels. I used to do that for myself every two months when I was in the Army. I didn't wanna look at 'em. I knew they were [00:31:40] gonna be bad when I finally did, they were atrocious. Um, you know, and, and, and. Sleep deprivation and stress associated with the things you're [00:31:50] doing, it leads to really poor emotional control.

It leads to, frankly, terrible cognitive output. Um, you know, so, so you're actually not even as effective [00:32:00] as, as you would be if you got a little bit more sleep, you know? And it's such a catch 22 because you feel like you have to get all these things done and, and, and you gotta squeeze it in. And sometimes we have periods of time where we gotta sprint [00:32:10] and we're, we are doing that for a short period of time.

You can't do that forever. You can't burn it at both ends forever, because you're gonna end up, honestly just not getting as much [00:32:20] accomplished as you would like. You're sacrificing your, your health and wellness at the same time, and you're also sacrificing the relationships around you because you're just not a nice person to be around when you're sleep [00:32:30] deprived.

Just think of like a little kid. We're basically big, big babies, right? Like if a kid is sleepy, they're cranky, they're cranky, they're emotional, they're [00:32:40] quick to lash out. As adults, the same thing happens to us. We typically control it a little bit better, but even still, it's not great, you know? And so sleep is one of [00:32:50] those things that is a non-negotiable.

It's a non-negotiable at this point. Get as, get as much as you can. High quality sleep as possible. It's [00:33:00] free, you know, it feels awesome the next day when you, when you wake up. Uh, it does improve your cognitive function. It improves all the health functions in our body. It helps normalize our endocrine [00:33:10] system.

Like we know all these things are true, and yet we still deprive ourself of it because we're busy and we're scared. And that was a big motivator. Like you'll run away from, [00:33:20] from, you know, the, the, the, the pain of failure for a long time. And, you know, you'll, you'll, you'll do what you need to do to get that done.

And I get that. There's, like I said, there's times where that you're gonna [00:33:30] have to do that. And it's not like you can start and run and grow a business with no stress. I mean, it's, it's a very difficult thing to do, but. Your, [00:33:40] you know, safety net in your health in a lot of ways is your ability to get high quality sleep and at least enough, right, the minimal [00:33:50] effective dose.

Maybe you can't get eight hours a night. I don't get eight hours a night now. I can't, you know, it's impossible. I've got older kids, we've got sports going. You know, later I [00:34:00] wake up, I train at six o'clock in the morning, so I'm up around like five 15. 'cause I gotta get moving. I'm older than I used to be. I gotta get my, my body moving before I go and I go do a workout.

Like [00:34:10] it's just, it is what it is, right? But if I'm consistently getting seven to seven and a half hours of sleep, like I feel really good, you know, my blood panels look good, all that, all that stuff is fine. [00:34:20] And that's my minimal effective dose I need about that much. You know, I can definitely get less in that for a period of time, but I try to get back to that as soon as I can because that's where I feel the [00:34:30] best.

And, and it's a long game, you know, it's, I'm, I'm not trying to just do a short term sprint. I'm running this for a long, long time and I want to be as healthy as I possibly can be. And I want to be, you know, able to make good [00:34:40] decisions and have good emotional intelligence, uh, and, and, uh, control. For the people around me.

Right. And, and just, just be a, a, a calm person in their life versus a crazy, [00:34:50] erratic, angry person that I was for years because of all the stress that I was under. And, and frankly, self-induced because I didn't know what I was doing. And I waited far too long to get [00:35:00] help from anybody. 'cause I figured that I would just figure it out.

And I always thought that like, you know, getting mentorship or paying for help on consulting was, I, I [00:35:10] almost felt like it was a, a cop out. It's like I didn't want anybody to have any sort of. S uh, say over help that they may have given me. 'cause [00:35:20] it would take away from what I was wanting to accomplish myself.

Think how stupid that is. I literally didn't want to get help on business 'cause I wanted to say that I figured it all [00:35:30] out by myself. What a dumb, egotistical thing to think. Right? Like, that's silly. And if you think that, keep thinking it until you realize it's stupid and [00:35:40] then you don't figure out what help you actually need.

Because it doesn't ha you don't have to try to figure it out by yourself. It's, it's not necessary. Right? Like you didn't go to business school, you went to physical [00:35:50] therapy school. I didn't get an MBAI have a DPT. That's what I went to school for. Not only that, it was in the Army. You think we even had a business class, we didn't have shit for that.

You know, like [00:36:00] not happening. And so. For me to realize that I eventually needed help. It was such a game changer for me because it de-stressed my life. I was finally able to [00:36:10] relax. I was getting the help on the things that I needed because I was working so hard and trying to figure out, you know, how to run a business and how to sell and how to price, and how to market and, and, you know, hiring [00:36:20] people and finance and like taxes and all this stuff.

And it's just a behemoth of information to try to figure out. And it's so nuanced based on the industry as well. It's really, really hard. [00:36:30] So once I started, you know, getting some help there and actually sleeping again, you know, my, my whole life changed my relationships with, you know, with my spouse, with my [00:36:40] kids, with family, uh, with our staff and our, our, uh, you know, our team, uh, my ability to be a better leader for them, it all changed dramatically.

So if you're, if [00:36:50] you're sacrificing sleep at this stage of your business, I get it. Try to get outta that stage as soon as you can and start. Prioritizing the thing that's gonna give back to your nervous system, [00:37:00] to your musculoskeletal system, to, to everything. Your whole body that's free. It makes such a huge difference.

And then sleep. Alright, number seven, uh, trolls [00:37:10] don't pay the bills is, uh, this is the one thing that I would say stops people from putting out content more than [00:37:20] almost anything else. This stopped me for a long time. Um, and it's not a, it's not a fake thing. People are dickheads sometimes and they will troll you on [00:37:30] social media if they disagree with a point that you have.

I'll give you a good example. When we first started Athletes' Potential, I, uh, was [00:37:40] writing blog posts. I didn't really know what to write blog posts on. So I would write blog posts that explained, you know, things that other physical [00:37:50] therapists were interested in reading. This is, by the way, not a good, uh, uh, direction to take if you're trying to get patients so early blog posts [00:38:00] and athletes' potential focused on more like clinical education things, uh, that I just felt strong to, you know, communicate and to write a blog post on.

I didn't really know how to [00:38:10] break that down for a patient. So what ended up happening was, uh, when I would get comments on those blog posts, it was always other clinicians. And I had a handful [00:38:20] of clinicians that would just leave the worst comments, just, you know, trolling comments on our own website, right?

[00:38:30] And some of them, I mean, I even had people from, uh, the Army that would do this, people that I knew that were just like, I don't even know what it, what, what caused it, [00:38:40] but they were a bit frustrated with the things that I was saying and I was putting out there. Uh, maybe I was being a bit confrontational as well, right?

And, uh, but either way. [00:38:50] You're gonna get that, you're gonna get people that are gonna give you negative feedback. Uh, the amount of shit that I've gotten on social media platforms [00:39:00] is just like, it's crazy. You know, the things that people will send us, it's wild sometimes. Um, but, you know, the internet and the just, uh, social media [00:39:10] is a wild place sometimes, and it's full of a bunch of people that are, uh, unpredictable and frankly, their opinion doesn't change my life one bit.

I [00:39:20] have very few people who I care deeply about their, uh, opinions of me, very few, but I care a lot about those people. And as long as I am [00:39:30] showing up in my life for them, for my, for my friends family, you know, for my, my business partners, for, uh, you know, for, for the staff, the [00:39:40] team that we work with, uh, the, the people that I really do care about that I'm trying to be.

The best example that I possibly can be for them, uh, then I'm good with what any, [00:39:50] whatever anybody else has to say, I don't really care. You know, and that's kinda what you have to, what you have to come to terms with is the fact that not [00:40:00] everybody's gonna like what you say. Not everybody's going to be on your side.

And some people might see what you're doing and they dislike it because in some [00:40:10] way it irritates them. Whether it be they disagree with you directly or you're doing something they wish that they would have done that they had the courage to do. I've seen this [00:40:20] probably more often than not, is that people that are the most confrontational, they're the ones that are the most irritated by the fact that you are having [00:40:30] some amount of success with what you're doing and they wanna try to shoot it down.

They wanna try to knock that down a little bit. If you're getting people that are [00:40:40] disagreeing with you, it's actually a good sign. It means that people are actually listening. And the funny thing is, if you're doing it right, if people start trolling you, you will actually have other people come [00:40:50] to defend you on the internet because they disagree with you.

And this is something that to me, I've always really appreciated the [00:41:00] fact that when anybody may have something negative to say about us or our company or, or whatever it is, very rare, but people will come [00:41:10] out of the woodworks to completely dismiss them and be like, no, you're wrong. You don't know these people.

You, we have one, you know, one reputation in life. And you have to take that very, very seriously. And [00:41:20] if you do the right things for people, you know, over the course of your lifetime, then your reputation will take care of itself because [00:41:30] other people will take care of that for you, and you can just focus on doing the things that you need to do.

And putting yourself out there is pretty scary. Like I, I actually remember [00:41:40] the very first blog post I wrote, uh, I mean, I delayed clicking the post button for hours. I literally wrote it [00:41:50] and I got nervous, like my heart was racing before I even posted it. This is on a site that no one even was trafficking, but I was very [00:42:00] nervous about it because there's, there's something, there's something very raw about putting a piece of yourself out there and, and, uh, exposing yourself [00:42:10] to what people may say back, right?

And their opinions. And it's a bit scary, but it's really not scary if you think about it, because [00:42:20] the only people that really matter are, are the ones that, that you need to show up for on a regular basis. And you putting your thoughts out there. It's an important thing for your business. [00:42:30] It's an important thing for you if you want to do that.

And you want to have content, be a part of what you're doing. It's just that simple, you know? So don't, don't be afraid of it. And, [00:42:40] and, and trolls are gonna troll no matter what, you know, and there's a saying and say, wolves don't, uh, wolves don't concern themselves with the opinion of sheep. [00:42:50] They don't give a shit.

And if some guy sitting in the middle of fucking nowhere in New Mexico has something bad to say about you because they disagree with [00:43:00] whatever, and they haven't done shit in their life, why? Why should we care about that? It's 'cause some unhappy person is, you know, sitting in their home office or in their, [00:43:10] the clinic that they hate and they got something bad to say about you.

It makes them feel a little bit better. While they're doing that, who cares? Let 'em, let 'em, you know, like if that's what they need to [00:43:20] do to make their life feel better. I just feel bad for people like that. It's not gonna stop me from putting out what I need to put out because it's that important to be able to help the right people, to help the people that, that we can [00:43:30] help.

And also, this is my life. I'm gonna share what I wanna share. Um, you know, and I'm not gonna have somebody else stop me from doing that unless it's somebody I really care about. That's like, Danny, you've gone a bit too [00:43:40] far. Which I have had that before. I've had that for sure. And if you ever go back and listen to some of the other podcasts, you probably notice a pretty significant shift [00:43:50] between eight years ago.

I was far more angry, far more confrontational. I cursed a lot more if you notice that I still curse, but [00:44:00] not as much. Uh, and it's because I've just kind of evolved into a place where I feel much better about what we're doing [00:44:10] and. In a more positive way, like I'm moving towards things that I think are important because of, uh, of us trying to help people of, [00:44:20] of the mission that we have, the positive things.

Versus eight years ago, I was trying to pull, prove a lot of people wrong, that it was that simple. [00:44:30] And that's a strong driver. You trying to prove people wrong will work for a certain period of time. It's a very strong motivator, but at a certain point, you can't [00:44:40] just keep doing that because it makes you a very, very unhappy person.

Good for you, you know, you prove somebody wrong. You want to, you wanna see this? A perfect example of this. Go [00:44:50] watch the, uh, hall of Fame acceptance speech, Michael Jordan. This guy, greatest basketball player of all time, literally stands up there and roasts [00:45:00] every single person that ever said he couldn't do something, some of it he made up, didn't even actually happen.

It's just this, he fictionalize these things to give him motivation. That's what he needs to, [00:45:10] to move forward in life and hit these goals. But if you look at him as an overall human being, not a life that I think I would wanna trade on, on a, on a, a human being [00:45:20] level, I, I think it's, it wasn't worth it. Uh, but he accomplished a lot.

So you gotta decide what you wanna do, you know, and at this point, for me. I'm [00:45:30] moving in a direction that I feel so much better with, that I feel much more positive about. And, uh, we're still accomplishing, uh, massive goals in our business, but it doesn't have to be out of spite to [00:45:40] prove people wrong that maybe, you know, you, you're, you're mad with, you know, dismissing the fact that they don't think you can accomplish something or they're, they're telling you your [00:45:50] goals are, uh, you know, you can't achieve those.

That'll get you a certain, uh, certain place and it can be a great fuel. But I'll tell you what, the other one feels a lot better. [00:46:00] Uh, so regardless, put yourself out there. Don't let trolls stop you. 'cause they don't pay your bills, man. They don't pay your bills. And honestly, if you're getting people trolling [00:46:10] you, you're probably doing the right thing anyway.

Okay. The last thing, and this is something that. Of all the things I talk about, I think this is the, the number [00:46:20] one skill you can work on. And at a certain point it's probably something you're gonna have to, if you get really good at this, it's something you're going to have to, uh, come to terms with as well.[00:46:30]

And that is delaying gratification. So being able to delay gratification, meaning in this example, being able to put out [00:46:40] content consistently four years without a single dollar that shows up from that in a business, which is what happened [00:46:50] with when we started docking jock podcasts and then into the PT Entrepreneur podcast years.

This was, uh, somewhat of a, just a hobby for us, right? It wasn't a business, but we [00:47:00] thought maybe this audience development could lead to something. And we had lots of ideas that never actually worked out, but like having the [00:47:10] ability to delay gratification, and a lot of people will say, oh, well if this doesn't immediately pay an ROI.

I don't wanna do it. You know, I, [00:47:20] I'm, I'm not gonna put my time into it. Well, that's a shortsighted view of something. You have to think of things over [00:47:30] long periods of time. And I, like I said, I think of things in, in terms of a decade, 10 years, what can happen in 10 years if I start [00:47:40] this, if I do this, and if, if it really matters to me as well.

But as you start to have success, now this has to do with the financial side of things as well. As you start to make more [00:47:50] money in your clinic because you have success there and you're growing it, and now you're making two, three times as much as you did working somewhere else. What are you doing? Are you going [00:48:00] out and living a big life that you couldn't afford before?

Or are you delaying gratification to do so, so that you can take that money [00:48:10] and build Bulletproof wealth? Reinvest in the business and grow an even bigger entity that has far more enterprise value versus taking that [00:48:20] money out and getting that second home, taking that money out, buying that bigger house, taking that money out, getting that super fancy vehicle, you want taking that money out and going on this, you know, [00:48:30] incredibly expensive trip that you would love to go on.

And I get it. Like I, and I've done, you know, all the things that we just said. I've done these things, right? I, I, [00:48:40] we, we moved to a bigger house, like I have a nicer car. You know, we go on cold trips, but we delayed the shit outta that way longer than we needed to, [00:48:50] almost in a negative sense. But being able to delay gratification, especially as you start to make financial improvements [00:49:00] and not moving the goalpost, there's this concept that Morgan Housel has in the Psychology of Wealth, which is one of my favorite.

Books that I've read where he [00:49:10] talks about not moving the goalpost. So if you're here and financially you're living at that, at that constraint, let's say you're, you're making $80,000 a [00:49:20] year, and that's where you're at. You're living off of that now all of a sudden you make 160. If you still live like you're making 80, you're gonna have a massive [00:49:30] delta there that then you can eradicate debt with.

You can save up for a down payment on a house. You can invest in things outside the business. You can take the, the, [00:49:40] the opportunity to invest back into the business, uh, more quickly without having to take that extra income and grow that asset. But if now all of a sudden you're living like you make [00:49:50] 160, you've moved the goalpost and you're literally in the same place.

So delay gratification, especially financially. Hold out [00:50:00] to put yourself in a position where you are financially rock solid. And then live a big life, enjoy it. [00:50:10] Right? Like, like go do the things that you wanna do with the people you wanna do 'em with, and it'll put you in a place where you can do far more, uh, without the stress of the debt that you have hanging over your [00:50:20] head.

You know, I remember when we paid off all the loans that we had, uh, for student loans and like vehicle and, uh, you know, some credit card debt and stuff, like, oh my God, I felt so [00:50:30] much lighter. Like, it just made me feel so much better. I had so much less stress. Right? And like, think about that, like delay that gratification so you can put yourself in a place where you have less stress and [00:50:40] then you can take a massive swing on these other things that you want to do.

But delaying gratification is one of the biggest mistakes that I see when entrepreneurs start to have success and then all of a sudden they have this big [00:50:50] life that they're living too early. And it's just like, ah, dude, squeeze out a couple more years at this and you're gonna be in such a better spot.

Like, delay that gratification. That is huge. That can be something on the financial side that can be, [00:51:00] say, say with projects that you're doing. That can be said with your business. Maybe you're not getting the traction that you want. Maybe, maybe, you know, you just need to have better patience and [00:51:10] stick to it for a longer period of time.

'cause is this what you really wanna do? If this is the mission that you want to accomplish and you wanna put your time and energy into, who cares if it takes longer, who cares if it's 10 years [00:51:20] versus one year, whatever. If it's that important to you, you'll wait for it and you gotta be able to delay gratification in order to get there.

So that's it. [00:51:30] Eight lessons in 850 podcasts. Let's review those real quick. Number one, start before you're ready. [00:51:40] You're never gonna have a perfect time. Number two, content creates connections. Think of it like a bridge, and every time that you create a piece of content that connects with somebody and helps them, it's like you're creating a a [00:51:50] little chunk of that bridge and gets you closer and closer and closer to the other side where that person then can get the help that they need from you.

Number three, systems beat motivation. [00:52:00] Systems crush. Motivation. Motivation will wane. Systems will make sure you can be consistent. Uh, number four, leadership is lonely. Find a peer group. It's huge. It's [00:52:10] gonna make a massive difference for you. Number five, recurring revenue changes everything. Start to implement recurring revenue systems into your business.

Whatever type it is, if it's [00:52:20] a clinic, there's many different variations, but start to include recurring revenue services and opportunities from day one. Don't make the mistake I did and have [00:52:30] 500 patients come through your door before you realize you're being a dummy. Number six, sleep deprivation. Don't do it.

Sleep is free. It makes everything better. It makes your brain [00:52:40] better. It makes your body better. It makes you, you know, more enjoyable to be around with everybody in, in your life. Uh, it's not worth it. You can do it for short sprints, but man, make sure you are prioritizing [00:52:50] sleep. It's probably the most important health factor I think that, that we can really control on a regular basis.

All right, number seven, uh, look, trolls, don't pay the bills. [00:53:00] And if somebody trolling you, stopping you from putting yourself out there at the expense of you helping more people or pushing your business forward and creating more jobs that are fantastic for people in [00:53:10] our industry. Don't be selfish about it.

You, you gotta put yourself out there. Trolls. Don't pay the bills. You're gonna get trolls if you put yourself out there. And it's a good sign too. It means people are listening. And [00:53:20] number eight, delay gratification. Don't live a big life too early. Don't get frustrated if things don't happen too fast. Like put the time in, be patient.

These things make a massive difference. [00:53:30] And if you can do these things, you know, and this a lot, right? Maybe you just focus on one. Maybe you're listening to this and you're like, okay, I'm just gonna start getting more [00:53:40] sleep. Cool. If one of these eight things is in your wheelhouse and you can start making a change on that.

This week as you listen to this, then great, we've made progress. [00:53:50] That's all we need to do. You know, it's kind of like working with our patients. You can't give people too many things at once. What do we give people? Two, maybe three things they can do after the first visit. [00:54:00] Why? Because we want them to be successful with them.

We want them to do 'em correctly. We want them to make progress on those, right? We want them to learn something and feel like they can implement it. So if you can just pick one of these things, then get [00:54:10] after it, you know, and, uh, and start implementing that. And I hope that it helps, uh, you know, you in a very direct way from the lessons that I've learned.

And, you know, and just to [00:54:20] share a little bit going forward, like what's, what are we gonna do with this channel, right? We're 850 podcasts in, we've already moved this to [00:54:30] also be a video version for people that want to, uh, watch us on YouTube. Um, you know, we have a lot of really cool clinic tours that we've been doing.

You [00:54:40] know, I've been to at this point. Uh, 30, I think 35 clinics across the country. We plan on doing even [00:54:50] more of those. In fact, we have two trips already planned to do even more. Uh, and to, to really take a deeper dive and tell the stories of what's happening in the industry, the shift that's [00:55:00] occurring. I feel like this is a really unique time in, uh, in physical therapy.

You know, I mean, I've, I've been involved in the profession now for 15 years, and [00:55:10] I've been involved in the entrepreneur side, uh, for 11, right? And I guess if you include school, I started school in 2007. Uh, graduated in [00:55:20] 2010, you know, and worked, worked as a PT in the Army for a few years. Then I worked, you know, in, in, in athletes potential as we started that.

And now I'm helping more on the [00:55:30] education side of, uh, you know, of these businesses. And what I can tell you is there's been a significant shift. In the way that our business is [00:55:40] moving, in, the way that our leadership in the business is moving. And like it or not, insurance continues to suck more every year.

Uh, more and more clinics [00:55:50] are going the direction of having to add cash services whether they want to or not, or to completely go full on, out of network or cash. That, that's [00:56:00] just the reality of it. And it's a pretty exciting time to be in this heath that I'm in because the industry is moving the direction that [00:56:10] we've been just harping on for a decade, you know?

And now all of a sudden it's like, uh, it's so much more obvious to [00:56:20] people that this is the right direction and it's a cool thing to see. And I think we're gonna see a lot more growth in the profession because of that. So what are we gonna do about it? [00:56:30] Well, we're not going anywhere. I mean, I got 150 podcasts to make it to a thousand.

How am I not gonna do that? Like, it's, it's right around the [00:56:40] corner. I mean, I, they'll be here in no time, so it will be there. We'll be there, you know, in, in, in a short period of time. We look forward to being able to release the [00:56:50] 1000th PT Entrepreneur podcast episode. Um, but more than anything, we're trying to add a billion dollars in, uh, services to the, the, the, the [00:57:00] pt, you know, community and a billion dollars in, in revenue added through these cash, uh, clinics and services is, we're getting close.

I mean, even the people that we [00:57:10] work with currently. You know, we're, we're somewhere in the range of a hundred thousand or a a hundred million dollars in combined revenue with these [00:57:20] clinics on an annual basis. And that's just what people we currently work with, the alumni that we have that have come through pt BS, it's probably generating another couple hundred million [00:57:30] dollars in, uh, combined revenue.

So we're probably a quarter of the, or a third of the way to where we want to be. So we can legitimately add a billion [00:57:40] dollars in cash services to the industry in a really meaningful way. To help these clinics, uh, you know, be able to function in, in the way that they wanna work with people and be [00:57:50] agnostic to whatever insurance tells them that they should or shouldn't be doing so that they can do what's best for their patient that's in front of them, what's best for their business, and to run a business that is sustainable long, uh, over a long period of time, [00:58:00] both on the profit side, but also on the, the work-life balance side, not just for the business owner, but for their staff as well.

And the, the, the goal is that we continue to create a better business model. [00:58:10] I wanna create a utopia of a clinic that is just like, it's a no-brainer that people want to work there. It's a no brainer that people want to open clinics like that. It's a no-brainer. They wanna be a part of that [00:58:20] transition because it is better for everybody in, in so many ways.

And it's not, I it's not perfect, okay? Don't get me wrong. It's not perfect. It definitely, there's some limitations to the business [00:58:30] model. It's the best option that we've found. It's the best mixture of the right things that, that we found. And we're gonna keep iterating on that and proving that and sharing that [00:58:40] over the next.

I don't even know how long, I guess, until, until we, uh, achieve that goal and we come up with a bigger one, we're not going anywhere. You can, you can bank on that [00:58:50] because what kind of psycho puts out two podcasts a year for eight years? You're looking at 'em. And I'm not going anywhere. 'cause this is [00:59:00] something I really enjoy.

This is an incredible mission that I get to be a part of. This is something that is far more important to me than, than revenue or, or stats or any of that shit. This is my profession. [00:59:10] I, I, I'm just like you. I look at my degree every single day. You know, I still work with people in my free garage gym clinic for friends and family.

I'm about [00:59:20] to have another patient come in this week from an injury that was sustained, uh, recently on a football field. And I value the profession. I think what we do is incredibly valuable and I want the rest of the world to [00:59:30] realize the same thing. Uh, you know, so that's what we're gonna do. And, and if you wanna be here for it, if you want to be a part of that, cool.

Like, we look forward to it. It's more fun to do these things together. [00:59:40] So. Lemme just say this. Thank you so much for listening. Thanks for watching. If you're on the YouTube channel, you know, if you wanna see what I look like in my office, you can [00:59:50] go there and you can watch it. If you prefer to listen to me while you're cutting your grass or going for a run, that's awesome 'cause there'll still be, you know, on all of our podcast channels as well.

But either way, I very much appreciate it. [01:00:00] The reality is, it would be a hell of a lot harder to continue to do this if there weren't thousands of people that listen to this podcast on a regular basis. Um, so I appreciate [01:00:10] you just having, you know, that feedback and knowing that and having conversations that with people that listen to the podcast is motivating enough for me to continue to do [01:00:20] this, uh, and, and, and, and not stop, even though it's been quite a long time.

So I appreciate you very much. We'll keep putting it out as long as you're still interested in listening. And as always, we'll catch [01:00:30] on the next one.