151 Beyond the Treatment Room: A Manifesto for Success on Your Own Terms

Welcome 🎉

Hello and welcome to the Treat Your Business podcast! I’m Katie Bell, and today I’m sharing something that’s been sitting with me recently, inspired by “The Hustle Cure” by Sophie Cliff. As a positive psychology practitioner, Sophie’s principles really resonate with me, especially around focusing on strengths rather than always trying to fix weaknesses. I’ll be diving into her manifesto for a different way of working, adding my own reflections and honest questions along the way.

Episode Summary 📝

In this episode, I take you through ten guiding principles for clinic owners who want to break free from the endless hustle and create a business and life that truly feels successful. I talk about why your definition of success is the only one that matters, building your identity beyond your achievements, quitting the comparison game, and challenging your inner critic. I also share why embracing who you are is more powerful than endlessly trying to fix yourself, and the importance of knowing that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

Key Takeaways ⭐

• The only version of success that matters is your own. Don’t chase someone else’s idea of what success should look like.
• Build an identity that’s more than just your job title or achievements. You are so much more than your clinic.
• Quit the comparison game. Focus on your own path and do less, but do it better.
• Challenge your inner critic. Outsource when you can and remember you don’t have to do it all.
• Embrace who you are—your strengths, rhythms, and ways of working.
• Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Protect your time and energy.
• Harness the power of future regret by making sure you spend your time on what truly matters.
• Celebrate your wins, no matter how small. What gets recognised gets repeated.
• Be in the season you’re in. Give yourself permission to slow down or focus as needed.
• Lean into what feels good. Sprinkle some joy and fun into your business and life.

Resources & Links 🔗

• “The Hustle Cure” by Sophie Cliff

Episode Sponsor: Jane clinic management software: Book a personalised demo Use code Thrive one mo for a one-month grace period on your new account.

Final Thoughts 💭

I’d love for you to pick one of these manifesto points and reflect on how you could live it out in your own life and business. Your one wild and precious life is too important to waste on someone else’s version of success.

Treat Your Business podcast is proudly sponsored by MBST, the groundbreaking technology revolutionising recovery and rehabilitation. Offering a non-invasive, drug-free solution for musculoskeletal conditions and nerve injuries, MBST works at a cellular level to stimulate regeneration. Expand your services and deliver long-term patient improvements without increasing your workload.

Learn more at mbstmedical.co.uk. 

https://events.thrive-businesscoaching.com/cgl-waitlist-2026

🔗 If you are ready to get ahead, you will find all the essential resources and links you need right here: our Linktree

• Leave a review!: https://ratethispodcast.com/tyb
• Subscribe to our Channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thrivebizcoach?sub_confirmation=1

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message
• 2:55 Freedom as Success
• 4:55 The Hustle Cure and Focusing on Strengths
• 6:55 Comparison, LinkedIn, and Imposter Syndrome
• 8:55 Identity Beyond Achievements
• 10:55 Community, Comparison, and Doing Less Better
• 12:55 Challenge Your Inner Critic
• 14:55 Embrace, Don’t Just Fix
• 16:55 Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should
• 18:55 Celebrate Your Wins
• 20:55 Be in the Season You Are In

Transcript

Treat Your Business EP151

Katie Bell: [00:00:00] And don't get me wrong we have got a bigger clinic, we have got more staff. We have doing a massively more revenue than we were years ago. But actually, when I dig deep, success for me is more about freedom. It's more about freedom to choose when I work, freedom to be with my. Family, particularly relevant now, I've just had a little baby and freedom to create, and that's when it clicked that the bigger clinic, the more staff, the more revenue actually just facilitates the [00:00:30] other stuff for me.

Welcome to the Treat Your Business podcast, the show for clinic owners who want real, honest advice and tried and tested ways of doing things. I'm Katie Bell, and this is the new era of bigger insights and bolder conversations to help you grow a clinic and a life you love. Let's dive in.

Today's episode is sponsored by Jane, a clinic management software and EMR. The Jane team knows that when your workday is spent [00:01:00] providing care to your patients or your clients, it can feel like there aren't enough hours in the day for the rest of your admin tasks. This can mean scheduling appointments become.

The hours tasks turning what should be restful evenings into extra long work days. That's why Jane has designed user-friendly online bookings. You can give your patients freedom to book their appointments at their own convenience. Patients can also manage their appointments, fill out intake forms, and enable SMS and email reminders.

From their secure online portal, which saves you from [00:01:30] having to do it manually to see how Jane can help you reclaim your evenings and weekends. Head to the link in the show notes to book a personalized demo. Or if you're ready to get started, you can use the code Thrive one mo at the time of sign up for a one month grace period.

Apply to your new account.

Hello everybody. Welcome to the Treat Your business podcast. For those of you who've listened to the last two episodes, you'll understand why I'm at the kitchen table. Anyway, today I wanna share something that's been sitting with me when I read [00:02:00] a book called The Hustle Cure by Sophie Cliff. She's a positive psychology practitioner, and I really like her principles what she teaches because I very much like to focus on people's strengths and what they do well, rather than.

What I see a lot of at the moment is going back to what happened to us when we were at school and the experiences that we had, and it's really important. There's a lot of work that I've done around that, but I also think sometimes too much [00:02:30] weight can be put on reliving trauma and reliving.

Certain things rather than really focusing on what we are great at doing, really leaning into those strengths, acknowledging those strengths and working on those strengths so we can up level even more rather than focusing on trying to fix all of our weaknesses. Just a personal opinion, but anyway.

She has a set of guiding principles. It's kind of like a manifesto for a different way of working, and it really resonates with a lot of stuff that I already talk about and I already [00:03:00] teach and coach within Thrive. And I, as I read through it, I couldn't help but think this is kind of what you guys need to know as clinic owners.

We've all been in this endless cycle, haven't we, of hustle. Most clinic owners that join Thrive are in that cycle. They are hustling really hard. They are in the trenches working incredibly hard, often chasing somebody else's definition of success, trying to do more. Be more, prove more. And yet it kind [00:03:30] of leaves us feeling really exhausted and really unfulfilled.

I'm not really sure why we're running this business in the first place, because for many of you, it isn't serving you in the way that you need it to. So today I want to finish up this kind of little three episode series that I've called Beyond the Treatment Room. I'm gonna go through this manifesto with you.

I'm gonna put my slant on it as well, but I'm gonna bring in some of my own reflections. I'm of my own stories. Honest. Question along the, so [00:04:00] one, the only version of success that matters is yours. This kind of.

Re focus on this because so often we're chasing somebody else's idea of success. Maybe it's what your parents wanted for you. Maybe it's what you see other clinic owners doing on LinkedIn. I have just reconnected with LinkedIn. I would say. Um, [00:04:30] I've had a profile on it, fors, but not done anything. Because frankly that there is so many other platforms, so many of the things that we're focusing on, we really need to do it right now.

 But for me, going back onto LinkedIn has really created some imposter syndrome. I've gone back into comparison. I have been looking at what other people are doing, reading into. Um, like when specific, people don't comment [00:05:00] on my posts, but I see them comment on other people's posts. I get this instant like inner critic that's like, well, they don't find your, your work interesting or you're not relevant in the industry, or, um, they don't agree with how you do things.

This is probably all complete and utter nonsense, but I've made up story. Yeah. Like it, it's great. Obviously it works really well and, and we need to use it for specific things in our business sometimes, but sometimes it's just the noise of society telling you that, [00:05:30] that bigger, faster, more, more, more is what you need to be chasing.

But the truth is, unless your definition of success feels authentic and true to you in alignment with you, it's always gonna feel really hollow and icky. And I know for me, there was a time when I absolutely thought success meant just get a bigger clinic, just chase that massive revenue get more staff.

And don't get me wrong we have got a bigger clinic, we have got more staff. [00:06:00] We have doing a massively more revenue than we were years ago. But actually, when I dig deep, success for me is more about freedom. It's more about freedom to choose when I work, freedom to be with my. Family, particularly relevant now, I've just had a little baby and freedom to create, and that's when it clicked that the bigger clinic, the more staff, the more revenue actually just facilitates the other stuff for me.

So [00:06:30] remind yourself again, ask yourself again as you're driving to the clinic this morning, listening to this podcast, as I know many of you do. What does success really mean for you? Not for anyone else, not for your parents. Not for your friends, not for your partner, but for you. Number two, build an identity that is more than just your achievements, huh?

This one I find very challenging because for high achievers, for people that, that have a [00:07:00] really, really strong work ethic, we often feel that our identity is. Achievements and I'm having a big shift in

My identity right now because I'm a mummy and although I've been a dog mom for a few years I have always identified as a CEO as a business owner as somebody that's always really busy, always really, always working, always creating. And that's how I think people identify [00:07:30] me rather than. Now my identity has shifted and is shifting, and that comes with a whole load of baggage.

But how often do we answer the question when somebody says, oh, what is it that you do? And we go, I'm a physio, or, I'm a clinic owner. Or I'm a pilates instructor, but you're so much more than that. And a few episodes ago now, I really challenged you on changing the narrative about what it is that you are. So rather than just saying, oh, I'm, I'm just a physio, it's [00:08:00] actually.

Think about the difference that you make to your community, how you empower people to live better lives. That is your identity. Rather than just, I'm just a physio, or I'm just a sports therapist. Your, you are, your values, you are your passions, your quirks your laughter, the way you care for your people.

That what is, what makes you you. And that is more than just about being. Or having a job title. [00:08:30] And I'll never forget really realizing that my clinic wasn't just about being a physio. It was like I'd created this kind of, without really realizing, but that's because I was in my, I'm in my zone of genius there, and I do that naturally.

It was about community, about empowering people to live better lives. That just became part of my identity and it's so much richer than a job title. So who are you? Beyond your clinic. If I was to [00:09:00] meet you at some upcoming exhibition, we're after Therapy Expo in November. Hope to see some of you there. Come, come to the stand to make sure you see me for a cuddle.

But in our, if I said to you to introduce yourself, tell me what your name is and tell me what you do, what are you gonna answer, rather than just be the person that says, oh, I'm a physio, or I run a clinic in Essex. You are so much more than that. And when you change the narrative, when you really change the energy around that, everything else changes with [00:09:30] you.

Number three, quit the comparison game. So we all know the say in comparison is the thief of joy, but it's also the thief focus as well. And the more we look at like sideways at what others are doing, the more we lose sight of our own path. I see this all the time with clinic owners and what often, I'm repeating my advice quite a lot, which is, where has this come from?

Who have you been following? What have you been looking at on social media? And then we realize. Actually they are just chasing somebody else's [00:10:00] game.

People say to me, well, she launched this membership, or I've seen this on Instagram and I think I should be doing that. He's hired three new members of staff. Maybe I should be doing that. And do you know, interestingly. Something that we have done within Thrive is we had when you join one of our programs, so whether it's Evolve, activate, elevate, or Ascend, we have a WhatsApp group and you become a member of that if you wish to be.

And it's a really positive platform. We have loads and loads of great things to celebrate on there. Also, [00:10:30] people are asking each other advice and celebrating their wins. It can also feel very overwhelming, and that's because we've got more and more members and frankly, more and more people are doing fabulous things.

So we have adjusted this and we have created something called a community in our software. So we've now got places where people can celebrate wins. We've got marketing channels, sales channels, uh, staff and team and recruitment channels. So people can ask specific questions within a channel, [00:11:00] it feels less overwhelming.

They get better advice 'cause it's very focused, but also it stops the comparison game. If you don't wanna look at it, you don't have to look at it. But it also allows people to stay focused. One of the biggest things we're always pushing people to do is actually do less, but do it better. And don't be comparing yourself to everybody else's journey.

So your path is yours. Move in the direction that [00:11:30] feels right for you. I am just gonna say, make sure it's strategic and that you don't, you know your numbers as well anyway. Number four, challenge your inner critic. The little voice that always says you are not doing enough. You should be further ahead.

You are failing. You're not good enough at this. You dunno anything about marketing. You dunno your numbers. You're not up to date. I've not read enough research papers, blah, blah, blah. I'll be honest. Everybody's will still pipe up. However much work you do on yourself, mine still pipes up, [00:12:00] but instead of letting it run wild, we have to pause.

We have to remind ourselves, actually this isn't like something I particularly wanna get better at. I don't wanna be better at, you know reconciling my bank account, I wanna just pay somebody else to do that for me. It's not being lazy when you outsource the cleaning of your house to somebody else, or the ironing or the gardening or your car washing.

It's that you are simply navigating a world that piles so many expectations upon us. And you know [00:12:30] what? It's hard because, it is hard.

Remember when you are approaching a situation or you've gotta do something in your business and your inner critic is on overdrive, when you've got that monkey on the shoulder that is telling you all the reasons why you can't do it or why it's not gonna be a success, we're wired to focus on the kind of risk or the negative, rather than actually think about what could go right in that situation.[00:13:00] 

Number five in the manifesto of doing things in a different way is adopting an attitude of embracing rather than fixing. And I love this one. We talked about this in the last episode. How many of us think life will finally begin? Once we've fixed this, once, we've lost two stone. Once we have once we're driving a better car, once we've got a bigger house, once we've got that next member of staff, once we've got hired our integrator, once I'm fitter, once I'm more organized, once I have the [00:13:30] perfect marketing funnel, then I'll feel good.

But life doesn't start after you have fixed it. Life is happening right now and the most productive thing you can do is embrace who you are. Your strengths, your rhythms, your ways of working, your energy cycle your, whether you are a, a morning person or a night owl, like your way of working. So embrace who you are.

Don't try and fix all the. [00:14:00] Stuff about us that we don't wanna have to fix. Yes, there are things we need to work on, absolutely, but really embrace who you are, your strengths, your rhythms, and your way of doing things. Because the power is in you, you already have everything that you need inside you to get to where you wanna be.

 Number six, know that just because you can doesn't mean you should. This is a really big one for me because as a business owner, there is always opportunities. A service, you could add that [00:14:30] class, you could partner with that person. I'll give you an example of something that's I probably saw it on Instagram or some form of social or whatever it was that, you know, you're looking at.

And I came I saw something that inspired an idea, but I'm.

I'm 40 in a few weeks time and it's a big year for us this year, 40 becoming a mom, been married 10 years. There's a lot going on. But anyway why was I telling you this? Because I saw something and I'm [00:15:00] technically off maternity leave at the moment, apart from having to record podcast because, um, I didn't get enough done in advance because he was overdue and therefore now I'm behind.

But anyway. I saw something and I thought I'm gonna create like a, something around my birthday for number 40. I'm gonna do something. It's gonna really help clinic owners. It's gonna be like a download that's gonna solve your marketing problems, and there's gonna be 40 different things that you can access and use like a massive job.

[00:15:30] An absolutely massive job and my head went off into creative mode. This is what I'm gonna do, and then I stepped back, which is never an easy thing as a visionary and looked at the workload that we've currently got on in Thrive and how maxed out all of my teams are right now. And I just had to decide.

It's a great idea. I know it's gonna help loads of people, but I can't actually do it. I can't actually make it happen right now because by saying yes to that, I'm saying no to a [00:16:00] whole load of other things. So just because you can doesn't mean it's the right thing for you. Sometimes the bravest thing is just saying no more to stuff in your clinic that you don't want to be doing, even though it might sound like a great idea.

 Number seven, harness the power of future regret. So this is a really grounding one because none of us are getting outta here alive. Sorry that turned slightly. But one day our time will run [00:16:30] out and I promise you, you are gonna look back and remember the late nights at the clinic or the admin that you've got through, or you know, this beautiful spreadsheet that you built.

You'll remember the connections, you'll remember the joy, the moments of inspiration. So how are you spending your time? Where is it all going? We've all got the same 24 hours in a day. How are you choosing to spend yours? Number eight, celebrate your wins. I don't think we do this enough. And in Thrive when you come to one of [00:17:00] our live days, we've got two coming up in October very soon.

I'm very, very excited. And we have invited some of you who I know listen to this podcast to come as a guest on the day, which is very, very special. 'cause usually you have to just be a member to be involved. But we always start by celebrating our success and we do something or get into the vortex.

This really sets the energy for the day. What gets recognized gets repeated.

So inside our programs, we make a point of getting clinic [00:17:30] owners to celebrate their wins as often as we possibly can. It builds momentum, it changes the energy, and it reminds us of how far we've already come and focus on the things we're doing really well. Well, rather than all the things that we inevitably haven't had time to do.

Number nine, be in the season that you are in. This is really powerful for me right now because not every season is about growth. Some seasons are about rest, some are about healing, some are about building foundations quietly in the background. Some might be that [00:18:00] you are a new mom like me right now, which is a complete adjustment to seasons I've been in before.

So this season, if you're in a season where you are stretched thin, give yourself permission to not pile on more. Like you are just setting yourself up for failure. I often see clinic owners making decisions to change software systems when they're stretched thin, when they have less capacity within their team and they're having to work more clinical hours.

Really think strategically when you make decisions [00:18:30] about, can we do this? If we say yes to this, what do we say no to? Is this the right time to make these things happen? And often when we looking at our quarterly. I'm always saying there's way too many things on there. You need to get rid of most of that and just focus on one or two things.

So what season are you in right now in your business, and how does that mean you need to change how you are behaving? And number 10, lean into what feels [00:19:00] good. This is my favorite one. We've been taught that feeling good is really selfish. It can be indulgent, it can be, all those other things. But feeling good is a superpower.

When you feel good, everything works better. Your health your more resilient, your business. So take the joyful option, sprinkle magic over the mundane. Let yourself have some fun. You'll have seen a picture on Instagram recently. Of my team, we have an ops meeting on a Tuesday. I'm actually involved in it.

[00:19:30] And we have a coaches meeting once a month, which happens after our monthly pods where we get all of our clinic owners in small groups with your coach. And we really set our 30 day plan intentions focus. We reflect on the previous 30 days, and we work out what it is we've gotta do to move the needle forwards in our business.

After that, we have a coaches meeting where I wanna know everything about all of you. But I'm off on maternity leave at the moment and I thought, how can I sprinkle some magic over the, over these meetings? And I sent all of my team a [00:20:00] pair of very hilarious sunglasses. Some were flamingos, some were guitars, some were sunflowers.

Nicholas were the most hilarious ones with like those springs with eyeballs hanging off. You've not seen it. Have a look on Instagram, have a look at picture. It's great. And I said that my challenge to you is to turn up to the meeting with these sunglasses on and keep them on for the duration of the meeting.

And just don't take yourself so seriously. Have some fun. And you know what? It's a really small thing, but it created a lot of laughs. [00:20:30] So that's the manifesto. A new way of doing things, a new way of defining success, living and working. I'd really love for you to pick one of these today, just one, and really reflect on how you could live it out in your own life and in your own business because your one wild and precious life is far too important to waste on someone else's version of success

Thanks for listening to the Treat Your Business podcast. Hit subscribe now [00:21:00] and keep joining me for bigger insights, older conversations to help you build a clinic and a life you [00:21:30] love. And don't get me wrong we have got a bigger clinic, we have got more staff. We have doing a massively more revenue than we were years ago. But actually, when I dig deep, success for me is more about freedom. It's more about freedom to choose when I work, freedom to be with my. Family, particularly relevant now, I've just had a little baby and freedom to create, and that's when it clicked that the bigger clinic, the more staff, [00:22:00] the more revenue actually just facilitates the other stuff for me.