161 The Hidden Energy Drain Most Clinic Owners Ignore

Welcome

Happy Christmas Eve and welcome back to the podcast. This episode is a little different to what I normally share. It is not about strategy, numbers, growth plans, systems, team, or leadership. It is more reflective and personal, and I wanted to share something I have been exploring quietly for months.

Episode Summary

This week I am sharing a Christmas Eve reflection on something that has been quietly changing the way I work, lead, and live: the energy of my environment.

I have been reading The Calm and Happy Home by Kirsty Gallagher, and it has made me much more aware of how my home, desk, clinic, and even my car can either support me or drain me. Clutter can feel like unfinished business, and when a space feels busy or chaotic, your nervous system is still responding even if you are not consciously thinking about it.

I talk about starting small with decluttering, asking whether your space supports the person you are becoming, and focusing on flow rather than perfection. I also share a few things I have been experimenting with around feng shui, plus a reminder that getting help at home is not indulgent, it is strategic.

Key Takeaways

• Everything is energy, and your environment influences you more than you realise.
• Clutter is like unfinished business and it creates an energetic drag.
• Start small: one drawer, one surface, one cupboard that would instantly make you feel lighter.
• Ask yourself: Does this support the person I am becoming?
• Organisation is about flow and ease, not perfection.
• Fixing small annoyances removes friction and frees up capacity.
• Your desk is your command centre. What is in your eye line matters.
• Getting support (cleaner, help at home, VA) can be a strategic way to protect your energy.

Episode Sponsor

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: It was the night before Christmas or so I believed till I opened one cupboard and honestly grieved old folders and gadgets all piled outta place. And I thought, no wonder Life's lived at this pace. So today's not about targets or business or strain, but the spaces we live in and what they retain.

[00:00:19] Because if everything's energy as I'm learning, it is your home might be lifting 

[00:00:23] you or draining your fizz.

[00:00:26] Speaker: 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.

[00:00:44] Katie Bell: Happy Christmas Eve and welcome back to the podcast now this week. The episode is a little bit different to what I normally share here, and I want to say that right from the start, it isn't gonna be about strategy. It's not about numbers or growth plans or systems or team or leadership.

[00:01:03] It's more reflective, it's more personal. And it's something that I have been exploring quietly in the background for many months. But it's something that I thought I'd bring. To the podcast and see what you guys thought, and I think it might help you. I started reading a book called The Calm and Happy Home by Kirsty Gallagher.

[00:01:25] And I am really into, my home and interior design and making sure that my home supports my energy, my life my goals, my aspirations, and. Everything is energy and my environment has a huge impact on how I perform day to day, and it really got me thinking about energy and specifically the energy of our homes, of our desks, of our offices, and of our clinics.

[00:01:56] The idea that everything is energy, that we are constantly being influenced by the spaces that we live and work in, cannot be escaped and our home. And our desks and our clinics can either support our growth or they can be holding us back without you really realizing. This is the first episode of it's Kind for Me.

[00:02:18] I'm treating it like a little bit of an experiment, but it felt important enough for me to share and sit in front of my Christmas tree and give you this Christmas message because the more I've noticed it in my own life, the more I've realized how much it impacts my capacity, my clarity, and how I show up.

[00:02:36] So if you are someone who's in the season of growth the season of leadership or. The season of young babies and children or even older children who still demand a lot of your time and attention, and perhaps you are simply wanting a bit more calm, then this episode might really resonate. And if it doesn't, that's okay too.

[00:02:58] One of the biggest takeaways from a lot of things that I read and particularly this book, is the simple idea that everything is energy. Everything has a f frequency. I can never say that word attached to it. Emotions have frequencies, feelings have frequencies and everything that we own that we can touch and we can feel also has, a level of vibration that it emits out into the universe.

[00:03:27] Now, you don't have to be at all spiritual to understand this. It is science. It is scientifically proven. We all know what it feels like when you walk into a calm, light, clear space. And we also know what it feels like to walk into a very cluttered, chaotic, heavy, dark, oppressive space. Your body feels that before your brain can actually label it, and the same is true for your home.

[00:03:58] The same is true for your clinic. The same is true for your office or your desk, wherever it is that you work. Your nervous system is constantly responding to your environment, even when you are not consciously aware of it. I have just spent a weekend in London with my family. We went to the Royal Albert Hall to watch the Carols, and it was incredible.

[00:04:21] I was so overstimulated by the time I got on the train home yesterday that I could feel not not like anxiety or anything like that rising, but just this kind of feeling of overwhelm. And as soon as I walked into my calm, clear environment, light, bright space, I instantly feel better. So if your home feels busy, if it feels cluttered, if it feels unfinished, your brain never really switches off and there's always this kind of low level sense of noise of maybe of things to do, of decisions waiting to be made.

[00:04:59] Whereas when your space feels calm, when it feels supportive, you have much more capacity. You have much more brain space, you have more patience, you have more space to think. And as business owners and as clinic owners, as leaders, and as humans who carry an enormous amount of responsibility, that actually really matters.

[00:05:20] We often talk about capacity in terms of time and energy, but we rarely talk about the environment that we're recovering in, that we are thinking in, that we're creating in. I know that I get all my best ideas when I am often on holiday, when I have more space, when I'm in a calm environment. When I I'm in an inspirational space, so one of the first things.

[00:05:45] That I've been focusing on, and perhaps this came about when I was nesting during my pregnancy. But I am the chief declutter. Like I do not keep anything that we do not use. And I am constantly emptying cupboards, clearing out, making sure the space is at its absolute optimum. And I wanna be really clear here.

[00:06:07] This isn't like having a minimalistic life or an Instagram perfect house if that's not what you want. Decluttering from an energy perspective is about removing things that belong to an old season of your life. Things that you've outgrown, projects that are finished but are still hanging around. Clothes, papers, objects.

[00:06:32] Front lines that are stacked up objects that are linked to a version of you that actually no longer exists. Clutter is like unfinished business, and every pile, every overstuffed drawer, every cupboard that you avoid opening is quite a saying. You still need to deal with this. And that creates this kind of like energetic drag.

[00:06:58] And I've noticed that when you clear out something, even something small, you feel lighter, you feel clearer, you feel less busy in your own head, and. When you look at the environment that you work in, and I would encourage that for you to just do that. Now, many of you will listen to this podcast as you are driving to work to the clinic in a morning, on a Wednesday morning.

[00:07:19] Have a look around your car. Is it full of papers, sweet wrappers empty water bottles, kids, crap in the back. Foot marks all over the seats and yeah. Okay. We're all in a season of our life where that can be much harder to to keep on top of. But you can just get somebody to do that for you because actually your environment is so influential on how you show up and how you, look after things.

[00:07:45] Materialistic things really also impacts your, ability to attract more of what you want and for you to be a money magnet. When we treat things well, we are giving out. A sign to the universe that we we are ready for more of it. We appreciate it. We look after things. We are ready for more

[00:08:05] you don't have to do your whole house at once 'cause this is gonna really overwhelm many of you. When you look round your environment, you look at your office desk and think, oh my goodness, there's just papers and things that I'm never gonna read. Your email inbox will be one of those things that you've got things flagged that you think you're gonna read that are research article, and you're gonna go back to all of those flags on your emails.

[00:08:26] You are absolutely not. I want you to focus on the spaces that you use every day to start with the places that affect you the most. And the question that you always have to ask yourself is, does this support the person that I am becoming? Does having a wardrobe full of old clothes that might not fit or you don't even like, or don't bring you joy or don't make you feel good supporting the person that I am becoming because.

[00:08:57] If you wanna move your life forwards, if you wanna grow and achieve more things in your life, then you can't do that. Being the person that you are today. The person that you are today, you can be very thankful for, 'cause they have got you where you are now, but they're not gonna be the person that's gonna take you to that next level.

[00:09:16] So often when we are striving for bigger, more better, whatever that looks like in your health, in your environment, in your work, in your office. Car that you drive, the holidays that you go on, you have to start living like the person that's already achieving it. So ask yourself these questions. Does this environment, does my desk, does my clinic, does my house, does this draw?

[00:09:41] Does the clothes that I wear support the person that I'm coming? If the answer is no, then it probably doesn't need to stay. If you take nothing else from this episode, I'd invite you to look at one draw. Look at one surface, one cupboard. That would instantly make you feel lighter if it was cleared. One's clutter is reduced.

[00:10:02] Organization becomes about flow then it's not about perfection, it's not aesthetics, but it's about ease and for many clinic owners that I work with, in fact. I would say probably all the clinic owners that I've ever worked with have all been in overwhelm to some degree. But often when I look at how they run their life, how they operate day to day, the environments that they are in.

[00:10:33] They often don't support that feeling of ease, that feeling of flow. An organization is really about asking better questions. What creates friction for me in the environment that you are in, like a. Go around each room and literally just write a list of things that are broken that need fixing. Do you know one of the things that have weirdly started happening in this house recently?

[00:10:59] I have been doing a lot of stuff around feng shui. And for some of you, you'll think, oh my God, she's completely lost the plot. And possibly I have. But hey, here we are. I do lots of stuff and actually my house is already. Meets a lot of the Feng Shu principles. However, I've been doing loads and loads of stuff.

[00:11:15] And if you wanna know more about it, I would love to share how you map your house out. Split it into nine different areas. You label them the center north, northwest, northeast, south, southeast, and all of those different areas of your home represent different areas of your life. So for example your north corner of your home is career and business.

[00:11:35] And it goes on from family to health to all different money, wealth corner. And actually. When you just map out your floor plan of your home and split it into these nine areas, it's quite alarming. What parts of your life are and of your, perhaps, of your being that you feel are chaotic, unorganized, difficult have a lot of friction, and are then actually chaotic in the way that you have got them within your home.

[00:12:01] So let me explain. One of the things when I mapped out my home was that I am completely missing the north area in my house. And that's because the way that our house is extended and has been developed means that the whole north section does not exist. What actually exists. There is a patio at the, the side of the house over there.

[00:12:25] And that is your career and business. 

[00:12:29] And this got me thinking because, and I always am 

[00:12:35] honest with you guys in many ways some parts of my business and my career feel. Really easy and like I'm in flow. And for a little while now it has felt like some areas of my businesses and my career feel stagnant, feels stuck, feels like I can't get to that next level that I want to go to without feeling like all I have to do is just work harder and harder.

[00:13:02] And when I realized that the whole north corner of my home was completely missing this. Was quite a revelation for me. And also when I realized what was in that north corner was a cold tub. Like a, one of those bath cold things that you get in that we have one that like, keeps it cold constantly.

[00:13:21] I don't even what it's called, but you go in it and it's freezing. I don't go in it, my husband goes in it. And that was filled with Miny water and some worms. How gorgeous. Also on that patio was a hot tub that had now, has now seems to have got a puncture and was just deflating slowly over time.

[00:13:40] And that was covered in leaves. So the actual north area of my home was completely disorganized, chaotic. There was nothing there that was orderly. And hey, guess what? Yesterday somebody came and jet washed the patio. Somebody came and removed the old hot tub. We have cleaned out the coal tub, refilled it.

[00:13:59] We are getting a new hot tub in that area. And we are having certain colored fairy lights hanging there. It's gonna be very bougie and gorgeous and up leveled, and I'll let you know, or in fact you just watch what changes happen to my career and business over 2026. Now, this might feel completely out there for some of you, but if for any of you who are really into energy energetic shifts, really making sure that your environment supports your life, then I would encourage you to really delve into this a little bit more, so when things are organized in a way that works for you.

[00:14:36] Your home starts to support you rather than slow you down. And I totally got distracted then, but I was telling you about going around each room and writing a list of things that are broken. We suddenly developed squeaky doors. And when you have a young baby, that is not okay because. You are so obsessed about making sure every door, every, there is no noise ever because you don't want to wake a sleeping baby.

[00:14:58] That I was like, right? I've dealt with, this has been going on like for five months now, and I'm, these doors are really driving me mad. Bit of WD 40 came on Amazon, three quid fixed them all, but. That was just such an annoying thing that I never, ever sorted in all of these months. So you can write down a list of things that need fixing, that need sorting, maybe need redecorating that are broken, things that you wanna organize, and then in 2026 you can decide to organize one room at a time when they're organized in a way that works for you.

[00:15:31] You have to make fewer decisions. Who has decision fatigue? You are all so busy. You have so many decisions to make. You don't need to then come home and feel overwhelmed as well. You will feel less re resistance. You will move through your day much more smoothly and energetically that really matters.

[00:15:53] Your space can start to feel like it's holding you rather than demanding something from you all the time. And this has been a big one for me. It was about really simplifying systems in my home, making things easier to put away making outfit choices a lot easier, letting go of the idea that there's a right way to organize something, but the right one is the one that makes your life feel lighter.

[00:16:18] Now I wanna talk to you specifically about your desk layout because a lot of you tell me that you have admin time. I hate the word admin time because you are all business owners and business leaders and you should have a very small amount of admin time, and the rest should be business development time.

[00:16:34] But your desk layout is your like command center. It's where you think it's where you create, it's where you make decisions and what is in your eye line really matters more than you probably realize. And I've become very intentional about what's on my desk and where it is on my desk. Is there space in your office and in your desk to actually think, or is the just filled with crap everywhere?

[00:17:00] Are current projects visible or have you got just layers upon layers of stuff and notebooks upon notebooks that you are working with? Are there things around you that represent where you are going rather than where you've been? And when your desk is cluttered, you feel resistance to even sit down.

[00:17:21] And I know that I used to do this a lot. I would sit down at my desk, I would procrastinate like hell, and then I'd be like, do you know what? I'm gonna sort my desk out. I'm gonna do some cleaning, I'm gonna do some tidying. And Philippa talks a lot about, cleaning the grout in her bathroom on her tiles. She, that is her chief way to procrastinate.

[00:17:39] When it's clear and your desk space. I have upleveled my office space as well in December. We, I have painted it a gorgeous sort of blue color. I have moved the desk slightly. We, I've got some new grasses in there. I've got some new specific plants that can represent wealth and flow. I have reorganized my books.

[00:18:00] I have some new LED lights going in there. And when it's. Like when I get in there now there's nothing for me to sort out and organize. It feels very intentional. It's very inviting for me to want to create, and a really powerful question that I've been asking is, does this space make me want to sit down and work, or does it make me want to avoid it?

[00:18:21] Your environment is constantly communicating with you. I have got so many examples of. This in my life that I could totally go off on tangent with. But I want to touch briefly on Feng shui, and I wanna keep it really light because I appreciate that many of you are listening to this thinking. I am here for business advice, Katie, not to talk about reorganising my fkn drawers but I'm not an expert and I'm not gonna deep dive into rules and principles, but what I've taken a lot from.

[00:18:51] Feng shui is the idea of flow in your life, removing blockages, letting energy move, being intentional about what's in your space. Simple things like clearing entrances, letting light in, being mindful of what energy you are inviting into key rooms and. Feng Shui is less about tradition, but more about awareness.

[00:19:13] It's noticing how the space feels and adjusting it so it supports you. Now there's lots of different things that Feng Shui encourages you to do, and I have been Feng Shu in each area of my home over the last few months. And I'm gonna share this with you because, I think that you should hear this.

[00:19:33] And for those of you who just think have completely lost the plot then that's okay. But one of the Feng show principles is about money leaks and fixing money leaks in your home. And one of the things that they recommend that you do is tie red ribbon around the. Pipes that exit your house.

[00:19:50] So usually underneath your sinks and underneath your toilets, if you can access the mineral boxed in my toilet. So I can't do that. But underneath the sinks there is a pipe that takes all of the dirty water away and energetically one of the things that we recommend is Tiny Red Ribbon around it.

[00:20:04] Now, I'll be honest, I was like, how the fact is this gonna make any difference to fixing money leaks in my life? But I thought, you know what? I often don't need to know the how I am here for these principles. I am Feng suing a lot of my life in my home, so I'm gonna do it no sooner had I tied these red ribbons around my pipes.

[00:20:24] I had my tax bill sent through for my self-assessment pay that's due in January. And I took one look at it and thought, this has gotta be wrong. It has got to be wrong. I can't possibly be needing to pay that, that much tax in January. And I requested a meeting with my accountant and we were having a conversation about various things that were associated with my self-assessment.

[00:20:48] And what was quickly realized was that actually I could reduce my tax bill by 5,000 pounds. And I was like, okay, great. Like I'm really relieved that we've had this conversation and I'm not gonna have to pay 5,000 pounds to the HMRC, of which I probably could have got it back at some point, but I don't want 'em to have the money.

[00:21:08] And so I went about my business and the day went on. And it wasn't until I realized that the day before. I had tied these red ribbons around the house and something had made me question my self-assessment, and something had made me get on a call with my accountant and something had made me realize that actually it was wrong and that I wasn't going to be needing to pay all of that money.

[00:21:30] So I quickly saved myself 5,000 pounds. And there's been lots of other examples over the last few weeks since me tying around these red ribbons around my pipes that have been fixing lots of. Ways that I've perhaps been spending money, ways that I save money making different decisions in my life, just subconsciously.

[00:21:50] So anyway, I just thought I'd share that completely random thing that I have been doing, but is making quite a big impact. One of the biggest shifts when it comes to creating more flow and calm in your life has been getting help. It's such an important energy conversation because

[00:22:06] just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And when I realized that the north corner of my home was a complete and utter shit show I quickly I needed to fix this really soon because it was a, like a massive feeling of an energetic block there. And I thought, okay, how on earth am I gonna jet wash the patio, do all of this just before Christmas with a small baby that doesn't really sleep for that long at the moment.

[00:22:28] And I just thought, actually, just 'cause I can, doesn't mean I should. And I reached out to my cleaners. And I said, so here's the thing. I've obviously clearly decided one of my patios, need jet washing before Christmas. Any chance you can do it? He said holidays don't pay for themselves, Katie.

[00:22:42] I'll be there Friday two 30. So reaching out and asking for more support, whether that's a cleaner, a CarVal, a VA isn't indulgent, it's strategic. When your home becomes another job, it drains you. When you protect your energy, you show up better. When you make better decisions, you feel less resentful, you feel less stretched, and I know many of you are gonna be feeling very stretched at this time of year.

[00:23:11] Growth requires support, not just more effort, and I've realized that protecting my energy at home directly impacts how I lead, how I work, and how I feel. So if everything is energy, and I really believe this, and if you are not quite there yet, then that's okay. But it is a universal law. Then our homes and the energy of our homes and our desk spaces and our clinics are super powerful.

[00:23:42] They're either supporting you 

[00:23:45] in your growth or they're quietly draining you. 

[00:23:48] This isn't about doing more, it's about moving friction. It's about being intentional in the space that you live in. I'd love for you to notice this week how your home feels, and if you are open to it, choose just one small shift that might support you better.

[00:24:09] Now, this episode was very much an experiment, and I know for some of you, you will have loved it. And some of you were like, please, just let's get back to business next week. Katie and I genuinely love to know how it landed for you. If it resonated, please let me know because I would love to share with you so many of the other things that I've been doing that's making a massive difference to how I feel, how I show up the energy or, and the, and relationships in my house.

[00:24:34] And if it didn't. Resonate with you, then tell me. That's really helpful too. Thank you for being here. I wish you a very merry Christmas. A Christmas that is calm, that is not chaotic, that supports you and delivers for you what you really want out of Christmas, not what everybody else does. Thank you as always for being here and I will see you on New Year Eve.