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How much have you invested in your business and your gut health?
I’ve noticed many parallels between my journey as an entrepreneur and my gut health. The decisions and investments that we make can determine whether or not we grow and improve – both in business and with our gut health.
In this episode of the Love Your Gut Podcast, I talk about imposter syndrome, dealing with the scarcity mindset, getting out of your assigned box, and embracing diversity and abundance.
Topics Covered in This Episode:
- Faith Over Fear – taking risks even if you don’t know the outcome.
- How to grow out of the scarcity mindset.
- Getting outside of the box instead of staying inside the box.
- Why we need to invest in ourselves and create an environment of abundance and diversity.
- Why it’s important to keep learning.
Sometimes, we can find ourselves in a rut. When we take a moment to look at the root cause of many of these problems, we find that we’re simply not taking the right steps – we’re focusing on other businesses instead of our own, we’re allowing fear to dictate our decisions, and we’re not taking care of our guts.
If this episode has been helpful, DM me on Instagram, and tell me about your experience!
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TRANSCRIPTION:
SPEAKERS
Dr. Heather Finley
Dr. Heather Finley 00:00
And I had this thought to have, what if I haven’t met a family of my own one day and I have digestive issues that hold me back from being the mom that I want to be? Or hold me back from doing the things that I want to do? Because the reality was that even though from the outside I looked like a fully functioning person, and had it all together, I truly didn’t. I said no, or I canceled plans at the last minute a lot. I would be the weird person always on a new elimination diet, and it really did affect my relationships.
Dr. Heather Finley 00:37
Hey, welcome to the love your gut podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Heather Finley, I know what you’re thinking, how am I supposed to love my gut when all it does is hold me back. I thought the same thing before I found my own relief from my own gut health issues. I dedicated my life to getting to the bottom of my own gut issues, so I can help women just like you transform theirs. Now I’m here to guide you through your own gut health journey. We do this through identifying your root causes and making sustainable and transformational changes. As a result, you can unleash your true potential. My goal is to empower you with the information and tools you need to love your gut. So it loves you back right here on this podcast.
Dr. Heather Finley 01:22
Hello, and welcome back to the next episode of the love your gut podcast. I am recording this episode kind of spur of the moment, I was swimming with my kids in the pool this afternoon. And it was kind of prompted to come record this episode. So here I am at 830 at night just wanting to share this episode with you. So I really hope that you find this valuable I it’s kind of different than any other episode that I’ve done thus far. But I think whether you are a practitioner, or you are a potential client, or just follow me on Instagram, I think that you will hopefully learn something and have just some good things to walk away with. So I know that in episode one, I shared a lot of my gut health journey with you. And what I thought would be super interesting. And what came to me while I was swimming in the pool this afternoon was just the parallels that I’ve had on my own gut health journey, as well as my entrepreneurship journey. And I get questions all the time from practitioners about entrepreneurship. Obviously, that’s part of what I do. Now, as a part of my business. I mentor other dieticians really with any challenge in life, I really think it’s helpful to reflect on what you’ve learned. And the journey is never linear, and it’s never smooth. And that’s really part of the process. So when I look at my story from my gut health journey, and if you’re curious more details related to that, you can go check out Episode One, there’s a lot of parallels that really stand out. And so I want to kind of take you guys back to the camp that I was in both when I was struggling with gut issues. And then also when I was really struggling in my business, you know, this, this kind of push and pull of, I want to find relief, but I feel really stuck. I want to do more with my career. But I also feel really stuck. I feel paralyzed imposter syndrome. I don’t know if I’m qualified. I mean, truly, if we’re being honest, the only reason I have a doctorate is because of imposter syndrome. I felt like there’s no way that I’m going to be able to help clients if I don’t have that doctor in front of my name. And if you’re listening and you are in the same boat, please know that that is not true. I’m grateful that I did it, of course. But I think had I not struggled with such impostor syndrome for so many years, I don’t think I would have been as paralyzed on this journey. And then similar to my gut health journey, and had I not struggled with feeling like I would never find relief or that no one understood me, I wouldn’t have felt stuck. I want to talk about three main points that really stand out to me about these two journeys and how they parallel. So the first one is the idea of being willing to take a risk, even if you don’t know the outcome. So kind of this concept of faith over fear. And really, in order to have momentum to do something, you have to do something, otherwise, you’re never gonna get that snowball rolling. If you’re trying to make progress on your gut health journey or you’re trying to even start a business or grow your business. It’s not going to do it itself. And I think the biggest fear that a lot of people have, whether they’re struggling with gut issues or their own business is this fear of what if I start some thing and what if it fails? Really, the only way you’re guaranteed to fail is if you don’t do anything or if you don’t start. And for years and years and years, I sat on the sidelines of my own business, watching other people build their empires and hoping one day that that could be true for me. But I was so paralyzed with fear. I was so paralyzed by my own imposter syndrome. And then similar on my gut health journey, I was so paralyzed by what if this next doctor still gives me the same answer that I heard the time before. What if this elimination diet leaves me feeling still super bloated and frustrated? What if this insert whatever the solution is here, leaves me feeling just as terrible as I already feel. And if I think back to what actually caused me to move on my gut health journey, it was the feeling of feeling sick of missing out, and people telling me that there was nothing wrong with me, it finally became so much more or so much less, I guess, about me, and so much more about other people. I was sick of my digestive issues impacting my husband, now husband, I was sick of my digestive issues impacting my family. And I had this thought to have what if I have my family of my own one day, and I have digestive issues that hold me back from being the man that I want to be, or hold me back from doing the things that I want to do, because the reality was that even though from the outside, I looked like a fully functioning person, and had it all together, I truly didn’t, I said, no, or I canceled plans at the last minute a lot, I would be the weird person, always on a new elimination diet. And it really did affect my relationships. And it makes me sad thinking about that. And, you know, there’s definitely people in my life that I know really stuck with me throughout that time. But, again, this, what caused me to move was that the mission or finding relief for my digestive issues was more about them. And it was more about the vision that I had for my future and how it was affecting my relationships and the outcome of my life. And then similar to my entrepreneurship journey, I knew that there was more, and I was sick of being told that the only way that I could grow my business was that I needed to raise my prices. Because if I started doing the math, I’m like, eventually, I can’t just continue raising my prices. I had heard that age old tale that you have to work clinical. So of course, I’m a rule follower. In some sense. I’m also not a rule follower in many, in many ways. But I did that for two years, literally, to the day. And looking back, that’s probably the worst advice that I’ve ever received. But I was I knew that there had to be more. And I knew also that I could impact more people. But I just didn’t know how. And so the mission here at the love your gut podcast, and in the gut Together program is to empower women to find relief from their digestive symptoms. And I knew that if I continued, just having individual sessions at the brick and mortar that I was working at that I was so limited in the amount of people that I could impact. So really, it took me seeing the vision and seeing that the mission was greater than me, and that I wanted to have this a ripple effect on other women, their families, etc. When I really think about kind of the root of both of these things that I’ve been talking about. A lot of it comes down to this scarcity, mindset, the scarcity of what if I try something new and it doesn’t work, or even the scarcity of other people telling me don’t go to another doctor, don’t try another thing, you’ve already tried so many things, it’s going to be a waste of money, or it’s going to be a waste of your time. Don’t do that. And then similar in my business, you know, when I started to scale, and I decided I really really love teaching and I the mission, again is bigger than me. It’s bigger than just helping my clients. It’s about empowering women from all over the world, which then requires me to teach other dieticians what I know about gut health, and I had many people that told me why would you teach people to do what you do? And I had to really check my mindset here because this is a scarcity mindset. And of course, I want other people to know how to do what I do, because it fits within the mission of being able to impact and empower women from all over the world to find Do relief from their digestive issues. And I believe in that mission, I believe that there’s plenty of room for everyone at the table. And it’s really important to stomp out that mindset, and even stomp out the people in your life that are affecting that mindset. And it may require, like really setting boundaries with people and really telling them, You know what your mission is, and that, you know, thank you for your opinion. But this is, this is what I’m doing. It’s really, really important. When you have a mission, and you feel so passionate and so strongly about it. There’s really nothing that’s going to hold you back. Hey there,
Dr. Heather Finley 10:41
I know you’re absolutely loving this episode. But I have to jump in really quick and remind you that I have a quick, free quiz that will help you finally figure out why you’re bloated. In order to live a life free of discomfort, you need to figure out what the root causes that’s making you experience these uncomfortable symptoms. The easiest and fastest way to do this is by visiting Dr. Heather Finley Dotco backslash quiz, take the quiz as soon as you can. So you can transform your gut issues and lead a happier, more vibrant life.
Dr. Heather Finley 11:13
Now, let’s get back to the episode. Whether you’re on a gut health journey, or you’re thinking about starting a business, or growing your business or wanting to invest in your own education or leadership, know that there’s no such thing as too many people, it’s not saturated, there’s always room at the table. And there’s always something else that you can try. I think probably the top thing I hear from clients that start working with us is I’ve already tried everything. And I’m, I’m so discouraged. Just know that there is a scarcity mindset out there. But you have to be willing to take a risk, even if you don’t know the outcome. That is that is very, very important. So point number two that I want to get into is this concept of getting outside of the box instead of staying inside of the box. When I was in our dietician school, we were really taught that, you know, if it looks like this and talks like this, then you put it in this box. And this is exactly what you do. And this is the protocol. And for a science math nerd like myself, that actually really worked well. For me, I was like this makes perfect sense. If you know we have these clients that look this way, this is exactly what you do. But the reality is that you can’t do that every person is unique, your gut is as unique as a fingerprint, when you are put in this box of you have IBS, that truly does nothing for you. Because your genetics, your lifestyle, your environment, your nutrition habits, everything about you is completely different from the next person, when you’re put in this box of IVs or SIBO, or even the box of there’s nothing wrong with you know that the goal is actually to get outside of that box. Because when you get outside of that box, it’s truly when you can know why you feel the way that you do. And then you can actually take actionable steps to find the relief that you’re looking to find because you have clarity, which is often the missing piece. The number one reason that women work with us is because they don’t know why they feel the way that they do. They just know that they feel terrible, they feel bloated, they feel constipated. And the lack of clarity is what keeps them stuck inside of that box. So similar on my entrepreneurship journey, I was put in a box, you’re a dietitian, you go to school, you do your internship, you take your exam, and then you work clinical for two years. And I again, like I said earlier, I’m kind of a rule follower. But the more the older I get the the more I’m not. And so I signed up to work my clinical job two years to the day, and then actually thought I can’t do this for the rest of my life. I thought actually about leaving the field altogether, because I thought there’s no way that I can do this for the rest of my life. And that was the process for me of getting outside of the box. I invested in other trainings I and that was part of my own gut health journey was going and getting my doctorate and doing other trainings and learning things a new way and learning to think differently and to no longer have this mathematical formula or this really rigid plan for every single client. Not only was I learning to think outside of the box for myself, for my own digestive issues, it was also helping me to see that there was a world outside of clinical. And if you love clinical, that’s great. But if you don’t know that there is so many other things that you can do with your career, and have a huge impact on other people. For me, getting outside of the box, like I said, looked like investing in other trainings, it looked like going back to school, it actually looked like taking a break from an r&d job altogether, I actually went and worked in a marketing department for an eating disorder treatment center, I was traveling, I was meeting people. And looking back, that was probably one of the best decisions that I ever made, because it gave me more clarity, and it gave me more clarity around, okay, I really do love nutrition, I just have to think outside of the box about how I’m going to help people. And in what setting I’m going to work, which is really what sparked me towards starting my private practice, starting to help clients individually and then eventually launching me into the online space and running the program that I run now for both clients, as well as practitioners. And the last point that I really want to leave you with is this concept of diversity and abundance. So if you’ve followed me on Instagram, for really any length of time, you’ve probably seen me post about diversity and not restricting foods from your diet and not going on elimination diets. And there is a parallel here between gut health and entrepreneurship. In the gut health world, especially in this day and age that we live in. gut health is very trendy. And I think a lot of times people think in order to improve my gut health, I have to cut out a bunch of different foods, I have to take all these supplements, I have to, you know, like limit my life, I can’t do all the things that I want to do. But gut health is actually about abundance. It’s about investing in yourself. It’s about experiences, it’s about actually adding to your plate to improve your bacterial diversity, adding in more sleep, more self care, getting rid of relationships or circumstances that no longer serve you, and truly living your life to the fullest. And for me, when I realized this, and I had this lightbulb moment in my own life of recognizing, okay, part of the reason I think I’ve never found relief for my symptoms is because I’ve been approaching gut health all wrong. My life transformed, because no longer was I worried about okay, what was that one food that I ate that made me bloated when I went to the restaurant, or why is it every time I travel, I feel terrible, I was able to actually get back on the same team as my body. And I was able to really tune into what my body needed, versus what I thought I had to restrict, or versus what I thought I needed to cut out of my life, I was now able to go on a date night with my husband stress free go on a trip and not worry about it. And I was able to learn a lot more about my body what it needed. And this getting away from this rigidity. And so my life was so much more abundant. And then on the entrepreneurship side, investing in myself and recognizing that other people knew more than I did. And gaining more knowledge was part of this diversity concept that I’m talking about, or this abundance mindset that I’m talking about. I made myself marketable by investing in myself investing in mentorship, investing in relationships. I remember actually the first investment that I actually ever made in my business, or the first true investment that I ever made in my business. I was on a walk with my baby girl, who’s now almost four years old. And I remember thinking, I’ve got to do something different. And I was listening to this podcast and it was a business mentor. And I remember being on the walk I booked the discovery call like while I’m on this walk, pushing my baby get home and I’m like what did I just do? But I was like, I can’t cancel the call. I already booked it. Had the call said yes to the mentorship on the call. And don’t even now looking back I have no idea how I said yes. It was like such an out of body experience but said yes. Knowing that I believed so deeply in my mission. And that’s really what kick started it all when the mission and the principles are clear. The decision is a lot of easier, even if it’s super hard, and I knew in that moment that I was destined for more. And so I had to act, even though I was completely scared. And I’m kind of paralyzed with fear. But I knew what I was destined for. And I knew that going back to point number one, I knew that the only way that I was going to fail was not doing anything. And that initial investment has brought more abundance into my life than I could have ever imagined. I was a team of one, when I made that call. Now, with a team of four, we have I have two dieticians that work with me and one health coach. In our program, we have been able to support more than 1000 women from all over the world in helping them find relief from their digestive symptoms, and enjoy food again. And this abundance has not only created a ripple effect in my business, but it’s also created a ripple effect in the families of the women that we work with, but also the lives of the employees that are on my team. It’s it’s this crazy, even just looking back, just thinking about the journey to get here, I realized that even over time, the mission has just continued to grow. It started off as just this small idea. And now it’s grown into this mission, where every day I’m thinking more and more about how I can can continue to grow and how I can continue to serve more people, just like the research on gut health continues to grow, there’s still so much that we don’t know. And I think that’s part of the reason that I love. The field that I’m in is that you’re never finished, you’re never finished learning. And I swore to my husband when I finished my doctorate that I would never go back to school. But what he doesn’t know is that I continue to have to learn from my job. So even if it’s not formal education, I still get to learn. And I will always be a student at heart, which is what I really, really love. Because they’re similar to a gut health journey, you never just arrive, you never just find the magic pill and you’re bloat free forever, and you never have to do anything. Again, it’s just becomes a part of your life. And again, it goes back to this clarity piece. When you have clarity, and you have a vision and you have a mission, the decisions become a lot easier, because I have clarity on why I’m bloated. And because I have clarity on my mission, it makes waking up every day a lot easier. And it makes my decisions each day a lot clearer, because I know exactly what I need to do to support my digestive health. But I also know exactly what I need to do. In some sense. I’m still learning every day on the entrepreneurship piece. But I know what I need to do to continue growing the mission of my business. The goal is to keep learning every case, every client is completely different. We’ve never worked with a client that is the same as someone else. Every month in my business is different. And instead of seeing this as a setback, it’s super exciting, because the journey is uncomfortable, of course, but it’s something that I’m proud of. And it’s something that continues to grow in me. And it’s definitely not something that happened overnight. But I can stand on top of all the failures and the bad ideas, because they’ve gotten me to where I am now, both on my digestive health journey and on my entrepreneurship journey. So this is a topic obviously that I’m super passionate about. And I really loved recording this episode. So I hope that it sparks something in you whether you are on your gut health journey, or you’re on an entrepreneurship journey or on the fence of an entrepreneurship journey.
Dr. Heather Finley 24:02
I really hope it sparked some type of insight or clarity for you. And know that my DMs are always open for questions or just discussion. I would love to support you love to chat back and forth with you.
And thanks so much for joining in to this episode. I will see you guys next week on the next episode of the love your gut podcast.
Please note that this episode is not a substitute for medical advice and you should always consult your health care provider prior to making any changes.
Well, that wraps up this episode. Thank you so much for listening. If you are a registered dietician or health professional and you want to learn how to treat even the most complicated GI cases with confidence, and build a sustainable and profitable business, my gutPractitioner Mastermind is for you. This deep dive mastermind will help you transform the way that you work with complex cases and become known as a go to gut specialist to surround yourself with like minded professionals build your confidence and absolutely soar in your career. Trust me, this is the training that I wish was around when I was searching for answers. We are enrolling now for our July cohort. Visit DrHeatherfinley.co/gutpractitioner to apply and for more information.
