I often have questions from nurse practitioners who message or email me about a specific issue in their business, job, or another professional/financial issue. Something I have noticed surrounding these questions and issues that are popping up in the nurse practitioners’ professional and business life is that the decision they are making is an emotional one. Essentially, they are letting emotion dictate an important business or professional decision…

Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT let an emotion dictate any type of decision in your business. An emotional decision is one not based on reality. Even though the emotion you are experiencing might feel real, often it is not best to act upon that emotion… especially when it comes to important decisions within your practice or business.

Emotions tend to cloud the objective world.

Emotions tend to make it difficult to quantify a problem.

Emotions tend to make it difficult to come to an objective, logical, and quantitative solution.

Here are some examples and an objective rebuttal to an emotion that can occur during your entrepreneurial journey:

“I have a feeling *this service* would do well in my area.”

Forget your feelings… You need to do some market research and determine how much competition is in your area. Don’t rely on a “feeling.” A very competitive market can be difficult to break into. Instead, deliver the service that is NOT available in your area to meet demand. That is an objective way to determine if starting a practice or adding a new service to your practice would be fruitful or not. Don’t do it because “you have a feeling.”

“I am just emotionally drained starting this business… I am going to give up.”

Fine, give up. Let your emotions dictate your decisions while the objective and logical nurse practitioner who knows starting a business is an emotional rollercoaster, and that fear is, in fact, not a real emotion 99% of the time builds a successful practice because they are prepared for these emotions and have decided in their mind that they will not let their emotions get the best of them. Instead, they will stick to the plan, follow the steps I have provided on Elite NP, and be patient while starting their business.

“I am so scared I am going to do something wrong… I just can’t get going because I am paralyzed by fear.”

Do not live in a state of fear… Fear is the dream killer. Fear prevents most people from doing the truly remarkable. Fear is an ancient emotion and in the present day, is typically a worthless emotion. You are worried you are going to do something wrong starting a business? Listen: as long as you aren’t committing fraud, stealing money from the government, hurting patients, or killing patients; then you are going to be fine. The regulatory boards aren’t out there LOOKING for you to do something wrong… and most of the time, if you are being non-compliant, it is very minor and a slap on the wrist -> fix the problem, and you don’t have to worry about it again.

“I am doing so great! I made so much money this month! I am going to go buy a new business vehicle!”

Hold your horses… This is not a wise decision. Don’t be hasty and impulsive. Do you have a personal emergency fund built up? Do you have a business emergency fund built up? Have you effectively reinvested back into your business so it can continue to grow? Are you working on becoming debt free? There are dozens of other financial decisions that make more quantitative sense to your overall financial well-being. A fancy new business vehicle is not going to accelerate your path to financial freedom. Instead, it will hinder it. I am never impressed by the person with a flashy car because 9 times out of 10, they have a ridiculous car loan on it… They don’t even own it; the bank does!

“I am so worried semaglutide is going to be pulled off the market, and I am going to lose a lot of business.”

Fine, this is a valid concern… but guess what? There ain’t a damn thing you can do about it… Do not let things that are out of your control produce anxiety in your mind. You only have so much mental energy, so why fill it up with anxiety about something you can’t control? Instead, look at history: compounding pharmacies find legal loopholes for a variety of medications all the time, so let this be their concern because they are the ones making a killing off this. And also think about it objectively: if semaglutide comes off the market, then fine – WE ALL PIVOT AND FIGURE IT OUT! There are lots of other weight loss medications out there, so your business won’t go to $0….

“I feel like an imposter… how can I be a successful nurse practitioner entrepreneur or an expert in this specialized niche?”

We all feel like imposters when we get started… It is part of the “dues of entrepreneurship,” folks. I don’t know a single successful entrepreneur who didn’t feel like an imposter at some point or another. If you let this negative emotion prevent you from starting or growing your practice, then you are letting your emotions get the best of you. Instead, look at this objectively: this is a common emotion, and all entrepreneurs experience imposter syndrome… therefore I am just going to accept the emotion and not let it affect my upwards trajectory because the imposter syndrome WILL pass in time.

“I am so scared of doing this on my own… so I am going to partner with another nurse practitioner or a greedy chiropractor or a greedy physician instead. This will help me feel better.”

Guess what? No, it won’t… instead, it will end up just pissing you off a year down the road when you are KILLING it through all the hard work you have put into your business, and now you have to give a percentage to this other guy who does very little. Partnerships rarely ever work out.

“My job provides me security and benefits… I can’t risk starting my own business or quitting my job to focus on my business full time.”

I hear this all the time, and frankly, it is nonsense… Your job is not as secure as you think. Do you remember what happened to a lot of folk’s jobs at the beginning of the pandemic? Do you realize that nursing schools are pumping out nurse practitioners by the tens of thousands a year? You are replaceable in the eyes of healthcare administration. You are not special to them. Plus, benefits are just a gimmick… You can take your $3,000 401k match and shove it because I just maxed out my self-employed 401k at $62,000 through my business. Benefits are smoke and mirrors to make you feel all warm and special inside when in fact, it really isn’t that big of a deal when you account for the revenue potential a niche practice can produce for the astute nurse practitioner entrepreneur.

Alright, enough of the examples… you get the point. Everyone reading this article needs to drill into their mind that business and financial decisions need to be made objectively and logically… NOT EMOTIONALLY!

Look at the numbers.

Look at the statistics.

Look at the demographic data.

Look at history.

Basically, think through things logically.

The rationale entrepreneur builds a successful and profitable business.

The rationale investor MAKES money and doesn’t sell when the market crashes.

The rationale nurse practitioner breaks free!

So, before you make any decisions in your business, ask yourself, “Is this being done based on an emotion, or is this being done based on objective reasoning?”