Latest / The Uplift- with Luke Pollock / #10 - Solo Pod- My Reflection Routine
Transcript
- Luke Pollock: Hello, hello, welcome back to the uplift. Thank you for listening to this podcast. And thank you for all the support on the podcast. know, I've been feeling the love lately with it's been getting some, some more views than I thought some positive feedback. And ultimately it's something that I really enjoy doing at the minute. So long may it continue. I believe this is episode 10. It's a and answer episode. So I'm taking questions from Instagram, my Instagram followers. and gonna answer two of them on here today. I'm gonna get into some depth on it. But yeah, I'm joined by my sparkling water, which I've been obsessed with recently. had, yeah, I can't stop drinking this stuff and it's gonna, it's costing me a good bit of money as well. Every time I go into Tesco, I'm not getting the sparkling water. And it's kind of pretentious of me, but I just really, really enjoy it. I feel like. It's similar to the way people get addicted to diet coke. I think I'm getting addicted to sparkling water, is, yeah, strange in and of itself. But let's kick it off. think less is more with these sort of things. So I'm only going to answer two questions. I only got two sensible questions through also an ORC. But they were two very good questions compared to some of the questions I've been asked on those Q &A's. Normally... not not helpful, but these two are good So first one that we're going to be diving into is can you give me an insight into your reflective? Processes both clinically so as a physio and from a business perspective as well, So a few thoughts on this firstly, ⁓ I believe that reflection is is key ⁓ and that very easy to say and very hard to do because reflecting is deeply uncomfortable, it's time consuming and it's not black or okay? So it's not like a yes or no or I've done a good job there of reflecting on this. It's often opposite of all, know, the opposite of that. it's often you come away, maybe feeling a little bit more confused, but the growth then follows that reflection. So ⁓ the was reflective processes. So what processes do I for reflection? The first thing I would say I have learned over the past 18 months is I have to set time aside for reflection. a part of this has been from obviously plans, I'm a professional, I've tried to this online business and then trying to work full time, a full time clinical job as well. There was no time for reflection. So I couldn't reflect on how well rugby was going or how poorly it was going. I couldn't reflect on the online business because it was just keeping everything keeping each ball of the air was for me. I had no time or energy to reflect. So dropping my work hours has been huge and allowed me to reflect. Also staying off the business, off rugby and off work. Obviously on a and just off socials in general on a Sunday has been huge for reflection as well. I often find that my best reflection comes on a Sunday night. So those are two practical things I would say take away. ⁓ some time spent off social media during your week and sometimes during the week where you're not trying to keep one of those balls in the air. Okay, so that doesn't mean going out for a date with your significant other or seeing family because that's you're trying to keep the social life ball in there. But just sometimes set aside where you can reflect on what's been going well or what has not been going well. So that's the first thing I would say is set time aside for reflection. next thing I would say is create a process. So for me, that is writing, for you that might be speaking, or it might just be, you know, looking through old photos or maybe after see a passion, you think, ⁓ that was difficult. Let me write down. Or after you play game, you might think that was something happened there. Let me that down and then set time aside to go back to that. Like I said, for me that is writing. I am a big fan of writing. I will write quite a lot. And that's not like with a pipe, I'm a notebook and a fancy pen. Sometimes it is pen and paper, but also I don't have time for that. So often it's on my notes app on my phone or on Google Docs. I'm a big fan of Google Docs because you can just like full screen it and get a nice, a nice full screen or Hemingway.com as well. You can just full screen it so it looks like you have a clean page to write and you just get going and you can articulate your thoughts much more closely. I believe that most people who speak very well on camera or off camera or sound to you are probably writing in some capacity because speaking well and sounding well is pretty much just being able to portray your thoughts ⁓ in a concise It was... ⁓ I'm no surprise to me that I had George James on the podcast a few episodes ago and it struck me how well he articulated his processes, how he thought his passions and just how well he spoke as well. It was no surprise to me that he puts up on his Instagram story like almost a confession that he writes often, he writes poetry and that sort of thing as well. No surprise there, okay? someone who likes to write. knows what they think and they feel about certain topics and they can articulate it well because they really dove quite deeply into the topic. So one set time aside to form some sort of process. So whatever works for you, might not be writing, it might be you just want to go on a walk once a day after think about what happened in that day, think about is there anything you've learned that day and you could do better. And thirdly, be open to being wrong. All right, so when I started my career, I was very sure I knew what I was doing. Ultimately, I very sure that physio couldn't actually fix a whole lot in the start. And that was just because of a lack of knowledge. But I brushed up most treatment modalities off as, it might work, not. No one really knows, the research isn't conclusive. So we can just pretty much do anything. And that a way of hiding ⁓ hide in for me, but that's why I approached my career at the start and that lack of reflection on the very closed off attitude really, really stunned at my learning in that early period and I regret not trying to learn more early on in like my student days or whatever and my first few rotations. Now I come to, I like to think I come to patient scenarios and I will be very open to being wrong. I also, I see a colleague or a friend trading or even someone on Instagram trading in a certain way and I'm not quite sure what they're doing, I'll ask ⁓ that's another reason I'm really enjoying the podcast I get to talk to people who do things slightly differently to way I do. Which I don't know if it's completely true because everyone I to I've felt quite, quite closely related to in terms of. how we do things, but I'll get some more alternative people in the future. But yeah, I think it's just being open to being wrong and an opinion and yeah, having a way to do things is really good and reassuring to your patients. I wouldn't start sending my patients. I'm not too sure if this works, but I've seen it from my friend. I'd probably confident from my patient because we know that improves results pretty Yeah, having open attitude to others around you. And then also feeling confident to share, right? So if you share, I tried this and that worked. you reflect in of yourself, okay? So if you share caseloads with other people, even if those clinicians or don't or you're describing to a patient, quite often do this. When a patient has an injury I've had, I say, ⁓ when I have my ankle injury, per se, I did this, this and this, and that really helped me. I might not have actually consciously known that until I started talking about my ankle injury. So sharing stories of past patients you've treated your patients or to other friends. And this doesn't have to only be physiorelated. It can be in your day to day, whatever your line of work is, whatever your business is. You can take time to share a story of a similar problem you encountered and what you did about it. That is active reflection. So it doesn't always have to be in a very you know, deep and thoughtful manner. But I think it is very good. things that I would give you. Thomas, who asked the question, leave space. So don't just swamp yourself. think in 2026, it's becoming easier and easier to make more money by taking on more work. Try and fight that. It will serve you better in the long run if you save some of your time and reflect on what you're doing. OK, where am I going? what have I done? Was that successful? Was the way I treated that patient successful? Was the way I performed in my off season successful? Yes or no. maybe, maybe some things were, maybe some things weren't. Give yourself time. Find a reflective practice, whether that's writing, speaking to friends, or just going out on a walk and thinking. And then thirdly, having an open mindset to being wrong about things. asking questions, so try not to be too closed off. So those are the three things I would do. I know that was quite fizzy or heavy, but it's same as my in my business side of things, know. The more and more I'm asking, why am I doing this? What ⁓ road am going down? Rather than just going 100 % down one road and then finding out it wasn't the right road to go down at all. So I mentioned few. ⁓ episodes ago on the solo pod that a lot of my athletes were finishing up and I was rethinking how I wanted to take more people on. So that was a time of reflection for me. I didn't just think, okay, how can I get more clients straight away? I wanted to rethink that I was doing the right thing. So I got a business mentor. I talked to him about the way I was going. He said, yeah, actually the way you're going is fine. You maybe just need to up your prices a little bit more so you don't have like 70 athletes on, but you can have less athletes. and give them more attention. So that's what I've decided to do. yeah, we'll see if that works out. But if I had just not reflected and kept my head down, could have been months and months wasted to just find out the same thing. That makes sense. I hope that answers your Yeah, I think it should. Anyway, question ⁓ two then. would you say the biggest challenges to starting up your own online business. Okay thank you Callum. biggest challenge is starting my own online business. I would say, this quote, yeah, maybe a click beat thing to say, but I would say actually doing less is the biggest challenge when starting my own online business and consuming less. Maybe not less, would take that back. So I think it is good to get a broad range of ideas, but doing less. when I first my online business, I've started, I've started many before my physio page. ⁓ I started a Twitter account where I thought I was going to be like this guy. So was trying to write for other people's social media accounts. I a newsletter. started, I to do drop shipping way back in the day. I've tried to do a lot of different online businesses and they've mostly, they've failed up until this point, which yeah, which has been a big learning curve. But I would say, ⁓ I always was trying to do the next thing and trying to do too many things at once. So it's actually deciding to do less, is what I'm trying to say. So when you're starting an online business, be very clear on what you want to do and do it very well. So be clear on what you want to do and do it very well. So the part of deciding not to do things is as important as deciding what to do. Does that make sense? So for me, it's okay. I don't want to make viral videos. That's not going to be my priority now. Cause even if I have, you know, like 200,000 followers, but they're 15 year old girls or 60 old men, that's probably not going to be my ideal client range. Right? So it's decided what I'm not. So I'm not going to be that person who tries to make viral videos. Obviously I want my videos to do well, but that's not. what my goal is within that. I'm also not going to write the best newsletter all my followers every week. That's something that I really want to be able to do. I know at the minute I can't really afford to do that because I don't have the time and the energy, but that's something I would love to do. Things like this podcast is very tempting to think, okay, so I need to start an Instagram, I need to get newsletter, I need to then maybe get on a podcast as well. Like the stuff you can do is endless. So for me it was deciphering what is actually necessary. And then you can think, ⁓ there's paid ads and this tactic which gets you more followers and the algorithms doing this and that. And there's so much noise out there. So it's trying to decipher, cut through the noise. Who do I want to serve? What message do I want to put across? And kneeling that down in your own head. So I would write those things down and be sure what you're not as well as what you are. And then that yeah. hopefully holds you in good stead because it's very easy to follow the in the red dress. To Neo, very, very easy to follow And get distracted other shiny objects, other things that are trending. Yeah, the fight against virality the big thing, I think. ⁓ Not being obsessed with followers how well each post is but. being obsessed with the process and the service that you're delivering. Now, of course, you don't actually need a following to start an online business. You can start a successful online business without putting yourself out there on Instagram, et cetera. But assuming from the message that that is, because that's what I've done, that's sort of their advice I can give you. I'm starting an online business. would also say the more reps you do, the less you start, for me anyway, the I've cared about things like wonder how I'm perceived, et cetera. That stuff doesn't really bother me too much anymore at all. And I think lot that comes down to you start making money, you start to care less about other people's perceptions because you can see a tangible result for your efforts. So before that, a tangible results are people people's validation for you. So people saying that was good. your only way of knowing whether what you're doing is good or not. But not then we start making money. People give money. That's your result of, okay, no, that was good. And I don't need X, Y, and Zed, my granny or whatever to tell me it was good. I know that someone thinks it's good because apparently if we're talking on like personal brand side of things. which I'm trying to get better at. would say find the few things that interest you and try and turn yourself inside out almost. So try and show the world those things that interest you. I'm trying to get better at this because I'm a little bit nerdy and a weird about certain things, but from my page, it just looks like I love rugby and love treating people as a physio. Cause that's him trying to serve, but I like other things I really like. reading books, really like listening to podcasts. I like writing, for example, but I don't really share those things as much, which is something I'm trying to get better at. And that's hopefully this podcast can also serve as, a way to get to know me a little bit better on the inside, because you find out that the world is a big place, social media is an even bigger, well. It's not an even bigger place, but social media is also a big place. So there's going to be people that really relate to you, not only because of the sport you do, actually because you're a bit weird and a bit nerdy in certain ways. So you want to let those people find out that side of you. And it'll turn the way the people that aren't going to be your customers or your clients or your fans, and it'll bring the ones that are going to be in even closer. yeah, that idea of having a thousand true fans. to change your life is, yeah, said that? It wasn't Tim ⁓ Ferriss. was... Jimmy bring up the clips. was Kevin Kelly, A Thousand True Fans. If you haven't read the article and you're starting like a personal brand or any sort of business actually in 2026, say read the article, A Thousand True Fans by Kevin Kelly. And that will give you an insight into what I think about online business probably more than I can give an insight into. Okay, sorry, just had to have a drink of my sparkling water. The last thing I would say is starting an online business is actually probably one of most rewarding things I've ever done and that's because it gives you so much power back to yourself. So when you go through like school, uni, and then you think, well, I have to a grad job now and I have to this path, it can actually be quite, what's the word I'm looking for? can make you feel like you don't have much say in the matter because you're getting chucked along this conveyor belt. And albeit it's a privileged conveyor belt, it's a pretty solid one. It's a good one. Lots of people love it. But for me, it it feels, and it felt like a little bit like I don't really have a say in what I get to do here. Ultimately, I had a say when I was 18, when I decided this path. But beyond that, there's not much of a say for me here and I kind of just have to get on with it. You have to do this nine to five. When you start your own thing, you suddenly realize, well, I get final say on everything. And that is both difficult at the start, but then incredibly when things come off. And then you decide ⁓ I to wake up at nine o'clock on a Wednesday. I don't to, you know, or I want to stay up late and work on my business. And then I can have a chill morning and go out for coffee tomorrow morning. That is completely within your Obviously there's loads of negatives that, you you never stop thinking about it. You have to make your own money, et cetera, et But I think the positives for me so far are I wearing the negatives. That being said, it's much harder than I thought it was gonna be. And it to be harder every day than I think it's gonna be. yeah, another thing I forgot to mention is in terms of the content of things. which I'm switching over to now is making a lot more evergreen content. So that's content that can be consumed over and over and over again. So both just by trial and error, I've realized this and also conversation with Isaac Marsh, Kaizen Rugby last episode, where he sort of talked about that and how we can reuse content over and again for those people who haven't seen it already. ⁓ I thought was really helpful because when you're making that is ⁓ evergreen, so. you can refer back to in five years, you're gonna take more time with it, it's gonna be better quality. So one of my posts recently is the return to running post that took me like a full day to do that post. Initially I thought it flopped and then like a few weeks later it starts picking up and start getting more followers, more traction with it. And it's really handy to just have that post if I ever wanna send it anyone. And it's not like a one-off, this is what I did today post, that's just irrelevant after that day is over. that I made much of that content, but it's kind of changed mind into thinking, I want to make stuff that lasts that might take me a little bit more effort at the The difficulty with this is if you feel like you're not posting in any one day, it can feel like you're running out of time or you're getting left behind or the algorithm has forgotten about you. for me, it's trying to get something up there daily, but then working on those bigger posts, which hopefully will provide more value over the long term, if that makes sense. But yeah, those are the two questions for this episode. I've been nodding on for about 20 minutes. So that's probably long enough to hear my voice. I hope you have a great day or an evening, whatever time of the day you're listening to this. If you could please leave me five stars, that would be highly valued by myself. And then if you could send the podcast onto someone who you think will like it, maybe someone that's on the fence but is starting an online business or someone who needs to reflect more on their life, who knows? But yeah, thanks as always and have a good one. Cheers.