A Mindful Eating Metaphor
It might help to think about this in terms of mindful eating. When you feel the urge to sign up for something, stop and ask: is my practice actually hungry for this?
-
If you've decided newsletters are your main marketing focus and you're specifically hunting for newsletter training - amazing. Dive in.
-
If you're just responding to a sale email, a fear of missing out, or a vague sense that you "should" know more? Take a step back. You might find the urge is actually about avoiding visibility work, not about needing to know this information right now.
When I'm tempted by a program but my business isn't actually hungry for it right now, I keep a running document with the link, price, and details. About 80% of the time, I realize that I don't need or want to do the program right now. It's a "nice to have eventually" versus a "I need to implement this right away and I think this course will help." Programs and classes are almost always offered again later.
A SuggestionBefore you sign up for anything this fall, ask yourself:
-
Is this a hunger in my business right now?
-
Am I going to implement what I learn, or just collect more information?
-
Am I using learning as a way to avoid the harder work of being seen?
We want synergy between what we're taking in and what we're putting out. Make sure there's a balance between the two.
Links and Resources-
Submit a question for a future episode at intheclinic.com
-
Sign up for my weekly Practitioner Notes newsletter at intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com
-
Find all episodes and show notes at intheclinic.com
I'm Camille Freeman, DCN, RH, and I host In the Clinic with Camille, a podcast for herbalists and nutritionists building and growing their private practices. I've been in clinical practice since 2003 with a focus on fertility, pregnancy, and menstrual health.
Thanks for listening.
I'd love to hear from you. Leave me a voicemail with feedback or submit a question (click the pink "Send Camille a Message" button on the side of the page) 💚
Camille's Helpful Links for Practitioners
WEBVTT
00:00:00.429 --> 00:00:03.677
Hi there. Welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman,
00:00:03.677 --> 00:00:07.587
and this is a podcast for herbalists and nutritionists who are in clinical practice
00:00:07.587 --> 00:00:10.256
with the hopes of making your life just a little bit easier.
00:00:10.866 --> 00:00:14.720
So today I wanted to share some thoughts about consumption.
00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:16.607
We are in back-to-school mode,
00:00:16.607 --> 00:00:19.916
at least here in the U.S., and where I live locally in Stanton, Virginia.
00:00:20.316 --> 00:00:24.188
The kids are already back to school. My kids are going back to school over the next week or two.
00:00:24.641 --> 00:00:29.018
I think in many parts of the U.S., we are at least in that mode or getting there really soon.
00:00:29.651 --> 00:00:34.887
And as part of that, I always notice in September, there's an increase in back
00:00:34.887 --> 00:00:38.539
to school energy among practitioners where people are like, okay,
00:00:38.887 --> 00:00:42.538
summer plans are done. There's a little bit of chaos going on in the summer.
00:00:43.212 --> 00:00:46.567
Now it's the fall and people are kind of ready to jump back into things.
00:00:46.567 --> 00:00:52.042
There's a little bit of that ambitious, you know, let me take some classes or start new things.
00:00:52.338 --> 00:00:56.506
There's like a little bump of that sort of feel in the air right now.
00:00:57.424 --> 00:01:03.575
And I start to think a lot about signing up for classes and programs,
00:01:03.575 --> 00:01:08.285
that there is always an increase in enrollment at this time of year, which I think is great.
00:01:08.285 --> 00:01:14.075
But I wanted to remind you that especially when you are in practice,
00:01:14.075 --> 00:01:17.135
when you're done with your schooling, at least your formal schooling,
00:01:17.135 --> 00:01:19.374
and your main focus right now is,
00:01:19.972 --> 00:01:23.553
doing your clinical work, building your practice, building your business, and so forth,
00:01:24.062 --> 00:01:30.585
it's really easy to get swept into that let me sign up for a course energy without
00:01:30.585 --> 00:01:35.509
thinking through what it means so this comes back to the conversation of balancing,
00:01:35.951 --> 00:01:40.502
consumption and creativity so almost like balancing input and output,
00:01:41.152 --> 00:01:45.905
and it's really easy to take a course or a class because it feels very productive
00:01:45.905 --> 00:01:49.595
it feels like oh yeah i'm doing something but what happens is if we just take
00:01:49.595 --> 00:01:53.505
courses and take classes and do trainings and read books about things or whatever
00:01:53.505 --> 00:01:54.805
else it is, but we never actually.
00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.595
Do the things that are taught in the class, we don't actually implement any
00:01:59.595 --> 00:02:01.561
of it, then we just wind up,
00:02:02.169 --> 00:02:07.355
consuming and consuming and consuming, but never actually transforming that
00:02:07.355 --> 00:02:10.595
and bringing it out into the world for the benefit of our clients,
00:02:10.595 --> 00:02:13.350
our potential clients, our communities, and so forth.
00:02:13.878 --> 00:02:19.520
So we really want to think carefully about balancing what we're consuming with
00:02:19.712 --> 00:02:24.535
outward action and the things that we need to do to meet people,
00:02:24.535 --> 00:02:28.530
to be involved in our communities, to show up for other people, those are a lot harder.
00:02:28.768 --> 00:02:33.040
Those are sometimes, depending on your constitution and your personality, those are less fun.
00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:37.625
And so sometimes it just feels easier or better or more productive to take the
00:02:37.625 --> 00:02:40.134
class, to do the consuming part, because we know how to do that.
00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.454
We're good at that. Most of us have been doing that since we are in kindergarten.
00:02:44.267 --> 00:02:49.108
And the part about putting yourself out there and being visible and doing marketing,
00:02:49.497 --> 00:02:53.114
that's a new skill, a newer skill. For many of us, it's less comfortable.
00:02:53.875 --> 00:02:55.272
We like to think, oh, okay, I'll just,
00:02:55.961 --> 00:02:58.539
I'll just make sure I know what I'm doing before I do that.
00:02:59.212 --> 00:03:06.045
So my encouragement to you right now is if you are feeling that temptation to
00:03:06.376 --> 00:03:10.335
take a class, to do a training, I want you to really ask yourself.
00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:13.859
Is this something that I need right now?
00:03:13.859 --> 00:03:17.852
And I actually want to tie this into the concept of mindful eating.
00:03:18.409 --> 00:03:20.989
Those of you in the nutrition field are familiar with this, but I think it's
00:03:20.989 --> 00:03:24.046
a concept that's pretty familiar to anybody.
00:03:24.441 --> 00:03:28.029
In mindful eating, one of the things that we teach is really listening to your
00:03:28.029 --> 00:03:33.363
hunger signals and trying to figure out what is your body telling you.
00:03:33.746 --> 00:03:36.962
Are you thirsty? Are you actually hungry? Are you just bored?
00:03:37.316 --> 00:03:41.399
Or is this a social occasion? Whatever it is to try to sort through some of
00:03:41.399 --> 00:03:47.111
the stimuli and figure out what does your body need and are you filling and meeting those needs.
00:03:47.698 --> 00:03:53.373
So I think you can actually take that same concept and apply it to taking a course.
00:03:53.993 --> 00:03:59.129
So if you are feeling the desire to sign up for a program, a course,
00:03:59.129 --> 00:04:05.299
whatever it is, I really want you to stop and ask yourself, is my business,
00:04:05.299 --> 00:04:08.875
is my clinical practice hungry for this right now?
00:04:09.031 --> 00:04:11.371
Like this particular class, this information.
00:04:11.783 --> 00:04:15.799
So for example, you may be in a place where you've decided, hey,
00:04:15.799 --> 00:04:20.605
I want to really work on my newsletter because that's the main portion of my marketing.
00:04:21.093 --> 00:04:26.049
And therefore, I'm hungry for trainings, books, classes, workshops about how
00:04:26.049 --> 00:04:27.449
to do a better job with my newsletter.
00:04:27.989 --> 00:04:32.239
That's amazing. I encourage you to do it. Do some research. Find the best courses
00:04:32.239 --> 00:04:35.002
or resources for you and dive into them.
00:04:35.391 --> 00:04:41.097
And I think we all know what that feels like to be on a real hunt for information with a purpose.
00:04:41.753 --> 00:04:45.509
It almost feels like, oh, yes, I could do this. And you're implementing it.
00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:48.556
You're taking it in and then you're using the information right away.
00:04:49.200 --> 00:04:53.319
I think that's amazing. But if you were just like, oh, somebody put this into
00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:57.859
my inbox and it's on sale right now, or it probably is a good idea for later,
00:04:57.859 --> 00:05:00.437
or I should for various reasons.
00:05:01.307 --> 00:05:04.430
When you check in with yourself, you're not actually hungry for that right now.
00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:07.745
There's no particular need for it in your business right now.
00:05:08.232 --> 00:05:12.455
I really encourage you to sit with what it was that made you think,
00:05:12.455 --> 00:05:13.905
hmm, I should sign up for this.
00:05:13.905 --> 00:05:18.263
Because you might find that it is a desire to avoid other types of marketing,
00:05:18.623 --> 00:05:23.315
it's the desire to do something productive, or that feels like you're making
00:05:23.315 --> 00:05:26.373
forward progress, and just check in to make sure that's really what this is.
00:05:26.831 --> 00:05:31.465
Okay so we're we're doing kind of a mindful check-in before we sign up for any
00:05:31.465 --> 00:05:34.615
courses or programs it's kind of funny for me to be saying this because I am
00:05:34.615 --> 00:05:38.845
actually opening multiple courses and programs this fall but I really hope that
00:05:38.845 --> 00:05:40.282
the people who sign up for them,
00:05:40.816 --> 00:05:44.804
are folks who have been wanting something specifically like what I'm offering
00:05:45.193 --> 00:05:48.175
and they're not like oh let me just do this just because it's available and,
00:05:48.836 --> 00:05:53.919
I could right so anyway that's what I want to share with you this week.
00:05:54.256 --> 00:05:56.785
If you're feeling that back to school energy, you're feeling like you want to
00:05:56.785 --> 00:06:01.835
sign up for something, just ask yourself, is this a hunger in your business
00:06:01.835 --> 00:06:07.555
right now? Is there a reason that you need to learn or do this particular thing in this moment of time?
00:06:08.171 --> 00:06:12.368
If not, one of the things that I find really helpful is just to keep a list,
00:06:12.966 --> 00:06:15.183
of programs that I might like to do.
00:06:15.833 --> 00:06:20.185
So I just, if I'm feeling tempted by something, I just go ahead and copy the
00:06:20.185 --> 00:06:22.224
link, the price, a little bit about it.
00:06:22.503 --> 00:06:23.555
I just have a big document where
00:06:23.555 --> 00:06:26.404
I'm like, oh, these are programs that I would love to do at some point.
00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:31.028
And then I ask myself, do I need this right now? And usually,
00:06:31.028 --> 00:06:35.257
probably 80% of the time, the answer is no. So I just keep it there.
00:06:35.663 --> 00:06:40.348
And then if the time comes when I do want or need that sort of training book
00:06:40.348 --> 00:06:43.878
class program, then I can go back and be like, oh, yeah, what have I already
00:06:43.878 --> 00:06:48.502
come across that might help me with this particular thing? And I can sign up for the program then.
00:06:48.764 --> 00:06:51.382
Because almost always these things are available. It's never,
00:06:51.904 --> 00:06:55.236
almost never, the last chance to possibly ever do the thing.
00:06:55.654 --> 00:06:56.763
So just keep that in mind.
00:06:57.495 --> 00:07:03.909
And remember, we always want to balance the creative consumption with the creative output.
00:07:04.246 --> 00:07:07.908
So we want to be weighing it out. How much are you taking in and then how much
00:07:07.908 --> 00:07:10.544
are you actually implementing and doing and putting out?
00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:13.778
I want to make sure there's a little bit of synergy there so that you're not
00:07:13.778 --> 00:07:16.135
overdoing it in one direction or the other.
00:07:16.830 --> 00:07:20.048
Okay, I hope that's helpful. Thanks so much for listening. I know in August,
00:07:20.048 --> 00:07:24.290
people are busy and lots is going on, so I really appreciate you being here.
00:07:24.946 --> 00:07:28.708
If you would like to be receiving my practitioner notes newsletter and you're
00:07:28.708 --> 00:07:33.198
not already getting it, you can go to intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com
00:07:33.198 --> 00:07:36.048
or just check the show notes, put your name in there.
00:07:36.048 --> 00:07:40.058
I'll send you an email. It goes out every Thursday specific for practitioners
00:07:40.058 --> 00:07:43.768
and we cover things in the newsletter that are not talked about on the podcast.
00:07:43.768 --> 00:07:46.017
So I'd love to send it to you on Thursday.
00:07:46.661 --> 00:07:50.237
Otherwise, I hope you have an amazing day and thank you so much for the work that you do.
00:00:00.429 --> 00:00:03.677
Hi there. Welcome to In the Clinic with Camille. My name is Camille Freeman,
00:00:03.677 --> 00:00:07.587
and this is a podcast for herbalists and nutritionists who are in clinical practice
00:00:07.587 --> 00:00:10.256
with the hopes of making your life just a little bit easier.
00:00:10.866 --> 00:00:14.720
So today I wanted to share some thoughts about consumption.
00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:16.607
We are in back-to-school mode,
00:00:16.607 --> 00:00:19.916
at least here in the U.S., and where I live locally in Stanton, Virginia.
00:00:20.316 --> 00:00:24.188
The kids are already back to school. My kids are going back to school over the next week or two.
00:00:24.641 --> 00:00:29.018
I think in many parts of the U.S., we are at least in that mode or getting there really soon.
00:00:29.651 --> 00:00:34.887
And as part of that, I always notice in September, there's an increase in back
00:00:34.887 --> 00:00:38.539
to school energy among practitioners where people are like, okay,
00:00:38.887 --> 00:00:42.538
summer plans are done. There's a little bit of chaos going on in the summer.
00:00:43.212 --> 00:00:46.567
Now it's the fall and people are kind of ready to jump back into things.
00:00:46.567 --> 00:00:52.042
There's a little bit of that ambitious, you know, let me take some classes or start new things.
00:00:52.338 --> 00:00:56.506
There's like a little bump of that sort of feel in the air right now.
00:00:57.424 --> 00:01:03.575
And I start to think a lot about signing up for classes and programs,
00:01:03.575 --> 00:01:08.285
that there is always an increase in enrollment at this time of year, which I think is great.
00:01:08.285 --> 00:01:14.075
But I wanted to remind you that especially when you are in practice,
00:01:14.075 --> 00:01:17.135
when you're done with your schooling, at least your formal schooling,
00:01:17.135 --> 00:01:19.374
and your main focus right now is,
00:01:19.972 --> 00:01:23.553
doing your clinical work, building your practice, building your business, and so forth,
00:01:24.062 --> 00:01:30.585
it's really easy to get swept into that let me sign up for a course energy without
00:01:30.585 --> 00:01:35.509
thinking through what it means so this comes back to the conversation of balancing,
00:01:35.951 --> 00:01:40.502
consumption and creativity so almost like balancing input and output,
00:01:41.152 --> 00:01:45.905
and it's really easy to take a course or a class because it feels very productive
00:01:45.905 --> 00:01:49.595
it feels like oh yeah i'm doing something but what happens is if we just take
00:01:49.595 --> 00:01:53.505
courses and take classes and do trainings and read books about things or whatever
00:01:53.505 --> 00:01:54.805
else it is, but we never actually.
00:01:55.500 --> 00:01:59.595
Do the things that are taught in the class, we don't actually implement any
00:01:59.595 --> 00:02:01.561
of it, then we just wind up,
00:02:02.169 --> 00:02:07.355
consuming and consuming and consuming, but never actually transforming that
00:02:07.355 --> 00:02:10.595
and bringing it out into the world for the benefit of our clients,
00:02:10.595 --> 00:02:13.350
our potential clients, our communities, and so forth.
00:02:13.878 --> 00:02:19.520
So we really want to think carefully about balancing what we're consuming with
00:02:19.712 --> 00:02:24.535
outward action and the things that we need to do to meet people,
00:02:24.535 --> 00:02:28.530
to be involved in our communities, to show up for other people, those are a lot harder.
00:02:28.768 --> 00:02:33.040
Those are sometimes, depending on your constitution and your personality, those are less fun.
00:02:33.580 --> 00:02:37.625
And so sometimes it just feels easier or better or more productive to take the
00:02:37.625 --> 00:02:40.134
class, to do the consuming part, because we know how to do that.
00:02:40.430 --> 00:02:43.454
We're good at that. Most of us have been doing that since we are in kindergarten.
00:02:44.267 --> 00:02:49.108
And the part about putting yourself out there and being visible and doing marketing,
00:02:49.497 --> 00:02:53.114
that's a new skill, a newer skill. For many of us, it's less comfortable.
00:02:53.875 --> 00:02:55.272
We like to think, oh, okay, I'll just,
00:02:55.961 --> 00:02:58.539
I'll just make sure I know what I'm doing before I do that.
00:02:59.212 --> 00:03:06.045
So my encouragement to you right now is if you are feeling that temptation to
00:03:06.376 --> 00:03:10.335
take a class, to do a training, I want you to really ask yourself.
00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:13.859
Is this something that I need right now?
00:03:13.859 --> 00:03:17.852
And I actually want to tie this into the concept of mindful eating.
00:03:18.409 --> 00:03:20.989
Those of you in the nutrition field are familiar with this, but I think it's
00:03:20.989 --> 00:03:24.046
a concept that's pretty familiar to anybody.
00:03:24.441 --> 00:03:28.029
In mindful eating, one of the things that we teach is really listening to your
00:03:28.029 --> 00:03:33.363
hunger signals and trying to figure out what is your body telling you.
00:03:33.746 --> 00:03:36.962
Are you thirsty? Are you actually hungry? Are you just bored?
00:03:37.316 --> 00:03:41.399
Or is this a social occasion? Whatever it is to try to sort through some of
00:03:41.399 --> 00:03:47.111
the stimuli and figure out what does your body need and are you filling and meeting those needs.
00:03:47.698 --> 00:03:53.373
So I think you can actually take that same concept and apply it to taking a course.
00:03:53.993 --> 00:03:59.129
So if you are feeling the desire to sign up for a program, a course,
00:03:59.129 --> 00:04:05.299
whatever it is, I really want you to stop and ask yourself, is my business,
00:04:05.299 --> 00:04:08.875
is my clinical practice hungry for this right now?
00:04:09.031 --> 00:04:11.371
Like this particular class, this information.
00:04:11.783 --> 00:04:15.799
So for example, you may be in a place where you've decided, hey,
00:04:15.799 --> 00:04:20.605
I want to really work on my newsletter because that's the main portion of my marketing.
00:04:21.093 --> 00:04:26.049
And therefore, I'm hungry for trainings, books, classes, workshops about how
00:04:26.049 --> 00:04:27.449
to do a better job with my newsletter.
00:04:27.989 --> 00:04:32.239
That's amazing. I encourage you to do it. Do some research. Find the best courses
00:04:32.239 --> 00:04:35.002
or resources for you and dive into them.
00:04:35.391 --> 00:04:41.097
And I think we all know what that feels like to be on a real hunt for information with a purpose.
00:04:41.753 --> 00:04:45.509
It almost feels like, oh, yes, I could do this. And you're implementing it.
00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:48.556
You're taking it in and then you're using the information right away.
00:04:49.200 --> 00:04:53.319
I think that's amazing. But if you were just like, oh, somebody put this into
00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:57.859
my inbox and it's on sale right now, or it probably is a good idea for later,
00:04:57.859 --> 00:05:00.437
or I should for various reasons.
00:05:01.307 --> 00:05:04.430
When you check in with yourself, you're not actually hungry for that right now.
00:05:04.889 --> 00:05:07.745
There's no particular need for it in your business right now.
00:05:08.232 --> 00:05:12.455
I really encourage you to sit with what it was that made you think,
00:05:12.455 --> 00:05:13.905
hmm, I should sign up for this.
00:05:13.905 --> 00:05:18.263
Because you might find that it is a desire to avoid other types of marketing,
00:05:18.623 --> 00:05:23.315
it's the desire to do something productive, or that feels like you're making
00:05:23.315 --> 00:05:26.373
forward progress, and just check in to make sure that's really what this is.
00:05:26.831 --> 00:05:31.465
Okay so we're we're doing kind of a mindful check-in before we sign up for any
00:05:31.465 --> 00:05:34.615
courses or programs it's kind of funny for me to be saying this because I am
00:05:34.615 --> 00:05:38.845
actually opening multiple courses and programs this fall but I really hope that
00:05:38.845 --> 00:05:40.282
the people who sign up for them,
00:05:40.816 --> 00:05:44.804
are folks who have been wanting something specifically like what I'm offering
00:05:45.193 --> 00:05:48.175
and they're not like oh let me just do this just because it's available and,
00:05:48.836 --> 00:05:53.919
I could right so anyway that's what I want to share with you this week.
00:05:54.256 --> 00:05:56.785
If you're feeling that back to school energy, you're feeling like you want to
00:05:56.785 --> 00:06:01.835
sign up for something, just ask yourself, is this a hunger in your business
00:06:01.835 --> 00:06:07.555
right now? Is there a reason that you need to learn or do this particular thing in this moment of time?
00:06:08.171 --> 00:06:12.368
If not, one of the things that I find really helpful is just to keep a list,
00:06:12.966 --> 00:06:15.183
of programs that I might like to do.
00:06:15.833 --> 00:06:20.185
So I just, if I'm feeling tempted by something, I just go ahead and copy the
00:06:20.185 --> 00:06:22.224
link, the price, a little bit about it.
00:06:22.503 --> 00:06:23.555
I just have a big document where
00:06:23.555 --> 00:06:26.404
I'm like, oh, these are programs that I would love to do at some point.
00:06:27.170 --> 00:06:31.028
And then I ask myself, do I need this right now? And usually,
00:06:31.028 --> 00:06:35.257
probably 80% of the time, the answer is no. So I just keep it there.
00:06:35.663 --> 00:06:40.348
And then if the time comes when I do want or need that sort of training book
00:06:40.348 --> 00:06:43.878
class program, then I can go back and be like, oh, yeah, what have I already
00:06:43.878 --> 00:06:48.502
come across that might help me with this particular thing? And I can sign up for the program then.
00:06:48.764 --> 00:06:51.382
Because almost always these things are available. It's never,
00:06:51.904 --> 00:06:55.236
almost never, the last chance to possibly ever do the thing.
00:06:55.654 --> 00:06:56.763
So just keep that in mind.
00:06:57.495 --> 00:07:03.909
And remember, we always want to balance the creative consumption with the creative output.
00:07:04.246 --> 00:07:07.908
So we want to be weighing it out. How much are you taking in and then how much
00:07:07.908 --> 00:07:10.544
are you actually implementing and doing and putting out?
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I want to make sure there's a little bit of synergy there so that you're not
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overdoing it in one direction or the other.
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Okay, I hope that's helpful. Thanks so much for listening. I know in August,
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people are busy and lots is going on, so I really appreciate you being here.
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If you would like to be receiving my practitioner notes newsletter and you're
00:07:28.708 --> 00:07:33.198
not already getting it, you can go to intheclinic.com or camillefreeman.com
00:07:33.198 --> 00:07:36.048
or just check the show notes, put your name in there.
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I'll send you an email. It goes out every Thursday specific for practitioners
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and we cover things in the newsletter that are not talked about on the podcast.
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So I'd love to send it to you on Thursday.
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Otherwise, I hope you have an amazing day and thank you so much for the work that you do.