When Expectations Get Ahead of Us

UNCAGED CLINICIAN
Blog

April 27, 2026

Mental blocks may be created!

We’ve talked to hundreds of clinicians looking to build their practices.

Many things often stand in their way and slow them down.

Would you care to guess one biggie that affects clinicians mentally from achieving or simply moving forward?

Expectations.

Our own expectations may set us up for disappointment.

Worse yet, we wait to establish our identity, and even deem ourselves as successful only once our expectations have been met.

So many of us place our own self value in the hopes of a future event.

Consider this. What do we hear so many college students proclaim?

That is, “I’m trying to find my purpose.”

In other words, as entrepreneurs the cycle goes like this:

• Find my purpose

• Build relationships that go only with that purpose that will lead to my success

• When I reach that success, I will then call myself successful, my wife will be proud of me, I will then be a good father

But what if - honestly, this isn’t even a “what if”; rather a healthier approach - we reversed the cycle.

Allow ourselves to own identity from internal truths vs external outcomes.

Recognize our gifts and talents.

Sharing such things with others as we build relationships ultimately, our purpose is fulfilled.

In that process, we find success.

One direction of the cycle is a tireless battle that places a lot of weight and burden on our shoulders.

It’s like trying to get to the top floor by running up the downward escalators.

It can be done. But it’s exhausting.

One direction is like taking the elevator.

It’s effortless. Growth comes organically.

Specifically though, let's look at expectations.

There is one clinician who wanted to build a training facility for kids.

His plans are to have a substantial size building with all the bells and whistles.

This entrepreneur has struggled with gaining any measurable traction for the practice.

One of the primary reasons?

Expectations.

Rather than having the ultimate facility grounds to offer clients, the current gym is a half-cluttered garage.

What is available to offer to clients now isn’t the desired “look”.

The impact has been a reluctance to fully market, or even talk about the practice and the mission.

In some regards, there is almost an embarrassment to do so.

The primary block that is stopping growth is that expectations aren’t the reality….yet.

One of the things that gets in our way, and that limits our progress is when our practice isn’t looking like what we envisioned.

This is related to living in the “gap” or the “gain.” (Gap and the Gain, by Benjamin Hardy)

In general, the “gap” is when we focus on what we haven’t done. The “gain” is acknowledging what we HAVE done, and recognizing what we have not done, yet.

“Yet” being the key word.

But more than being in the gap with regards to our practice not looking a certain way - be it caseload or physical structure - we often allow the “discrepancy” to define us.

We feel ashamed. We feel hopeless. We spiral down a path.

In short, we are disappointed. Maybe even embarrassed.

Because things don’t look the way we imagined, we label ourselves as failures, imposters, not good enough, and on and on.

Imagine if we were to focus on what we’ve been given stewardship over right now, regardless of the “size.”

It’s only then that we will be able to have that which we envisioned to start to become a reality.

One UNCAGED coaching student recently grew by leaps and bounds in her confidence and overcame several mental blocks when she was able to acknowledge where she was in the "gain" of building her practice.

There were feelings of frustrations and doubts because, again, her focus was on the "gap" between real time and her expectations for her practice in the future.

She felt as though she was struggling to make connections, to acquire customers, and to maintain a full schedule.

In other words, the identity she was placing on herself was one of failure.

You can imagine the surprise and elation in her voice when told that she had already achieved her ultimate goal for starting her practice.

Even though she is not YET seeing the numbers that she one day hopes to have in her business, she is already winning.

Her practice as it is today affords her the personal "Why" for starting in the first place: more time with her children and her husband.

Receiving the accomplishments in the "gain" has completely unlocked her mental barriers.

There is a lot that goes into growing a successful practice. It is very “psychological” - as one student once stated.

The reality is that many budding entrepreneurs discredit or marginalize the importance of mindset and building a solid foundation.

Feeling uncertain about moving forward? To learn how we can help you, schedule a call with us.

Your Success is our success.

The UNCAGED team