THE STORY:

my neighborhood nail salon, 1pm Thursday

It’s a drizzly Thursday afternoon, Adele is blasting from the speakers overhead, and everyone in the nail salon is secretly wondering:

• if they like their nail color

• if they should speak up about their nail color

• or if they should just trust the process, add some chrome to it! Ahhh the joys of girlhood.

Every 2nd Thursday of the month is my favorite day of the month because it means one thing: nail day!!!! (Some months it also corresponds with the, like, one day a month I do a fun online yoga class. It’s nice to feel like you’re better than everyone, even if only for just one day a month).

I didn’t always get my nails done, I used to think it cost too much and I could just as easily do my nails at home. I used to say “someday when I finally get to xyz, THEN I’ll get my nails done”.

But one day this winter I finally caved, and what’s kept me coming back month after month is not just my rapport with my nail tech, Ivy - but I’ve found something way more valuable in it than just my nails alone.

and that is: it turns me into my alter ego. 

Have you heard of the alter ego effect?

It’s a concept that you might not realize is shaping our world every day - specifically the people we idolize.

Beyonce had Sasha Fierce to help her overcome the pressures of performing to large audiences on stage

Kobe Bryant had Black Mamba to boost his performance on the court

Eminem used Slim Shady to rap about darker topics and personal struggles

per chatGPT (which I agree with) “Alter egos can help performers understand what's important to them and share it with the world without fear of judgment”

while it’s not quite the same thing as performing to sold out stadiums, I would argue that telling someone they need a root canal and a crown can be intimidating in it’s own ways - and that’s when I turn to my own alter ego.

I haven’t fully set on a name yet - but let me tell you a bit about my alter ego:

• 1. She always has her nails done

• 2. She’s bold, fearless, and confident. Even in the toughest of times, even when mercury is in retrograde!!! (*at authors current time of writing, it is not. But it is coming I feel it.)

• 3. She probably does online yoga classes more than once a month but SHE’S WORKING ON THAT OK

• 4. And last but not least: she knows her stuff, and acts like it. She doesn’t care what others think of her.

The beauty of alter egos is that you don’t have to be like them, in fact - it’s part of the process to not be like them. I’m not always bold or confident, I care what others think.

And that’s the VIT of the week (very important thing) about why this alter ego trick works - if you have a task at hand that you WANT to do but the thought of judgment from others or the work it takes SCARES you, use this trick to emotionally separate yourself from the action you want to do, and with it, so goes your baggage/insecurities/pre-conceived notions.

This exercise is incredible for a couple reasons:

1. You uncover beliefs you have about successful people that you might not realize you had - for ex. I subconsciously believed that successful people take good care of themselves, hence the nice nails. And what was I doing? NOT taking good care of myself. So subconsciously, I was automatically setting myself up to feel unsuccessful, or “not like them”.

2. You quiet the noise of insecurities and emotions that impair us in the day to day.

3. Let’s be honest, deep down you KNOW what you should be doing to move the needle. But it’s a whole other thing to DO what you should be doing. This alter ego switch allows you to just focus on the doing.

I want to stress: being authentic is vital, I’m not saying don’t be yourself.

What I’m saying is that having this alter ego in mind when you put on that white coat can help you see the world with clarity, communicate better than you ever believed you could, and connect with more people as well.

In a weird way, it’s almost like you start at point A, your alter ego starts at point B, and somewhere along the lines you two meet and become one super version of yourself. Here’s how it worked for me:

THE DATA: my #s

I started thinking, what are little ways I can take better care of myself, the way I think my alter ego would? First came getting my nails done, then came finding a good therapist - in that order too lol, priorities right?

Once I had identified those traits I thought my alter ego had (confidence, knowing her stuff, not focusing so much on being accepted by others) - it became easier for me to embody these. I had a roadmap for where I wanted to go.

And my #s reflected that - January of 2024 was when I first heard of this alter ego trick and decided to give it a try.

as a refresher from this post about metrics that reflect the impact of how well we are communicating:

Patient Acceptance %: did the patient follow through on scheduling at least 1 treatment that you recommended? A good goal for patient acceptance % is 75-80%

TREATMENT acceptance % is how much the patient booked in $ / the total amount recommended to patient in $. A good goal for treatment $ acceptance % is >35%.

September 2023 KPIs: patient acceptance 68%, treatment acceptance 31%

January 2024 KPIs: patient acceptance 86%, treatment acceptance 45%

Some things to keep in mind, January is a popular time of year for patients to book appointments since benefits renew, so there may be some of this at play. But in terms of the things under my control & what changed during that time period, the biggest thing that comes to mind is honing in on my communication skills through the alter ego framework.

NEXT VISIT: it’s your turn to try!

1. Imagine your own goal that you dream of achieving, but the thought of doing it low key SCARES you - you might think “that couldn’t be me!” - Well then, what kind of person would absolutely crush that goal? Write down those traits/habits - get DETAILED. What do they do, eat, dress, read - how do they act, think, speak, listen? Review this list, CHERISH the things that are opposite of how you feel and act because these will be your compass on where to act first, and your biggest roadblocks that may impair you. Take note of things you learn - are there habits or traits of successful people that you didn’t realize you thought?

2. Alter ego tip adjacent, try the phrase: “has anyone else mentioned this before?”, especially when you are the bearer of bad news. This is a tip that my boss, Dr. Markowitz, taught me my first month of work, and let me say it has been life changing. It takes the pressure off of you because now, you are no longer the first one to bring this up. I like to combine this phrase with photos of what I’m seeing & showing the patient. The patient will either say “yes, this sounds familiar” in which case I can say “I agree with that recommendation, here’s why (showing photo)”. Or, if the patient says “no, I’ve never heard this”, it’s still helpful because it creates an environment of curiosity since most patients will ask “why?”, allowing me to further educate the patient, now with their permission. Give it a try and let us know if it helps!

and now time for BUZZY BITES!!:

These are the fun, light hearted news stories to keep you in the know this week! Make this your small talk and be able to talk to anyone about anything. To hear my fiance Jimmy and I breakdown these stories and give our two cents, check out this week’s podcast here.

1. 30 is the new 21! A Missouri Caribbean restaurant enacts age restrictions for women under 30 and men under 35 - the owners state that young people “bring the drama” and want a place where older patrons can sit and relax. I see what they’re trying to curate, but also as someone that’s worked in a nursing home, I must say there is nothing drama free about 1pm Bingo.

   

2. Traitors, the show where reality TV’s shadiest stars come out to play, season 3 cast is out! Tom Sandoval, Real Housewives, Selling Sunset oh my! On the podcast we breakdown who we think will thrive and who we think won’t make it past day 1 lol.

   

   source: Rolling Stone

3. Kit Kats + Ketchup, the newest viral food trend taking the internet by storm. Apparently the sweet of the Kit Kat works with the salty of the ketchup (gagging as I type this). They girlbossed a little too close to the sun on this one for me.

   

   Source: @kitkat

That’s all for now! Message me how much someone would have to pay you to eat a ketchup covered Kit Kat, I’m curious!

Thanks for reading - if you liked what you read please share this with a friend, and check out the podcast Just A Quick Pinch on Apple podcast, Spotify, and wherever else you listen to podcasts!

xoxo, Connie