Should you seek money or impact?

Certainly you can have both. And that's a great combination. But what's the optimal path?

Money first, impact second: If you go for the money first, you may never get to the impact part. Getting comfortable, coasting and switching from offense to defense is a common inclination. We've all seen this plotline in the movies: rags to riches to rags.

Impact first, money second: If you go for maximum impact, the money may never come. After all, it's not automatically guaranteed that you'll be able to monetize your impact. Geniuses who changed the world and died penniless is practically a cliche.

A third choice is to be mindful of both. If you lean towards the impact side, you're probably overdue to raise your fees. If you favor the money, you may need to make your patient care a bit less transactional and more transformational.

Bill Esteb has been a chiropractic patient and advocate since 1981. He is the creative director of Patient Media and the co-founder of Perfect Patients. He’s been a regular speaker at chiropractic gatherings since 1985. His 12 books explore the doctor/patient relationship from a patient's point of view. His chiropractic blog, coaching program, patient focus groups and consulting calls have helped hundreds of chiropractors around the world. Since 1999 Monday Morning Motivation has been emailed to over 10,000 subscribers each week.