MMM Summer 2009
As long-time subscribers know, Bill changes it up during the weeks of summer. This year Bill explores 13 Laws of Success. Enjoy these weekly messages and apply them to your life and practice!
Monday Morning Motivation | Cause and Effect
June 1, 2009
Law of Cause and Effect
Thankfully, we live in a world in which every effect has a cause. Thus, there are no accidents. Most accidents are merely effects to which we have not acknowledged the actual cause.
Naturally, most of us attempt to uncover the cause when things don't go our way or as we expect. But remember, the fact that new patients manifest (or don't) is an effect. As are referrals, reactivations, low staff turnover, as is a profitable and emotionally fulfilling practice. All effects. Symptoms, actually.
If there are practitioners enjoying the effects you want (there are!), then you can have those effects too. Just be careful that you look in the right place. It's rarely what they do, but who they are. Because even a "doing" is an effect. The cause? Who you're being.
What kind of chiropractor are you being these days? Is it producing the effects you want?
Monday Morning Motivation | Sowing and Reaping
June 8, 2009
Law of Sowing and Reaping
Plant seeds of doubt and you'll reap a harvest of uncertainty. Plant seeds of fear and you'll pick the fruit of scarcity and lack. Conversely, plant seeds of abundance, certainty and trust and you'll yield a crop of hope and healing. Plant love and your harvest will be bumper crop of still more love.
In other words, what goes around, comes around.
If you plant seeds of control and management in the soil of your patient relationships, expect a harvest of high maintenance patients who require emotionally draining supervision and set you up for disappointment. And if you plant seeds of trust and personal responsibility, you will just as certainly manifest patients who place a high value on accountability and wellness care. The seeds you plant are up to you. It's your garden. Naturally, if you're unhappy with your harvest, plant different seeds!
Monday Morning Motivation | Identity
June 15, 2009
Law of Identity
Horse. Zebra. Similar, but different. The Law of Identity is based on the ability to make distinctions with our language--something difficult to do if you are hamstrung by underdeveloped observational skills or crippled by a limited vocabulary.
If you have the desire to have a practice full of nonsymptomatic families availing themselves of care designed to maintain their health or promote wellness, calling them "patients," which comes from the Latin meaning "to suffer," blurs the distinction. Oh, they may begin care as patients, but at some point (if all goes according to plan) they're no longer suffering. If you want more these non-suffering regulars, you'll probably want to call them something other than patients.
This is this and that is that. Success does not flow toward ambiguity, vagueness or those who are lazy with language. Rigor displayed here pays off later, but it's a distinction lost on many.
Monday Morning Motivation | Reciprocity
June 22, 2009
Law of Reciprocity
You must first give to get. Giving creates a debt; an imbalance. The debt is paid by returning the favor.
A new patient referral can be gift or a get.
If you want more referrals, give more referrals. When appropriate, refer to the MD down the street or the pediatrician who "gets it." Refer patients to a good plumber, roofer or restaurant. Assume the role of a concierge, solving more problems than just their admitting complaint. Become the "go to" person for anything and anyone and watch your influence (and reciprocal referrals) grow.
The Law of Reciprocity takes time. The error that many make is they superimpose their own sense of time when invoking the Law. Trust it will come back to you, next month, next year or some time in eternity. But it always comes back. What you give away (good or bad) always returns.
Monday Morning Motivation | Lid
June 29, 2009
Law of the Lid
Patients rarely get healthier than their doctor.
If you want to help those with work injuries or suffering the aftermath of a car accident, you don't have to be very healthy. These victims rarely want health, they simply want to be made whole.
On the other hand, if you desire a practice full of cash-paying, lifetime wellness individuals who value true health, you'll need to be healthy. Not so you can project a "healthier than thou" attitude! Instead, from walking your talk and out of your abundance, you can be an authentic guide, a desirable example and an understanding steward.
Remember, true health is optimum physical, mental and social well-being. Sure, most of us could afford to lose some weight, however it's often the mental and social well-being that holds the greatest opportunity for improvement.
As Mahatma Gandhi so eloquently admonished, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
Monday Morning Motivation | Fair Exchange
July 6, 2009
Law of Fair Exchange
In every transaction, there must be an equal exchange between both parties. If not, expect a short-term relationship and an unsustainable business.
Countless chiropractors break this law when establishing or administering their patient financial policy.
At one extreme is the practice that allows patients to run up high, outstanding balances in which the debt, or a large portion of it, becomes uncollectible. They think by not insisting on payment that they are somehow doing the patient a favor.
At the other end of the spectrum are practices that force annual care plans, seducing patients with low, amortized visit fees which (in the fine print) are withdrawn should the patient discontinue care early.
Fair exchange is part of the healing process. And referrals! You'll rarely get referrals from patients who leave owing large outstanding balances. And if you do, those they refer know that you don't respect yourself enough to expect payment.
Monday Morning Motivation | Opposites
July 13, 2009
Law of Opposites
We live in a universe of duality. Day and night. Winter and summer. Birth and death. Good and evil. Boom and bust. One cannot exist without the other. In fact, it can only exist because of the other!
Imagining that you can have the crest of the wave without the bottom of the trough ignores this simple reality. Expecting that your practice can grow and grow and grow and expand forever, while the focus of many chiropractors' dreams, is impossible. Expansion without contraction is unhealthy. When this happens in the body, we call it cancer!
Whether success or failure, realize that this shall pass. It may not that way at the time, but it's true.
If you're in a trough now, first be grateful. Then, faithfully prepare for the upcoming crest. Because it's coming! Clean. Organize. Repair. Reinvent. And if you have enough faith, use this time to rest!
Monday Morning Motivation | Attraction
July 20, 2009
Law of Attraction
Much has been written about attracting what we want into our lives. But consider an aspect that may have been overlooked even with the popularity of The Secret and What the Bleep Do We Know?
Ever see a magnet with just a north pole?
A magnet is powerful because one pole completes the other. Just like your spouse completes you, your staff completes you and even your patients complete you. Without this completion, we have the equivalent of a free radical.
If you show up in your life or your practice with the need to control, then you'll largely attract emotionally-draining patients who must be managed. In fact, it's the primary type of patient you attract since self-responsible individuals find you overbearing and well, unattractive.
If you don't care for the people or circumstances showing up for you, show up different before you can expect to attract completions that are more pleasing.
Monday Morning Motivation | Energy
July 27, 2009
Law of Conservation of Energy
We are energy. The chair you're sitting on is energy too. Granted, in a different form, but energy all the same. Based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics we know that energy is never created or destroyed, it merely changes form, taking the path of least resistance.
When you adjust a patient, you're adding energy to the patient's body. What the patient's body does with that energy is out of your control. Perhaps their body is still in defense mode; the stressor still being present in their life. Imagining that you can control or regulate how someone else's body uses energy is as foolish as thinking you can lose weight for someone else.
Energy always moves from high concentration to low concentration; from high vibration to low. This process of dissipation can make your reaction to certain patients a drain. But remember, it's not them. It's your reaction that's draining!
Monday Morning Motivation | Supply
August 3, 2009
Law of Supply and Demand
The Law of Supply and Demand suggests that the supply is created by the demand. Not the other way around. What do you supply? An even better question is, what do patients demand?
Careful that you aren't supplying something that patients don't want or value enough to pay for. Many chiropractors attempt to sell wellness to patients who want to feel better. Others sell spinal curve restoration to patients who merely want their symptoms to no longer impair their golf game or ability to earn a living.
Answering a question that isn't being asked, scratching where it doesn't itch and wanting true health for patients who have considerably lower expectations is a recipe for frustration, disappointment and misunderstanding.
Finding an existing need and filling it is more pragmatic than attempting to create a new need and filling it. Do you know what patients want? Find out. How? Ask!
Monday Morning Motivation | Forgiveness
August 10, 2009
Law of Forgiveness
If it's true that the cause of many diseases is unresolved emotional issues, then certainly a common culprit is unreleased anger, pain and resentment. What is so ironic is that these emotions are self-created; they are choices we make based on our own emotional reality.
Since they are self-created, it makes sense they can be self-destroyed, which is the purpose of forgiveness. Forgiving someone who you believe has wronged you is for your benefit not theirs!
Even the scriptures are clear about this self-righteous indignation: forgive those who have wronged you before expecting the blessings of God. Don't allow the sun to set on your anger.
If you desire to be a healer, rather than merely a spine mechanic, educate patients about the Law of Forgiveness. Forgiveness doesn't condone or approve of the behavior. It merely releases the emotional charge that you've given it.
Whom do you need to forgive?
Monday Morning Motivation | Reality
August 17, 2009
Law of Reality
Remember the lyric from the 1980s song, "I fought the law, but the law won." Same thing with reality. What is, is. It won't be argued with and it always wins.
Most suffering comes from attempting to deny, ignore, dispute or resist reality. Reality always comes out on top. What is real for you?
Take an inventory of your resources, whether it's your time, talent and experience or your health, perseverance or sense of humor.
Take an inventory of your debts, whether they're financial, psychological, relational, poor health or poor character judgment.
Take an inventory of your assumptions, whether it's your beliefs about patients, your support team, the economy or the future.
Take an inventory of your habits, both the constructive and the destructive kind.
That's your reality. Since past performance is the best predictor of the future, if you want a different future, change the only thing you can: you.
Monday Morning Motivation | Values
August 24, 2009
Law of Hierarchy of Values
Actions rarely lie. They are symptoms of beliefs. Beliefs reveal our values. Ultimately, what we value prompts us to action, whether it's the value we place on our appearance, our family or in the case of patients, the value they place on their health.
Patients who place a high value on their health are more open to patient education opportunities, nonsymptomatic care and more likely to pursue opportunities to maximize their well-being.
Patients who place a low value on their health are inclined to spend minimal amounts of time and money on themselves. They have other things that they value more. Perhaps it's their career, grandchildren, travel or the latest gadget.
It's their free will choice you know. (Law of Reality).
There is little you can do to change their values. You can talk until you blue in the face or light your hair on fire. No change.
Love them anyway.
Monday Morning Motivation | Gratitude
August 31, 2009
Law of Gratitude
Are you facing a challenge? Be thankful. Are you still paying for a past decision? Be thankful. Are circumstances less than desirable? Be thankful.
The natural tendency is to resist or condemn situations that are less than ideal. Be grateful instead!
"But if I'm thankful, it's as if I'm inviting still more problems," we lie to ourselves.
Not true. Virtually every circumstance has a lesson for us if we're willing to look deeply enough and learn. Especially our so-called "failures." Begin by first giving thanks for them.
You can't leave somewhere you've never been. Gratitude is the discipline that provides the access for something better. Accept what is (the Law of Reality) and be thankful for it, good or bad. Not only does life get instantly better, but what you thought were challenges, difficulties or trying circumstances are reduced to helpful reminders of what doesn't work.
How great is that?