Do you remember what finals week was like in chiropractic school?  Long hours, pushing through exhaustion, getting your studying done. Not that it was healthy, or how you would want to function long term, but sometimes we have to hear Dr. Sid’s voice saying, “Do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, whether you like it or not”.

I find many chiropractors forget what it’s like to have the pedal to the metal. They are used to being on cruise control.  As chiropractic coaches and consultants, we work with our chiropractors to shift their communications and procedures to a TRUE Wellness Model of practice. And sometimes they get halfway through establishing a new (and stronger) foundation of Visit 1 and 2 and get stopped.  They feel overwhelmed and frustrated. And we have remember that, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

The truth is, having a successful chiropractic practice is simple, but not easy. If it was, everyone including you, would already be thriving.  Keep in mind your results in practice are directly proportionate to your communication skills and our level of certainty.  And if we want to change the results we are getting, we have to not only change our procedures and skills, we have to also change ourselves. Sometimes we have to push through with motivation like it’s finals week, to get to the next level. Without this push through The Dip, we’ll never get the results and changes we are looking for in a timely manner.  And we all want results yesterday!

Are you ready to take your practice to the next level? Do you want to thrive in a TRUE Wellness Model? If you’re ready to work, we’re ready to help!

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Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, finals week, frustration, hard work, overwhelm, Results, The Dip

For many people, their understanding of health, where it comes from and how to stay well is as deeply ingrained as some smoker’s beliefs about smoking.

We are living and practicing chiropractic in a medical world. Although we are in a shift of a wellness revolution, the majority of people who show up in your chiropractic office are bombarded by big pharma advertising and years of thinking that health comes from drugs or surgery.  And it is your job to change their mindset and beliefs about health and healing, where it comes from and how to get it. Good luck!

Most chiropractors I coach and consult, or speak with in the field tell me that they educate the people in their office.  And the usually follow up with, “but they still don’t get IT.”  And if they did get it, our entire profession would already have thriving, true wellness chiropractic practices.  So something’s not working in our approach…

What does educate mean? To most chiropractors, they lecture and talk ‘at’ their people until they are blue in the face and the person is tuned out. There is an important distinction to make, between educating by telling or educating by asking good questions.

Try and convince a smoker that smoking is bad for him.  Tell him all the things he already knows (or doesn’t) that it is killing him. Use fear. Use threats. Use your authority as a doctor. Lecture until you’re blue in the face.  Does anything change for the smoker? Nope, he still doesn’t ‘get it’.  That’s right, his beliefs and mindset haven’t shifted one bit from all of your telling.

And this is what most chiropractors who are not having high retention, thriving wellness practices are doing.  Trying to educate by telling.  I gotta tell you, from my experience, that’s never going to work. Why? Because it’s from the outside-in, it is your idea and not theirs. Because how do human beings do react when someone tells them what to do? Resist. So you get decreased compliance, they like you less and wonder when you’ll use your authority again to get them to do what you want.

Remember a smart guy named Socrates? His philosophy was one of asking questions to have the person think. And since doctor in Latin means ‘teacher’, it’s about time our profession stopped lecturing and started asking better questions to really teach the chiropractic principle of health. Why? Because when a person thinks, processes and answers a question, it comes from the inside-out and they own it.  Since it was their idea, there is no resistance, they feel valued and given a voice. There is increased  compliance and likeability and you don’t use authority, you use leadership. How’s that for congruence with chiropractic philosophy?

But oh wait, there’s one more benefit.  Not only will they ‘get it’, understand health, healing and chiropractic at a deeper level, but do you think that it is easier for them to refer their friends and family if they can articulate their newfound understanding themselves?  And the practice itself grows from the inside out by high retention and high internal referrals.

So the trick is to find out how to ask better questions during every interaction of Visit 1, Visit 2, Daily Interactions, Re-Assessments, Re-Reports and in handling difficult questions. We coach chiropractors this day in and day out.  It will transform your practice, your relationship and your life. And you’ll help shift the consciousness of the world. Let us know if we can help.

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Tags: Asking, Authority, Beliefs, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Philosophy, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, Chiropractic Principle, communication, Convince, Educate, Fear Tactics, Health, High Retention, Inside-Out, Internal Referrals, Lecture, Medicine, Mindset, Outside-In, Questions, Results, scare tactics, Shift Consciousness, Socrates, Telling, True Wellness Practice, wellness revolution

Are you a pessimist, an optimist or a leader?  We need to look at how you deal with challenge and adversity to find out. Most people say they are optimists when asked, but if we look at the proof of their external results we might find out otherwise.  John Maxwell, one of my favourite authors on leadership, says this:

“The pessimist complains about the wind.  The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

Sailing without a charted course is like driving without a map or GPS, and like setting goals without an action plan.  It leads to circular action, unintentional sabotage, and rarely reaching your desired destination.

Not only do leaders have a vision and mission, they set long-term and short-term goals with a definitive action plan.  AND they consistently take intentional action, stay on the charted course, adjust the sails and the course as needed.

To manage your chiropractic practice like a leader we need to ensure you are the captain, keeping the big picture about what practice growth you want and what you are trying to achieve.  You need to look at the conditions, the charted course, and take consistent action AND you need to lead your team!  A world cup skipper cannot sail the ship themselves.  They need a solid team with the same vision, desires and willing to work hard and be rewarded for it. As chiropractic coaches and consultants, we help office create and manage a Dream Team and help Get The Team To Grow The Practice!

If you have been being a pessimist or an optimist during the stormy conditions of the past 6 months, it’s time to step up your leadership of yourselves, your practice management and your team!  People in your community need your help. It’s time to lead the chiropractic wellness revolution!

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Tags: Action Plan, Charted Course, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, Dream Team, Get The Team To Grow The Practice, Goals, Leadership, mission, Optimist, Pessimist, Sailing, Taking Action, vision, wellness revolution