On August 28th, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered this famous speech. When I lived in Atlanta, GA to attend Life University, I spent many hours at the MLK Jr. Center, birth house, gravesite and church of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  I used to sit in the pews and listen to his recorded sermons that were broadcasting all day long.

I have always been inspired by this man who stood up for what he believed in.

My question for myself and others today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is what is your dream?  What inspires you?  How do you wish the world to be?

What will you do in 2012 to realize your dream?

Tags: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dream, Goals, Inspiration, Leadership, New Year's Resolutions, vision

I have just finished reading this book by the Health Brothers, Chip and Dan, and just like their former book Made To Stick, I found this book to be packed full of great concepts, real life scenarios and a great framework that I have already shared with many of my chiropractic clients at Rosen Coaching.

Many chiropractors out there want to make changes to both their personal lives and their practices.  At Rosen Coaching, our mission is to help chiropractors become the recognized leaders of true health care (where we help people get healthy, stay healthy and have the best life possible) worldwide!  To do so, we need chiropractors to become extremely successful in their practices and serve as many people in a true wellness model as they possibly can!

The reality, is that we are far from the mark of achieving this, so we have work to do!

Not only do I highly recommend that you read this book, I do believe that using these principles will help individual chiropractors make the changes that will help them be more successful!  This will result in our profession being stronger with many more people successfully practicing principled chiropractic, and truly helping humanity the best way we know how: through a clear functioning nerve system and making lifestyle choices to support greater health and not recreating their subluxations over and over.

Whether you choose to use these principles to make personal changes or changes in your practice, there are 3 components that we must address, for sustainable change:

1. We must direct the rational side  (The Rider) by looking for bright spots, scripting the critical moves and pointing to the destination.

2. We must motivate the emotional side (The Elephant) by finding the feeling behind change, shrinking the change, and growing the identity of the people.

3. We must Shape the Path (the environment) to support the change by tweaking the environment, building better habits, and rally the herd!

By applying these principles to any change, large or small, we can become more successful and save our profession!  That is our mission at Rosen Coaching!

Tags: change, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Practice Success, Leadership, Switch

Are you inspiring action? Do you lead your community to make healthier choices, for them and their entire family?  Are you communicating our message from the inside-out, congruent with chiropractic principles?

In this video, Simon Sinek explains that, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.

It explains why chiropractors who download information about what chiropractic can do for patients and how they are different from other doctors, may get a few people on board.  But those chiropractors who lead through inspiration, allowing people to connect to their purpose, beliefs and motivation, the ‘WHY’ of their messages, can build big practices.

At Rosen Coaching, it is our mission to have chiropractors step up to their rightful place as the recognized leaders of true healthcare worldwide!  We know that every human being deserves the chance to get healthy and stay healthy and have the best life possible.  Are you sharing that message in your community?

Tags: action, communication, Health Care, Inspiration, Leadership, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, Wellness Chiropractors, wellness revolution

In any profession or sport, there are those who play safe within the boundaries of what is ‘known’ and what is ‘possible’.  And then there are those who are out there, close to the edge, innovating and creating what is possible, doing what has never been done before. Or doing it differently than it’s ever been done before.

In mountaineering, being the first to climb a mountain is deemed a First Ascent. The climber pushes their skill on the unknown route, charting the way as they go. The danger is high, and the glory is high. And it is what evolves the sport. As soon as one person climbs it, it opens up a whole new realm of possibility for other climbers.

In surfing, there are those who surf the known spots. And there are those who explore and test what most deem ‘impossible’.  I prefer warm water surf myself, but this is a beautiful short film about pushing the limits of surfing.

At Rosen Coaching, we interact with many different types of people who are chiropractors.  Are you going to be a chiropractor who is evolving our profession? Or one who plays it safe with what you’ve always done?

My question is, “What are you going to do this year to better yourself as a chiropractor?”

Here is our Top 10 Ways to Be A Better Chiropractor:

1. Lead by example.

2. Be in the best physical shape of your life! Eat, exercise and move how your body was designed to, daily! If you are not the epitome of health, how can you lead pepole to health and wellness?

3. Clear up any mental or emotional weights from your past. Get therapy, support, coaching, or whatever it takes to allow yourself to be present and free!

4. Clean up any relationships that aren’t 100% happy or healthy.  Be present and loving to your family. Spend time with those you love.

5. Strengthen your team at the practice. Create a strong vision that everyone supports. Design a powerful mission that you all work towards each and every day. Click here for a powerful presentation for you and your team!

6. Deepen your understanding of Chiropractic Philosophy. Pretend like you are getting a Ph. D. in Chiropractic Philosophy: read, write, and think critically. Our philosophy is the ‘why’ behind what we do.

7. Study the science of what it is that we do. Without a thorough understanding of neurology, physiology and anatomy fresh in your mind, how can you feel certain on what effects are created from an adjustment, let alone convey that to your patients or the public?

8. Master your art.  Do you love your technique? Do you get great results? If yes, than learn more of it.  What would take you to the next level in your skills? If you don’t, find a technique that resonates and you can immerse yourself in. Learn all that you can to clear nerve interference and help those in need in your community.  If you were a professional athlete or musician you would practice daily. You are a professional chiropractor, behave like one and practice your butt off!

9. Spend time learning how to communicate effectively.  All the knowledge, philosophy and skill does nothing unless you can share your message in a way that people can hear it. Learn to communicate in a way that is congruent with our philosophy and healing. And in a way that empowers rather than controls.  If you can share your message better, you can help more people, guaranteed!

10. Develop your certainty.  Increase your confidence.  Address any doubts, fears or demons so that you be clear on who you are and what you offer. Get your passion, motivation and excitement back for what this profession can do for the world.

If you dedicate yourself to being a better chiropractor by the end of 2011, tackle each of these things and work diligently on them, you will be!  Train like a professional at your craft. Play like you mean it. It’s your life, what are you waiting for? It’s time to help the masses!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, first ascent, Leadership, pushing limits, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, rosen coaching, Success, True Wellness Model

I’d taken a little writing hiatus over this last month of summer ~ but this is an important concept I have been working with our Rosen Chiropractic Coaching client’s lately as it seems to be a recurring theme.  So I wanted to share!

It is important to pre-frame some important things during our initial conversations with new people to avoid pitfalls down the road and have clear expectations about chiropractic care.

For example, after someone receives their first adjustment, it is important that you outline the different outcomes that may occur (and we don’t know how they will respond). It’s what I like to call “Door #1, Door #2, and Door #3″:

Door #1: They may feel better (a lot better)!

The pitfall is that once they feel better, they think they ARE better! We need to pre-frame this thought process by letting them know that symptoms are the last thing to appear and the first thing to go away. Just like the tip of an iceberg slipping below the surface, the symptom is gone, but the underlying pattern and what caused the symptom has not yet been addressed.

Door #2: They may not feel much change (if any)

The pitfall here is that they could be disappointed in you or your care.  Without pre-framing this, they may think that chiropractic doesn’t ‘work’ and not come back. I like the analogy of taking a vitamin for the first time to help explain and pre-frame this one – you may not feel anything right away.  There are lots of cellular changes happening but nothing perceivable as of yet.  So let them know not to be disappointed if this option occurs for them.

Door #3: They may feel worse

Eek!  The pitfall is they might think you’ve made it worse, or caused it to worsen. Without pre-framing this one, you may never get a chance to have a second conversation!  So you need to let them know that although rare, just like after exercise, that the body might have some soreness afterwards.  And because the adjustment clears interference from the nerve system, the body will be functioning better than before.  It could even have cleansing symptoms that don’t feel good, but are a sign the body is working better!

In essence, pre-framing does a few things:

1. Avoids major pitfalls or crisis conversations down the road and gives a foundation to build on for future conversations during daily interactions

2. Helps stretch their consciousness and understanding about chiropractic care and their body’s intelligence by planting good seeds

3. Improves your level of influence and leadership

Tags: communication, Leadership, Pitfalls, Pre-Frame, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching

At Rosen Coaching, we speak with chiropractors around the world, day in and day out, about how to improve their communication so that people ‘get’ the chiropractic message.  Initially this concept arose out of a conversation with one of my doctors who was working on the ‘Whole Story‘, one of the most powerful parts of our visit 1 and visit 2. But it’s become a theme as of late and I’ve distilled three important pillars of communication that I’d like to share with you.  They are, what I have been calling, the 3 C’s of communication:

1. Clear

2. Concise

3. Concrete

None of this is going to appear like rocket science, but it’s important to look at each one closely and realize the bigness of small things.

If we are going to convey or transmit communication, it is essential that it is clear. We need to be 100% clear on what we are trying to accomplish, what we want to say, and be sure we articulate it with clarity. No fair having a communication subluxation when you’re trying to transmit your message!

Next we need to be sure it is concise.  If a Ph.D in biochemistry was trying to explain a concept to you, it is important that he doesn’t go into a 30 minute monologue about many different aspects of biochem. It is essential that he  keep it not only clear (so that you can follow), but also concise (so that your brain does not go into overwhelm).  Many chiropractors, when I ask them to tell me what they can offer, they give me a 30 minute lay lecture, sidetracking with research, vaccinations, health care stats etc.  We need to keep it concise, especially if we are going to ask them to repeat back to you what they understand so far!  Set them up to succeed, not to fail.

Lastly, but not least importantly, is making our communication concrete.  This means making it real for people! It is not to your benefit to use big latin words and appear ‘smart’ to the patient, at the expense of  not being able to articulate or understand what you are talking about.  It is to your benefit to use concrete examples and real world analogies, so that they can understand and share their new understanding with others. Chiropractic itself is an abstract concept, so let’s help them understand a paradigm shift by integrating new concepts within their current framework of how the world works.  For example, a great analogy to describe a subluxation is ‘static on a cell phone’.  Everyone has experienced this, or could at least imagine it.  So I challenge you to use real, concrete analogies at every step of your communications.

If you have any questions about the 3 C’s of communication, please comment below or join our global community on Facebook where we are happy to answer any and all of your questions!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, Leadership, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, rosen coaching

Do you remember the Chiropractic Safety Pin Cycle from philosophy class 101? You know, Brain Cell (B.C.) has efferent transmission to Tissue Cell (T.C) and it has afferent transmission back to brain cell?  If not, I’ve included a diagram from The Chiropractic Textbook by R.W. Stephenson from 1927.  (If you don’t own it, I highly recommend it)!

However, when it comes to most chiropractor’s communication, they usually have a monologue or just the ‘efferent’ part of transmission, telling people their chiropractic story and wonder why they don’t stay, pay and refer?  Why don’t people ‘GET IT’?

With our Rosen Coaching clients and group coaching programs, we look at our communication from both the efferent and afferent sides.  As a profession, what if we could communicate in a way that was more congruent (inside-out) by asking questions and getting their input, as opposed to outside-in education?

How most of us communicate is merely the ‘efferent’ part, we never check in with the person and say, “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, what do you get so far?”  We never ask them questions, we just tell people what we think and leave it at that.   Our profession doesn’t, as a rule, close the safety pin cycle of our communication. No wonder we’re not shifting consciousness yet… It’s time we closed the safety pin on every communication we have! It’s time people really understood what we have to offer them and it’s time for chiropractors to start leading the wellness revolution, becoming the recognized leaders of true health care!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Practice Management, Chiropractic Practice Success, communication, Leadership, rosen coaching, Safety Pin Cycle

Tags: excellence, high performance, Leadership, olympics, Rosen Chiropractic Coachin g, vancouver 2010

As Valentine’s Day has just passed, many of our clients did Valentine’s internal referral promotions where they ask their clients, “What Do You LOVE About Chiropractic”? and gave them an opportunity to refer family and friends.

Coaching chiropractors and interviewing many who are struggling, I have seen that there is a huge portion of our profession who are burnt out, unmotivated and off purpose.

So I am asking you to contemplate what you LOVE about being a chiropractor? Please post it as a comment to this blog and let’s help clarify our purpose of why we do what we do.  Without this purpose, it is easy to be drained and burnt out with the ins and outs of running a practice and hard to stay motivated to do so.

At Rosen Coaching we want you to LOVE what you do! If you find yourself a little off purpose, a little unmotivated or a little out of love with being a chiropractor, we’d love to offer you a FREE 30 minute consult to see if we can help!

Tags: Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractor, Leadership, Love, Passion, Purpose, Rosen Chiropractic Coaching, Success, Valentine's Day

So the New Year is upon us!  We have a reflective perspective of last year and what we accomplished or didn’t. And we have a vision, hope and goals of what we want 2010 to be like.

Have you taken the time to do an inventory of your life? Where in your life are you incongruent or not performing and leading how you’d like to? Paraphrasing Dr. Patrick Gentempo, the level of incongruency leads to a proportionate level of destruction. As chiropractic coaches, we at Rosen Coaching help chiropractors reach new levels of success in all areas of their lives, including how to thrive in a true wellness model.

I speak to chiropractors day in and day out. And I truly feel it is time that our profession stand up and lead by example.  Are you the epitome of health, energy and vitality?  Is your diet full of rich, whole foods? Do you exercise daily? Do you live a healthy, vitalistic chiropractic lifestyle?  If you don’t, it’s time. And don’t try and hide it – take a stand to share with your office the lifestyle changes you are making. The time is now to create excellence in YOUR health. And ask them to join you.  If you do, good for you! Set some new goals and ways you can push your healthy lifestyle to the next level.

Excellence, leadership and health are not created by chance, but by choice: Every day and in every moment.  Choose to be a true leader in your community who leads by example. Actions are so much more powerful than words covering incongruence.  Be the change you want to see.  This is your year to lead your community to health and wellness!

Tags: Certainty, Chiropractic Coach, Chiropractic Coaching, Chiropractic Consultant, Chiropractic Practice Management, chiropractic profession, Congruency, Goals, Health, Leadership, rosen coaching, Success, Wellness Chiropractic