As a chiropractor, do you know what your vision is? Do you know why you get up every day and do what you do?  Without a clear vision of where you are headed it can be hard to stay the course.  Just like a raft guide who doesn’t know where he’s headed, a chiropractor without a vision can get easily lost. If you can’t clearly articulate your vision, that is the first thing to master to have success in practice.  Because you are not just leading yourself, you are leading your team and the people you take care of.

Your mission is how you are going to accomplish your vision. What will it take to get there?  It answers the 5 W’s of who, what, where, when and why. Your vision and mission is what guides your everyday action and reduces the overwhelm of your To-Do list.  It is essential to start with the big picture in mind to have a successful wellness practice and life for that matter!

Like the raft guide, you are steering the raft of your office for the people you serve, your team, and the community.  Do you know which direction you are headed?  Are you padding upstream or with the current flow of the river of life? Your vision and mission are essential to being able to course correct with wellness practice management principles.  As a chiropractor, are you stepping up to the level of leadership required to save lives in your community?

Next, what does it take to have a successful wellness chiropractic practice? Have you got what you need and are you implementing the strategies to do so? Just like the raft guide has to pack meticulously to have the correct rations of food, tools, supplies and emergency necessities, do you know exactly what you need to run a wellness practice and in the correct amounts?  Or does it feel like you are flying by the seat of your pants (or hanging on to your life jacket)?  May I suggest that you start to look at your practice as if you were a raft guide, who is responsible for the lives, the well-being, the nourishment, and the enjoyment of yourself and others on your journey.  Nothing can be left to chance in the wilderness ~ have a vision, make a plan, have what you need and course correct to be in the flow of life and success! But don’t wing it… your happiness and the health of your community depends on it.

Tags: chiropractic, Leadership, mission, Practice Management, Success, vision, wellness, wellness chiropractic practice management

As St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone and the green beer hangovers are just a memory, it has left me pondering the concept of “luck”.  Is success in life a matter of luck?

In a wellness model of practice, a great concept to get across to people is that Health Is Not a Matter of Luck. It depends on their commitment and consistent action towards it that creates change and sustained health.  If you didn’t run an internal promotion in your office for St. Patrick’s Day this year, put it in your marketing calendar for next!

In the same sense, success doesn’t just happen to people who want it, but sit around and wait for it.  Success is not luck, karma or circumstance.  Could they be factors in your success?  Sure.  But success is created by you knowing where you are, knowing what you want and where you want to be and then making a plan of action to get there.  Oh, and the big secret:  it depends on your commitment and consistent action towards success.

Forget what success means to anyone else, it’s about how you define success that matters.  We need to know what it is before we can create it.  So work with your friend, colleague, or coach to figure out what it is to you and then do what it takes to go and get it.  If you are not as successful as you want to be, time to create it!

Tags: action, commitment, consistency, create, Dreams, luck, responsibility, st. patrick's day, Success

Subliminal messages aren’t evil.  We’re communicating all the time through non-verbal cues, tone of voice, and facial expressions.  The words you say are only 6-7% of communication, the rest is sublimal.

What is your office environment telling your clients?  What does it say about you, your philosophy, your values and the culture you are trying to create?  The key is to have congruency in your verbal message, your non verbal communication and your office culture and environment.  You can’t talk about consistent chiropractic care and wellness strategies while having plants dying in the corner and cobwebs everywhere!  Your C.A. can’t be smoking cigarettes at the front desk and the doctor can’t be out of shape talking about health! Everything, including the light switch covers needs to be congruent with your message.

So make some time and try to see your office space from the perspective of a new person.  What do they see? Is it a healing environment that has a good ‘feel’ to it?  What needs to be changed, refreshed, or updated?  To give the Red Carpet Experience to every person, it starts with the message your office environment is sending on your behalf.  It’s subliminal and it matters.

Tags: communication, Congruency, Culture, Environment, Office Space, Red Carpet Experience, Subliminal Messages, Success