Angelo Santin 2015-12-02 22:56:49
It all starts with you
How to prepare yourself for a busier practice
Is it not puzzling to see how few people use chiropractic considering how effective it is? One of the ideas at the forefront of the profession is that if we just squeezed ourselves into the mainstream medical system we would see more of the population. This outside-in approach is not only wishful thinking, it’s detrimental to the psyche of the profession. Your practice and however you want to measure its success is a direct reflection of you. It means you have direct control over how well your practice thrives.
I want to share some basic strategies on how to prepare yourself better in order to serve more people.
Physical preparation
Being physically prepared to operate a busy practice is non-negotiable. Our bodies will eventually break down if we don’t prepare them properly for a busy chiropractic practice. We should accomplish this by following our own advice to patients and commit to the basics, which starts with sleep. If you are to tackle a busy day in the office you need your sleep – in fact, you may even need a little extra. Not only do we have to be physically well to move patients around all day but we have to be mentally sharp the entire day. Sleep is your foundation in preparing your body for the day.
The next step is to exercise regularly. This must include resistance training. It will help protect our shoulders and backs and give you the energy you need to tackle even the biggest days. Imagine what message you’re sending to the universe by staying up late, waking up last minute, grabbing a huge coffee to wake yourself up and sauntering into your practice a few minutes before patients come in. Never mind what message you’re sending to your patients and how incongruent your own actions are with your professional recommendations. Be the change you want to see in your practice.
Mental preparation
One of our main purposes in practice is to inspire. Education alone doesn’t cause patients to act, it’s only when they are inspired to do so that great things happen. To inspire your patients, you have to be inspired. How can you accomplish this? Feed your mind the good nutrition it needs. Connect with uplifting like-minded chiropractors, attend all types of chiropractic seminars, collect and share some of the massive healing stories you’ve encountered in your practice. The idea here is to work on increasing the level of your passion and inspiration.
The second aspect of mental preparation is making sure you have all the tools necessary to explode through your busy day with patients. These tools include a diverse range of topics including chiropractic technique, communication skills, public speaking skills, and business skills. Having all the tools necessary will let the fact side of your brain go automatic pilot while you let the emotion side connect and inspire patients during their care.
Emotional preparation
Make sure your spirit is well. Chiropractors must have time away from practice to do the things they love to do. Many of you are not taking enough vacation time to recharge your spiritual batteries. This includes spending time with loved ones. When relationships with loved ones are rock solid, the spirit in turn will have the energy it needs to tackle the responsibility of taking care of massive patient numbers.
Instead of desperately waiting for your vacation, you should organize your week to allow time away from practice to nurture your most important relationships and give yourself time to recharge. If you are doing this week in and week out you will see yourself consistently operating in your office at a higher level.
We should look no further than professional athletes to get an idea on how to prepare our bodies. Would a professional athlete not learn everything there is to learn about their craft? Would they not sleep well, eat well and exercise to prepare their bodies for the demands of their sport? Of course they would. Not only would their personal performance improve, but ultimately, the team’s performance improves as well. Now does that not seem like a winning formula for our practices and our profession as a whole to grow?
ACTIONS STEPS CHECKLIST
Remember in practice, always work from the inside out.
Commit to work on either sleep or exercise for the next month and journal the results in your practice.
Commit to connecting with a like-minded office this month.
Review your week to see if you’ve designed enough time to recharge.
Change appropriately if needed.
DR. ANGELO SANTIN, DC, operates a busy family practice in Thunder Bay, Ont., and is president of the Thunder Bay Chiropractic Society. Dr. Santin is also a Carter Universal proficiency-rated chiropractic coach. He can be reached at [email protected] or 807-344-4606.
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