Are you willing to settle for leftovers? Of course not, but the clock is ticking and every day you procrastinate you lose money and the goal line of financial freedom gets farther and farther away. I know that deep down you are willing to do everything it takes to provide the best for your family. I promise you that if you act with more urgency when given advice from your coaches and have the patience to hold the course, nothing can stop you. You might be thinking that having patience and acting with greater urgency is contradictory. In fact the secret to winning is remaining cool under pressure. You must have both to win.

Patience is the capacity to endure and persevere without becoming upset or annoyed. You must learn to embrace adversity and view it as a critical part of your leadership training. Your new motto is, “Bring it on baby!”

Urgency means taking immediate action. This emotional response to a biochemical cocktail produced in your brain is both compelling and wonderfully addictive. Use it, focus it and unleash its power.

Procrastination is the habit of postponing important actions. In coaching circles it is known as client push back, and is always followed by a, “Why?” or “I’m working on it.”

Waiting is doing nothing expecting something to happen. Now I know you may be saying to yourself that you are overwhelmed with all things you have on your plate. So before you say, “I am doing everything,” let me give you a few salient examples of doing nothing.

• The busy work that keeps you occupied majoring in the minors
• Waiting for the right time to hire, to fire, to change hours, to change techniques
• Waiting to implement the Seven Accounts System until you have more money
• Skipping yet another seminar
• Waiting for new patients to just appear
• Waiting till after your summer vacation to get busy doing the things you have put off all year
• Waiting to begin coaching

A frequent question we get asked is, “How do I create a sense of urgency to do the things I need to do?” Our retort is simple, “There is never a right answer to the wrong question.” The question could be, “How do I unlearn my habit of procrastination?” And the answer to that question is to start acting on each piece of advice. Every time you ‘push back’ from coaching insights and say, “Yeah but” you reinforce procrastination and suppress the natural compulsion for urgency.

Could procrastination be another example of entitlement mentality? I think so. It is a hidden de-motivator that is cloaked in resentment. You may resent having to do all the strategic, managerial and technical work necessary to be a successful entrepreneur. You may even imagine that your successful colleagues don’t have to work as hard as you do. Procrastination, entitlement and misplaced optimism are dream killers. Urgency and patience will take you all the way to the bank!

Your SIDECAR Team

Have you made your Summer Reading List yet? 

Every summer we were assigned five books to read before the start of the school year. Of course, in those days I did not enjoy reading as much as swimming, riding my bike or playing baseball. I waited until the last moment and crammed using the “Cliff Notes.”   While I got the key ideas, I realize now that I had cheated myself. The books were chosen to grow and prepare me to meet the next challenge of adolescence. There are no “Cliff Notes” for life.

This summer why not ‘think for a change.’ Right now, it is important that you choose books that are thought provocative and informative.  Provocative reading stretches you intellectually, challenges your current beliefs, poses possibilities and stimulates your imagination. You must read a minimum of 20 minutes a day. The point is to provoke thought, not reinforce emotional patterns.

Three more reasons to “re-wire your brain.”

1) If you can’t think, you are unable to understand your circumstances or make course corrections.

If we can’t think, how can we imagine or dream? If we are mud headed, how on earth can we make correct choices?  You must acquire the prowess to make solid decisions even when you lack sufficient data.  Study as if your livelihood depended upon it, because it does! Knowledge gives you the power to act with certainty and “mental force.”

2) When your mind is absorbed, it doesn’t wander.  If your mind is trained to focus, you will perform impeccably.

In every practice there are natural breaks in patient flow. The average doctor becomes fearful and anxious when their schedule is light. The mentally adroit doctor stays focused in between adjustments. Leaders who have developed mental powers of concentration and the ability to stop the emotional kidnapping always win.

3) Without knowledge, self-empowerment is impossible.

It is the key to reaching your goals, the immediate, as well as your long term vision.

So this is not the time to dangle your foot into the water and wait for the fish too jump into your boat. Wrap your head around a couple of books and be ready for a fall harvest!

Dr. Frank Sovinsky, “The E-Myth Chiropractor” Written July 2003 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“POWER from you vs. POWER granted you”

Words are important symbols and they can add to or detract from this message. When I use the word power I am referring to its literal definition. Power is the ability to do or act, to inspire and sustain.

Control

CONTROL is personal power “coming from you” and projected outwards. Its agenda is the complete and successful direction or manipulation of people. It is leadership “DOING.” The underlying philosophy of this leadership style is that the “ends justify the means.” This is a stressful game of domination, of outmaneuvering intellectually and emotionally those under your perceived control. It focuses on changing people to be what you want them to be.

Influence

By stark contrast, INFLUENCE is a personal and unofficial power “coming to you” from others. It is a natural response to your character, ability and station in life. Your INFLUENCE may be exerted unconsciously or may operate through persuasion. This leadership style attracts respect, cooperation and inspires people. There is a volitional yielding to your opinions. It focuses on meeting people where they are and leading them to where you are. It is leadership “BEING.”

The difference

So what happens when a patient escapes your control? How can you handle the loss? You can’t. Yet if you come from the perspective that you never HAD them you can never lose them. Patients are never yours. It is simply your turn to lead them, your turn to serve them by helping them eliminate problems and obstacles to their sense of well being, your turn to inspire them to become everything they are destined to be.

Realize that you are exchanging your time and energy in order to create a business that works for you. And there is finiteness to both of these personal resources. Your anxious practice moments are an urgent message that, if ignored, seal your fate. What kind of a leader will you become? Make the decision right here right now to STOP DOING the things that don’t work like controlling and possessing people and START BEING the leader who influences people.

 Dr. Frank Sovinsky, “The E-Myth Chiropractor”, Written August 2005 

“Whether we like it or not, our lives will leave a mark on the universe.  Each person’s birth makes ripples that expand in our social environments: parents, siblings, relatives and friends are affected by us and as we grow up our actions leave a myriad of consequences, some intended most not”.      

                                                                                – Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Read that quote again. It is deep (pun intended). Now imagine just for a moment that you are standing on the shore of Lake Tahoe with me. It’s perfectly clear today and the water is cobalt blue. I hand you a smooth, perfectly weighted stone and you throw it as far as you can. Can you see the ripples? Can you see them grow in the distance? I think that is what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is talking about in the above quote. You are the stone thrower, you have power and all of your actions have impact. Some intended, others not.

I was looking at some of my “notes to self” the other day and I came across this quote from Michael Gerber.

“Every business is a family business.”

Do you get how profound this perspective is? Your passion, your career aspirations and your reaction to the wins and challenges you face in business have a ripple effect on those in your circle and beyond it. You’ve probably noticed that many Chiropractors use the phrase, “Family Wellness” in the name of their business. As a coach it makes me ask the question, “Whose family?”

Did you know that as a business owner you have stakeholders who have a vested financial, emotional and, on some level, a spiritual connection to your success? It’s easy to see that your spouse and children are inextricably tethered to your results but what about your staff and their families and your patients? Your staff is interested in how your business fulfills them as human beings. The people who work alongside you want to grow and thrive and they want economic certainty. They want to know if your business will be around five years from today even if you are not. Your patients want to know if your practice will be there, ready to respond when they need you, not just when you are in the mood or it’s convenient for you. They want security that their experience will be remarkable and consistent.  There are other family stakeholders. What about the banker who loaned you the money to start your practice and the vendors you buy from and yes even the coaches you hire?

You see, what you do has meaning to others. It affects them. This practice is not about you! Do you get that? Good.

Now go to work.

 “The E-Myth Chiropractor”, Dr. Frank Sovinsky, written March 2010

 

You no doubt feel the pressure that comes with being a primary health care provider. Patients have many expectations of you, your office and your service. I think that, in our reaction to this pressure, we have unconsciously built psychological walls of self preservation that add to our stress. These walls are built on a belief that in order to benefit from our care a patient must, in some way, reach out and demonstrate a willingness to change their core beliefs.

You may have heard others say or may even have said this yourself, “As long as a patient is willing to meet me half way I can help them”  This feels like the right attitude, but is it? I suppose we sometimes think that if we stand firmly on our ideals and extend ourselves half way that this will teach the patient to be more responsible for their health. I do my half, they do their half. Good intention, bad results.

Why half way is not enough

The emotional mind of the patient perceives this position as indifference.  They might even feel as if it is a power game of superiority and control. Not only will they not follow through with their care, they will tell as many as 12 people about you and how you made them feel. This is not the reputation you want.

In the town where I practiced there was a chiropractic office that had a prominent flight of stone steps leading up and into the clinic. The steps were wide and reminded me of the platform leading up and into a cathedral. As an eager, new practitioner hungry for success, this didn’t make sense to me; yet, the doctor was well known in the community so I had to ask him about it.

“Doctor, I know you don’t just see people with severe back pain, but seriously, how do you expect people to climb up those stairs and into your office?”

He replied quickly and in a stern tone said, “I want them to “step up” to chiropractic and realize that they have finally found the true way of health.”

His attitude was that he shouldn’t even meet the patient half way. The patient should abandon their old ways and embrace the new. Old school arrogance and an attitude of superiority carry over into our culture even today. Doctors tell me that they are willing to meet a patient half way and I tell them, “Half way is not nearly far enough.”

What does this mean?

What does meeting you half way look like? Well, it’s filled with your agendas and it would take a week or more to share all of the examples I have personally witnessed. Here are few common examples that produce common practices:

• Meeting you half way means the patient must be willing to learn the things you are interested in teaching.
• Meeting you half way means the patient must show up on time and NEVER miss an appointment
• Meeting you half way means the patient must drop their old ways of eating, sleeping, exercising and just general “change -ING”

Barriers to your office are mostly behavioral and if you intend to out behave the competition you will want to look at your beliefs and attitudes. While these blocks are not blatant displays like the stone staircase, the result is the same. People stay away. And that big reputation in the community is not the one you want.

You are the leader, the care giver. You must let go of your need to receive respect and appreciation. You cannot expect to receive attention until and unless you give attention. Once you let go of your agenda and reach out you will receive more than you can imagine.

I know that you want an uncommon, extraordinary practice and achieving this is easier than you think. So here is what I want you to do with the next new patient; meet them half way then take three more steps forward.

A word of caution!  If you think you are already taking these steps and you are not attracting 30 or more new patients a month, then think again and make sure you have the right attitude when taking these steps.

The Steps

Step 1: Following the introductions ask the patient about their primary reason for seeking your help and let them talk (hold your tongue . . . literally bite it if you must)

E.g. “I understand that your most pressing concern right now is these headaches. Tell me about them.”

Step 2: Listen. Shut up and do not interrupt them until they signal you that they are through. Studies suggest that if we don’t distract them with our body language or words, on average they will only talk for 90 seconds. Try it. It works.

Step 3: Thank them for their disclosure and ask any clarifying questions you may have. Then, let them know how you intend to discover the chiropractic solution to those headaches and that if you think you can help you will let them know once you have done your examinations.

Meet them more than half way. You practice will thank you, your patients will thank you and you will no longer feel the pressure to perform or the stress associated with non-compliance. Remember, attitude leads behavior.

Dr. Frank Sovinsky, “The E-Myth Chiropractor”, written June 2011