Ten Life Lessons That Will Change the Way You Practice
PERSPECTIVE
Kent S. Greenawalt
“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?”
I have posed this question for years to groups I’ve spoken to across the country and world. I want chiropractors, chiropractic assistants (CAs), and students to think about what they want in life and then work toward that goal. If you feel like you or your office has gotten into a rut, stop what you’re doing right now and read this article. My first piece of advice is that your practice won’t change until you change the way you practice.
Success, to me, is doing exactly what you want to do in life. It could be your job, your practice, your family, or anything that makes you happy. As long as you are doing what you love, then you have achieved the first and most important step of being successful.
I learned this important lesson early in life as I watched my late father, Dr. Monte Greenawalt, help his chiropractic patients while starting Foot Levelers. It was easy to see that he loved what he did, which made work not seem like a chore. It was his passion. From that early age through today, I have learned 10 lessons that have helped me and are universal steps to success. If you apply these, you can help your practice grow while serving your patients to the best of your ability.
you apply these, you can help your practice grow while serving your patients to the best of your ability. 5 J
1. Think big. Almost every success story in history has started when someone thought on a grand scale. It’s easy to become bogged down in the day-to-day details of your practice. While it’s important to be involved in those seemingly mundane decisions, it’s also important to take some time to think about the big picture. What would you want to do for your practice if there were no way you could fail? Get rid of the “no” that keeps coming back in your head and brainstorm what you would do if you couldn’t fail.
2. Learn from your mistakes. Failure is sort of like fertilizer. If you use it, then you grow bigger and stronger, and if you don’t use it, then you’re just standing in a pile of... fertilizer. Look at what hasn’t worked for you and your practice, and assess why
and what you could do differently to get a better outcome. Sometimes you don’t need to throw out a huge process or idea because it didn’t work—maybe it just needs some small tweaks to make it a success.
3. Keep on pushing. This applies to the eighth-grade law of physics that an object in motion stays in motion. If you want to make your practice change or continue to grow, you need to make that change happen. You have to keep pushing to drive your practice the way you want it to go. If you sit still long enough, even a great practice will become stagnant and stop growing. You have to continually help your current patients while reaching out to former patients and new patients.
4. Payoff is not immediate. What you do today will affect your life three months from now. Not seeing a reward today, tomorrow, or even next week can be difficult, but it will happen. You have to keep your eyes on your goal and realize that sometimes it takes time to get the ball rolling. You will see results based on what you do today, so make each day and each decision count.
5. Continue doing the things that made you successful. You already have had some success? Great! Don’t start from scratch and reinvent the wheel. You
reached this successful place, so continue to do what it took to get there. You have worked hard to find what works best in your area with your patients and staff. If you have found a rhythm that works well for you, then continue to do it.
6. A little better makes a huge difference. My father used to tell me that it doesn’t take much to be successful because all you have to be is a little bit better than average, and average isn’t that high. Just going a little bit above the call can be a huge difference between you and the practice down the street.
7. Think right. You have to get your mind on your side. So be positive and committed to your goal— believe you can do it. Henry Ford famously said, “If you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.” You will do what you believe you can do—for better or for worse. Think positively and you will achieve more.
8. Write it down. Try writing down your top three goals and then put them somewhere you will see them every day (maybe on your bathroom mirror or on your closet door). Now read them every day and be committed. You can’t commit halfway. You’re either committed or you’re not. Writing down your goals gives you a clear expectation of what you
want to happen—and if you’re committed, you can make it happen.
9. Treat every patient/customer as if he or she is your only one.
One of the biggest lessons I can tell someone new to practice is that 68% of patients leave because of the feeling of indifference and only 14% actually leave because they are unhappy. If you make your patients feel appreciated and valued, then they are much more likely to want to come back and tell their friends about this great chiropractor they should see. This lesson applies to practice or business. We can’t forget about our longtime customers just to try to get new ones. We need to take the time to make each one feel special because they are!
10.Don’t sell yourself short. This is the final lesson, and it combines everything we’ve discussed. Whatever you think you can do, you can. So think big, keep pushing, write it down, and don’t get complacent.
Apply these 10 lessons to yourself and your practice and give yourself 90 days. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in that time, and your patients and staff will thank you for the positive changes.
Kent Greenawalt, Chairman CEO of Foot Levelers, is a lifelong champion of the profession and the founder of The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, which educates the public about the benefits of Chiropractic. Kent has patented dozens of healthcare products. He offers generous, ongoing support to Chiropractic colleges, research, and organizations.
