Do you ever wonder what is the most important aspect of building a phenomenal practice? Of course you have. We’ve all done it. Is it the marketing? Maybe the operational systems? Conversion of new patients? Patient results? Your team? You? You and your team’s training? If so, you’re not alone, not by a long shot. In fact, it’s a question I get all the time when talking to chiropractors outside my company. Heck, sometimes even docs in our company ask me this question. In this video, I’ll discuss with you what I believe to be one of the most massively important attributes of a great practice. It’s the first step.
Trying to nail down what the most important piece of a fantastic practice is can be an exercise in futility. But when you possess this one key critical attribute, it propels everything else forward and upward. What is this attribute? But first…..
The attribute of a practice, the very first step that singularly pushes everything in a better direction is YOUR Determination. The mindset you possess, in my opinion, drives your practice far better and more effectively than anything else. It drives your quest to be the very best, to provide the very best patient outcomes, the newest patients, the most referrals, laser focused systems, world class training for you and your team, and the passion to be your-very-best. Your determination sets the sails and provides the wind to pilot your practice to incredible heights for all the right reasons.
Probably there are some people that are innately born with this incredible determination. I believe most, however, create the determination through a series of steps. Heck, everyone wants to be a winner. That’s fun. It’s easy. It’s incredibly exhilarating. So again, most people really want to win. I believe that. But I also believe that most people, DC’s in this case, aren’t very enthused about doing what it takes to win. That’s disguised as work!
What does it take to actually win, or build a truly great practice, one that not only sees a lot of patients that get amazing results, but also one that literally creates more free time for you, the owner? Of course it takes super effective training of your team and YOU. It requires that your patients are so blown away by their results and the energy of the practice that they refer in their friends and family in huge numbers. It requires ethical and effective marketing that attracts part of the 86% of the population that so far have not seen a chiropractor. But before all those extremely important topics, it requires you to be determined to win. To be passionate about building, brick by brick, a phenomenal practice. Determination in the face of adversity is critical.
It’s pretty much a given that hanging up a sign and hoping people will book appointments will NOT construct a fun, vibrant, and successful practice. The determination to do what others will not do today so that tomorrow you can have what they cannot is big, really big.
But if you’re one of the maybe 99% that weren’t born with the drive and determination to sprint full out the moment the gate opens, how are you supposed to cultivate burning determination into your very soul? What’s it going to take? What do YOU think?
You know you need a recipe to create more determination, more drive, and more dedication into your very essence. You’ve tried this before, got fired up for a while and then the fire burned out to some small flickering flames. The result? Your practice is not where you desire it to be, at least not yet. What’s the first step, you ask?
Likely there’s some different interpretations on this, but I believe the most vital first step to cultivating serious determination in your life is to sit down and think about the WHY. Why do you want a more successful practice? Why do you want patients that are so enthused due to how well you overdelivered to them and blew away their expectations that they simply feel compelled to refer in their friends and family? Is it just financial or is there more? I’ll bet there’s a LOT more.
Just think about it a bit right now. If you write down the first 10 reasons on WHY you want a more successful practice, I’ll bet the list comes fast and easy. I’ll wager you can’t stop at 10 reasons. And most importantly, I am CERTAIN that when you finish writing down your reasons about WHY you want a better practice, you’ll be emotionally charged up, energetically fueled, your pulse will quicken, your hands may sweat, you’ve activated your sympathetic nervous system and you can’t wait to get after it, right? Go ahead, maybe set a timer for 1 minute max and see what you come up with. Ready……GO!
Welcome back! Now that was a blast, wasn’t it? How do you feel? Like you just knocked out some cardio? How’s your pulse? Hands a bit sweaty. Feeling more alive? Imagine, just imagine, what your life would be like if you felt like this MOST of the time instead of once in a great while. And yes, you can teach yourself how to activate yourself on command, any time you so desire. I do it all the time, especially when I want to get something done.
And before you start talking about adrenal fatigue, you can also learn how to activate your parasympathetic nervous system to slow everything back down, maybe meditate, or simply get to sleep. I can show you how to do that in less than 2 minutes. I did it this morning at 3:50 am when I woke up, and then seamlessly drifted back off to sleep. In the past that never happened. You can do it too! Just like you can learn how to build a fantastic practice.
Your reasons WHY you want a great practice come first, before any other action steps. Let’s say you’ve built a long and emotionally charged list of reasons WHY you want your dream practice and why you want it today, not tomorrow. How does that translate into determination that triggers the right ACTIONS so that change actually occurs?
Step 2 is to read you list of reasons why you want an amazing practice, not once. Nope, not at all. You make it part of your DAILY practice to read the list in the morning and at the very least, in the evening yet again. Why? So that you establish a level of proximity to your dreams and desires that ultimately becomes part of your soul. These thoughts become omnipresent in your life and in your mind. You begin to ponder these reasons throughout the day, living in the NOW when it comes to creating actions that move the needle forward. In my opinion, this step is crucial. For me, it was critical. Remember, proximity is power.
This focus on WHY you desire a different practice, one that is what you’ve dreamed of is what creates the high octane fuel that drives different actions than you’ve done before, actions that move your practice forward.
In the circles in which I run, we call this the Why behind the What. Or the reasons why we want to create something vastly different from what we’ve created so far are what drive us doing different, unfamiliar, scary and even unpredictable actions, all with the desired outcome of a better result. I’ve been taught that when you have a long enough, a lengthy enough, and an emotionally charged lists of reasons why you want a different practice, you can build anything you want to build. The list of reasons WHY must-come-first.
Remember, this list is the FUEL that drives your engines. Doing what we’ve always done and expecting a different result is insanity. You must act differently, and that can be frightening. You list of reasons WHY will propel you forward to take that next unfamiliar step. Have you ever created a list of reasons WHY you want a different practice?