We all know how our actions have a direct impact on the people around us, especially when the outcome is negative. But, have you ever thought about the kind of positive effect they can have on others?

As a chiropractor, you truly are a catalyst in your community and have the potential to positively impact the health and well being of everyone you encounter.

From the people you meet when you visit your children's school, to the ones whose paths you cross at sporting, social and religious events, opportunities abound for you to be a chiropractic "catalyst."

Even though these interactions may seem trivial to you, the potential is always there for your conversations to trigger a new way of thinking and inspire people to take a larger role in their own health and well being.

As you go about your business each day, try to be as mindful about what you communicate (and the way in which you convey it) to people who are not your patients as you would be with those who are. You never know when something you say might inspire someone to start living a healthier, more meaningful life either through chiropractic, diet or exercise.

On the flip side, the potential is always there to inadvertently say something that causes people to doubt your credibility or the value of chiropractic.

Pay close attention to the messages you send and ask yourself what kind of impact you want to have today and tomorrow. Remember, as you serve and interact with others in your community, your particular skills, talents and abilities will enable you to be either one or the other of these catalysts every day – negative or positive.

Here are some effective ways to make sure that you maintain your ability to be a constant, positive catalyst in your community:

*** Always see people in their highest possibility. Visualize (and help patients visualize) life lived free from interference. Use simple terms and speak from your heart about subluxations and how they can negatively affect the individual's life force.

*** Ask yourself what would be possible for your patients if they adopted a health consciousness that had at its core a belief in innate intelligence? Then, through your health talks and educational materials, give them the foundation they will need to embrace this type of consciousness.

*** Refuse to interact with people in any other way than in their highest possibility. Don't let them settle for less than what they were born to be. This may mean that you have to take a stand for them, even when they are incapable of doing it for themselves. When you become the kind of catalyst that enables them to see a clear vision of their potential, then you will inspire them to action.

Your ability to be an effective catalyst will increase as you master the skills of communicating to people how chiropractic can fit into their lives. When you approach your patients with this sort of mindset, the difference you will make in your community will be dramatic compared to the D.C. who is only going to be treating people's symptoms.

Remember to always present the whole picture and your impact could be life-changing for your patients, not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually as well.

Be a catalyst wherever you go. The nature of being a catalyst is that it can create quick and rapid change and transformation. When you take a stand for people in their highest possibility, they will see the level of commitment you have made to them and their health, and they will immediately increase their commitment to you.

(Dr. Eric Plasker is a chiropractor and founder of The Family Practice, where chiropractors are uniting to lead family health care. Nationally recognized as a speaker and educator, he is best known for rallying chiropractors around the Lifetime Care For Everyone [LCFE] and Family Practice visions in the chiropractic profession. For seminar, coaching, training, or product information, call toll-free 866/LEAD-DCS [532-3327], ext. 105. Or connect online at www.thefamilypractice.net to find out how you can unite to help lead family health care.)