Growing your practice from where it is to where you really want it to be requires change. Sometimes, change happens in our lives as a last resort, and we are catapulted into it out of necessity. At other times, we have the luxury of digesting and researching all of our options before we make the necessary choices to bring about the results we want. Either way, you get to your desired destination.

Yet, if you want the change to be lasting, the concept of the "mid-stream catch" is essential in establishing the new habits you will need to support you and your practice in sustaining those changes.

The concept of the mid-stream catch goes back to my college days. Do you remember having to take a urine analysis class as a prerequisite for your D.C. degree? The part of the urine that provided the most accurate test result data had to be collected from the middle of the urine stream -- hence the term, "mid-stream" catch. The patient was actually advised to stop mid-stream during this process, in order to collect the best possible sample for analysis.

Believe it or not, it can be a useful analogy in eliciting change in people's lives.

For instance, when you see yourself continuing in or falling back on old habits, try catching yourself (mid-stream in the behavior) so you can stop investing in the kinds of activities that bring you no or low returns.

How many times have you been guilty of doing the same old things over and over again, even when you knew they are ineffective? By continuing to give the same conditioned responses to an infinite number of situations, we rob ourselves of the ability to creatively solve problems or respond to the individual needs of our patients and community.

When we become mired in rigid ways of thinking and operating and treat all of our patients in the same manner, with no regard for their specific needs or situations, our practices become static. Keep your thinking and operations flexible and open to change at any given moment and you will create the energy and momentum you need to move your practice to the next level.

This process of freeing yourself and your practice from old, ineffective habits starts with examining and acknowledging your own behavior -- even when you are in the middle of it. Once you find yourself falling back into an old pattern, turn your focus immediately away from this disabling behavior to the new, effective and empowering way of operation you want to replace it with.

The fact that you did a brief backslide on an old behavior doesn't mean that you have failed at your attempts to change. At least this time, you have stopped the behavior mid-way through and changed the final outcome.

You can learn to monitor and self-correct in every phase of your practice, from a simple communication you might be having with a patient about the benefits of chiropractic to a billing procedure that needs to be modified. No one will be aware that you are doing this monitoring or making these mental shifts, but both you and they will enjoy the results of your new way of thinking.

The art of the mid-stream catch is, indeed, crucial in creating the mental shifts that will support you in developing new and effective habits. Master the art of the mid-stream catch in everything you do and you will immediately increase your effectiveness.

In the beginning, you may find that it's a little awkward to switch tracks or tactics while you are in the middle of a presentation or Report of Findings. But after awhile, you will get to a point where nobody even notices. It's worth the time and effort to re-train yourself. Do the mid-stream catch every day, and you will evolve into the chiropractor you know you can be.