You've heard it before. Your attitude — not your aptitude — creates your altitude. Achieving goals and creating success requires a TEAM approach from both doctor and C.A. Procedures must be outlined and done systematically and consistently. Focusing on the goals will perpetuate the correct actions to achieving them.

Yet, without the right attitude, most goals will not be achieved and accomplishments not sustained.

Two major ingredients of an A+ attitude are having a mission and purpose and a respect and conviction of this mission and purpose. If C.A.s understand the clinic's mission and purpose, they will communicate with an attitude of confidence and certainty. If they respect the mission and purpose they will also communicate with conviction.

My mission is simple (feel free to use it):

MISSION: To service as many people and their families as we can through chiropractic care by educating them that they need a chiropractor on their health care team to maintain their spine for maximum nerve integrity and optimum health potential.

My PURPOSE (behind my mission): Many health problems are a result of lack of spinal maintenance and resultant subluxations. People are unaware of subluxations and end up treating the symptoms with unnecessary drugs, surgery, or non-corrective symptomatic manipulation. Spinal adjustments are for family wellness, not individual symptom treatment of pain in the back.

By understanding and participating in the doctor's mission and purpose a team is created with the following attitude characteristics:

1. Consistent focus on reaching as many people as possible with the TEAM mission. Since our actions always follow our focus, an attitude of action results when a C.A. knows the teams mission.

2. Eagerness to educate and share the chiropractic principles enthusiastically, to anyone, anywhere, anytime. With the right mission and purpose, life takes on a new meaning. C.A.s know they can help people by educating them about chiropractic and reach out to people in every situation they encounter.

3. Willingness and ability to search out then seize every opportunity to get new people under chiropractic wellness care. Willingness is a reflection of the head and heart. Ability is a reflection of the body. When C.A.s have the right head and heart, they make opportunities realities and enhance their God- given abilities.

4. When C.A.s genuinely care about people, a loving attitude comes through. You can find something to like about everyone when your attitude is loving. Love is not real unless it is given away. When C.A.s really have a loving attitude they go the extra mile for others and want people to benefit from chiropractic.

5. Team members may disagree but should never divide. They cooperate, overlook occurrences, don't gossip, admit wrongs, and forgive. They are courteous, trustworthy, and helpful to one another. They know the mission and purpose they have is bigger than themselves and any problems that can come between them. They understand the wrong team attitude prevents them from serving others.

6. Communication becomes relational not professional. Professional communication is administrative, mechanical and corporate. It lags depth, truth and honesty in feeling. Relational communication, on the other hand, is always service-driven and comes from the heart. People are treated more like family than sales prospects. Relational communication opens up a whole new world of success because it is based on loving others as you would love yourself.

7. Lastly, a gentle but assertive attitude must be present to carry on your mission. Life is short. Helping as many people as you can in your lifetime changes future generations so, you must be assertive out of respect for your mission and your desire to change people's lives through chiropractic. Teams do it more effectively than individuals but C.A.s must start with themselves.

This assertive attitude comes from a respect and conviction to the sacred trust we honor to the philosophy and principles of chiropractic. Imagine the collective attitudes we would have on 'Team Chiropractic'if we had a unified mission and purpose to this sacred trust.