Many in our profession subscribe to the old notion that only lucky practices are growing steadily. The D.C.s with great locations, or states to practice in, and of course great insurance laws.

When you were in school you were told of the "starvation period" that new practitioners must endure and that your practice would eventually level off.

Another slant on this myth is you grow when you are new in practice, then plateau and accumulate wealth, and hang on to retirement.

If you want to wrap yourself around these beliefs, you, too, will live out the limits to growth scenario that is so prevalent in chiropractic.

The truth is that successful practices follow rules of success. They don't re-invent the wheel. They have a system in place that works with all techniques and all personalities. Success leaves clues, or in other words, there are distinct behaviors of successful D.C.s. The one trait they have in common is that they train continuously to better their practice.

The untrue belief in limits to growth has been thrust upon us since we were in chiropractic college. Many of our teachers were victims of this belief and they, in turn, tell of their lack of success to future generations.

The truth is you can grow at any stage of your practice life. Our Renaissance family consists of students all the way up to practitioners in their 70s. They all want to continue to grow and serve humanity. And, of course, they train and are coachable. As Dr. Joe Flesia always said, "live for a cause bigger than self and live that cause with passion."

While there are many ways to temporarily increase stats, the only long-term way to increase your practice is by changing your belief systems and increasing your personal power of achievement.

Many truth seekers jump from practice guru to practice guru in search of the Holy Grail of a bigger practice. They don't truly grasp the fact that the real place of achievement is inside the individual. If you invest in your own personal growth your practice will reflect this growth.

As an added benefit, all areas of your life are enhanced by this newfound discipline. Relationships, your physical condition, and, of course, your passion.

The great C.A. trainer, Sherry Hodge, coined the phrase, "If you don't train don't complain." The same thing applies to C.A.s as well as D.C.s. Everyone interested in growth must train and needs a coach. The superstars of every area of human endeavor follow the same rules of high achievement. Sports figures, business people, and, yes, chiropractors.

Where is it written that once D.C.s get out of school they stop feeding their brains with inspirational, philosophical, and technical information that will continue to shape and grow their chiropractic muscle? Going to seminars is fine but you need a permanent, complete system in place for every patient who walks in your office. Without this template, your office will lose its luster and will plateau, just like a weak muscle that hasn't been trained.

There's a Japanese word Kaizen that means constant continual improvement for life. This applies to our practices as well as our lives. Too many D.C.s once out of survival mode do a very predictable thing -- they get comfortable. Just like Rocky, they trade their passion for glory.

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In the world of chiropractic, trading passion for glory looks like losing the eye of the tiger. Maybe it takes on the appearance of being bored in practice and in life, letting your body get out of shape or, allowing important relationships to fade until they lose all of their passion. To the chiropractic warrior, life is constant training and constant growth. There is never a time to lose your passion or not improve yourself and your practice.

There is nothing more beautiful than to see a veteran or a new practitioner training, growing and having a ball. Many D.C.s view training and homework as boring, or think they are above it. To the chiropractic warrior, it's the breath of life.

D.C.s who are unwilling to invest in their own personal and practice growth are the ones who get caught in the limits to growth trap. Warriors are individuals who put personal and practice growth as their number one priority. They are also willing and able to use their own resources to make this dream a reality.