January 2004

Championship goal setting for 2004

by Dr. CJ Mertz

Every seminar I've taught on goal setting invariably has started with a lesson on attitude. For most of us, setting goals means taking our business and ourselves to a place we have never been before. This can be both exciting and frightening, which usually results in poor goal setting ‑‑ or none at all.

Here is a step‑by‑step guide to turning 2004 into a best‑ever year.

Step 1 ‑‑ Chances are, there remain certain limiting habits and behaviors in your practice. You must begin, then, with a brand new attitude regarding necessary changes you need to go through to reach your goal. Most people set a goal and expect to just work toward making it happen. Yet, any great goal setting must start with an improved attitude around a significant change in discipline, communication, organization, procedure or promotion.

Step 2 ‑‑ Perform an audit of any current distractions or obstacles (including any future or anticipated distractions), and write a one page document describing your confidence and commitment that these will not deter you from achieving your goal. If you can't convince yourself that you can blow through your current challenges, your planning is already set for failure.

Step 3 ‑‑ Get your team involved with setting your new goal. If your team can produce momentum around an agreed‑upon goal, it's as if the goal has been achieved from the outset. Set your goal for the whole year of 2004 and then break it down into quarterly landmarks. Make sure the goal is specific. If it's not measurable, it's not a goal. Rather than saying "our goal is to increase our volume," very specifically state that the goal is to reach 300 adjustments per week by December 15, 2004.

Step 4 ‑‑ Determine what the reward will be for reaching your goal, because the more meaningful you make the reward, the more likely you will succeed in achieving it.

Imagine your whole team going to Hawaii, Europe or Mexico for an all expenses paid vacation! That's something everyone can keep their focus on for weeks and months at a time. Money is also a good reward. The key is to make it meaningful. Obviously, the goal you set should have a sizable ROI in order for you to feel excited about creating the right rewards.

Step 5 ‑‑ This is where the rubber meets the road, and what separates the adults from the kids. Maximizing leverage is the single greatest motivating factor in existence. You already set a goal you want to achieve, you decided on a reward you wish to have, what could possibly be more powerful?

Imagine giving one of your chiropractic friends an all expenses paid trip. That's right! If you don't achieve the goal by the agreed upon date, someone else wins the reward. Just reading this must make you a little queasy.

One of the reasons my clients continue to exceed their own expectations is because of the leverage they're taught to place upon themselves, again and again. You have to really want to achieve a goal to perform proper goal setting, otherwise it could be painful.

Step 6 ‑‑ Next, your C.A.s have to determine what penalty they will endure if the team doesn't achieve the goal. For example, it might be volunteering a month's extra time at work to perform a chore they would despise doing ‑‑ in other words, painful.

The whole idea is to surround yourself with the pleasure of achieving the goal and receiving the reward, and the pain of penalties resulting from falling short of your goal. I believe the failure to set penalties for missed goals is the single greatest reason why so many chiropractors don't achieve them. Again, my clients have commented many times that they were more driven by penalty than reward.

Step 7 ‑‑ Celebrate! We're in the business of saving and extending lives, so when a goal is achieved it deserves to be recognized. Don't simply go aimlessly through your career. Go from one significant goal to the next, and you'll build a legacy for others to follow.

Don't be afraid to get the help you need to achieve your goals. You may need an additional C.A. right now, a change in your computer software system, a brand new approach to your promotions, a re‑engineering of your practice procedures, or a coaching program to guide you through the maze. Carefully thinking over your decisions and then taking action is the only way to get yourself in position to build the practice you want.

Schedule time with your team soon and get the ball rolling for 2004. The moment your goal is set (all six steps), everything else will come perfectly into view. You will know the exact number of new patients, what financial plans to use with your patients, what missed visit percentage you must adhere to, and more.

Finding your purpose is job #1, setting goals to serve that purpose at the highest level is job #2. Make 2004 your best year ever, and let me know how I can help you make it happen.

<I>(Dr. CJ Mertz is president of the International Chiropractors Association, executive director of ChiroUSA, and founder and head coach of the prestigious Waiting List Practice [WLP] chiropractic training organization. For information on WLP services and products, call Mark at 877/TEAM‑WLP.)<I>