October 2004

Five lessons

by CJ Mertz

This month's column is loaded with the tips and recommendations given to the most recent inductees to the WLP 300+ adjustments per week club. If you're one of our loyal readers, you already know how committed I am to helping you join their ranks.

Every month I nominate the next wave of chiropractors who have blasted through 300 or more adjustments per week. My goal is to share with you those keys that link their successes together, as well as discover their innovative uniqueness, which separates them from the rest of the field.

Astonishingly, the number of DCs each month who are reaching 300 per week for the first time has more than doubled in the last two years! It's as if we've reached a tipping point (like the breaking of the four‑minute mile by Roger Bannister) that has made achieving this amazing goal more attainable than ever before.

Nineteen new inductees to the 300+ club were extremely passionate to share their experiences in hopes of helping you find the zone.

The first lesson all of them admitted to was owning up to the fact they are riddled with flaws and still able to give themselves permission to go the distance.

Many had tears in their eyes as they were remembering the moment when they had this epiphany. It's exhilarating and at the same time quite humbling to realize 300+ adjustments per week can be accomplished even though you'll most likely still be working through character flaws, practice weaknesses and personal baggage.

They believed they needed to be nearly perfect to reach this goal in practice and learned it was just the opposite. When they figured out that greatness isn't perfection, they gave themselves permission to be great.

The second lesson they all agreed to was an obsessive tendency to adlib in practice, and sort of do things their own way. They believed that was their trademark, their uniqueness. Instead, they learned it was their nemesis and a huge weight holding them back from moving forward.

The revelation came when they saw their uniqueness was seeing their greatness shine through a well‑executed strategy, rather than modifying or making up the strategy as they went along. At one point they saw having a coach as a sign of weakness. Now they see the value of a coach for any chiropractor. They now understand the phrase, "success is in the details," and see crossing their t's and dotting their i's as a sign of greatness.

The third lesson from the inductees was learning to work backwards from their goal. They found the best way to do this was by asking the right questions.

For example, "If I was seeing 300 patient visits per week, what would my adjustment time need to be?" Once the answer was derived, an implementation phase began to bring them and their practice to that new level of excellence.

Each right question uncovered a new answer, which generated a series of actions, which led them to explode their goal. The key, they said, was making the right changes in the right order while refraining from making too many changes simultaneously.

Working backwards gave them the confidence of knowing what they needed to do and generated the motivation necessary to work through the proper set of changes. Looking back they now see it would have been virtually impossible to reach 300+ without learning how to work backwards from the goal.

The fourth lesson they passionately expressed was the need for listening to and talking with fewer people. Most described themselves as seminar, journal and CD junkies. They were listening to everyone, everywhere, on everything, all the time! It was particle bombardment and information overload causing their practices to perpetually spin.

It also became clear that very few of the people they love and care for could enthusiastically support them in pursuing their goal. They each laser‑beamed their studies and in almost every case reduced their inner circle to "like‑minded" chiropractors who became the wind beneath their wings.

Most of the DCs acknowledged having to stop talking about their practice to a mother, brother or friend because it only led to confusion or upset. This particular lesson continues to validate why statistically, so few chiropractors ever get close to 300 adjustments per week.

The fifth lesson from our new inductees was the realization that they didn't need to be an expert at promotions or marketing to have hundreds or thousands of people in their community learning how chiropractic can be the answer for their family.

At first, connecting with their community was thought of as an expense, so most didn't do it. Then, it became an opportunity, which meant connecting with their community was on and off. Eventually, connecting with the community fell somewhere between a wise investment and a principle obligation. In other words connecting became a continuous and fully integrated part of their practice experience. Their only regret was that they hadn't come to this conclusion earlier.

As chiropractors, we're in the business of improving, extending and saving lives. The feeling that comes with learning to fulfill your purpose in high volume is indescribable. Adjusting 300+ patients per week isn't just for the lucky or the gifted few but for every DC willing to develop his or her greatness and get out of his or her own way.

(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, including the WLP 300+ Club, call Kate Golle at 877‑TEAM‑WLP.)

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