July 2005

The chiropractic contender

by Dr. Timothy Gay

There's a new show on that has a new twist on reality television. It's about the heart and souls of individuals who've had to fight (literally) for what they want out of life. Based on the movie, "Rocky," it's produced by Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard, one of the greatest boxers of the 20th century. Each week a group of unknown boxers draws to see who'll fight to continue on in the competition to be the show's top contender. The winner ends up with a million dollars in prize money for his accomplishment.

I watched this show looking at the parallels between chiropractors and their own abilities to train to win. The question is, "Do you have what it takes to be a contender?" Training and sacrificing were a necessity for each of us when we were in college meeting the requirements to graduate as a doctor of chiropractic. We had to do all the necessary steps to graduate or go home disappointed that we'd failed.

The same thing happens in the TV show. Once eliminated in the ring, contenders have to go home, face their families and friends, and move forward in life accepting disappointment. The difference is, after we graduate, we train for a few years and may have a coach or someone to train with. Then we get lazy. We stop training and doing the things we know are necessary to achieve the higher level practice we want. Things like getting our reports done on time so that they can be sent out on the patient's behalf to continue with their care plan, or overcoming the laziness of arriving at the office late and making patients wait as if their time was not as valuable as our own.

Training is a never‑ending endeavor of improvement to attain the highest level of achievement. It takes complete dedication, discipline, consistency, and momentum to make it happen in the ring or in your practice. Honing your skills is not just about knowing what to do. It's a matter of training to a point of automatic competency in all aspects of your practice.

Are you and your staff training to this level of competency?

Commonly, I hear from staff members, "I don't like scripts and rehearsing what I'm supposed to say or do in my job." That means to me they're not willing to do what it takes to be the best at what they've been chosen or hired to do. As a boxer in training, it's important to just work on one thing at a time until you have the ability to have automatic competency. The learning curve is similar to that of practice and life. The more emphasis that's put on something that needs improvement, the better and more efficient that something becomes.

Confidence is the key to making the changes that are going to drive you to the next level. In many cases, our confidence is challenged on a daily basis and the question crops up, "Am I doing the right thing?" Invariably, if there's a doubt that comes into your mind, it will ultimately affect your ability to make the decisions you need to make in your practice. In essence, chiropractic contenders have to be training constantly in order to pursue the dream. The people around them want the success as badly as they do, and are willing to help them achieve greatness at all costs. Arrive early and stay late until the job's done no matter what that job may be.

This is about the dream of being the best that you can possibly be by doing whatever it takes. The word initiative comes to mind. Whenever anyone comes to work in the office or the ring without initiative, they're most likely going to get counted out. If you want more from your practice, you need to add more to it. I find that the symbol of sport is a strong metaphor for accomplishment. You must train like a boxer to achieve as much as you can ‑‑ you can't win without throwing punches and you can't worry about getting hit.

So when was the last time you put yourself on the line in the ring? Are you ready to stand up and throw the necessary punches it takes to go to the next round and then the next level all the way to the championships? Don't come up with any excuses like, "Yeah, but." Get off of your "Yeah, but," and get into your practice. Go big or go home. I look forward to seeing you there at the top.

(Timothy J. Gay, DC, is a 1977 Palmer College graduate and chairs the WCA Council on Chiropractic Mentoring. Founder and president of Ultimate Practice Systems ‑‑ a chiropractic management and consulting company that specializes in personalized chiropractic consulting [on the web at www.ultimatepracticesystems.com] ‑‑ Dr. Gay was in practice for more than 20 years, developing lifetime patients who understood the importance of optimal health. He has traveled to India, Turkey, Honduras, Brazil and many other countries to help people gain health through chiropractic. The recipient of many awards for his leadership abilities and willingness to contribute to chiropractic, Dr. Gay is the author of several books and numerous CD and video products for the profession. A highly respected and nationally recognized speaker who holds several seminars across the US on a variety of topics, he may be reached at 866‑797‑8366 or ultimatepractice@sbcglobal.net)