July 2005

What do you wish?

by Dr. CJ Mertz

In a day and time where we hear about so many DCs having difficulty making it in practice, it's encouraging to know there are many more achieving personal bests. For example, over the past 120 days, 57 WLP chiropractors have broken 300 adjustments per week.

There came a point in their lives where they simply decided not to let another five years go by in practice waffling at the same frustrating volume of practice. I can't tell you how important this decision can be to launching you in the right direction. You're better than what your practice is currently producing, so do something about it! That's what they did, and each of them has more passion and excitement for practice now than ever before.

They also realized the way they were practicing was too complicated, with too many moving parts. In order to grow, you must be willing to simplify. Growth is rarely born out of confusion or difficulty. The vast majority of these doctors (and practices) were made up of systems and procedures (even software) that didn't fit together. In addition, different things were being said to different patients from different members of the team. The result of course is ineffectiveness. Your system, coupled with your team's shared values, is the lifeblood of your practice. Simplicity isn't easy, otherwise everyone would already be doing it. You have to make a deliberate commitment to simplify your system, align your team and prepare for real growth.

In our new group of 57 record breakers, 51 of them were physically out of shape, 48 weren't reading or listening to anything positive on a regular basis, 54 were relatively poor at goal setting and all of them were trying to grow without a performance coach. A big growth in practice calls for hard decisions that once made will set you free. Some decisions require you to invest, others to better manage your time, become better organized or step up in your leadership ability. But, the returns from your investment will change your life forever.

While all of our record breakers admitted to a tremendous concern about the attitude of others toward any changes that needed to be made, after a specific coaching all of them were able to recognize the results of spending so much time, focus and energy around what others would think, say or do. They realized they hadn't concentrated on what they, themselves, would think, say or do. The breakthroughs were gigantic. Only later, after their practices began to take off, did they understand just how paralyzing it had been to focus on the opinions of others rather than having the courage to follow their own dream.

Most of them said they knew very little about building and training a championship team and saw that as a huge block to reaching their goals. The first thing they learned through their coaching was to "hire slowly and fire quickly." At first, it took the air out of their lungs, but then it set their practices on fire! Great CAs study often, train intensely with you every week and regularly attend seminars throughout the year. Hiring or working with individuals who are incapable or unwilling to do so doesn't mean they're bad people, it just means they can't be on your team. When you learn what's required to build real growth in your practice and touch thousands of lives through your work, it's so liberating!

Practices that are growing are making better, harder decisions. Growth isn't about change. Anyone can do that. Growth is about doing right things right. It's about making the difficult decisions, getting great instructions, breaking things down to the point of simplicity, having the vision to see past obstacles and staying focused on your dream.

Don't get bogged down with how much there is to get done. You just have to start and everything else takes care of itself. Don't focus on what's wrong or not working. Allow yourself to reprogram your thinking toward the ideal picture of practice, filled with ideal patients. It's your practice and you can make of it what you wish. The only question is, what do you wish?

(Dr. CJ Mertz is executive director of ChiroUSA, and founder and head coach of the prestigious Waiting List Practice [WLP] chiropractic training organization. See the WLP 300 patient per week opportunity on the back page of this issue. For information on WLP coaching services, call Tony Shinn at 877‑TEAM‑WLP.)