June 2005

Effective planning for chiropractic success

by Dr. Robert Schiffman

If you fail to take the initiative to shape or mold your life, situations that can occur will. Success requires that you work, sacrifice, invest and persevere until you attain the results you desire. You cannot start to plan without a direction or path. The design of your success is up to you.

There have been other chiropractors who've reached the goals of success that you'd like to reach. You should study them and review what they've done to reach their goals.

You can start anywhere, anytime, but be persistent. It's very important that you stop thinking about what others believe you can or can't do! This will just be a hindrance to you and your success, in your practice and at home. You must have faith in yourself and have the self‑confidence to challenge your current situation. This life is yours to live, day by day and you should always remember to take it step by step.

A good step towards success is to write your goals down daily, and review them. Three percent of people write their goals and only one percent review them. Success takes work. Be that elite one percent, visualizing yourself regularly attaining your goals. The goals you choose represent how you'll become great and successful.

Doctors who have successful practices have a common denominator. They're focused on accomplishing specific objectives, immediately. Do this by separating the important from the urgent and giving yourself time for both. Next, break down any large tasks into a series of small tasks, then action. At the beginning, don't be concerned about how well or quickly you achieve the goals. When you continue to work with commitment, research and patience, you will achieve them with success. Collecting facts or research is important to goal setting. When you've done this the answers that you are looking for should already be there. The goals you've set will then develop into a set of action‑oriented objectives, or to‑do lists.

Prioritizing should be your next step towards successful planning. If you don't prioritize your day and its activities, everything will be equal in importance. You want your activities to be important but also to have a clearly defined purpose. If you don't accomplish all your activities, you shouldn't feel as that you've failed, (as a reminder, success requires determination). Write a to‑do list every day, prioritize it, and make at least one of your daily objectives a challenge. At the end of each day, relax and enjoy that wonderful feeling of accomplishment.

Try to create a personal mission statement, one that defines your purpose as a chiropractor, a mate, and a person. List who you are, what your values are, and what you intend to do with your time to make your life meaningful. You are the only one who determines what you'll achieve. Learn to accept uncontrollable circumstances and change the outcome for the best. Don't think about people who say you're too old, too young, too poor, too unattractive, the wrong gender or nationality. They're not successful because they allowed these thoughts to hold them back. Remember, they're not speaking about you, because you're planning your success and achieving it.

While you read things that are inspirational, write them down or clip them out. Put them in a folder to draw from when you prepare your mission statement. They will help motivate you. The mission statement you write can be a few sentences or paragraphs, but refer to it regularly and don't be afraid to change it as you grow. A mission statement will help you establish a foundation on which you can build your dreams and goals and also allow your objectives and daily to‑do lists to flow.

Don't let your life get complicated. Think before you act. Look for the simple ways or answers first, and work from your basics. Make sure you understand the problem, and what the time and performance expectations are. Also, look for what will indicate satisfactory completion, and reexamine how you're doing things. Tasks should not consume all of your time. Consider whether they're worth the time you're investing, if you have the necessary resources, whether they can be delegated, and if so, is the right person assigned to complete the job. The research you've done, your quiet time, your commitment to teamwork and your prioritized to‑do list should help to remove whatever is not necessary.

Remember to follow through to make sure that you've done the job right. Some ways of following through might be to say thank you, offering new ideas, and asking for more business. Earn respect by saying what you're prepared to do and then doing exactly that. When you follow through, it shows that you're a person of your word and someone who cares. It also shows that you're accessible, and you want to keep the lines of communication open. Sometimes you may make mistakes and when you follow through you have the opportunity to correct them and learn from them. Follow‑up can be personalized with a handwritten note, phone call, and small gifts. Tickets and lunches may also be appropriate incentives. Always check up on yourself and reap the rewards. Following through amplifies your effectiveness.

Studying under CS Gonstead ignited Dr. Robert Schiffman's passion for chiropractic. The Life University graduate's career accomplishments have won him much recognition, and he is one of the most sought‑after speakers in chiropractic today. Dr. Schiffman ‑‑ founder of the Get the Big Idea Seminars and Schiffman Solution Coaching Program ‑‑ continues to maintain one of the world's largest volume practices. Contact him by calling 877‑251‑0181, or visit online at www.getthebigidea.com.