February 2006

Is your life vision‑based or goal‑based?

by Dr. Greg Pallis and Dr. Ed Plentz

Do you even know the critical difference? By not knowing, you're setting yourself up for much unhappiness and conflict. Our experiences with thousands of chiropractic offices tell us that most DCs are not even aware of the existence of the two ideologies. If this is the case, then you have no choice.

There is, however, another choice out there.

Let's start to paint the canvas of awareness of the two ideologies. You'll gradually realize that they're worlds apart. To be a vision‑ based chiropractor trapped in a goal‑based environment (or vice versa) is a recipe for disaster.

The vision‑based DC lives for a idea that's bigger than himself or herself and his or her individual office. The world of the goal‑based DC consists of the doctor and his or her office. Vision‑based DCs communicate with and educate their patients, while goal‑based chiropractors market and sell. The vision‑based DC teaches his or her patients about a new health concept. The goal‑based DC gives them what they want (symptom relief only). You should now begin to see where you fall.

There's no right or wrong with either model. The key is to align your beliefs with the appropriate one.

How many times have you set and achieved a goal only to feel empty inside? You tell yourself you'll be happy when you reach 100 patient visits a week. Once you achieve that, you say, "I'll be happy when I reach 200 patient visits a week." The same is true with money. You say you'll be happy at this level of income and then, when you achieve it, you wonder whether that's all there is to life.

Many people not familiar with vision‑based DCs mistakenly think that they lag behind in financial abilities. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do they have superior incomes, they're also having the time of their lives doing it!

When you're vision‑based, you create an identity for yourself and for chiropractic that you can be proud of ‑‑ chiropractic today for a better world tomorrow. Healthier people, healthier planet. Your patients love you, your office and chiropractic. They treat you like a rock star.

When you're goal‑based and don't educate people about what chiropractic really is, you give them symptom relief only, which is what they want, not what they need...a way to stay healthy. All progress starts with telling the truth.

Today, when you walk into chiropractors' offices, you'll notice they take on many different looks. Some look like GNC stores, while others look like spas.

Then there are the rehab centers, the physical therapy centers, the gyms and the laser beam centers. Who goes through all the time and effort to become a chiropractor just to sell a jar of vitamins or ointment in a tube? These are DCs who care little for their profession. They're focused on personal gain only. Their children will never see chiropractic the way it was intended.

The survival of some goal‑based offices depends on activities other than chiropractic. So many of our doctors are falling prey to this tragedy. Now, for DCs who want to have all these multiple streams of income, go for it. Realize, however, that the money you make or won't make will come right out of the chiropractic part of the equation. Just like a steroid, the user only learns of the deadly consequences after it's too late. Our vision is to be chiropractors, not distributors.

One of the most surprising effects of a goal‑based life is the unrealized opportunities that exist for your own children or children‑to‑be and your other family members. To a vision‑based DC, it's unfathomable the number of chiropractors who look everywhere besides chiropractic for solutions to their children's health challenges. When you don't live a vision‑based lifestyle, you search for answers from outside‑in authorities, usually MDs.

You know, the same people are looking toward birds for the keys to health. What will you tell your wife or husband when they find out that many DCs see children with challenges the same as your children? What will you tell your children when they grow up ‑‑ never reaching their potential ‑‑ and ask you, "Did you ever hear that chiropractic was helpful for other things besides musculoskeletal aches and pains?"

The time to reassess your belief systems is now. To grow means to take chances and risks. To not grow means not changing but just staying the same. Will you take the wisdom and knowledge you gained in school and stake the rest of your life on it? The choice is yours.

(The New Renaissance is a movement of passionate chiropractors dedicated to changing the world. The leader in patient education since 1977, the Mentor IV Coaching Program is a step‑by‑step navigational guide that embodies the very essence of The New Renaissance vision of healthier people creating a healthier world. Without patient education, your patients won't "get it." To learn more about The New Renaissance, contact world headquarters at 800‑525‑3879)