March 2007

The undeniable change of perspective

by Dr. Timothy J. Gay

If you should ever become sick and tired of your current place in life, this is when you'll make a change that will take you to new level of thinking.

It'll happen when you've been going along day by day, doing the same things you've always done, in the same way. Suddenly, someone will make a comment to you that changes your perception about the very thing you'd been contemplating, but with a bit of a twist, making your head whirl from a new perspective.

If you attend seminars and listen to the speakers instead of meeting up with your friends and going out on the town, it's highly unlikely that any of you with your tales of woe will get a new found perspective that will leap into existence.

New found perspectives happen only when you're sitting with people you don't know. This allows you to concentrate and open up your mind. It's funny how it happens. When you're able to truly concentrate on what's being said, something magical occurs... pure unadulterated innate thought.

When we talk about an unadulterated innate thought, it's like you're not even listening to the seminar speaker, but it comes via your inside innate source. This reverberation enters your consciousness and takes away the doubt from what you'd believed before and replaces it with a higher level of undeniable change in perspective.

What you once believed is now transformed into a higher clarity. In other words, the extra information that you were missing has now filled the space that was holding you back from where you wanted to be in your life or in your practice.

The change from this will help to guide your patients and they, too, will tell others the new found truth about their health.

When you arrive at this new perspective and meaning is clear, share your new idea with those around you who already think you're a genius. Remember, too, that the people who may have thought you were a genius may not think that any more because your perspective has changed.

Those who are willing to change and share their new thoughts have to understand that it takes some risk to push away from the shore and tell others what you've learned. If it's your family members, your staff, your patients or your friends, you now have to stand strong in your new beliefs and principles.

Let's talk about some undeniable changes in perspective.

For instance, long‑term chiropractic care based on restructuring and rehabilitation, as opposed to the pain relief care that many doctors practice. Find out why longer term care is more beneficial to the patients than short term care. The reason that many doctors don't recommend this to their patients is because of the fear of rejection, or doubt of the adjustment or ability to deliver results.

Yet, you'll always be searching for the elusive new patient if, though tired of the same result you go searching for new patients because of short‑term pain relief care, rather than develop a patient base built on education, results, and function.

How have you been educating your patients? Have you been telling them that the pain relief model says they only need to come back if it hurts? Subluxations are not based on the pain model. Patients should have regular checkups to make sure there's stabilization in those areas and that there's proper function, not just pain relief.

Do you feel there should be emphasis placed on the importance of public speaking or at least having a patient orientation class in your office a minimum of twice a month? This would make a huge change in your retention and new patient involvement in building a practice based on patients who understand why they need the care that you recommend.

Patients require a higher level of education about chiropractic in order to have a perspective change, just like the one you had that changed your way of thinking. So, when you finally get to that point where you're ready to make a commitment to do something different in your practice, start going to more seminars on technique and chiropractic and quit sitting around and moping with your other moping pals. Get out there and make a difference.

Together, we can accomplish much more by having an undeniable change in our chiropractic perspective. Join in and start by getting all the doctors you know to participate. Contribute time and effort to our cause, this great profession and the patients it serves that gives us so much.

(Timothy J. Gay, DC, a 1977 Palmer College graduate, is the founder of Ultimate Practice Systems, a chiropractic management and consulting company specializing in personalized chiropractic consulting [on the web at www.ultimatepracticesystems.com]. He is a highly respected and nationally recognized speaker, and author of several books, as well as numerous CD and video products for the chiropractic profession. Dr. Gay holds seminars around the country on a variety of topics and may be reached by calling 1‑866‑797‑8366, or via e‑mail at timothygaydc@ultimatepractice.com.)