As we get ready to begin the second half of the year, this week is a great time to…
1. Review what you set out to accomplish this year
2. Determine if you are on the right track for hitting those goals
3. Create a second half strategy to ensure you and your team accomplish the goals
Most of us go into a new year full of optimism and fire with goals to have a greater impact on the lives of our local community, grow our practice to a new level and of course improve upon our own lives both professionally and personally.
We are just coming off the holiday season ‘high’ where we were basking in the spirit of giving and appreciation for how great life is and how fortunate we really are and so it only makes sense that we carry that positive change outlook over into the New Year.
However, somewhere between January 1 and now, this little thing called life often begins to creep in and slowly impact the visions and direction we laid out only a few months earlier.
If the daily grind has slowly nudged you off the path you set for you and your practice or even if you just sauntered into this year with no particular direction in mind, follow the simple strategies below to get back on course and retake command of the ship for great second half success.
Regain Perspective: With everything that happens around us during each day in the clinic, i.e. seeing patients, doing paperwork, dealing with insurance companies, putting out fires, etc., it is easy to develop the mindset that all of these disruptive things are happening to you when in reality they are just everyday parts of life happening around you.
We are human and the hassles of everyday practice, and life, can and often do impact us personally and slowly change our outlook on what being a chiropractor is really all about. Now is a great time to take a few minutes to regain your perspective on what your role in healthcare, your community and even life in general is really all about.
Celebrate Your Victories: What have you and your staff accomplished this year that can give you a reason to celebrate. And I am not just talking about a big obvious success but rather even just the small ones that often are overlooked.
Are you above your average patient volume from last year? Even just a little? Did you collectively make it through a tough period as a team…say a big change in insurance in your area or some other change that shook your foundation but in the end you made it through?
Whatever the victories, large or small, write them down right now and then set up a couple of hours in the evening with your staff to meet and give them the pleasant surprise of a positive recap of ‘our victories so far this year’ and of course use that to also springboard into the action plan for the remainder of the year.
Take Action: As Michael Masterson says in his book Ready, Fire, Aim, it is often better just to take action first, and then make corrections or alterations later. Otherwise, you risk never taking action at all.
Think of 2 or 3 changes or improvements you have been planning to take action on and just do it! If you have a staff person that you have been meaning to replace because he or she has proven to be nothing less than an anchor pulling the clinic down, cut her loose.
If you have been thinking about gathering patient emails and beginning to send out promotional and educational emails to your patients every couple of weeks, now is the time to take the action steps to get that chiropractic marketing going. If you have been planning a new strategy to improve your patient recall and reactivation system, now is the time to start teaching your chiropractic staff the new protocol.
Whatever it is that you have been planning to implement, improve or crank up a notch, get going on it now; you can always refine it as you go along.
The reality is that you are the captain of the ship. You may have an office manager or C.A. who can ‘do it all’ but the fact still remains that at the end of the day you set the tempo for those that follow your lead. Take an honest and unbiased look at what is working to further your growth and prosperity and what is holding you back.
As well, don’t forget to take an honest look within. In what ways are you contributing to catapulting your practice to new heights and where are your short comings that are preventing you from achieving the level of prosperity you envision for yourself and those that count on you for income.
If you find you are lacking in your knowledge in one or more areas of practice and it is holding your clinic back from the growth you are aiming for, make the commitment and take the steps towards gaining the knowledge or even seeking the chiropractic consulting you know you need to get you on the path to success.
