Going under the assumption that we all have room for improvement – and furthermore assuming that improving ourselves would impact our practice success…how would you describe a better version of yourself?
Better yet, try to visualize how a ‘better you’ would act, look and sound.
Would you speak with greater confidence and be a little more assertive or would you speak a little softer and act with greater kindness?
Perhaps you see yourself as thinner or stronger or having more energy.
Would you take home more income each month or donate more of it to charity or your church?
Would you spend more time with family or stress less about the little things in business and life?
And since you are a chiropractor, perhaps the better you would be helping even more of the community get off pain pills and onto a chiropractic plan of care?
Chances are you have envisioned yourself working, living, looking, feeling or even behaving differently.
There’s also a good chance you have thought about how you might transform yourself into what you see as that better version of yourself, or even made attempts to make a change.
Were you successful in your plight or did you fall short?
The Real First Step to a “Better You”
A few weeks ago I was having what we will call a spirited debate with my brother-in-law. He is a financially savvy, friendly, fairly opinionated fella who also doesn’t easily give up the fight when being challenged on a point.
While I typically agree with him on most of the points he hammers into everyone at the dinner table during any given family function, whether I concur or not, on this evening I had to stand my ground.
He was convincingly making the time-tested argument that everything we do begins with a thought and our thoughts become our words and words our actions.
The problem for me didn’t arise so much in that I didn’t agree with what he was saying but rather what he was applying it to.
Javier was applying it to successfully improving your own life or at least aspects of your life like your health, financial situation, etc.
My argument was that just having thoughts about (thinking about) and deciding to improve your health, for example, will not in and of itself lead to you making the required health changes. The reason for this is that ‘your thoughts’ are not supported or anchored by something bigger and so can easily slip away resulting in no words and no actions.
In other words, for your determination to make a change that will stick, the desired change must be anchored by a bigger reason – a foundation if you will.
This foundation that your thoughts are based on is called your WHY.
By first figuring out ‘why’ you want to make changes in your life, you will also create the strong foundation on which your thoughts about how to accomplish your ‘why’ will sit.
Why do you want to get healthier?
Why do you want to make more money?
Why do you want to be a kinder person?
Why do you want to start exercising?
Why do you want to give away part of your income?
Why do you want a busier practice?
By first determining and clearly defining why you are going to make this change in your life, no longer will your thought be ‘I’m going to get healthy this year,’ but rather it will look more like this:
‘I’m going to get healthy so I will have more energy for work and family and be the one who sets the example of proper exercise and eating habits for my patients and my own kids to give them the best possible advantage in life.’
Or…
‘I’m going to create a busier practice so I can help more people in my community discover chiropractic, make more income for my family and have money to support the XYZ children’s charity so I can give even just one child half the nourishment and security that my child experiences every day.’
Once you have figured out your ‘why’ and buy into it 100%, you will find it much easier to write down your thoughts and confidently describe (i.e. create a plan of action) HOW you will accomplish your WHY. From there you just need to take the action necessary to fulfill your personal and professional goals.
Think about YOUR why. Write it down. Read it 5 times a day for one month. Watch yourself change.
