It's About Time

by William D. Esteb

Studies indicate the average doctor of chiropractic will practice 41 years. Greg Stanley of Whitehall Management has observed that each will likely pass through five distinct stages: survival, growth, accumulation, leisure, and retirement. Some of these phases can last up to 25 years or more. Yet why are there so many doctors with just a 90-day vision of the future and nothing more than a short-term plan designed to make a financial killing so they can quit?

Even as a culture we're selling our future short. With stockholder pressure to see uninterrupted earnings, many corporations sabotage a competitive future by refusing to retool or invest in the latest, most efficient technologies. Our steel industry is crumbling, lost to more competitive overseas producers. Our forestry resources are shipped to Japan and return as plywood. All around us we see examples of short-term strategies that mortgage the jobs and futures of entire industries--sometimes whole communities. Merrill Lynch may be bullish on America, but in many corporate boardrooms something very different is happening.

Chiropractic isn't insulated from this myopic trend. But unlike a Fortune 500 company that can point a finger at short-sighted stockholders or pressured management, a chiropractic doctor, dentist, or other small businessperson can only look in the mirror.

What could motivate someone to want to make a million and get out of the business unless they had unwittingly created a job for themselves--instead of a career? What would force a doctor to purposefully withhold his or her services from the community by retiring prematurely--unless they had bought into an oppressive treadmill for themselves?

If you were having so much fun you could hardly wait to get to the office, there would be little incentive for an early retirement. Unfortunately, for many this is not the case. Buying into an office modeled after the medical profession, short-term relationships with patients and staff members built on a win/lose arrangement, chiropractic doctors often become oppressed by circumstances.

I get the satisfaction of meeting doctors who are having a great time in their practices, who look forward to Monday morning, and are walking testimonials for chiropractic.

Here are some qualities that distinguish these doctors from the visionless, burned out practitioners who are unaware that alternatives are available:

Enormous amounts of energy. Doctors who are having fun often comment about being "on a roll," easily rising to the occasion of a backed-up reception room or responding to unexpected emergencies as required. If you're suffering from burnout, shake it. Start a physical exercise program and identify some aspects within your practice to become recommitted to. You may need to hire a coach to get you to exercise. Pay someone and buy the discipline you don't have right now. Massive physical exercise is one sure-fire antidote to burnout. Doctor, heal thyself.

Open-minded. More than just a superficial positive mental attitude, these doctors are quick to entertain and adapt new ideas or generate their own. Yes, they attend seminars. The difference is they frequently go to presentations that have little to do with insurance, technique, or practice management. They are multi-dimensional so they have a wide-range of experience from which to question the status quo. They adapt ideas from other industries and search for ways to do chiropractic better. They are in touch with reality. Because their staff and patients detect this open-mindedness and awareness, there is an excellent environment for meaningful communication that fosters respect and commitment.

Sense of purpose. If you've met one of these doctors you can sense they are constantly aware of their own passionate mission. They are trying to achieve something beyond the ordinary task orientation most offices seem trapped in. What's your purpose? If it's to "survive," merely surviving becomes your destiny. If it's just a statistical goal, you'll probably reach it. But what distinguishes you from the competition? Is there anything within chiropractic worth standing up for? Or is it just a job? Big aspirations equal big accomplishments equal big satisfaction. Identify what you would do if time or money were no object. And then do it!

Self knowledge. Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? Doctors who are having fun do. They recognize the importance of personal growth and continue to explore areas of their life they know could offer self knowledge. They are willing to risk what they are today, to become all that they can be. They confront their fears for true breakthroughs. They don't lie to themselves with just positive thinking, they accentuate the positive and work to eliminate the negatives. They're productive because they're constantly growing. No one has ever walked away from a job in which they were still growing. Interestingly, these people frequently cite their insights about themselves as being more important than the arbitrary and temporal acquisitions of cars, houses, or patient volumes.

Creative and nurturing. One of the reasons it's so much fun to meet these doctors is that they don't take themselves too seriously. They have a sense of humor--about themselves and their profession. They nurture others, but take time out for themselves too. So it's no surprise that they are able to attract and inspire a stable, loyal staff. Perhaps this is because they acknowledge outstanding performance and avoid the temptation to punish staff members who make mistakes. They encourage risk taking. They recognize that more can be learned by making a mistake than a year of seminars. Maybe it's this wisdom that puts a twinkle in their eyes. They are flexible and recognize that frustration is merely a warning sign of an impending breakthrough.

Order and oneness. These doctors seem to have a unity with something larger than themselves. Everything in their lives reflects their primary purpose. They have clean closets. They recognize that satisfaction comes from within and take responsibility for the quality and direction of their practice. They understand that little can be done to change what happens outside the four walls of their clinics, so they commit large amounts of energy to the experience patients receive in the controlled environment inside their office.

Different sense of time. While they are living in the moment they are completely absorbed. Yes, they work long hours, but they turn ordinary events into artistic expressions because they are totally consumed by their work. Their sense of timing allows them to anticipate questions, prevent misunderstandings, and be sensitive to patients and staff. They recognize their leadership responsibilities and set high standards by being the first in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night.

It is this sense of time that most distinguishes those having fun in chiropractic. They understand that times change. These doctors have a deep commitment to chiropractic philosophy that transcends the petty concerns that working with the public always create. They have a faith that makes their 41 years of chiropractic service a blessing to all who know them. Meeting them is an event that continues to make my involvement in chiropractic a pleasure. Have we met yet?

Buy the book
A Patient's Point of View
Originally published in 1992
240 Pages
US $19.95

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