This summer I'm sharing a handful of the 3,000 proverbs written or collected by King Solomon. Put his wisdom to work in your practice:
25:28 A man without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.
To the degree you can control yourself you'll be able to control your practice.
You can't control patients. Those who try, are the recipients of resentment and anger. Not only are they greeted by failure, but they get the longer lasting legacy of patients who would never give them the pleasure of returning to the practice when their problem inevitably returns.
At its root, attempting to control others is about getting your needs met.
Do not attempt to have your physical, mental or emotional needs met by your patients or staff. Exhibit discernment when you sense that a patient is coming on to you. The reverse is even more crucial. Do nothing in your practice that you wouldn't want your spouse to see or your community to read about on the front page of the newspaper. Either we discipline ourselves, or something or someone else will do it for us.