Many in our profession say that traditional chiropractic words don’t matter – its just semantics. They state that in order to be understood by other professions and the public we need to drop the usage of such words as adjustment, subluxation, analysis etc. They maintain that others will not understand us when we use chiropractic terminology. I have a strong disagreement to this position. I see huge strength in our lexicon. It gives meaning and richness to our profession; in…
For most people in our society and some in our profession, work is something that you endure until you can afford to retire. At this stage you can do something that is fun and you finally get to really do the things that you’ve always wanted to do. This is not the way that things need to be – especially in our profession. Being of service to humanity by enhancing health as a chiropractor is a different side of the…
I came across this letter from Albert Einstein to his daughter, Lieserl. This is one of 1,400 letters written by Einstein and donated to the Hebrew University in the late 1980’s. They contained orders not to publish their contents until two decades after his death. “When I proposed the theory of relativity, very few understood me, and what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world. I ask you…
The mark of a sustainable practice is in the ability to continue to function effectively and efficiently by itself, especially when the principle chiropractor is not present. In keeping with the old story that when the cat’s away the mice will play, the real test of a sustainable practice comes when the owner is not there. How the owner delegates authority during normal operations will determine how well things will run in his/her absence. The key distinction that you must…
It is undeniable that we are engulfed in a rapidly changing world, both local and global. The world is changing and like it or not we are a part of it. As we have reached the half way point of another year it may be useful to reflect on where we are, where we have been and where we wish to be. Are you where you want to be? Is your practice where you want it to be? Is your…
This is a series of thoughts addressing the theme of excellence based on a famous quote from Rita Mae Brown, the American novelist and activist. She stated that “You cannot invest your life’s spirit into a compromise” and over the next few weeks I want to visit some of the key components of this viewpoint and how it relates to your practice. You have a huge life spirit just itching to get out and express. The power and wisdom within…
This is a series of thoughts addressing the theme of excellence based on a famous quote from Rita Mae Brown, the American novelist and activist. She stated that “You cannot invest your life’s spirit into a compromise” and over the next few weeks we will visit some of the key components of this viewpoint and how it relates to your practice. The word discipline comes from the same Latin root as disciple. Rather than just a being a follower and…
Many chiropractic practices operate in an ad hoc manner. It is a “Do as I say not as I do” environment where everyone makes it up as they go. There is no overall purpose and no purpose broken down to every action. There are few if any written policies, procedures and scripts and the people who work there and worse still, the people who are serviced there just go with the flow and go by their own rules. Practice members…
Have you ever found yourself in practice or in your life, getting immersed in the seriousness, importance and significance of who you are and what you do? After all, making the changes to people’s lives that you do as a chiropractor is a serious business. It is important to get it right and to produce the best results that you can and to this end isn’t it important to get everything right and therefore not attempt things that are risky…
The opposition that chiropractic has been receiving in recent times has been significant. Many chiropractors and their associations have reacted to this opposition by going onto the ‘back foot’. Shrinking away from the fray, playing smaller and even disowning one’s heritage and principles has been a common sight. To many (myself included) it is exciting and indicates that the tipping point is nigh. The critical mass of society is moving towards the values that chiropractic has espoused for over a…
Every moment you spend in your office is an exchange of a part of your life for the experience of connecting with those people you serve. You invest an irretrievable unit of time with every person you see. There are so many people in your community available to be served so the question must be, is that person you are with, your “Ideal Person”? Is it important for you to have a quality practice? Imagine if every person you saw…
As a chiropractor I bet you are feeling two urges with every person you adjust. I bet that you will have a deep desire to really physically help the person and also have a yearning for the person to understand chiropractic, life and health just as you do. I also bet that you want to help people so much that you want to try to do everything that you can see that they need right now, while they are on…
