What Must Be Done During the Holiday Slowdown

The subtle hints began about 8 months ago when my youngest son, Zack, started martial arts lessons. They went like this, “Dad, do you know where your black belt is? Dad, where are your old Tae Kwon Do uniforms? Do you still know how to tie your belt? Can you still do a side kick?”

 Yep, he wanted me to join him in training. The immense guilt I felt was derived from the fact that I used to train about 10 years ago with my oldest son, and Zack was well aware of it. So I’ve felt in a corner on this subject for the last 8 months. I already work out  early in the morning quite hard 6 days a week and stretch on the 7^th. Seriously, 3-4 more workouts now in the evening too? I haven’t trained in martial arts in 10 years. 10 years! I remember no forms, no rituals, and my kicks are way off from my prime. I’ll feel stupid. I’ll feel old. It’s a different school. It’s a huge school with a huge amount of black belts, and all of them will be ‘sizing me up, wondering ‘whose the new guy? Why is he just now learning the basic forms? Is that a real black belt? I can’t wait to spar with him and teach him a lesson!’

 Last week I started thinking about 2012 and all that HealthSource accomplished, all that I accomplished too. The following FACT hit me hard.

 Our current circumstances are the direct result of the decisions we’ve made in the past. And get this; the decisions we’ve made in the past are the direct result of what we believe to be true about ourselves. And it gets even deeper with this thought; what we believe to be true about ourselves was often handed to us much earlier in life by our parents, teachers, events and various circumstances.

I read every day. I meditate every day. I invest time in improving who I am and what I’m capable of doing every single day. It’s part of my daily rituals. And what I know is that we can totally throw in the trash what we believe to be true about ourselves. Then we can import new truths, and as is taught in The Secret and by Neville and countless others is that when we make the conscious decision to accept these new truths as already being in place, we can realize them in our life.

 Most practices slow down for a solid 2-3 weeks starting Christmas day. It’s inevitable. It’s ok. What you must do if you wish to have a better year in 2013 than what you achieved in 2012 is to take concentrated time to clearly write out your personal, family and business goals for 2013. Make them believable. And list out the Action Steps necessary to achieve them. Break them down into small steps. Discuss them with your spouse, your family, and your mentors. Review them daily all year. Then think about what you believe about yourself to be true. Get honest. When you see what you don’t like, and you will, REPLACE them with new truths. Do it in writing.

 One of my beliefs was that I was too busy, too long out of it, possibly too stiff and I exercised enough so that I did NOT need to train in martial arts with Zack. Last week, I realized that was a completely BS belief based in fear. I threw out the belief and replaced it with a new one. As a result, last night was my first Tae Kwon Do workout in a decade. I’m not too terribly sore and Zack is ecstatic. It’ll help me be a better father and generate at least several more hours a week of great time with Zack.

 What is it that you would like to change about yourself or your clinic in 2013? What self limiting beliefs have you uncovered? What are your goals for 2013? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 And by the way, if the Mayan calendar ending in just 3 more days causes the world to end, I guess you’re off the hook on setting your goals. But if the world continues after the 21^st, and I suspect it will, let’s get to work!

 Sincerely,

 Chris Tomshack DC

HealthSource Chiropractic and Progressive Wellness®

Election Results Implications For Your Practice

 Wow, I’ve been totally inundated with questions about the direction of chiropractic and health care in general since the election results. Everyone wants to know what the election means to their chiropractic practice. No one has a crystal ball that’s perfectly in-tune at all times. That being said, let’s discuss both the implications AND the solutions for YOUR practice, because we’re already a month post election and the clock is ticking.

 Get this, just 2 days after the election, the largest insurance company in Ohio unilaterally fired hundreds of employees in one fell swoop…..hundreds, just in Cleveland alone. This is happening all across America. The insurance companies are worried, deeply worried. As a result, expect to see the sheer number of compliance audits on chiropractors continuing to escalate, because many chiro’s have deficient documentation, or worse, are still using travel cards. Only the best chiropractors will thrive from 2013 forward.

 I live in a neighborhood that’s pretty cool and lively. Parties are plentiful! These people know how to have fun. Strangely, I’m surrounded by the likes of thoracic surgeons, optometrists, sub-specialists and believe it or not, medical device sales people. Well, I’ve just been told the medical device companies are panicked like never before. Within 2 weeks of the election they are cutting people and costs. The medical device company my neighbor works for, and she happens to be the top salesperson in the country, has just been told no one can take direct flights to see any of their clients. They must take flights with connections to reduce the expenses. Amazing. These companies are deeply frightened.

 On top of all this is the upcoming 27% reduction in the Medicare fee schedule scheduled to kick in on January first….27%! Yes, this is part of the ‘Fiscal Cliff’ negotiations that are going on as I type. I would expect it to be less drastic.

 ObamaCare does have a clause for ‘Any Willing Provider.’ This means, allegedly, that if a ‘provider’ is licensed to provide a certain service or procedure, then insurance companies will be required to pay them for delivering those services assuming they are ‘medially necessary’. I strongly dislike that phrase. I’d expect this clause to eventually be stricken from the plan from purely a numbers reason. If utilization increases, that would put undue financial stress on the program, meaning costs would go up. I’d expect chiropractic, optometry and dentistry to eventually be dropped from the program.

 To be blunt, regardless of who won or could have won the election, large changes were coming anyway. The solutions are known. Here’s what’s not the solution: continuing on ‘same as always.’ Chose that at your practice’s peril. Only the best will thrive from 2013 forward.

 First, your practice should reflect the demographics of your community, which means that if a patient has insurance benefits, file them for your patients. To force them into being a cash patient just for your convenience is just plain wrong. We exist to take care of our patients, not vice-versa. Second, upgrade your level of care. Roller tables, e-stim and ultra sound are very, very old school and practices that rely on passive care will suffer terribly. Third, immediately begin referral and reactivation campaigns for your entire database of patients, every one of them. Fourth, initiate what I call low cost/no cost external marketing or outreach programs.

 Bottom line regardless of the president is this: you MUST be the very best chiropractic practice in your community to survive. Reliance on old school methodologies, programs and communication will self-destruct you practice. Evolution is mandatory, including the specificity of your chiropractic adjustments.  Only the best will thrive.

 I’m sitting in the back of the room right now at HealthSource University, where we’re teaching a very large room full of chiropractors and their teams how to compete and thrive in 2013 and beyond. There are docs seeing 500 patients a week on down to practices that are just getting ready to launch; the full spectrum. Education and evolution are key and have never been more important to chiropractor’s success. Are you committed to upgrading your game?

Have an outstanding December!

Why Does Someone Jump at 128,000 Feet?

Why does a man willingly choose to jump out of a perfectly good capsule at 128,000 feet? Wasn’t it amazing to watch him step out and fall to the earth? Then he began tumbling and tumbling and we all wondered if he’d pull it out. Then he did and we knew he’d be ok. What an adventure. I think it a tad insane, but who am I to judge!

 So why did he do it? Just to break records? I think not. I believe he jumped at 128,000 feet because it was a personal challenge, one that ate deep at his core. He wanted to be the best, and what’s wrong with that? For to be our best simply means that we are not ‘sacrificing the gift’ (Steve Prefontaine).

 As John Maxwell stated “the willingness to take greater risks is a major key to achieving success.” He also mentions that if we consistently hit all our goals then we need to increase the level of our goals. Conversely, if we DON’T hit our goals, then we need to take more risks to achieve them. So basically in either scenario we need to take more risks. Are you taking risks each and every day or are you living in a cocoon, softly plodding from sunrise to sunset, each day fairly identical to the last?

 Remember, where we are right now is the direct result of the risks we have taken based on the decisions we have made. The guy that jumped at 128,000 feet is now set for life. He’ll be on the speaker’s circuit commanding HUGE fees, a book will be published, and he’ll be a celebrity earning substantial accolades and income.

 For a moment, take a look at where you are right now, right this minute. If you have a highly successful clinic, one that gives you the lifestyle you’d hoped and dreamed of, do you have freedom and autonomy? Can you leave the office whenever you chose with the office continuing to hum along at peak capacity and no loss of income or momentum? If not, it’s the result of your decisions.

 If your practice is not what you dreamed of it’s also the result of your decisions. Who really wants to struggle month after month, year after year? If you have a successful practice but don’t have complete autonomy or you want to move into running and managing multiple clinics, the answer exists. If your practice is not exactly what you’d hoped for, the answer exists. Email me. We’ll simply have a dialogue so that I can better understand your unique situation. I’ll sell you nothing, but I will ask you some pointed questions. HealthSource specializes and excels in both situations. It’s why we have the largest footprint in chiropractic across the globe. 2013 can truly be the best year of your life!

The Only Way To Improve

It’s Tuesday morning, October 9^th, and we just finished a highly charged team meeting about what to wear for our annual HealthSource Halloween costume contest. Every year each office team dresses up in costumes and sends us the pictures. And of course the corporate team participates as well, we just can’t win.

 Last year I was Gene Simmons. He’s a business genius, but I’ve got to tell you that it was a bit uncomfortable wearing the mask with the obligatory tongue sticking out. So in this morning’s meeting I told our team that we must improve our costumes from last year, and I mean really improve. So we started brainstorming ideas. But this idea about improving stuck with me as I returned to my desk after telling them that masks with tongues are out and so are biker chaps, not now, not ever! Improvement is what pretty much every doctor wants, especially as they graduate. When you graduated, didn’t you hope that you would become the very best doctor around, giving the very best care in the area while being flooded with patients? Surely you didn’t think you’d practice the same way as you did when you graduated for the next 5, 10, 20 or 40 years, did you?

 Just as a Ford Model T could get you from A to point B in 1920, it’s much more enjoyable, efficient, comfortable and speedy to make that same trip in a state of the art, 2013 Mercedes. Advancements are being made in chiropractic daily. These advancements have the potential to help you to deliver much better care to your patients than in year’s past. But what is necessary for improvement to occur?

 Here’s the secret to staying current, of being the very best and not becoming a relic of days gone by, the doc with worn carpeting and tables that should have been re-covered 5 years ago: the only way to improve is for you to know and understand chiropractic inside and out. This is only possible if you get OUT of your comfort zone and try new and improved ways of taking care of your patients.  You see you must grow personally for you to be able to step outside the confines of your comfort zone. Most don’t take that step willingly, most get there kicking and screaming. But the point is that personal growth must occur first, followed up by moving outside your comfort zone.

 Translate this into making the step to improve the way you take care of your patients, because if you are practicing the same way now as when you graduated, even if you graduated this year, you are out of date. I challenge you to explore personal growth first. This can be as easy as reading great personal growth books. I recommend you start with a very recently published book titled “The Power of Habit.” When you finish this book and actually put the information into your daily disciplines you will begin to demand more of yourself and you will seek out improvements in the way you help patients. Your patients will be the beneficiary of your diligence, and so will you and your practice.

 In HealthSource, we constantly review and test the best improvements in chiropractic each and every year and teach them to the HealthSource Family at our annual SuperCamp. If nothing else, I recommend wholeheartedly that you elevate your game, beginning with personal growth first. Questions on improvement or providing superior care in our field? Shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

What Do I Do With My 2012 Goals Now That It's October?

Today is October 2, 2012, the second day of the 4^th quarter. An exercise that I ask all our members to accomplish this week is to get out your 2012 goals, the ones that you wrote out the last week of December 2011. Give them a read. Then exactly quantify how close you are to meeting and exceeding the goals you set out for this year.

 How does it look? Will you hit all or most of the goals? If so, then FANTASTIC! If you are falling short of hitting your goals, how come? This is the instructive part of the exercise. You see, if we don’t fail at least several times a day we’re simply not doing enough and making enough decisions. Then it’s not enough to just fail and call it a day. You MUST learn from each failure and not repeat the same mistakes more than once. Many are too afraid to risk failure and that’s a shame, because extreme success comes from learning from our failures, not our successes.

 This is not some stupid, esoteric exercise. It’s one that the super successful doctors engage in several times a year. If you’re at where you want to be, then you can perhaps coast. But regardless of your financial success, have you built a practice that is not personality dependant? Is the care you provide the very best possible today or are you practicing old school care?

 Yesterday I received a very queer letter from a doc. He questioned my chiropractic belief system, alluding to what he perceived as essentially BJ’s style of chiropractic being the best in the world. You know what, that was true when BJ was alive. But what this doc chose not to do was actually research what he was writing about, instead revealing he really knew very little about our heritage. Indeed, BJ was brilliant. But he was never satisfied with the status quo, thinking that chiropractic would not evolve. He actively sought out advances and truth, not shutting off his mind to continuing to learn and provide better care. He provided functional exercise to his patients right there in the Palmer Clinic. I doubt the doc that wrote me the letter even knows this or has seen the pictures. What a shame to think you have all the answers and never have to upgrade or learn something new. That’s a shame for the patients he serves as well. Aristotle said it best when he said “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

 So are you providing the very best care possible each and every passing year or are you using the same care programs over and over? HealthSource evolves our patient care possibilities every year because chiropractic advances are made every year in everything from chiropractic technique to synergistic and functional exercise to work in harmony with the adjustment to provide better results. Interested in upgrading your care or learning how to evolve your practice so you can plug yourself in and out of patient care at will, then shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you. Now please, go review your 2012 goals!!