What is a day in your office like for you? Is going to the office work, or fun? Where is your joy?
Is it just the thing you do to pay your bills and support your family? Is it what you thought it would be when you were in Chiropractic school? If not, why not?
How much of your time and energy are consumed by administrative chores like paperwork or dealing with and trying to motivate staff? Are you stressed by a high office overhead? Do you feel like a salesman trying to sell your patients on extensive treatment programs? Do you have to beat the bush for new patients? How much time and energy do you spend trying to educate people about Chiropractic? Are you having fun?
THERE ARE ONLY THREE REASONS TO PRACTICE CHIROPRACTIC: SERVE PEOPLE — HAVE FUN — MAKE MONEY
If your focus is on serving people then having fun and making money are inevitable. It really is as simple as that.
The key lies in giving the patient what they want. They all want the same thing — to feel better and be free of pain as fast and inexpensively as possible.
Give them what they want and your patients will love you, trust you and spread the word.
When your patients see that you have no agenda other than helping them, they will trust you. As trust and confidence in you build, they will come to think of you not just as their Chiropractor, but also as a friend and confidant. You may become the doctor they consult first for all manner of health related issues.
Many will check with you about the recommendations of other physicians. They will do this because they respect your opinion and have confidence in your judgment. And because they know you care.
When a visit to see you is something that patients look forward tor as opposed to a time-consuming, expensive chore to be endured, you will be on your way to a practice with minimal stress and a lot of joy.
JOY IS CONTAGIOUS. When patients perceive your joy in helping them, they will be happy and they will want to share the joy. They will want to tell their family and friends about it. Your practice will grow. Your stress will diminish. Your days will be fun. Your work will be your joy. THAT IS SUCCESS.
So How Do You Find Your Joy?
Do What You Love, Do It Well, Have Fun Doing It.
Follow Your Passion, Focus on Your Patients, Find Your Joy.
Live and Work with Passion and Joy and Success and Money Will Follow.
That is How I Find My Joy — and by Being the Best Chiropractor I Can Be.
Do I think that I am the best Chiropractor in the world? HELL NO! But I will die trying to be.
The truth is there is no one who can be called THE BEST. Some arrogant clowns will claim the title, but they are fooling no one but themselves.
I do know some really great chiropractors. They are not only great technicians; they are people with a great depth of knowledge, experience, and above all WISDOM. These are the doctors I would go to if I had a serious health challenge. They are the doctors who not only have holistic practices, but holistic minds. They see big pictures, not microcosms.
This year I agreed to do a series of articles for The American Chiropractor magazine. Each article called for me to interview a chiropractic technique innovator and teacher. It proved to be one of the best things to happen to me in a long time. It introduced me to some of our profession’s rising superstars, some of whom I didn’t even know existed.
What a great experience for me. It has certainly enhanced my personal and professional life, and has increased my level of joy.
Since the year 2000, I had been “Lay’n Low in Abaco,” surfing, sailing and diving, semi-retired in paradise. Problem is — paradise is an intellectual wasteland.
I really needed some intellectual stimulation. Learning about the profession’s latest innovations directly from the people who did the research and development, proved to be just what I wanted.
Then I took it a step further. Instead of just writing about the doctor’s techniques, I took it upon myself to study and become proficient in them, remaining true to the pledge I made to myself and my patients 45 years ago: To always give my patients the benefit of the best state of the art care chiropractic has to offer.
Today, at age 65, practicing in the out islands of the Bahamas, I am more excited and enthusiastic than ever about my work and the constantly evolving art and science of Chiropractic with its expanding role in healthcare.
I am semi-retired and living in “paradise,” but if you really want to know the truth, it often seems I have a lot more fun in the office taking care of people than when I am out “playing.” After almost 43 years in practice, I still really love what I do.
I would like to share with you how I keep my referral-only cash practice fun, exciting, joyful, rewarding and constantly growing.
YOUR MISSION, IF YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT …
… is to cultivate your healing consciousness, a dedication to excellence, and never say or think the words, “that’s good enough.”
Remember these words from an old airline advertisement: “WE EARN OUR WINGS EVERY DAY.”
TSA and X-ray Physics
TSA and X-ray Physics
(Originally posted on November 29, 2010 by Dr. Bill)
The biggest travel days of the entire year are upon us, and the hottest subject of media attention is the controversial airport security screening practices that are being carried out by the Transportation Security Authority (TSA).
Anyone traveling by commercial airlines flying out of most airports is faced with the choice of two screening procedures. They can either submit to full body X-ray imaging, showing the individuals anatomy in intimate detail, or they can “opt out” and thus have to submit to a very personal “pat down” which includes the manual exploration of everything including breasts and genitalia.
Many people take exception to the idea of both practices as being an extreme invasion of privacy and a health hazard. Others justify the procedures as necessary to protect the public from terror threats.
Others express concerns over the dangers of radiation exposure, and consequent cancer risk caused by the screening machines. This charge is summarily dismissed by TSA officials who claim that their screening machines create minimal or “low level” radiation exposure. They go on to claim it causes little if any public risk. They say that the X-ray exposure is comparable to that which passengers are exposed to in an hour or so when flying, and that is supposed to make it acceptable.
Nowhere in this debate have I heard any discussion of the physics of X-rays and how it effects the human body. As a chiropractor with extensive education and experience in the use and effects of X-ray, I can assure you that they are indeed dangerous. I take exception to the TSA’s claim that the ‘low level” of X-rays generated by their machines are not in any way harmful.
My opinion is based on my knowledge of the physics of x-rays. There are three factors involved in the production of x-rays. They are miliamperage, kilovoltage, and time.
Milliamperage is the measure of the actual amount of X-rays produced.
Kilovoltage is the measure of the electrical power propelling the X-rays.
Time is the duration of X-ray production or exposure.
The characteristics of the image produced by X-rays are dependent upon the combination of the above factors adjusted to produce the desired quality of image.
The cleanest X-rays are produced by a combination of low milliamperage or a small amount of X-rays, powered by high kilovoltage for the least amount of time, dependent upon the thickness or density of the subject to be imaged. This is known as a high Kvp, low Mas technique.
This is the kind of x-ray technique chiropractors use to get finely detailed images of the spine for bio-mechanical analysis. The benefit to the patient is a minimal amount of time exposure to a minimal amount of ionizing radiation.
X-rays penetrating human tissue under high power for a short duration of time are the least damaging. The image produced in this manner comes from a small amount , but high percentage of the X-rays produced, reaching the imaging material. This minimizes what is known as scatter radiation.
Scatter radiation does not penetrate the tissue, but is absorbed by it , damaging it, effecting it’s cellular structure and DNA. This causes it’s carcinogenic effect.
X-ray images such as those produced by the airport screening machines can only be produced by a low kilovoltage (power), high milliamperage (a lot of X-rays), and a long exposure time.
The length of exposure time is the major factor in determining how much damaging radiation a person is subjected to. The other factor is that the minimal penetration by Xrays necessary to produce the detailed full body image coincidentally produce a maximal amount of scatter radiation, due to the fact that a relatively few of the X-rays pass through the body and most are absorbed and are therefore damaging.
A properly exposed spinal X-ray is taken in a fraction of a second. The X-ray beam is collimated or limited to expose only the part to be imaged.
The airport screening X-rays expose the whole body for as much as 30 or more seconds. That is an unacceptable amount of radiation to expose people to. Read more about the damaging effects of X-rays, in an article, Protect Your DNA from CT Scans and X-rays, by Robert Klein published in the August 2010 issue of Life Extension.
In summary, it is the multiple levels of X-ray penetration of body parts that produce the intimately detailed full body image. This can only be done by a long “dirty” exposure to damaging radiation.
It is important to note that x-ray exposure is cumulative, making it a real health liability to frequent flyers and airline personnel. However the health liability to the occasional flyer should not be overlooked and must be considered in the context of other sources of radiation exposure, such as medical X-rays and CAT scans.