#143: Update, Announcement, and One Superpower for Success with Chiropractor Haley Day

Superpower for Success

Today I’m talking about the one ingredient you’ll all need to have in order to succeed in Chiropractic, and honestly, anything you set out to do. Without this one superpower, you will struggle to find success in business, relationships, and life. It’s almost always the missing element when someone fails to succeed or the reason it will take some of you so long to reach success. It’s the secret power of anyone staying and playing in anything. Even after I talk about how important this one superpower is today, many of you will discredit it in your mind, be unable to stick to it, and let life get in the way. So, please take out a piece of paper or sticky note-especially if you are someone who has suffered from shiny object syndrome in the past- and write these words down or use the cell phone wallpaper I created on our facebook page. Put the piece of paper somewhere you will see it multiple times a day. 

Be Consistent

Okay, are you ready? Write down, BE CONSISTENT. There are 2 definitions for consistency that we’re going to look at, first, it’s conformity in the application of something, typically that which is necessary for the sake of logic, accuracy, or fairness. Conformity means similarity in form. So in practice I would apply this in the systems of OUR practice. Do your days follow a structure - opening routine, patient care routine, billing routine, marketing routine, closing routine. You need to have systems that create routines in your practice. These routines will alleviate stress for you and your employees and make patients comfortable because they know what to expect when they come in for treatment or when they refer a friend or family member in. There aren’t surprises or changes every time they come in, so they know what to expect.

If you’re a student then you can practice being consistent by having a routine to your day and the way you approach school. Creating consistent habits in your life now will greatly affect your success in practice with this principle. Start now to get better before graduation.

Consistent Quality

The other definition for consistency is the achievement of a level of performance that does not vary greatly in quality over time. So, in all of the systems and routines you are creating there needs to be quality and the level of quality will affect the level at which you succeed.

Once Rich and I had been in practice a while we noticed that in order to keep momentum in our practice, to grow and increase income over the months and years, we needed to create a marketing plan, similar to the one in the ChiroPlanner, that kept us busy throughout the year. Once we had a plan in place, following the plan became more about our consistency to follow through with the plan than anything else. When we were consistent we were busy. When we got busy with other things and weren’t as consistent then we plateaued. 

Self Evaluation

What are some things you are consistent with and what are some things you have a hard time being consistent with? This might cause you to re-evaluate the importance of some tasks you complete. If you have a hard time being consistent with something, then is it important, do you need a better routine. For example I have a hard time devoting too much of my life to Twitter. Social media that i enjoy is mostly on Instagram or Facebook, so that’s where you’ll find me. So, Twitter is not part of our social media strategy. 

How We Are Consistent

Here are some places in our lives and practice where we try to be consistent:

• Working Out -we have a routine to get regular exercise and see to it that our kids get regular exercise too.
• Eating Healthy -this starts with buying healthy foods at the store and having them available for the family and not buying junk.
• Time with our daughters, family, and friends -we regularly schedule time to spend with those that matter in our life.
• Marketing our Practice - social media posting, networking, building relationships in our community.
• Creating Resources for Chiropractors -podcasts, blogs, social media - we’re putting a plan together that will allow us to be more consistent with this. When we started the podcast Rich was doing 5 a week, which is great for listeners, but extremely hard to keep up with. We need to find a happy medium for us that we can maintain consistency with and be excited about.  
• Vacations -as many as possible!
• Date nights -typically 1-3 a week
• Self Growth -reading, learning, seminars, continuing ed

One key ingredient for being consistent with everything on our list, is our passion for these things, We are extremely devoted to the things on our list - our health, our relationship with each other, our kids, our relationships with friends and family, our practice, helping chiropractors, and personal growth.

Make a Decision

If you’re finding it hard to keep something important enough to be consistent with it, then you probably aren’t passionate enough about it. Maybe you don’t understand how important it is to your success or maybe it just isn’t. When Rich and I started our first practice, neither of us wanted to do posture screenings, to market our practice, so we didn’t. We found other ways, congruent to what we enjoyed doing, ways to market ourselves without having to do screenings. We still worked hard, we just worked differently. 

Why is Consistency Important?

Assessment - When you're consistent with your efforts then you can tell whether what you are doing is working or not. When we first opened our practice, we tried old school newspaper ads. It was something we thought might work in the area we were in. We stuck with the weekly ads for 3 months before we decided they didn’t work. What did work though was having the newspaper write a full article about us and also having them post several press releases about events in our office. So the ads didn’t work but the relationship we developed with them paid off.

Accountability - When you have consistent processes then it’s easier to hold yourself or others accountable. Did all new patients this month get sent a thank you? Did insurance billing go out when it was supposed to? Were invoices sent? And the list goes on. Having a routine/system in place holds someone accountable for the process. So being consistent helps you measure your efforts and hold yourself and others accountable.

Reputation - Consistency will also establish your reputation or the brand of your office. Will you be known for having great patient care, will patients understand the treatment plan and finish their course of care. Business growth requires a track record of success. You can't establish a track record if you don’t follow systems and instead you’re constantly trying new things. 

Relevance - Being consistent with social media will keep you relevant with your community. When someone visits your facebook page or instagram they’ll see you consistently put informative posts about yourself, health, and the community. 

So be consistent, Measure your efforts, be accountable to your processes, build brand reputation, and community relevance - ultimately all of this will help you stay in the game and create your space in your community.

Establish Routines & Processes

Be consistent, put repeatable processes or routines in place, and think about how they can be better, evolve through time. If you’re just starting out then you may not have any of these systems. It will take time. If you feel totally lost then seek out help! This is why we created the chiroplanner, the foundation, and the ROF System masterclass. Don’t reinvent the wheel! Knowing now how to take these steps, will save you so much time and heartache as you navigate through opening and building your practice.

If you’re further along in practice, you have the systems, but you aren’t sticking to them, then figure out what’s missing, maybe it’s time to bring on a CA or to hire an Associate to share responsibility. If you have a CA and/or associate but feel these areas are still lacking then you need to take time outside of practice hours, or outside of the practice, put your CEO hat on, document the routines, train the staff, and implement ways to measure the consistency and hold everyone accountable. Ultimately the success or failure of your practice to comply with consistent efforts is on you!

Make Time to Be Consistent

Take some time today or mark off some time this week on your calendar to think about what consistency looks like for you in school or practice. Document some of the expectations, routines, and practices you need to succeed...how can you measure them? Then hold yourself accountable! Want a reminder? Download one of the Be Consistent cell phone wallpapers we created at the bottom of this post.

Learn More

To learn more about chiropractic office systems visit our blog at lifestylepracticebuilders.com/blog/chiropractic-systems

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