TNR Happenings January 4, 2021
Happy New Year!
Don’t get caught in the trap of saying good riddance to 2020 as you usher in the New Year. Don’t join the mass hysteria with others who are wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth as they wait for the good ole days. Work through what you are dealing with presently. Don’t look to the past or future for relief. We have many shining examples of offices that not only have prospered but have set personal all-time bests in a pandemic with record numbers of people served, new patients, collections, kids seen, DCMEs, etc. External factors stop most people cold. TNR trained Chiropractors are not most people.
Practice tip of the week
Use more non-verbal communication with practice members. When your people come into your office, many just don’t know how to act. Some act like children. They have to talk about current events like the mass hysteria and they just can’t stop themselves. Or how about when they tell you that you need to ‘crack me’ and then they point to the spot on their spine. If you don’t play along, you look like someone who is out of touch but this gossip gets in the way of your patient education. How can you dissuade people in your office from being unpaid advocates for a global hoax without attempting to tell them what they can focus on? Let your body language speak for you. It’s much more powerful than words only. It’s subtle but real. Don’t act enthusiastic when a practice member rolls up their sleeve and shows you their badge of courage from having a disease procedure done. When they are talking about all their other doctors, opinions, etc., don’t roll your eyes. Move the conversation from where they want it to where it needs to be. It’s your office, act like it. This is especially important in the reception areas if your office is an open concept because everyone is listening to you. Are you a leader or a follower?
Kenny Smoker’s thank you letter
Kenny’s thank you letter had such kind words about our group and donors. Your patients and community need to see this letter all year long. Make it into a poster or put it in a frame to hang in your office. Don’t just have it up for a week or two; it’s much too important for that. Put it on your website. Use it with reactivations, mailings, etc. Even though we only have 2 yearly excursions to the Reservation, these kids are with us all year long. Don’t make the mistake of limiting the message of hope for these kids by only promoting it two times a year. Love Has No Color is a yearlong process and every existing and new patient needs to know what you stand for!
From the Mind of Miyagi
What was washed most in 2020; hands or brains? As the trend of blind obedience continues with no end in sight, the story behind the story gets smaller and smaller. It is almost invisible to most people. Most people don’t realize that what you see on the surface is only a snapshot, without any context or depth. Like the tip of the iceberg, the real story lies beneath the surface. There is a sacred thread that binds all of us in all activities throughout all time. It’s a commonality of having and being more than meets the eye. There are very few things that are as they appear on the surface. We have had a concept foisted on us from out of the blue and we are being mandated to adopt activities that fly in the face of all we know to be true from our training to be once-in-a-lifetime Chiropractors. Activities are not achievement levels. We see this all the time with chronically sick kids who have had lots of activities with results that are few and far between, if any. Yet, when given an opportunity to achieve health with something different than their traditional MD care, most parents will not drop the activities that don’t produce results. They obediently cling and stay stuck, become good comrades to continue to do what doesn’t work. Strange, isn’t it?
The social agenda goes on and on with isolation, the herd mentality of thought or immunity, universal income, house arrest, social media censoring, obsession with disease, pitting people against people. Isolation can never bring about unity. Zoom, as wonderful a tool as it is, approximates reality; it does not replace the experience of living. Years ago after Total Immersion Experiences, sedentary people would watch the videos showing someone walking on fire and say how cool that looked; and then they would continue their endless fascination with more important issues on Facebook. Zoom is a nice tool that is convenient and inexpensive for non-essential duties and meetings. For the things that matter, however, it takes courage, commitment, and a choice of being face-to-face with a person. To value what others may not value is being contrarian. Freedom used to be about the individual determining what is valuable. Today, that right has been taken away and the state and government are making that determination for us. When it comes to saving lives, it’s face-to-face through experience or it’s nothing at all.
In 2021, TNR will stand for something even more than its rich heritage dating back to 1977 with Flesia and Riekeman. It’s the freedom to claim what is important and what can’t be relegated to virtual or digital. It doesn’t matter that this is unpopular, illegal, or too much of a hassle. It’s needed more today than at any other time. If not us, who will stand up to this global hoax? TNR is a community where discerning Chiropractors can choose to belong; where they can add their stories of meaning, honor our heritage, demonstrate in the present, and touch people’s lives at a deep, profound level. We will feature training in 2021, regardless of the mass hysteria. It’s a conscious choice to join, rather than default to obediently sit on the sidelines, masked, muffled, and allowing others to tell you how to act, think, and who you can and can’t help.
When you look back at photos of 2020, you will be reminded of dark times when people’s complete ignorance of heath was exposed. As a consequence, they were taken advantage of in so many areas of life. Putting health, life, our kids, sports, recreation, education, freedom, and economics all on the line for a manmade tool of mass destruction with a 99% survivability rate seems like science fiction, but it isn’t. There is a huge price to be paid when you ignore wisdom, think only one way, or allow non-doctors and politicians to dictate how to live. Look at all the advocates for measures that don’t work, for something they know nothing about, but they act as they do. (Look back to 60 Minutes in March for social distance and mask ineffectiveness.) Their beliefs will not change. I’m reminded of John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted and the resistance and noncooperation he received from law enforcement agencies because he is not a medical doctor or formally trained law enforcement official. He is responsible for capturing more high profile criminals than the FBI. On an episode of America’s Top Dog, a pit bull outperformed all the mainstay K9 German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois. They laughed when the Pit Bull entered but he got results the others couldn’t. It’s a familiar tale of woe, he gets results but he is not the right breed of dog, just like TNR Chiropractors! It didn’t matter the thickness or color of his fur, or his size, it was his ability and character, not dogma and prejudice. When will the world stop judging appearances and welcome essence (who they are and what they stand for) as the new measure of humanity?
Principled Chiropractors everywhere are being asked to tone it down, drop the story behind the story, become homogenized, and stick to being a low paid therapist of aches and pains for necks and backs. Keep your story quiet and be content to sit on the bench when you could be bolstering a whole society with health. Allow the authorities to judge and sort what’s important. Become modernized and permanently forget and renounce your quaint little past, your rich heritage, and what makes you unique, all in order to fit in with a dangerous and lost society. Ask African Americans to stop all this talk about slavery. Ask Jewish people to stop all this talk about the holocaust and persecution that has existed for thousands of years. So some bad things happened to Native Americans; it’s not the fault of modern people, we didn’t do it, so let’s pretend it didn’t happen. After all, these things happened so long ago. How can Americans of any gender, color, or religion remain in POW camps known as Reservations? We are not all the same breed. However, we are all connected and add different pieces as individuals to the whole. Each piece is essential and is necessary for society to move forward.
Of particular note is the complete and utter denial of the 1918 Spanish Flu (which had a real high mortality rate) and the front line work that DCs, NDs, and others courageously performed. This is a true historical profile that is all but ignored by Chiropractors, as well as other doctors. Oppressed people of all types throughout history would argue it’s not so bad, no need to rock the boat, let’s just keep the status quo, even if it’s toxic, human rights are being trampled on, let's hold on to it. We are mandated by our regulatory boards to not mention things like immunity, CD4 counts, subluxation, health, symptoms, results, or diseases because our story and heritage is an inconvenient truth. Don’t ever forget it’s a matter of history, not conjecture or what modern-day people (who weren’t there) say happened. Just because modern-day Chiropractors haven’t read the Green Books doesn’t make our history untrue. Closing your eyes doesn’t mean you can’t see, it means you don’t want to see.
We’ve got work to do in 2021. You’ve got to find your inner courage to help people who don’t think you can help and who think technology and outside-in agents are the only way to go. We’ve got training to do in 2021. Don’t allow the mass hysteria to sideline you any longer and delay your training. I’m inviting all members to schedule a Head-to-Head and get ready for the 2021 group training schedule. Better training, better results…TNR. Healthier people create a healthier planet.
Profiles in Courage
“Be Authentic”
Is this your story?
“You showed me I didn’t need to buy a new gadget, learn a large amount of material to act out for each patient, change the way I run my office, or get a new office in a bigger and better place. All I needed to do was to step in front of the curtain and show everyone the uniqueness of me. ‘My Story’ is the only story I need to tell. This always gives me a chuckle inside to believe that it was that simple. Thank you for helping me find my story and get me up and running.”
Sooner or later, we’re all faced with moments beyond our control when our willpower can’t make our life follow our dictates. Instead of looking for solutions, we argue for the problem we’re facing. We get stuck and start to fight against getting unstuck. These are the times that we are given the opportunity (repeatedly) to adapt rather than fight or hide against our circumstances.
Maybe you lost your great long-time CA. “I’ll never find anyone like her again!” Maybe you were removed from an insurance company inclusion list. “My income is going to plummet!” Maybe your pet had gotten ill or one of your kids was struggling. Maybe the last new patients you’ve had were all low quality and wanted something for nothing.
You begin to doubt if all of your struggle, time, and resources are worth putting into your practice.
The insane world is starting to wear you down. Don’t let it claim one more victim. We can’t lose one more principled, caring DC.
When my son was young, I asked him after a game if he had fun playing his beloved sport of hockey. Even at 8, the social conditioning had already instilled what was important. He would proudly say, “We won 6-2.”
I asked him how much fun it was compared to playing pond hockey on our pond. He told me that he liked playing on our pond more because he felt free and nobody was barking at him. I reminded him that playing on a rink and on the pond should feel the same way. “Have a love for the game that transcends winning and losing.”
We talked about looking for the small graces, like when a teammate is playing for the first time since coming back from injury; or the smiles on the other kids’ faces when they score a goal; and the camaraderie of just being with the guys in the locker room. “The wins and losses will fade, but the experience of playing, giving your best effort, and being a part of something greater than yourself will stay with you a lifetime.”
Why isn’t there more joy and profit in your office?
Complication is a sign that we are losing our way or are off the path. Don’t buy into complications.
Your practice, as well as your life, is really as simple as you make it.
The search for greatness
We tend to search for greatness in others rather than develop it in our self. In 2021 remember that symptom relief is only a part of practice member care, not the whole thing. Far from it. Take a genuine interest in each and every person served. Make that sacred emotional connection. On a coaching call, if I ask who was your last new patient and you can’t instantly recall their name, there has not been enough focus on them as a person. See greatness in all people. Encourage, inspire, and bring out the hero in all people instead of gazing at the rich and famous and believing that is the only measure of success.
DCME confidential
Question 1: As hard as I try to find them, there just doesn’t seem to be any DCMEs in my area. It seems like every other case is a difficult case for a colleague who is a few states away. What gives?
Answer: DCMEs are everywhere. They are not limited by geography, race, economics, or religion. We all have this thread in common. Look for the DCME mailer that was mailed to you last week and sign up for your next Head-to-Head to work on your internal resistance to serving people who have fallen through the proverbial cracks.
Question 2: My DCME of 6 months says they are about the same even though they have blood work and MRIs that say otherwise. What’s going on?
Answer: Even when some DCME patients experience clinical results, they are not ready to mentally and emotionally move on. After all, they have been grooming this part of them for years and it has become a big part of who they are. All of their friends and family know they are sick, impaired, etc. This is where the art of Chiropractic, along with your leadership and ability to guide them on the hero’s journey, comes into play.
