Don't let this happen to you!
The real reason why DCs don’t succeed
I recently got a letter, (look it up in Wikipedia) from a 3-year member cancelling his coaching membership, and offering his “critique” of TNR, its coaches and philosophy. I rarely review these (they tend to be whiny, limiting stories, or they’ve found a new “girlfriend” [coach], more excuses, they’re victims, etc.) but I “re-received” it via a TNR member who saw it posted on a social media site designed for bitching and moaning and publicly decrying injustices in life. Our member said, “You need to read this from a recently departed TNR DC” and I’m sure we’ll see it somewhere in TNR real soon…it’s very instructive of what TNR isn’t.
He says he has read and reviewed everything in his tool kit, has had one Head to Head, been to three general seminars in three, going on four years (no big events or specialty events), and claims to use all of our patient education procedures. He’s dropping out because:
1) The information he’s received is too general and his office is different
2) There’s too many TNR events and he doesn’t have the time or funds to invest in them 3) Too much focus on helping kids on the Reservations (Love Has No Color)…after all, what do these kids have to do with my practice?
4) TNR has not changed my patients, they are still cheap, don’t want wellness, and only come in for back and neck pain relief
In his “sincere critique” he suggested that everything should be available online and of course, free of charge. He suggested this lack of online information was the reason for his low levels of achievement (85 patient visits per week currently, yet he started at 50). He also encouraged us (TNR) to “get with the program” and start providing alternative ways of producing income (we call them BSOs). He mentioned that the Chiropractic adjustment is of course important, but the income producing capacity of the doctor should be the priority of TNR. He mentioned if we had a course on integrative medicine (DC and MD practice) that would be of benefit to Chiropractors everywhere. He also suggested that when the Chiropractor was more successful financially, perhaps then they could get into seeing a few kids in their offices or financially supporting LHNC.
He then asked me to please call him at my earliest convenience and give some “free advice” of how to have workshops in your office for nutrition, stress reduction, ergonomics in the workplace, pain relieving body tape, etc. He mentioned that this information was not found anywhere in his tool kit he got from TNR when he started coaching. Of particular note, he took some of the concepts from our Health Awareness Seminar and converted these to PowerPoint and infused his own additional concepts, which happened to coincide with what he wanted additional advice on.
In his defense, he’s a nice guy. As he has mentioned repeatedly on his coaching calls, Chiropractic is just “okay” with him. If he had a way of producing income differently he would do it in a heartbeat. He is a NON-BELIEVER. He never got just how big this thing we call Chiropractic is. He doesn’t see miracles in his office like he reads about in TNR Happenings or our newsletters, social media or blog. He was under the impression that the key to his success was more information.
This youthful DC’s mantra is: gaze at a computer and let the results happen for you. This young man is a “searcher” and is looking for easy buttons that will magically transform his practice and life without him putting forth his best effort. On a side note, he is irritated we have never recognized him in any of our online or offline publications. When I mentioned we recognize and salute family members for their meritorious service, accomplishments, referrals, contributions to TNR/LHNC, serving more people, and earning exponentially more income, he was still very irritated. He has a closet full of participation ribbons from his youth, he especially enjoyed playing sports where no score was kept and they were all pronounced winners.
TNR is so much more than what you receive in your tool kit. It’s cutting edge patient education, obviously. It’s also just as much TRAINING! What good is information without training to implement and what good is training without a system to train for? Without attending any high-level events, he never tasted the community of TNR. At high-level events they are structured with nutrition breaks that are geared around the group coming together as a community or team. He has lost his humanitarian compass. Something deep inside of him has died. He does not feel connected to our group, Chiropractic, or his practice members. Like so many DC graduates, when the umbilical cord is cut, they never again feel a part of a group or community. They get isolated and they lose the dream (if they ever had one) of what sparked them to become a DC in the first place.
There’s room for everybody in TNR, however, we are headed in the complete opposite direction of this lost, tech-savvy DC. For the record, any TNR family member of any length should know we embrace all tools of technology to help us further our practices. Ask some Big Vision H2H members or recent H2Hs as they dropped their jaws at the technical application for both online and offline. As we mentioned on our first accountability call together, concepts do not change. They are timeless. Remember the formula:
Concept (timeless) + Vehicle/System/Practical Application (always changing and getting outdated) = RESULTS
“As our communication skills degrade, more automation accrues at the expense of further human interaction, relationship, and understanding.”-Dr. Kevin Pallis
The population of operators, limited mindset DCs seems to be multiplying and many of you have examples from relatives that are DCs, associates, colleagues, classmates, etc. And it’s going to get worse too. There has never been in the history of Chiropractic more opportunities for growth available to an owner mindset. The difference in earning between an operator and an owner is millions of dollars. The factor can be as high 50x the income on an annual basis. One of the real reasons that there will be more very high achievers, including 7-Figure earners in TNR, is that so many DCs around us are getting “dumbed down” by technology and a lack of communication skills, and they are getting lazier. Entitlement is expecting something for nothing. In a meritorious group like TNR, you get what you earn.
We have successfully mentored DCs before, during and after the computer era (or whatever will come next). It’s much like it was with imaging, the tomography, the CT scan, the MRI, and now the PET scan. They (vehicles/ways of doing it) constantly change, but the concept of needing to evaluate a patient doesn’t change. As much as the world is moving toward information and observation, relationships trump information in a heartbeat. They always will and always have. You didn’t read about your spouse, you engaged and participated in a relationship. Great communication skills allow great relationships to blossom. Concepts don’t change, vehicles do. One thing has never changed with coaching DCs for 15 years…there’s always a path to success, but it’s not the most traveled path. Success is not for everyone. It’s always reserved for a special type of DC, a special type of person who is willing to do what others won’t, ( like be adaptive) as well as contribute to the success of others around them.
