It was at this moment that the lesson of the day came to light. The young man then asked the judge “so does that mean I’m on probation or does my probation end as well?” The judge answered “son, make no mistake about it we are ALL on probation. All you have to do is be born, live and then die to be on probation. Probation never ends for anyone.” I don’t know about the young man but I was floored with the statement. I had never thought of it that way but he was absolutely right. Our life is always being watched by others. We are always held accountable by our thoughts,words and actions by those around us at all times. Our life is always on probation because our life and the examples that we set are seen and heard by others. Wow! This is a powerful lesson for all of us! Now, how does that lesson tie into the chiropractic field? Well, we will dive into that on our next visit but for right now I think I will give everyone some time to think and digest this lesson as it pertains to our own personal life. I look forward to jumping back into this lesson on our next visit.

I actually would like to share another very important lesson I learned that day in court with you on our next visit. I think you will find it to be very profound. I look forward to visiting with you then.

If any of you think for one second your life is not yet what you always dreamed of then stop the pity party now. Nobody wants to hear it!! We all have our horror stories of where life has knocked us down but remember it’s not how many times you have been knocked down – it’s how many times you get up and move forward. The people I saw stand in front of the judge were not much different than you and I. The only difference was you and I have definite HOPE. Many of the people I saw this past Tuesday did not have any hope at all. I could see it in there eyes. Their soul or spirit was literally broken. Just like a dog that has been beaten so much that their spirit has been broken and they cower to everything and everyone. So were these people that stood before the judge. However, you don’t have to be one of those people because you are a chiropractor that has a very unique opportunity that fulfills one of the vital keys to success. I will share that essence at the start of our next visit and eventually we will get to the lesson number two that came from that day in court. Until then God Bless!!!

In November of 2008, I fell at work injuring my neck, shoulder, and back. I was in constant pain and I even told my family and my doctors I felt as if my head was on wrong. In the beginning, my head was leaning to the left because it was too painful in my neck to move it. After going to physical therapy, I was able to move my head and neck but it was so painful.
I was sent to a neurologist and given multiple shots at $1,200 per shot making me feel much worse and causing a bad reaction. My face was unrecognizable. This doctor said I needed more intense treatment and sent me to another pain management doctor. This doctor gave me more shots and two epidurals. He thought he had caused a blood clot to form but he said it was because of something I must have done. I continued to get worse and finally, I said to this doctor, “Maybe I need to see a different kind of doctor.” This made him really angry and he yelled at me and implied that maybe I wasn’t even in pain. I left in tears and his assistant was also in tears.
After living each day in pain, my two sisters and I went to the emergency room here in Brunswick. When I walked in, there was a Paisley magazine, which I picked up and unconsciously carried it through the hospital. When I opened it, I saw this ad about Dr. Hoeffner and called immediately. I went in the next day, was X-rayed, and I saw on the X-ray what I had been feeling all the time. My head wasn’t on right-but it is now. After my first adjustment, I was in tears because there was no more pain. I know this was God answering my prayers. Not only is the pain gone, but I feel brand new inside. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you, Dr. Hoeffner.

Thank you, Dr. Hoeffner, for your willingness to share. I will look forward to talking to each of you in our next visit. In the meantime, keep your fire lit!

You will find that in any business, church or community that about 20% of those in the group will be committed to the cause while the other 80% will be just involved. There is a difference between being involved and being committed. You can find the difference I am referring to in the formula of “ham and eggs”. In that formula the chicken was involved but the pig was committed. The same goes for the 20% that are committed to the cause or calling. Those 20% will normally be found to be 5x more productive and useful than the other 80%. In your own practice, I would be willing to bet a shiny new penny that you can identify one staff member that tends to be more productive than the other staff members. I would even be willing to go as far as to say that the one staff member is more productive in less time compared to the time used by the other staff members.

Here is another place where this principle is probably alive and well in your practice. Why don’t you do a little research in your patient files to see who is responsible for referring other patients to your office. The odds are that about 20% of your patients base will be responsible for sharing and referring others to your office. It is very important to know and understand who is making efforts in this most important aspect to referral practicing. Once the 20% has been identified in any organization then these are the people that should receive your utmost attention and effort. Identifying the 20% is just half the battle. Once you identify these people then you must have a plan and system in place to make their efforts as productive as possible and for them to know what is truly expected of them because as you will find out these people will tend to live up to the expectations placed on them. This plan and system that I am talking about does come by accident. Within AMC (a management company I directly participate with) we spend a great deal of time and effort in this one aspect of the system. In closing, Let me say that it would well worth your time to consistently evaluate who in your practice are your 20% participants. Both staff and patients should be identified. Once you identify them then if you don’t know how to properly manage them then I would encourage you to gain that key management skill asap. Whether you choose to make the effort to identify these people or not it doesn’t mean that this principle is not alive and well in your practice. It just means you are ignoring it.

Until next time– I suggest that you first identify whether or not you yourself are in the 80% or the 20%. That may be one key factor to any struggle you may be dealing with at this time. Once all of the people that propel your business forward have been identified then I ask you — what will you do to get the most production from those that fall in the 20%? It may take more commitment on your part but it will be well worth it.

Regardless of the reasons, The odds will show that this patient will probably never receive the BEST treatment that they need because of reasons that are out of their hands. Most of these patients do not try chiropractic again. If they have a condition that qualified to be a condition that can only be truly resolved by chiropractic then the chiropractor has done more of a disservice to the patient than they have in helping the patient in the long term when the doctor has nor perfected all of the skills required in a position of leadership. You the chiropractor are the BEST. When you have developed your art to a point of perfection their is no denying that you offer the patient the BEST there is available to them but if you don’t become the BEST in all areas of leadership and business then you may never have the opportunity to deliver the BEST skills available to all patients. I am honored to serve in the BEST profession there is when it comes to the service to mankind. It is for this reason I remind myself and all of you that you must become the BEST in all aspects of chiropractic business and practice to insure the patients of this world continue to receive the BEST chiropractic care from this day forward. I have an exciting subject to share with you next time but until then please leave your comments,feedback as well as any topics you might enjoy discussing in the future. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know so many of you through our discussions.

It is an honor to serve in the greatest profession however as I am sure you will agree it is nice to be reminded that you are the BEST every now and then. It is the fact that you are the BEST that requires your commitment to perfecting your art,science,philosophy,leadership and business skills. You see it is the perfection of those skills that will insure that the new patient that possesses a condition that can only be resolved through proper and thorough chiropractic care receives the BEST that is available to them. If we fail in any of the aspects that rest below the umbrella of the previously mentioned skills then the patient won’t receive all of the benefits that come from the BEST type of care available to them

I see this all of the time in the thousands of offices I have worked with over the years. No matter how great the chiropractor’s individual skills are or the depths of their philosophy and convictions, there are patients dropping out of care for the wrong reasons at the wrong times. When you are in the BEST profession and you are the BEST that the profession offers then additional responsibilities are added to you. There is no escaping those responsibilities. As I was reminded by my friend, Rod Loy (world renowned speaker and instructor) just this week that as your position of leadership increases SO must your responsibilities. This is a good time to also point out that as your position of leadership increases it is imperative that the focus on the your mission and purpose must intensify while the importance of self decreases. This means that it’s more about the mission and less about you and your rights. We will finish off what it takes to be the BEST on our next visit. Until then May God continue to bless you and yours–

If a proper and thorough system is in place then there really isn’t much need for such tactics. When a practice is operating at peak efficiency levels then a less dramatic and less costly marketing program is all that is needed. The fact that there are so few practices abroad that are working at high efficiency levels is apparent by the stat that I mentioned earlier which was that acquiring new business is priority #1 with most chiropractors. I thought I would share with you just one example of one of the less dramatic and LESS costly protocols that will be found in a proper and efficient system. If you visit WeHelpChiropractors.com you will find my friend Dr. James Saeli sharing an example of a fantastic and efficient protocol that works. The most impressive point about this protocol is that it can be used almost everyday at NO COST.

I know some of you know and trust me through our relationship in AMC and then there are others who know me only through media. Regardless of how you know me please hear me when I say that until you get yourself off of the wild and costly roller coaster of marketing run practices then you will never have the fun and stability found in a self sustaining referral practice. I want to see all chiropractors THRIVE not just survive. Look the meaning of the word thrive up in the dictionary and ask yourself if it describes your life and practice
Until next time. God Bless!

I turned the day into a day of fellowship with friends as well as a chance to catch up on some work on the computer. I remember vividly sitting on the side of the road with the broken down rental car for 2 hours thinking I am going to choose to proact rather than react. In the past my temper would have gotten the best of me on this day but I just sat there giving thanks that one way or another I was going to see my beautiful wife and kids at some point as well as giving thanks that they were healthy and safe at home. I gave thanks on the side of the road that I live a life of ministry. The Lord has placed me in a place of influence and I am blessed for that. Reacting to the situation wasn’t going to get me home any quicker but by choosing to proact to the situation the day turned into a productive day and I was even more appreciative of the wife and kids when I saw them that night.

We all have stories and more importantly we all have opportunities everyday to choose how will we proact or react to those opportunities. Will we react to the challenges of life or will we choose to proact to those challenges and in turn control the outcome of our life? This principle works in your offices everyday and it awaits you when you leave the office to return home. WE NEED MORE PROACTORS AND LESS REACTORS. What will you choose to be? It takes work to create a habit or lifestyle of proaction but the benefits are endless. Take a few minutes to reflect on just the last week alone to see how many chances you had to proact rather than react. How many patients asked you “do I have to keep coming?” or “if my insurance doesn’t pay for this I can’t continue” or “how am I going to pay the overhead this month?” I know each of you will be able to recall some of the bigger moments of the week but try thinking of the really small moments you had throughout the last week. Those small moments are what life consists of the most and by the way when you pile all of those little moments together you will get the bulk of your life in return.
I appreciate the opportunity to share with you.

It’s good to remember that nearly all of our successes and failures as well as victories and defeats will almost always be determined by our attitude that we utilize in our approach to each passing challenge or opportunity that occurs by the minute in our lives. In fact I would like to take it a step further. Your attitude will determine how you will react or proact to every thought that crosses your mind. Whether that thought will be a thought of fear or courage, patience or impatience, stress or calm, victory or defeat and so on it goes through out our daily activities.

Life will give you the chance to proact or react nearly by the second. For example one person may look at a morning sunrise with the proaction of appreciation for the dawning of a new day with the opportunities that lie within that day as well as the blessing of taking in the breathtaking beauty found in those few precious moments following a sunrise. Where the next person will react with the attitude that it is too early for anyone to have to suffer with being up at this time and that same person may dread all of the challenges awaiting them at work rather than looking at them as opportunities for improvement. The sun was going to rise regardless but the outcome these two people will experience will different grealty by their choice to proact vs. react.

I have learned over the years that the mind has been naturally conditioned by the world we live in to react rather than proact. Maybe this is one of the fundamental reasons that we live in a world of mediocrity or the fact that the people we meet in life that are truly successful and full of joy are so few and far between.. I have also learned that it is not necessarily easy to always proact rather than re-act because of our natural tendencies or for a better word habits that we have established from the past.

I for one will admit that it has not always been easy in all circumstances to do so. I have had for a long time an established habit to proact to business challenges that most would re-act to and for the most part I have had the positive outlook mindest programmed into me from an early age. So I have always resembled the person that I described earlier that appreciated the beauty in the sunrise and looked to the new day with optimism but I am not without my challenges. It has taken a lot or work and determination to master my temper that I have had since a child. I have had for years the type of temper that would lay low while I took and took until boom it would explode. However, I have all but eliminated that negative trait with the constant thought process that I say to myself over and over “Tom– proact don’t react”.

I still have the same opportunities everyday to let that temper get the best of me but I choose to proact not react as much as possible. Let me also point out that in the rare moment that I react with my temper that outcome is mostly one of regret and fatigue. What do you say we pick up here next time so we don’t take the chance of leaving anything out of this subject? In the meantime , be on the watchout for the opportunity to proact vs react. Choose to create a habit of proacting. if you do your professional and personal life will be better off.