This week we saw 110 patient visits, and collected $7000. This was a good week! On Thursday we saw about 37. I would love to see that many every day. If I saw close to 40 every day, I would definately consider this a sucess.
I have a new web page. Now I need to make it more useful. I'm going to start by making sure the site itself is correct and nothing else needs to change. Then I am going to get all the email addresses set so that we can start emailing people. Finally, I want to start a facebook page for the business. We'll see how it goes.
My water drinking has really never made it very far. I wanted to drink a half a gallon every day. In some cases it's barely been anything at all. I'll keep working on it. But I have been positive, doing my hobby, trying to get organized (I've decided to get to work early each day to go over all the names that will be coming in that day. I want to be ready to see them, to familiarize myself with them). I really would like the numbers to stay where they are...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I'm getting lazy with my goals
Okay time for another update:
Journaling - I've gotten pretty lazy with my journaling. It's been a little less than a month since I last wrote in my journal. Now I've put my journal onto this blog. I think this might be easier to keep writing this way.
Water - has been very rough. I have tried to get at least one bottle down. The goal is to drink two of them. I have gone several days where I haven't completed even one. I need to keep working on this. It's tough when pop tastes so good.
Being positive - I've been okay with this one. But I think I'm generally a pretty positive person. This one needs to improve with all of them.
Getting organized - This one is tough just like all the rest of them. But I am working on it. I just purchased a professional web site and we are working on our marketing.
My Hobby - I've been doing okay with this. Last week I finished making a step stool. It was fun and fulfilling. I think for my first time, this was pretty good!
Journaling - I've gotten pretty lazy with my journaling. It's been a little less than a month since I last wrote in my journal. Now I've put my journal onto this blog. I think this might be easier to keep writing this way.
Water - has been very rough. I have tried to get at least one bottle down. The goal is to drink two of them. I have gone several days where I haven't completed even one. I need to keep working on this. It's tough when pop tastes so good.
Being positive - I've been okay with this one. But I think I'm generally a pretty positive person. This one needs to improve with all of them.
Getting organized - This one is tough just like all the rest of them. But I am working on it. I just purchased a professional web site and we are working on our marketing.
My Hobby - I've been doing okay with this. Last week I finished making a step stool. It was fun and fulfilling. I think for my first time, this was pretty good!
Sucess isn't for the weak minded.
August 19, 2009
Well, I’ve started working on my habits. I can really tell that this is going to be tough. Success isn’t for the weak minded or the lazy person who wants to get by doing the minimum. My biggest struggle so far is just setting my mind on what I want to accomplish and then doing it without looking back. It doesn’t mean that I’m just automatically going to just start seeing success, but I think it will begin the process of defining myself.
I think that I have gradually, from previous experiences and re-evaluating my practice and myself as I’m doing now, reached the conclusion that one of my biggest weaknesses is patient education. I have a difficult time communicating to the patient what chiropractic is. And helping them identify how they would like to implement these ideas into their life.
Today, I spent some time beginning the process of identifying what I can give, or say to the patients on a visit by visit basis that will help them gain the knowledge that I’m looking to share. There are some beginning ideas.
August 24, 2009
I keep struggling with the cola drinking: Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper. I would really like to get to the point that I don’t have such a drive to drink it. But today I actually drank the 32oz bottle of water twice. That is my goal. So, that is a success.
I met with Ryan Teeples. Ryan was referred to me by Brian Bangerter. They are pretty good friends. Ryan professionally helps bigger businesses build a good marketing system. He seems to do well with it. He likes to help smaller businesses do some work, but doesn’t usually charge. He talked with me about some good marketing ideas. It mostly revolved around the internet. He talked about how much people use the internet to find places to go. I typed up some notes to help me remember what we went over. This is a direction that I have been thinking about recently.
August 25, 2009
Doing research and being prepared now may not seem much beneficial now, but eventually will be more and more beneficial. I read a short story called Daniel Webster and the Blacksmiths Fee. It was a nice short story, it talked about how Daniel Webster did some very involved research on a case for a man that had no money. The man was told to just pay what he felt it was worth. The man gave Webster a dollar because it seemed like he pulled it off pretty easily. Then 25 years later the president of a major railroad company came to Webster as it turns out with the same kind of case as the man before. Webster was able to pull out his notes from before and with a little revision was ready and won a case that looked to the railroad president like a certain loss. Well, there is a lesson I learned from this. I need to study things out a little bit more, even if it seems very trivial. If it’s going to benefit me by giving me greater knowledge and understanding on chiropractic. And greater help in my treating patients.
Doing to coaching with Dad, “letters to Dad.” I’ve been doing some coaching with my father. I feel like he has some valuable knowledge in life and success that I could benefit from. So far there has been 2 letters that I have written to him. As we go along I would like to share some of the things he says in his letters. Initially he said, (quoting Alma from the Book of Mormon, “whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials and their troubles, and their afflictions.” Then he followed up with a second letter talking about “keep(ing) your focus on improving the well being and wellness of your patients. I believe if you "lose yourself" in (this) good cause, you will love your work, (and) your patients will see it and love you for it.
I’ve been having more feelings about how I really am not aware of what I really stand for when it comes to chiropractic. I don’t know if I truly understand everything I really am trying to convey to patients. That may be why I struggle with the practice. I need to do more research and more study of how all this works. Then I can convey it better and better.
My water drinking was terrible today. I didn’t even drink much of one 32oz bottle. Instead I had some Mr. Pibb. And several times! I need to get better about this. It has to have greater meaning. I have been making some notes and journaling them. I turned in the Black and Decker table saw that I inherited from Jades parents. I found out that back 20 years ago (which is at least how old it is: Jades grandfather bought it maybe 25 years ago) it was a pretty good machine. I’ve always thought Black & Decker was a cheaper brand. Jade as given me my first woodworking project: A two-step stool. I’m kind of excited about it.
While I was down in Orem, I bought a small binder from Franklin Covey (it was pretty cheap – this is for my wife). She doesn’t know that I got it. She will eventually find out. I know… I have never kept up with maintaining a day planner before. I guess I just want to try again. This is part of my organization process. I need to develop this more and more in actual office procedures.
Our numbers have been up a little but far from where we need to be. Collections are looking down, we really haven’t collected much this week. I’m hoping for a miracle, if we are going to be able to make it.
August 29, 2009
Pulling together who I am. This, I believe is one of the most difficult things for most of us to do. Who am I? I have found that I must have said to myself at some point when I was a kid that I can’t succeed at anything. I can’t win. I can’t come out on top. Either because I don’t have the capability to do so, or I’m just not supposed to, or it’s not the humble thing to do. Well, I’ve convinced myself of this to such an extent that I have decided, subconsciously, that it’s not even worth trying. It’s not worth trying and then failing. Just do what I have to do to get by, and don’t disappoint myself. So, I have figured out throughout my life how to live without getting ahead, succeeding, or really winning and still be happy and satisfied with my life.
This is a terrible tragedy! A terrible waste! I think a lot of us are in this boat. We have convinced ourselves that we are just average, and that is okay. It’s interesting because when I look around me, I find that many of my friends are the same way. They have the same belief. In fact it probably wouldn’t be wrong to say that a majority of the whole world allows themselves to just blend in and get away with the absolute minimum. There are some very good people who are this way. I’m not saying that this is the wrong way to be. But, I think we have to try and be realistic with our feelings and I’ve just chosen a profession that won’t allow a person to succeed beyond just barely staying open. Then we get into a recession situation and it doesn’t “hack-it” any more.
I need to look deep into myself and really find out who I am. I need to peel back all those years of talking trash to myself and see who the person is below it all. I need to find out what I really want and not what I have been protecting myself with all these years. If I rely only on the stronger feelings that I have, I find that there are a few things that I know about myself.
First of all, I know that I have pretty deep feelings for my family. I love my wife more than anyone in the world. Love hasn't always come easy. But she has been easy to love! I don’t believe there is anyone out there that I would rather be with. I love that she enjoys talking to me, and spending time with me. I love talking and spending time with her. Does our marriage have challenges? Sure. I have loved her more and more as we learn to work through our differences. My parents have many differences, but I cannot picture one without the other, I would never be able to separate them in my mind.
Secondly, I love my children more than I could ever imagine! I would do anything for them. I want them to be happy around me. I have a real tough time disciplining them. Sometimes it comes easy for a few moments, but very quickly, I want to go back to them and just hug and kiss them and tell them that I love them more than anything in the world!
Well, I’ve started working on my habits. I can really tell that this is going to be tough. Success isn’t for the weak minded or the lazy person who wants to get by doing the minimum. My biggest struggle so far is just setting my mind on what I want to accomplish and then doing it without looking back. It doesn’t mean that I’m just automatically going to just start seeing success, but I think it will begin the process of defining myself.
I think that I have gradually, from previous experiences and re-evaluating my practice and myself as I’m doing now, reached the conclusion that one of my biggest weaknesses is patient education. I have a difficult time communicating to the patient what chiropractic is. And helping them identify how they would like to implement these ideas into their life.
Today, I spent some time beginning the process of identifying what I can give, or say to the patients on a visit by visit basis that will help them gain the knowledge that I’m looking to share. There are some beginning ideas.
August 24, 2009
I keep struggling with the cola drinking: Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper. I would really like to get to the point that I don’t have such a drive to drink it. But today I actually drank the 32oz bottle of water twice. That is my goal. So, that is a success.
I met with Ryan Teeples. Ryan was referred to me by Brian Bangerter. They are pretty good friends. Ryan professionally helps bigger businesses build a good marketing system. He seems to do well with it. He likes to help smaller businesses do some work, but doesn’t usually charge. He talked with me about some good marketing ideas. It mostly revolved around the internet. He talked about how much people use the internet to find places to go. I typed up some notes to help me remember what we went over. This is a direction that I have been thinking about recently.
August 25, 2009
Doing research and being prepared now may not seem much beneficial now, but eventually will be more and more beneficial. I read a short story called Daniel Webster and the Blacksmiths Fee. It was a nice short story, it talked about how Daniel Webster did some very involved research on a case for a man that had no money. The man was told to just pay what he felt it was worth. The man gave Webster a dollar because it seemed like he pulled it off pretty easily. Then 25 years later the president of a major railroad company came to Webster as it turns out with the same kind of case as the man before. Webster was able to pull out his notes from before and with a little revision was ready and won a case that looked to the railroad president like a certain loss. Well, there is a lesson I learned from this. I need to study things out a little bit more, even if it seems very trivial. If it’s going to benefit me by giving me greater knowledge and understanding on chiropractic. And greater help in my treating patients.
Doing to coaching with Dad, “letters to Dad.” I’ve been doing some coaching with my father. I feel like he has some valuable knowledge in life and success that I could benefit from. So far there has been 2 letters that I have written to him. As we go along I would like to share some of the things he says in his letters. Initially he said, (quoting Alma from the Book of Mormon, “whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials and their troubles, and their afflictions.” Then he followed up with a second letter talking about “keep(ing) your focus on improving the well being and wellness of your patients. I believe if you "lose yourself" in (this) good cause, you will love your work, (and) your patients will see it and love you for it.
I’ve been having more feelings about how I really am not aware of what I really stand for when it comes to chiropractic. I don’t know if I truly understand everything I really am trying to convey to patients. That may be why I struggle with the practice. I need to do more research and more study of how all this works. Then I can convey it better and better.
My water drinking was terrible today. I didn’t even drink much of one 32oz bottle. Instead I had some Mr. Pibb. And several times! I need to get better about this. It has to have greater meaning. I have been making some notes and journaling them. I turned in the Black and Decker table saw that I inherited from Jades parents. I found out that back 20 years ago (which is at least how old it is: Jades grandfather bought it maybe 25 years ago) it was a pretty good machine. I’ve always thought Black & Decker was a cheaper brand. Jade as given me my first woodworking project: A two-step stool. I’m kind of excited about it.
While I was down in Orem, I bought a small binder from Franklin Covey (it was pretty cheap – this is for my wife). She doesn’t know that I got it. She will eventually find out. I know… I have never kept up with maintaining a day planner before. I guess I just want to try again. This is part of my organization process. I need to develop this more and more in actual office procedures.
Our numbers have been up a little but far from where we need to be. Collections are looking down, we really haven’t collected much this week. I’m hoping for a miracle, if we are going to be able to make it.
August 29, 2009
Pulling together who I am. This, I believe is one of the most difficult things for most of us to do. Who am I? I have found that I must have said to myself at some point when I was a kid that I can’t succeed at anything. I can’t win. I can’t come out on top. Either because I don’t have the capability to do so, or I’m just not supposed to, or it’s not the humble thing to do. Well, I’ve convinced myself of this to such an extent that I have decided, subconsciously, that it’s not even worth trying. It’s not worth trying and then failing. Just do what I have to do to get by, and don’t disappoint myself. So, I have figured out throughout my life how to live without getting ahead, succeeding, or really winning and still be happy and satisfied with my life.
This is a terrible tragedy! A terrible waste! I think a lot of us are in this boat. We have convinced ourselves that we are just average, and that is okay. It’s interesting because when I look around me, I find that many of my friends are the same way. They have the same belief. In fact it probably wouldn’t be wrong to say that a majority of the whole world allows themselves to just blend in and get away with the absolute minimum. There are some very good people who are this way. I’m not saying that this is the wrong way to be. But, I think we have to try and be realistic with our feelings and I’ve just chosen a profession that won’t allow a person to succeed beyond just barely staying open. Then we get into a recession situation and it doesn’t “hack-it” any more.
I need to look deep into myself and really find out who I am. I need to peel back all those years of talking trash to myself and see who the person is below it all. I need to find out what I really want and not what I have been protecting myself with all these years. If I rely only on the stronger feelings that I have, I find that there are a few things that I know about myself.
First of all, I know that I have pretty deep feelings for my family. I love my wife more than anyone in the world. Love hasn't always come easy. But she has been easy to love! I don’t believe there is anyone out there that I would rather be with. I love that she enjoys talking to me, and spending time with me. I love talking and spending time with her. Does our marriage have challenges? Sure. I have loved her more and more as we learn to work through our differences. My parents have many differences, but I cannot picture one without the other, I would never be able to separate them in my mind.
Secondly, I love my children more than I could ever imagine! I would do anything for them. I want them to be happy around me. I have a real tough time disciplining them. Sometimes it comes easy for a few moments, but very quickly, I want to go back to them and just hug and kiss them and tell them that I love them more than anything in the world!
My 5 Habits
I’m going to set up a series of 5 goals that I want to try and make habits to help me become successful. And then each day\week, I will report back with the results. This is hard because how am I to know what things are going to make me successful. I have to just assume that if I take a successful trait or habbit, and implement it into my life, it will help. These have to be doable things: Nothing that is going to be too hard to do. Also, I don’t want to just make up a list of “to do’s,” but things that are going to become habits.
1. Organization – organize my day, office, calendar, office procedures. Then follow it.
2. Be positive – I need to stop using all negative comments about my office, about myself, or anything.
3. Make Notes about my feelings, thoughts, ideas, and inspiration
4. Drink Water – I’m supposed to drink almost a gallon a day for 240 lbs.
5. Develop a hobby – I’m thinking of something involving woodworking. I just inherited a table saw from Jade’s parents. I like to work with wood. I’m sure I can come up with something fun.
First is organization, I would say my Dad is pretty successful, and he tends to be pretty organized. I asked him about it once. He said he didn’t tend to be a very organized person, but when he puts his mind to it, he can be pretty organized. I don’t know what I’m expecting here. I can’t get too complicated or I’ll get discouraged. I mean what is there to get organized about, when it comes to my day. I go to work at 7:30, I try to come home at 12:30 for lunch (sometimes it’s later, sometimes it’s earlier. Then I get back to work by 2:30 (or so depending on when the first patient is scheduled). Then at the end of the day, I come home between 5:00 and 6:00. This is already scheduled for me, I don’t need to do anything with that.
I suppose I should include doing some exercise in my daily routine. Maybe 3 or 4 days a week. My wife keeps getting on my case that I don’t use my bike, and that I should put it away. I enjoy bike riding. Running is really harder and so I probably burn more calories running, but if I make exercise difficult, I probably will get discouraged and stop.
When it comes to exercise, here is a pretty rough cycle for me:
- You eat too much too close to bed time
- You stay up too late (12:00 or 1:00 or later) avoiding a coughing fit.
- You don’t get very good sleep that night
- You don’t feel like getting up and exercising because you’re too tired
- Your late to work, and your work isn’t as effective
- Then you have to get a “pop” and a McDonalds sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle to keep you awake and moving. Yes, I call it a “pop.” That is what it does to me when I drink one… “pop!” I’m awake and alert.
- “Pop” supposedly makes you feel lethargic. It might be all the sugar or all the chemicals in it, I don’t know. I really don’t think I feel like I'm affected that way.
- Then the day doesn’t go very well, and you get discouraged and you know what starts calling your name. So you go out to get another one. Often 2 to 3 pops during the day. they taste good every single time. I just know that it's slowly destroying me.
- The weight gain kills you and the chemicals destroy your body. So you go home and “veg.” I don’t mean ignore your family or do your part in helping around the house. At least what I feel is my part helping around the house. Finally you get the kids to bed, and by the time you have a minute to yourself it’s 10:30 or 11:00 you sit and “veg,” and get some snakes for a while and before you know it, It’s after 12:00.
- Here we go again.
So, organization should probably start with getting to bed on time and getting up on time. To do this I have to be careful to not eat too late and I need to control the amount of pop I’m drinking. I’m wondering if I should include some sort of exercise. This is really stepping it up for me. Exercise is tough for me: Several steps above just going to bed and getting up on time. Maybe if I make a challenge out of it, I might enjoy it more. I know that it is really essential for my well being, but it is very difficult to get into the pattern.
I want to include a few things like reading and playing with the kids. It is important to me to build a relationship with the kids. I shouldn’t ever be too busy to spend time with them. I can realistically say that they are the joy of my life even if they are stinkers periodically during the day. Reading is good for the mind. You need a constant flow of good ideas into your head like a joint needs a constant flow of good fluids to keep it strong and healthy.
I am going to keep my daily organization to the following:
- Get up at 6:00
- Ride my bike for 20 min.
- Eat, get ready for work and leave by 7:00
- Read a good book
- Regular work hours
- Get home by 6:00
- Help out at home, play with the kids a little
- Work on my journaling
- Get in Bed by 10:00
- Read the scriptures
- Asleep by 11:00
I don’t know how close I will be able to keep to this schedule, but I think it’s realistic and do-able. I just have to be careful about changing it. When important things come up I need to really evaluate if they are more important than keeping this schedule. Some people feel like keeping a schedule is too rigid. That’s okay. I think everyone needs to find those few things they are going to change about themselves to try to create a pattern of success. I have seen and read about some very successful people and they all seem to have a certain schedule that they follow to help them have time to achieve certain objectives.
The second habit is to be positive. Wow, this can be tough to constantly be positive. I think that I tend to be positive most of the time. When numbers are low or there is trouble, I have a hard time not showing negativity. But I think that this is essential for creating a good healing environment in my office. My wanting to be constantly positive also includes neutral subjects that can bring negativity into a conversation. This could include things like politics.
The third habit is to make notes about my feelings thoughts and ideas. I like what Bill Esteb said about this. I was asked by a chiropractor what to do to start becoming successful. He felt like he was stuggling to discover himself and his practice:
"I believe that the language we use actually serves to define and create our reality. So, if our unhappy circumstances remain unexpressed as merely vague feelings or formless fear, we remain in bondage and are unable to bring order and meaning to our world. It’s significant that God spoke (language) the world into existence. (Even more significant was that) he tasked us with naming the animals—a way that we could exhibit our dominion over the animal kingdom. Even today, if you want to see a frustrated, powerless medical doctor, present a series of symptoms, which don’t clearly match any named disease! Only when the condition is accurately named, described and articulated in language can you take appropriate action. (It works the same way) with your practice."
"It was Socrates who said that the “an unexamined life isn’t worth living.” My guess is that part of your pain is related to merely going through the motions. That’s the “having-never-found-myself-as-a-chiropractor” part. This creates the lack of passion and joyless existence that I sense you’re experiencing. You lack the rudder; the center core of your practice. Without this critical emotional component, practice becomes a weighty struggle. Something to get through.”
"It’s time to perform a thorough examination—on yourself. A helpful technique is journaling. Spend some time expressing yourself in words, either with pen and paper or on your computer. Explore your reactions to daily situations. Confront yourself. By this process you can bring healing and dominion over your circumstances." I truly believe, if I can keep my feelings and thoughts on track, on paper, I can better evaluate my direction and decisions.
The forth habit is to drink more water. There are a lot of really good reasons to drink water. For me the biggest reason is to just get me to drink less soda pop. I call it “Vitamin P” for Pepsi. I don’t know what that says about me. I think the most agreed on amount is half your weight in ounces. So, I’m 500 – I mean 240 pounds, half my weight is 120 lbs, so that would mean that I need to drink 120 oz of water. Wow! I’m not sure if that is do-able at this point. I struggle with my 32 oz bottle. I a little embarrassed to admit that. That is close to ¼ what I really need. I’m going to compromise and say that I want to drink 2 of my 32oz bottles: One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This way, I feel like I’m pushing myself a little, but not to the point that I give up.
The fifth habit is to develop at hobby. Okay, this one is tough. What do I like doing? I have a hard time often identifying things that I like doing. I am going to put a little stipulation on this. And that is that I need to do something that will help me grow. So, watching movies, which I love to do can’t be included, or going out to eat, which again, I like to do, can’t be included either. I really like to build things. When we buy furniture I like to put it together. I’m not really big into construction type of things, but I have enjoyed working with wood. When I was a kid I built some steps for my parents into the basement. They were pretty simple, but I think they turned out pretty good. Jades parents had a pretty old table saw but in good condition that they gave me. It hasn’t been used in probably 15 to 20 years. With that as a beginning, I’m going to go around to some pawn shops and see if I can get some more – basic woodworking tools that would enable me to do a little more.
1. Organization – organize my day, office, calendar, office procedures. Then follow it.
2. Be positive – I need to stop using all negative comments about my office, about myself, or anything.
3. Make Notes about my feelings, thoughts, ideas, and inspiration
4. Drink Water – I’m supposed to drink almost a gallon a day for 240 lbs.
5. Develop a hobby – I’m thinking of something involving woodworking. I just inherited a table saw from Jade’s parents. I like to work with wood. I’m sure I can come up with something fun.
First is organization, I would say my Dad is pretty successful, and he tends to be pretty organized. I asked him about it once. He said he didn’t tend to be a very organized person, but when he puts his mind to it, he can be pretty organized. I don’t know what I’m expecting here. I can’t get too complicated or I’ll get discouraged. I mean what is there to get organized about, when it comes to my day. I go to work at 7:30, I try to come home at 12:30 for lunch (sometimes it’s later, sometimes it’s earlier. Then I get back to work by 2:30 (or so depending on when the first patient is scheduled). Then at the end of the day, I come home between 5:00 and 6:00. This is already scheduled for me, I don’t need to do anything with that.
I suppose I should include doing some exercise in my daily routine. Maybe 3 or 4 days a week. My wife keeps getting on my case that I don’t use my bike, and that I should put it away. I enjoy bike riding. Running is really harder and so I probably burn more calories running, but if I make exercise difficult, I probably will get discouraged and stop.
When it comes to exercise, here is a pretty rough cycle for me:
- You eat too much too close to bed time
- You stay up too late (12:00 or 1:00 or later) avoiding a coughing fit.
- You don’t get very good sleep that night
- You don’t feel like getting up and exercising because you’re too tired
- Your late to work, and your work isn’t as effective
- Then you have to get a “pop” and a McDonalds sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle to keep you awake and moving. Yes, I call it a “pop.” That is what it does to me when I drink one… “pop!” I’m awake and alert.
- “Pop” supposedly makes you feel lethargic. It might be all the sugar or all the chemicals in it, I don’t know. I really don’t think I feel like I'm affected that way.
- Then the day doesn’t go very well, and you get discouraged and you know what starts calling your name. So you go out to get another one. Often 2 to 3 pops during the day. they taste good every single time. I just know that it's slowly destroying me.
- The weight gain kills you and the chemicals destroy your body. So you go home and “veg.” I don’t mean ignore your family or do your part in helping around the house. At least what I feel is my part helping around the house. Finally you get the kids to bed, and by the time you have a minute to yourself it’s 10:30 or 11:00 you sit and “veg,” and get some snakes for a while and before you know it, It’s after 12:00.
- Here we go again.
So, organization should probably start with getting to bed on time and getting up on time. To do this I have to be careful to not eat too late and I need to control the amount of pop I’m drinking. I’m wondering if I should include some sort of exercise. This is really stepping it up for me. Exercise is tough for me: Several steps above just going to bed and getting up on time. Maybe if I make a challenge out of it, I might enjoy it more. I know that it is really essential for my well being, but it is very difficult to get into the pattern.
I want to include a few things like reading and playing with the kids. It is important to me to build a relationship with the kids. I shouldn’t ever be too busy to spend time with them. I can realistically say that they are the joy of my life even if they are stinkers periodically during the day. Reading is good for the mind. You need a constant flow of good ideas into your head like a joint needs a constant flow of good fluids to keep it strong and healthy.
I am going to keep my daily organization to the following:
- Get up at 6:00
- Ride my bike for 20 min.
- Eat, get ready for work and leave by 7:00
- Read a good book
- Regular work hours
- Get home by 6:00
- Help out at home, play with the kids a little
- Work on my journaling
- Get in Bed by 10:00
- Read the scriptures
- Asleep by 11:00
I don’t know how close I will be able to keep to this schedule, but I think it’s realistic and do-able. I just have to be careful about changing it. When important things come up I need to really evaluate if they are more important than keeping this schedule. Some people feel like keeping a schedule is too rigid. That’s okay. I think everyone needs to find those few things they are going to change about themselves to try to create a pattern of success. I have seen and read about some very successful people and they all seem to have a certain schedule that they follow to help them have time to achieve certain objectives.
The second habit is to be positive. Wow, this can be tough to constantly be positive. I think that I tend to be positive most of the time. When numbers are low or there is trouble, I have a hard time not showing negativity. But I think that this is essential for creating a good healing environment in my office. My wanting to be constantly positive also includes neutral subjects that can bring negativity into a conversation. This could include things like politics.
The third habit is to make notes about my feelings thoughts and ideas. I like what Bill Esteb said about this. I was asked by a chiropractor what to do to start becoming successful. He felt like he was stuggling to discover himself and his practice:
"I believe that the language we use actually serves to define and create our reality. So, if our unhappy circumstances remain unexpressed as merely vague feelings or formless fear, we remain in bondage and are unable to bring order and meaning to our world. It’s significant that God spoke (language) the world into existence. (Even more significant was that) he tasked us with naming the animals—a way that we could exhibit our dominion over the animal kingdom. Even today, if you want to see a frustrated, powerless medical doctor, present a series of symptoms, which don’t clearly match any named disease! Only when the condition is accurately named, described and articulated in language can you take appropriate action. (It works the same way) with your practice."
"It was Socrates who said that the “an unexamined life isn’t worth living.” My guess is that part of your pain is related to merely going through the motions. That’s the “having-never-found-myself-as-a-chiropractor” part. This creates the lack of passion and joyless existence that I sense you’re experiencing. You lack the rudder; the center core of your practice. Without this critical emotional component, practice becomes a weighty struggle. Something to get through.”
"It’s time to perform a thorough examination—on yourself. A helpful technique is journaling. Spend some time expressing yourself in words, either with pen and paper or on your computer. Explore your reactions to daily situations. Confront yourself. By this process you can bring healing and dominion over your circumstances." I truly believe, if I can keep my feelings and thoughts on track, on paper, I can better evaluate my direction and decisions.
The forth habit is to drink more water. There are a lot of really good reasons to drink water. For me the biggest reason is to just get me to drink less soda pop. I call it “Vitamin P” for Pepsi. I don’t know what that says about me. I think the most agreed on amount is half your weight in ounces. So, I’m 500 – I mean 240 pounds, half my weight is 120 lbs, so that would mean that I need to drink 120 oz of water. Wow! I’m not sure if that is do-able at this point. I struggle with my 32 oz bottle. I a little embarrassed to admit that. That is close to ¼ what I really need. I’m going to compromise and say that I want to drink 2 of my 32oz bottles: One in the morning and one in the afternoon. This way, I feel like I’m pushing myself a little, but not to the point that I give up.
The fifth habit is to develop at hobby. Okay, this one is tough. What do I like doing? I have a hard time often identifying things that I like doing. I am going to put a little stipulation on this. And that is that I need to do something that will help me grow. So, watching movies, which I love to do can’t be included, or going out to eat, which again, I like to do, can’t be included either. I really like to build things. When we buy furniture I like to put it together. I’m not really big into construction type of things, but I have enjoyed working with wood. When I was a kid I built some steps for my parents into the basement. They were pretty simple, but I think they turned out pretty good. Jades parents had a pretty old table saw but in good condition that they gave me. It hasn’t been used in probably 15 to 20 years. With that as a beginning, I’m going to go around to some pawn shops and see if I can get some more – basic woodworking tools that would enable me to do a little more.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Power In My Life
I feel like sometimes I'm stuck in a limbo. I wonder why I can't seem to progress beyong a point that is either just below break even or just above. Until I met Jade, I was constantly just below the break even. I don't know if I really had any direction. When I met Jade, life seemed to start getting better and better. Now, I'm at a point that we are constantly just above the curve. Oh, things continue to go up and down, but we don't ever have to borrow to stay ahead. A few years ago we had a good savings and we felt very comfortable for a year or so, but when we bought our house, we started using alot of that, office numbers haven't seemed as high and so we are in and out of the uncomfortable areas with our checking account.
So here I am. I don't really feel like I've gotten ahead. Yes, when we want to do something we can generally figure out a way to do it, but we keep that to a minimum. But, I think like most people, I really don't like living this way. I would like to get ahead, I would like to not worry about where things about going to be next month, or what is going to happen at retirement. Most people think we are doing well because I'm a chiropractor, and I don't mind people thinking that, but the reality is, I'm far from where I need to be if I'm going to be comfortable.
I need to figure out a way to get power. That's what I'm calling it, but I mean that I want to gain strength to be ahead in my profession and in my life. I’m talking about genuine power that helps me understand myself, what I need to do to be successful, and then to actually live that success.
I want to write about where I’m at, why I’m here, where I want to go, and how I hope to get there. I think most of us are pretty average. We all want money and success. The most important thing to me is my family and being happy. I want to suceed in my family so that I have a strong marriage and a strong relationship with my children. But I also want to suceed in the "world!" Mostly for myself, to show myself that I can really do it! But I also want to succeed for my wife and children. I think if you really look deep, most of us want this, and most of us, for whatever reason, don't feel like we are achieving this. This is why we have so many self-help books.
I want to talk directly to you my children and anyone who really wants success, you try achieve it, but you don’t feel like you can get there either because the opportunities don’t present themselves, you feel like you are just not made up of what it takes to make it happen, or you just really can’t figure out what you are doing that isn’t right. To those people who don’t care, this isn’t for you. One last note to my kids, I just never want you to feel like you are restricted by anything. I want to prove to myself and you that the power is within us to reach any goal we truly want to achieve. This is a real statement!
So here I am. I don't really feel like I've gotten ahead. Yes, when we want to do something we can generally figure out a way to do it, but we keep that to a minimum. But, I think like most people, I really don't like living this way. I would like to get ahead, I would like to not worry about where things about going to be next month, or what is going to happen at retirement. Most people think we are doing well because I'm a chiropractor, and I don't mind people thinking that, but the reality is, I'm far from where I need to be if I'm going to be comfortable.
I need to figure out a way to get power. That's what I'm calling it, but I mean that I want to gain strength to be ahead in my profession and in my life. I’m talking about genuine power that helps me understand myself, what I need to do to be successful, and then to actually live that success.
I want to write about where I’m at, why I’m here, where I want to go, and how I hope to get there. I think most of us are pretty average. We all want money and success. The most important thing to me is my family and being happy. I want to suceed in my family so that I have a strong marriage and a strong relationship with my children. But I also want to suceed in the "world!" Mostly for myself, to show myself that I can really do it! But I also want to succeed for my wife and children. I think if you really look deep, most of us want this, and most of us, for whatever reason, don't feel like we are achieving this. This is why we have so many self-help books.
I want to talk directly to you my children and anyone who really wants success, you try achieve it, but you don’t feel like you can get there either because the opportunities don’t present themselves, you feel like you are just not made up of what it takes to make it happen, or you just really can’t figure out what you are doing that isn’t right. To those people who don’t care, this isn’t for you. One last note to my kids, I just never want you to feel like you are restricted by anything. I want to prove to myself and you that the power is within us to reach any goal we truly want to achieve. This is a real statement!
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