Why Do You Go To Work?

It’s early morning and you lie awake looking at the alarm clock deciding if you are ready to hit the shower.  If there was any doubt you are ready to start your day, the initial, startling cold spray of the shower hits now assuring you there is no turning back. A light breakfast, coffee maybe tea, and the drive in to the office are your normal day in. You turn on the lights, some music and then sit at your desk and begin your day of paperwork, files, x-rays, and checking the schedule.  For most of us this is how the workday begins but it is at this moment, this pivotal passing of the hour your purpose is defined. So I ask you again; why do you go to work? Knowing the correct answer to this question can change your life, but more importantly the correct answer will change the lives of all you care for. Too much of what you do gets lost in the day to day. 

You get frustrated and burned out or tired and sluggish. You start watching the clock hoping for the day to pass only to forget what day it is while you are wishing for the weekend and at the same time complaining of the lack of patient’s and volume of your practice.  So why do you go to work? Why do you put your hands on a patient? Why do you put pressure on their spine? Why do you schedule another visit? Why do you take an x-ray? You see we all start the day in a similar fashion. Sure some of you may have some different habits but essentially we all have to get up and put our pants on. Why is it then some of us struggle to see anyone and pay the bills and others of us are amazed at the line waiting to be seen. The answer is in the why. Why do you go to work? I remember hearing from some of the greats like Reggie Gold, Jim Sigafuse, Guy Reikmen, Ian Grossman, and so many other great chiropractors and teachers telling us the only thing right about the profession is the principle of chiropractic. About getting out of your own way. About telling the story. For some of us it will take longer to figure it out and unfortunately for some of us there will be no figuring it out. They become lost soles on the battle field resembling an old black and white photograph of a world war II solder lying in the mud of a trench holding a picture or a letter of his purpose for life or his inspiration to endure the battle.

This week I was told an old friend who I graduated Chiropractic College who struggled in practice for years closed his doors, quit his practice, lost hope of his dream. Can you imagine what he does now? Mike works in pharmaceutical sales. At first its like knowing a traitor, then as the dust settled I think of the solder lying dead in the mud, stripped of all his dreams, his hope, his passion. I know when Mike dreamed while lying in bed at chiropractic school, his dreams were not of working for Ely Lily, or Pfizer, or Merck. We spoke about practicing and being chiropractors and now he goes to work just to make a living with the unintended consequence of adding to the pharmaceutical death toll.  Why when we went to the same college, same education, graduated together does Mike lose all hope while I see hundreds of people a day.  I can tell you now, your true purpose as a chiropractor will begin when you find the principle and the practice of chiropractic is worth living for.

Can you imagine the excitement and energy in the morning air when BJ Palmer awoke?  To have the responsibility of building the profession, dealing with the politics, going to jail, building a school, practicing, teaching, studying, experimenting, and lecturing, while being a father and a husband. You can be sure he knew why he went to work everyday. Bj had a purpose and a responsibility bestowed upon him and I am thankful with all the people to chose from the universal intelligence chose BJ Palmer as the developer of the profession. If you want to have a large volume practice you must first learn to serve. You must get out of your own way and share the story of chiropractic. Tell them why you put your hands on them and why they need you to do this regularly throughout their lifetime. Why their children need to be adjusted. Tell them about the nervous system and interference. But the most important, most influential, most purposeful reason you go to work;  adjust, adjust, adjust!!!

Dr Joe Borio