Purpose, by Dr. Ogi Ressel

Monday, April 13th 2009

Warm hellos to everyone,

I must tell you that I received a number of letters from many of you last
week - a wonderful thing!
It seems that last week's THOT about maintaining a healthy level of
insanity struck home with a number of you. Awesome!

I pray that this week's THOT will do the same....

Let's talk about PURPOSE this week - it appears to be a topic which seems
to be largely misunderstood and unfocussed.

They (whoever these mysterious people are) say; "You need to be on purpose
in order to succeed in practice" - I'll bet my boots that you've heard these words
more that once or twice. ....And you think; "I am on purpose. I am, I am. 
I have all these bills, expenses, overhead, staff, vacations, leases, etc., of course
I'm on purpose. The problem is that I just don't have enough New Patients, my
expenses are killing me, and my collections are low. But I'm right on purpose,
yep, yep, yep."
Right!
Get a grip!

There seems to be a feeling out there that these New Patients (NPs) are a prize
catch and you are a lucky fellow indeed if you can land one or two of them...and
this purpose "thing" is somehow supposed to help you capture these evasive
and rare people. "How does this work?" you ask.

I have the impression that "being on purpose" is what chiropractors say to one
another or hear at seminars - it seems to the thing to do, or hear, or say.
But what exactly does it mean?
And how do you translate that concept into a live, breathing, ready-to-accept-your-
recommendations-and-refer-everyone-to-you patient.....and get paid at the
same time? You're probably thinking; "there must be some kind of a glitzy
procedure out there that I can just plug into my office and I'll get all the NPs
I want." OR; "I'll just have to find that right seminar that'll teach me to be more
on purpose - to get all pumped up." OR: "I'll need to increase my marketing
allowance to net these NPs. Better marketing - that it! That'll get me on purpose."
OR; "If I only had more patients, I'd definitely be more on purpose." (sounds
like a puppy chasing his own tail!)

Some of these reasons may hit home with a number of you - that is totally Ok.
Purpose is largely given lip-service to, but misunderstood.

I want you to know that being "on purpose" is NOT a procedure. No. It is the state of being.
A state of your heart.

Let me illustrate;
My daughter Christie, recently had to drive a co-worker who just broke his arm,
to the emergency room at the hospital. While waiting for him in the waiting room
(what an appropriate name), she overheard a doctor speaking to a mom about
her child who was there because of severe ear pain from a reoccurring ear infection.
The MD said; "You need to have tubes placed in his ears.....", at which time my
daughter interjected and said; "OR, you can see a chiropractor." The MD gave
her The Look, but Christie was undaunted. She explained to the mother how
Chiropractic care may be just the thing that her son needed and went on to
explain how it works. She even gave her a referral to a chiropractor (it wasn't me)
who was well experienced in seeing children.
The MD shrugged and skulked away. That took Balls!! Huge ones! But for her it was easy.
She was on purpose. She just knew that this was the right thing to do. She had
the rhinoceros philosophy - full speed ahead!

Another:
I'm on the beach in South Carolina with my family and I spot an older couple
walking along the water's edge. Maybe it was the reflection of the sun but I
thought that her legs were a bit darker than they should have been (in retrospect,
I am glad her husband didn't mind me looking at his wife's legs). So...I followed
them on the beach and eventually I stopped the couple. I asked about her legs
and mentioned that it seemed as if she was suffering with DVT (Deep Venous
Thrombosis) or the early stages of Gangrene. She said yes and also told me
that her MD didn't know what else to recommend. I explained that I was a
chiropractor, that our approach was different, and that we could help her her.
I explained how and gave her some things to do at home (walk in icy cold water
daily in order to open up the deep blood vessels, Vit E, etc.).
I recommended she see a chiropractor in her home town in Michigan and she thanked me.

Six months later, I received a letter from her thanking me for caring and
stating that she is doing very well. Purpose.

Still another:
A mom calls you at 11:30 pm, just as you are ready to fall asleep, asking
for your help. Her little girl is having an Asthma attack. You tell her to meet
you at the office in 30 minutes.
You examine the little girl, do your work-up and adjust her. You tell mom
to call you at 3:00 am to let you know how the little girl is doing. You're back
 in bed but can't sleep because you are wondering also. You are just about
to nod off when the phone rings.
The little girl is fine and breathing well. "Thank you so much for what you've done, Doctor.
I don't know how to thank you enough" says mom through her tears.
You are moved. You ask mom to bring her daughter to see you at 8:00 am
and again at 6:00 pm. You're back to bed but now it is certain you will not sleep.
You dare not touch your hands together for fear that you'll short-circuit and
burst into flames. You look at your hands in awe. You've adjusted 100 patients
that day, no one missed an appointment, everyone paid on time, and your 
referrals went through the roof. ....you've been up all night yet you're not
tired one bit.  

Purpose.
It is a state of being. A state of heart. It is a force which will make you
conquer seemingly insurmountable obstacles in order to deliver the chiropractic
message to those who need to hear it.
(notice I said "need to hear it", not "want to hear it") It will expose you to criticism.
It will expose you to ridicule. But it will also expose you to the respect of
others - you are willing to risk what others carefully guard. You put yourself on
the line in order to help another human being - makes no difference where.
People are mesmerized by you - you radiate conpetence, excellence and caring.

You see people as patients....not necessarily yours - you are willing to help
even if there is no direct gain for you. You are on fire. You are unstoppable.
You are a force to be reckoned with.
Those who oppose you (and there will be lots) will need an army to stop you.
Everyone you meet wants to become your patient. Calls start coming in from
other towns and other states and provinces from people who want to see you.
Marketing is no longer important.
Are you conscious of this new power? Probably not.

You are on purpose.
You are a chiropractor.

Warmest wishes and hopes that you discover your purpose,
Dr. Ogi Ressel