The Value of Persistence
As a person and, especially as a Chiropractor, few character traits will serve you better than the habit and decision of being persistent.
My wife Linda and I have been married for over 44 years and she always tells me that it wasn’t my good looks or money (because there wasn’t any when we met at Logan in 1965) but my persistence which won her over.
Do you have struggles and challenges in your practice? Too few new patients, too much overhead? Less than ideal staff? Too many insurance headaches? The list could go on forever.
Believe it or not, as my mentor and dear friend Dr. Tom Owen taught me over 40 years ago, nothing can be denied to the man, or woman who is persistent and refuses to quit trying.
When I met Dr. Tom, he was just starting his Chiropractic consulting career in Florida. I was his third “Right Starter” and was that experience ever a life changer.
My first practice in Florida had just failed as badly as a practice could possibly fail. The joke on me around AMC is my entire first practice consisted of just “one half of one new patient”. That was it. I had one new patient who came in to my first little office, got examined, and never returned for her report of findings.
If you are a Chiropractor reading this, I know you did better in your first practice than I did. That was the bad news…as bad as it gets, when you have a wife who is 8 months pregnant and you owe a ton of money with no foreseeable way of making any that you can imagine.
The good news was that Dr. Tom taught me (along with how to run a successful practice) to never give in or give up. With his help and my dogged persistence of following the AMC protocols, I did eventually end up running the practice of my dreams which didn’t miss the $1,000,000 a year mark by that far.
I learned that when you set a goal and try to get ahead in any area of your life, there will always be obstacles and roadblocks that pop up just as surely as the sun is going to rise tomorrow morning.
When these challenges appear, the easiest thing would be to throw in the towel and say that this is just too hard, I can’t do it, maybe I’m not supposed to be successful or perhaps this is just for others and not me.
You can choose to listen to those negative thoughts, which I believe always originate from the “pit” or, you can look for a way around. If you are persistent enough I promise you that failure will not be possible because you can not fail until you quit trying.
I will leave you with this scripture which was the first one I memorized many years ago…”No test has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it…” 1 Corinthians 10-13
It’s your choice whether your last attempt results in success or failure. It’s your decision. Whether you want the girl or the million dollar practice, persistence will be one of your most effective tools for achievement.
