Sharpening The Saw I was recently reminded of a story about a man that was cutting down a tree with a dull saw. He was working hard and sawing away but he wasnt making much progress. A second man came by and observed the first man toiling away. He said to the first man, “Why don’t you stop and sharpen the saw?” The man replied, panting, while still sawing back and forth, “Can’t stop…too busy...” I think we all get caught up working so hard that we don’t think we can or deserve to take a break to regroup and sharpen our body, our mind, our faith, our practice technique, our philosophy, our friendships or our family. We devote ourselves solely to building our dream practice. We bury ourselves in our work. We remain dedicated to those we serve by staying focused on the person in front of us BUT if you focus only on your office you WILL BURN OUT. Take it from one that knows. I worked in the office for nearly 5 years without a vacation of any sort. I know of other chiropractors that go decades without a “real” vacation. They neglect all the really important things in life including family. Then one morning you wake up and ask yourself what the heck you have been doing. You begin to dislike going to the office. You start looking at other careers. You start telling yourself you would be better off with a “real job” in sales or real estate or ________. You fill in the blank. You start having arguments with your spouse, you begin to say to yourself that it’s not fair. You went to chiropractic school. You’re a “doctor” and you are entitled to a better life. You may even have a “successful” practice but you feel somehow unfulfilled. Ive been there. Don’t wait until it’s too late and you are a crispy critter. It’s time to sharpen your saw! Don’t think about it; just book your flight and hotel room to DE or NB. You need to re-ignite your passion. You need to start saving up to take your family on a 10 day or 2 week vacation. You need to plan a weekend or midweek getaway for you and your spouse. You need to get back to church or find one that you like so you can re-connect with your creator. You need to close early to attend your kid’s sporting event or concert or plan a special weekend with your kids. Rekindle your family and spiritual life and you will re-ignite your practice in the process. I’m on a Delta flight right now on the way home from a 4 day weekend with my Dad. We just hung out, caught up and relaxed but I am ready to go back to the office with renewed passion for Chiroprac-TIC. I re-read Dr. Strang’s Principles of Chiropractic and my saw is SHARP. I got a call on Friday and Saturday from my associate and she ROCKED the office while I was gone. She saw about 150 people in one and a half days. I am so proud of her and this re-enforced the fact that I need to focus on family once a month or so in order to be a better doctor. I don’t need to be in the office all the time for the practice members to get outstanding care. I’m not suggesting that you go away once a month if you just started in practice but if you are exhibiting signs of becoming burnt out, adjust the cause of it, don’t try to treat the symptoms. Don’t wait until it is too late. Buy your spouse flowers and let her (or him for you female DC’s) know that you need to get to DE to re-kindle your chiropractic flame but you also want to re-devote your passion to your relationship by sitting down and planning a vacation together. Too many chiropractors wind up divorced because they got burnt out and did not focus on what was important outside the office. Too many people, including myself, wish we had spent more time with our kids when they were young. Don’t be one of the statistics! Stop sawing, take a step away from the tree, take the time to sharpen your saw and rest for a minute and then get back to the work at hand. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish with a sharp mind, healthy family, body and faith. In Health and Faith, Jay
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 05:12:23 +0000
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