56 delegates from 13 colonies got together in 1776 in a sweltering building in Philadelphia. Reports indicate there was a lot of bickering and that the delegates were pretty much a bunch of radical nonconformists. I can't help but see the connection between what these brave men fought for and what the brave men and women continue to fight for today in chiropractic and independent, integrative health care professions.

Communication is the operating system that allows all the other "applications" in your practice to function. When patients feel understood, trust grows. And when trust grows, recommendations are accepted more readily, appointments are kept, referrals occur naturally, and relationships strengthen. The same principle applies inside the practice. When the quality and quantity of communication in your practice improves, the practice numbers will go up.

Whether you have an ADHD brain or not, you are still an entrepreneur, and some of these traits just come with the job.

I don’t recall a single doctor telling me they wanted to be chained to their practice so they could never leave it. Nearly every doctor I’ve worked with wanted a business that was not entirely dependent upon their daily production or constant supervision. Michael Gerber (The E-Myth) wrote about the system-driven business. I talk about a Goal Driven Practice. In every case, the objective is the same: The business should not depend on the personality of the owner.

Below is a sample coupon you can use or modify to suit your situation. Wishing you, too, a healthy start to your New Year -- in business and in life!