TNR Happenings November 25, 2019 Thanksgiving Edition

Dr. Julie, Emily, and I want to give our sincere thanks to all members for making 2019 such a memorable year. There were so many things: personal best stories, graduations, starting practices, doing effortlessly what was before most difficult, and miracles with children regaining their health. Also, the building of the sacred Mayan ruin, adding the Sacred Relationship Experience to the TNR lineup for March 20th & 21st of 2020, the new Don’t Sweat It Head-to-Head, SuperAcademy, Miyagi, DCME, and H2Hs. There has never been any training like this in our profession: true Navy Seal training for the doctor who desires to be a once-in-a-lifetime DC with the clinical chops to back it up. The gratitude and thanks we get from practice members, our families, and our neighbors on the Fort Peck Reservation truly make everything worthwhile. It starts with us and ends with us. Don’t wait for someone else to do the heavy lifting or for your ship to come in to shower you with riches.  

As with all movements, the majority will not be coming along. This is not said to sadden you but its reality. The American Revolution had a very small number of participants. Martin Luther King Jr. took note of how so many African Americans were busy the exact day of the demonstrations and marches. Is Chiropractic sacred or just for pain relief? Is Chiropractic something you can dedicate your life to or just use as a way to earn a living? In small pockets in the US and Canada, Chiropractic is coming of age. Not with the majority but with those who are committed, all in, and the ones who live the lifestyle not just to earn an income.

Get the gifts on the UPS truck!

There is so much excitement with so many presents, toys, and articles of clothing headed for the Reservation. This is what a few of our doctors have reported: Dr. Sabrina has sent 200 coats to the Reservation. Drs. Randi Jo & Marc Steiner received a $3,000 donation from a foundation for the second year. Drs. Christy and Cliff Taylor collected lots of toys and a coat manufacturer brought in 30 coats to their office for the Reservation. Heartland is at it as well, with lots of toys and generous donations to help the kids. Every toy or gift counts! Social cause has always been a deep part of TNR. We don’t do it to get more new patients. We don’t do it to be virtual reality stars on social media. It’s in our DNA.  We show our practice members that we are above and beyond the typical business approach of ‘how much profit can I make’. Giving is not only the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do as well. 

If you got a late start or want to supplement your gift raising, call Dr. Julie and ask what things are still needed. THANK YOU.

Practice tip of the week

Leave out the I. From our social conditioning, we unconsciously think about everything we do, think, or say through the lens of what’s in it for me? We can’t help it unless we were raised in a commune or ashram. Start truly serving people and put their greatest good in front of yours. Be contrarian. What you will realize is that your greatest good is already in serving their highest good. An example is a person who comes into your office and makes it abundantly clear they are only in it for the short-haul and they only want a few ‘cracks’ and no exam. If you accept them, you will be out of integrity. For a few measly hundred dollars or less? That’s not how your office runs and now you will be out of integrity with all the people that have followed your guidelines and recommendations. By not accepting them you allow them to find another office where they can have it their way. By the way, if this same person (that you didn’t accept as a patient) come across someone who really needs care and is willing to do what it takes, they may refer them to you. How many times have you had people refer in others without ever being a practice member? This happens more than you think. People don’t forget people that serve. Even if they choose not to engage in a relationship with you, they will tell others (“I know this guy/gal”).

DCME  will be on January 18th

With all the excitement for the upcoming the Sacred Relationship Experience, don’t let DCME slip through your fingers. It’s not either-or, it’s both. Like quantum physics, the particle is not in position A or position B, it’s in both. 2020 promises to be a year of personal bests and a year to put financial resistance, debt, and doubt in the rearview mirror. Earning an additional $100,000 this year is in everyone’s wheelhouse. If you think you can reach your financial goals with back and neck pain alone, within the humanitarian model, good luck. Take a bigger bite of the apples and step up in a big way. DCME takes quite some time to be comfortable with. DCME cases are not for the meek, the small, the wimpy, the people-pleasers, it’s for the warrior, the DC who won’t refer out at the drop of the hat (quit), won’t let that person down, and gives everything they have. The DCME seminar is a crowned jewel of TNR.  

The Sacred Relationship Experience

We have already received lots and lots of feedback on this event. Please remember, this has never been done in TNR. Don’t let your relationships suffer at the hands of mediocrity. This is a capped event because of the logistics of the Sacred Mayan Ruin and the special presenter. Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Don’t allow your ticket to be placed at risk, purchase immediately to reserve your spot. Sacred Relationships are how we treat not just our spouse, our children, our practice members, and our family on the Reservation, but everyone we meet. Don’t get lulled into thinking you’re just fine or your relationships are not subject to the effects others are, as this is yet another facet of self-importance with a hint of arrogance. The answer is putting input into sacred things, not searching for cures when they become sick. Above the Line people train, while Below the Line people don’t see the need to.    

From the Mind of Miyagi

This is perhaps a cautionary tale but it is well worth the telling. If you’ve been accused of committing a heinous crime and you don’t have the funds to afford a lawyer, a public defender will be appointed to you at no charge. There are so many parallels in our profession spoken here. The public defender has the exact same degree (JD) that a private, successful defender has but they have agreed to work for a fraction of what a private-sector attorney earns and are okay with failing practical results. Lots of their people go to jail, it’s actually accepted and expected. Now don’t get me started with lawyers, but when you have a public defender appointed to you, you are dead meat. You will be exposed as not having a person on your team who can get the job done. Both a cook and a Navy Seal are members of the Navy. The clinical results, oops, I mean practical, legal results are necessarily tainted for the worse because you are using a lowly compensated and valued public defender. You’d better pack your toothbrush because you’re going to jail. Is this any different when you are ‘appointed’ as a ‘public defender’ by an insurance company? When you add your name to the network, aren’t you agreeing to the same? By legal contract, these DCs have accepted lowered fees with promises to do endless paperwork. They do not believe in their own ability to attract new patients and can be sued by the very people that supposedly pay them. This is colonization at its finest. It sounds like a great deal if you’re a masochist.

Years ago I received a call from a long-time TNR member. This DC had a teenage daughter who was out of control, didn’t want help, and was facing some hefty criminal charges due to drugs, mayhem, etc. The DC was currently paying a lawyer (not a public defender) on a running tab (like with divorce lawyers) as well as rehab stints that were not covered on his insurance. His bill was over $300,000 and was continuing to grow. He asked me what would I do. My answer may surprise even some TNR members, especially newbies. Since she wasn’t willing to receive help (even Miyagi help), I said to stop paying the failing rehab center stints, fire the attorney and let her have a publicly appointed lawyer, and let her face the music. The DC said indignantly, “I can’t let my daughter go to jail.” I reminded him that she wasn’t well and that even if he succeeded in keeping her out of jail, she still would repeat the whole process. I told him he was throwing his money down a black hole.

I never heard from him again for years. Then I received a wonderful holiday message of thanks from him after his daughter had gotten out of jail. “This was the toughest thing I ever had to do. I hated you for your advice but knew what I needed to do. Fast forward 3 years and my daughter is out of jail and working her way back to health. Looking back on the advice you gave me, I now see it was from love and that I had been being held as an emotional hostage. I thought boundaries weren’t necessary with a father/daughter relationship, boy was I wrong.”

DCME confidential

Question 1: I have a relative that is interested in coming in for care in my office. He really needs the care, but he has told me flat out that he isn’t going to pay for his care. Should I just do it anyway? 

Answer: NO! Almost everyone in TNR that does a heavy volume of DCMEs has been placed in this position. With no skin in the game, the clinical results will be dubious. You’re in a game that you can’t win. 

Question 2: Do other members notice the resistance to doing DCMEs from the doctor’s view?  

Answer: The most difficult belief to break out of is the fee for service, hourly wage model that has been thrust upon us. TNR has always been about transcending paradigms, not obediently waiting for someone else to do the heavy lifting. It begins and ends with us.