Over the last few months, my articles have moved from pure business to success philosophy. Why? Because, day after day, I speak with doctors; some are up, some are down. The winners keep winning and the whiners keep whining. Well, I’m here to help and it starts with the power of belief. I believe in the power of belief: Belief in yourself…belief in your relationships…belief in your career…belief in the almighty hand of God that grants us the gift of life each day.
Remember, world-changing goals spawn miraculous plans…which sponsor huge interpersonal energy and leverage. By maintaining a positive attitude—through thick and thin—you power your performance through circumstances to a successful result.
Practices will have some days better then others; that is a plain fact. This is why some people consistently succeed, and others consistently fail: One has the can-do WILL power to WIN, whereas others dissipate their power in a world of CAN’T. Take can’t and won’t out of your dictionary. You can and you will.
Winning Self-talk…
A big driver of maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude is self-talk or affirmations. I first learned about self-talk from Dr. Larry Markson. He started every session with an affirmation. Sid Williams used to start every seminar by having the audience say, “I feel happy, I feel healthy, I FEEL TERRIFIC.” Hey, when in doubt, shout it out.
I try to always speak in a positive, powerful and uplifting manner. This is a habit that will build your practice. Your speech is a direct link to your emotions. Change one and you’ll change the other. Your internal “self-talk” directly affects your expectations, and your expectations govern the way you act. You cannot speak in a negative manner, and productively focus on what needs to get done at the same time. If you want to think and feel more powerfully, then learn to speak in a way that reflects positive and powerful feelings. Do this every day with every patient, every friend. As Jiminy Cricket once said, “Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.”
A high commitment to yourself and your performance suggests you are an inspiration to everyone you meet. As a doctor, this is important. Your upbeat conversations with others are a natural expression of your optimistic attitude. Even when you feel less than cheerful, you know you can increase your own enthusiasm by expressing a more positive attitude—both in what you say and how you say it.
Always be fully aware of the impact your attitude has on others; take care in presenting a positive impression. This will build your practice and enhance your life. B. J. Palmer once said, ”Everything you think, say and do will influence the lives others.”
The Bottom Line…
What are you thinking, saying, and doing? Whose lives are you influencing?
1. If you want to unleash the winner within, you must first believe you can.
2. A big driver of this belief is what you tell yourself.
3. Tell yourself you CAN and you WILL.
4. If you talk the talk, it will help you walk the walk.
Remember, a negative, self defeating attitude destroys all hope of success. A positive, proactive attitude guarantees success. How is your attitude today? Do patients love coming to your office? How is the attitude of your staff? Your family? Tell yourself you are a winner and you are. Hearing is, often, believing.
Remember, you were born to win. Say it as you read this: “I was born to win. I am a winner.”
DON’T FEAR DEFEAT
Remember, winners don’t always win. You may lose a game or two on your way to a championship season. The Miami Heat lost its first two games in the NBA Finals last year and then they rallied and won four consecutive games to win the championship. In game three, Dwayne Wade just decided to win. They were losing and looked lost. But he knew, deep in his heart, they could and would win.
When in doubt, look into your heart. If winning is what you want, what you desire, then just do it. Winners learn from their losses. Don’t let obstacles discourage you.
“Obstacles are necessary for success…as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet, each struggle, each defeat sharpens your skills and strengths your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and, thus, each obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better…or quit. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them, and you throw away your future.” ~ Og Mandino
If you have not yet read The World’s Greatest Salesman, by Og Mandino, buy it and read it today. He has many books I love. I also recommend his University of Success.
John F. Kennedy once said, “Not all readers are leaders; however, all leaders are readers.” READ.
Success is a result of hard work. It’s not how hard you work—it’s how much you get done each day that determines your success. My father was the hardest worker I knew, but not the richest man. He was always happy just to be alive. He loved life and never allowed my brother or me to be negative. He had that “never give up” philosophy. He was honest, thorough and organized. And, although he was not a rich man, he was successful in the game of life.
Even though you may be busier than ever before, you may be simply doing things the hard way or, worse, just spinning your wheels—going nowhere fast. A good office is having good systems. Remember, first we must talk the talk, but walking the walk is harder. The first thing I teach my clients is success systems. If you want to build a winning organization, you better be organized.
The biggest question to answer is this: Is your level of organization sufficient; or is it an impediment to your success?
Is your lack of organization wearing you out and wearing you down, draining your physical and mental energy level? Is terminal frustration setting in, whacking your attitude and causing you to lose hope in your goals and plans. Does a lack of organization make it difficult for you to find other people to help you, reducing your interpersonal synergy and leverage? Do your systems hold you back from taking bold action, perpetually making things far more difficult and harder on you than necessary? Do poor systems and procedures cost you precious time and money?
The cure for these issues is for you to get and stay organized. Organization is not just a word, nor is it a philosophy. It is a principle to success. The great doctors are all organized. Their offices run meticulously; when they are on vacation, their offices runs as if they were there. Being a winner means being organized
Organization is not just a state-of-mind! Create systems to help automate your office. Be consistently consistent. Don’t create systems just for the sake of having meticulous systems. Organize your tasks to help you complete your most valuable activities, with less trouble and in less time.
First, know what the goals are. Then, create the systems and the methods to automate the individual steps which lead directly to these goals. Your office must remain on the same system. If you change daily, your staff will lose confidence in you and your systems.
Every productive activity is a series of steps that needs to be performed constantly. Once you have mastered this, your office will flow more freely. This will only augment the attitude of your office. Yes, your office has a spirit of its own; feed it and it will reward you with a greater energy. Automate these steps through technology, checklists, and delegation or by enrolling additional team members, and you will get paid off more often.
Don’t confuse getting organized with getting work done. The purpose of organization is to serve your work, not the other way around. Don’t waste your time on organizational minutiae. Determine your plan of attack for the month, and then launch it!
“Some men/women have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.”~ Willis Whitney
Our goal in life and in practice is to win. When you see a negative in your performance, take immediate action to turn it positive.
Greater Success = More Positives + Fewer Negtives.
It is more fun to win and winning makes you more powerful in life. “Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.” With one LESS Negative and one MORE Positive driving your performance, your POWER to produce RESULTS soars, making you a great deal more efficient, productive and effective. This is your month to win. Be positive, talk highly of yourself, talk often to yourself, be organized and consistent and watch your practice grow.
Dr. Eric S. Kaplan, is CEO of Multidisciplinary Business Applications, Inc. (MBA), a comprehensive coaching firm with a successful, documented history of creating profitable multidisciplinary practices nationwide. For more information, call 561-626-3004