Ancient philosophers have said that one of the keys to success and happiness is to “know thyself”.
Easier said than done, right? But one of the biggest epiphanies I’ve had in the last 10 years has honestly only happened very recently, this year in fact, and it is that the realisation that “I’M JUST A BETTER HUMAN BEING WHEN I AM TEACHING”…
I guess I have always drifted innately in that direction. I will never forget hearing John Demartini’s response to a question he was asked while on stage. The question that he was asked is without doubt one of life’s great conundrums… “How do you know what your purpose is?” His response was simply that he couldn’t say what this lady’s particular purpose in life was, but rather that if she or anyone else examined their life, they would probably find that their “purpose” was trying to express itself in some way, shape or form but the ONLY thing that would stop the true expression of this said “purpose” fully realising itself was, in his words, “our subordination to what other people think of us”. I will never forget that sentence… OUR SUBORDINATION TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF US!!
Whether consciously or subconsciously, it affects us all and it’s the reason I touched on this briefly last week when I spoke about the necessity of developing a healthy immunity to criticism. It certainly effects many aspects of our life but from a marketing perspective I think it mostly affects our level of action taking. I digress…let me get back to my main point for this week…
I had the pleasure of teaching this weekend at a conference. It was the first time I have ever taught JUST marketing exclusively to chiropractors on a live stage! I’ve spoken at many chiropractic events and I have usually had 20-40 min on stage and I am normally given the instructions, something to the effect of “say something inspirational up there”…
So, it was really interesting just teaching the raw basics of effective marketing to mostly, complete beginners. So here is my feedback after teaching JUST MARKETING this weekend…
Honestly, judging from the blank stares in the room when talking about follow-up, email responders, Facebook, talks, screenings and event marketing, my overwhelming feeling was that we as a profession are in trouble but you as an individual are SITTING ON A GOLD MINE!!
The saying “IN THE LAND OF THE BLIND, THE ONE-EYED MAN IS KING” echoed loud and clear in my ears, thinking of you all and what you’ve learnt during the New Patient Avalanche. But here’s the kicker… YOU’VE GOT TO IMPLEMENT…. SOMETHING, ANYTHING. Imperfect action beats perfect procrastination any day. Remember this, you don’t have to be best! Hell, you don’t even have to be better than that many people, you just need to be better than the guy/girl down the road! After seeing the blank looks of amazement on people’s faces this weekend, my conclusion is simply that, your miles ahead of everyone if ALL YOU DO IS IMPLEMENT.
In fact, even if you implement BADLY you will still be SO far ahead it is scary!
Love and light,
Ryan
