Do your action steps support your vision?

When recently asked, most chiropractors had difficulty visualizing their dream practice. In other words, they don’t know what they really want.

If you close your eyes and REALLY think about it, can you visualize, down to the slightest detail, what your ideal practice looks like? Where is it? How many doctors are there? How many staff members? What types of patients are receiving care? How many hours are you working? How many days are you open? What techniques are used? How much is collected? And so on and so on until you can vividly describe every aspect?

It becomes clear why so many of us have difficulty achieving our goals. Well, here’s an important fact: GOALS ARE NOT THE FIRST STEP!

You have heard about goal setting for years, and you have undoubtedly attempted some version of it in the past…probably to little avail. Here’s why…YOU MUST HAVE A VISION OF EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT BEFORE YOU SET YOUR GOALS.

So, in order of importance, follow these steps to pave the road to fulfilling your dreams.

1. Visualize – go into a quiet space, with no distractions. Close your eyes and ask yourself, “What does my dream________ look like?” (practice, health, family, finance)
2. Write down what you saw down to every detail. Answer the who, what, where, why, when, and how. Pay attention to colors, people, location, time, and technique.
3. Now that you know what you want, it is time to set your goals in accordance to your vision.

Follow the 4 vital ingredients to each goal.

1. What do you want?
2. When do you want it by (deadline)?
3. What are you willing to DO to achieve it (action steps)?
4. How will it benefit you? Your goals should be consistent with your vision. Typically, the goals you set reflect what you would need to learn or achieve in order to turn the dream into reality (learning a skill, saving a certain amount of money, meeting certain people, etc.)
5. Take the #3 part of the goal (the WHAT TO DO,) and create your daily TO DO list. This list must be consistent with the goals you just set. For example, if you set a goal to save $100,000 in the next four years and then you go out and purchase a new boat, your actions do not link with your goals. Once you are out of sync, the universe stops taking you seriously. When you are disciplined enough to avoid the “non-goal achieving behaviors,” the universe will reward you with the manifestation of that which you desire.
6. You may realize that the activities you currently fill your day with do not serve your goals or your vision. Reevaluate how you are spending your time – time is the only thing you can’t get back. If your goal is to read one business related book per month, there are times that you may have to turn off SportsCenter or Desperate Housewives! Get the picture? Saying “NO” to yourself from time to time creates an inner strength that enables you to weather the future storms that are sure to cross your path.

So, in a nutshell:

Vision creates the goals and your goals create the action steps. If you do this properly, your day will be filled with activities and actions that, when performed, take you one step closer to actually living the life of your dreams.