This is your question and my answer follows. By the way ..were you my student .. do you have the Smart Start Book? Q: Joel I wanted to thank you for your service and drop a note in hope for some help. I realize that you are very busy and not sure if anything will come of this e-mail. If you answer this please do not post my answer on your mail that you send to everybody. It is one in the morning and I am working on a new travel card because my old one appears to be inadequate. As I am doing this I wonder why. I have lost that loving feeling. I had my first deposition and they ate me alive. I felt like the school yard bully had just cleaned my plow. I was called to this profession I believe it was one of the few times I have actually heard a voice inspiring me to pursue the field of chiropractic. Since that day I have been attacked by members of our own profession and of my church for practicing so called subluxation based chiropractic. They want to know the evidence and I have tried to communicate those things I have learned from seminars like Chiropractic without a doubt, Validating chiropractic and some of Dan Murphy's work. At yet this did not seem to be good enough for them and I have even started to doubt it and because of this my practice has not grown like it needs to and I feel guilty for not being able to support my family like I should be able to. I need help in finding out about the subluxation or is it just musculoskeletal conditions. A chiropractor I was talking with a few days ago told me that maybe I should leave the chiropractic profession and part of me wants to. But that would be the path of least resistance. I have spent a lot of money trying to go to seminars to help answer these questions. I think some seminars will tell you what every you want to hear if you pay their price. One seminar I went to told me that he doesn't waste his time on chiropractors that are not seeing at least a hundred people a week and that when I start seeing a hundred people a week and lose one hundred pounds he might consider working with me. I guess what I am doing is asking you for help or to lead me to somebody that can help. I do not have a lot of money to do seminars or hire another practice management group. I just need to find somebody with the evidence or knowledge I can read and study and then make an informed decision. Before I can ask God if it is right I need to study it and come to a conclusion myself. Thank you for taking your time to read this. It sure felt good to get it off my chest. My reply: Thank you for your e-mail .. I can see you have questions that have been tearing at you. My purpose is not to go easy with you but be objective. Without all the facts .. I'll tell it like I see it. Therefore .. take my response accordingly. First .. you have to read my little lecture. This is a business .. a greater business because our end product is improved health .. increased function .. reduced pain. Does it happen all the time? .. No. Is the reason it doesn't happen all the time you? .. No. Do we have a great mission to assist people within our community with a different approach toward wellness and health?.. Yes. Should this be your only professional purpose? .. Yes. I am separating the business part of chiropractic (read professional purpose .. rather than private or social purpose) and your social existence because it does not have to mingle. Many of our seminar gurus and "pump them up" speakers make you feel inferior if you don't eat an breath chiropractic all day long. I'm sure it helps .. but it's not mandatory. My friend .. this is your .. mine .. our problem .. we all have to fight the battles of fitting in. Some of us are stronger than others .. some are heavier .. some taller .. some shorter. We're not all the same. If you are in the fight and feel incomplete .. or have a self esteem problem .. it's like fighting with one hand behind your back. From your letter .. I get the impression you may be overweight .. whatever that is. Remember that chiropractic is not a popularity or wet T-shirt contest .. it is a means of helping others no matter how we look .. but it helps us be stronger when we can depend on how we feel .. physical and mental. So .. take this aside for now and let's concentrate on another aspect. Why chiropractic? If you look at this profession as a business .. how do you like it? Oh .. it hasn't supported you and your family .. income has been low .. marketing and PR gets you down .. office management is a burden .. staff has been sporadic and non supportive .. get negative vibes from other DC's .. get negative vibes from people in general .. always have to feel as if you are proving yourself .. fighting insurance and disrespect from others is a drag .. being hit between the eyes in a deposition made you feel like crap. Is this you .. or me .. or all of us? You bet! From the CEO to the grunt on the food chain .. we are never satisfied .. it's meant to be this way otherwise we'll be complacent and nothing will get done. Human nature always reaches for more .. but those with the trip tics .. those with a map .. those with a goal .. they are the ones that will succeed faster .. and more complete. It doesn't matter how much you weigh .. how short you are .. how many pimples you can count on your face .. how awkward you see yourself .. none of it. People care for what you are .. not who you are. People care for the caring .. not the overbearing. People sense feelings .. not hype. In the healing business .. this is all that counts. I was listening to a radio show this morning and a comedian was discussing his love life. Seems he went to school with Burt Reynolds. Anyway .. he was explaining how they would go to the sorority house together and Burt would always come out with two girls .. one pretty and the other not as. But .. he explained .. Burt's second best was better than he could have gotten on his own. The message here .. we're all not Burt Reynolds .. and we're not always going to bring the prize home .. but we can all win in the end. Only if you understand what you want .. then you go out and get it. So .. after such a long discussion .. what do you want out of chiropractic? Believe me .. no one has to prove to you subluxations exist .. the efficacy of care after an auto injury .. helping children and the elderly .. there is no need to show you proof and drag pounds of documentation and have you sit before a screen reviewing tapes ala Clockwork Orange .. nope .. whether you believe in it or not .. it works .. and it's real. How do I know .. well .. proof walks out of my office every day .. proof walks out of my home every day .. proof walks out of thousands of DC's nation and worldwide every day .. So .. whether you buy into the theories and facts is your choice .. but the proof and reality will not change. Let's get that straight. So again ..where does this lead to? Well .. again what do you want out of chiropractic? Do you want to make lots of money? .. well maybe you won't. Do you want to help many people? Maybe it won't be as many as you expect. Do you want to retire early? .. Maybe it'll take awhile longer. Do you want an easy 9-5 job and go home and let others worry about business? .. the maybe you're in the wrong profession. So .. gain .. what do you want out of chiropractic? Do you want to tell people there is an alternative to drugs and surgery? Do you want to touch people and help them return to health and maintain wellness? Do you want to provide a non duplicated healthcare service? Can you do this with the restraints in the paragraph above? If the answer is yes .. then we have something to salvage .. if no .. it'll be a lost cause. So what do we do now .. now that I further brought down your esteem and made you think. Possibly you'll think some more and put aside your anxiety of the moment and dwell on the reason you went to chiropractic school .. the reason you first thought about becoming a chiropractor .. the many people you know that have been helped by chiropractic .. the many chiropractors that are real and not hype and have success in varying degrees ..this is your homework .. to capture what was and think less of what is. Dwell on what your past thoughts and dreams were not on how it has taken a turn. Think of what can be .. but think real thoughts .. leave the cosmic stuff aside .. look at yourself in these thoughts .. how you look .. how you feel .. reach deeper and see how you are in action .. talking to the average person .. not trying to win over a hard case or a person you get immediate bad vibes from .. leave those for later. If you can quiet your mind and reach deep in thought is their inner peace with what I've written above .. can you reclaim the spark that ignited you into this profession .. do you see the daily struggle to survive .. a torch to bear or a burden .. if in this one moment of quiet there is calm and you see a light to draw from .. reach for it .. use it as a torch to carry on and now let's get to work. First .. forget about the deposition .. the attorney left and that was that. They have a job .. they did their job as you did to. This is one case out of many .. don't dwell on it .. let's move on. Restrain yourself from talking the talk with negative chiropractors that guide you to leave the profession .. yes you may .. there is nothing holding you back .. but we're taking a turn for the better .. so leave these folks to discussions about the weather or the movies .. their business is not yours. Second .. decide what you want to do .. from the ashes can you pick yourself up and move and shake some more? Can you garner enough energy to forge forward or are you wasted and need a break? With any financial resources available can you begin the process of time management and spend the time creating a new practice .. fresh out of the box .. except the box is your existing location and circumstances? Can you visualize making changes .. some subtle some drastic? Will your staff help or will they be a burden and hold you back? I hope we can move on. Pause .. prior to using a new slate let's clean the one we have. I hate at this point to bring up a negative again .. but I must. Is there specific things that hold you back from being all you wish to be? Are there specific areas of practice that you have no handle on .. are afraid to implement .. find a burden? Are there specific areas of your life that creates an aura of doubt .. low self esteem .. fear of meeting new people .. inability to communicate? Let's clean up .. why not spend a few hours writing these down .. not a Pro and Con column .. just the CONs .. everything imaginable that has brought you to this point. Leave nothing out .. have a good cleansing .. write it and then store it somewhere .. we'll throw it out later. There is no need to dwell on these or even discuss them .. unless it bears on the technical aspect of creation .. we will be recreating you and your office .. writing down your doubts .. weaknesses .. fear .. this is the total assignment .. now let's move on. Third .. if you want me to help .. I need to know your demographics within a 5-10 mile radius of your office .. we need to create a farm with the four components .. retail .. residential .. clerical .. labor. Do you feel comfortable giving workshops? .. if not .. can you hire someone that can? Is there a community college close by? Fourth .. create a log and place the names of the local churches within your farm .. call them and get their fax numbers and the names of their social directors. Next survey your patients as mentioned in the previous e-mails .. also .. ask them if they have an e-mail address and record (log) these as well. That's enough for now .. do these and get back with me. Closing comment: I asked you above what you want out of chiropractic. It can provide you all you need .. but as a business it can also be frustrating and overwhelming. There is no written law that states you must endure pain and suffering. I'm sure you know of people that change professions mid stream. If you need to jump ship .. fine .. no hard feelings within yourself .. but before you bail out .. let's give it another try. By the way .. you said you went to many seminars .. please tell me who .. and was it just for a weekend or did you pay the big bucks for a year or more? If yes .. why couldn't you implement their program .. don't get negative now .. just in easy to explain fashion .. from this we can move and grow upon. By the way (2) .. the worst thing you can do is validate anything to appease others. Don't try .. just be true to yourself. That inner voice spoke to you once .. it's probably screaming to you now .. just listen again. By the way (3) .. between your church and your chiropractic detractor friends .. cool it .. chiropractic is bigger than all of us. Oh also .. I forgot to turn you onto places that will validate the subluxation and the science of our profession .. after all you've been through and the seminars you've taken .. your brain has absorbed enough .. now it's time to let your mind take a rest and let yourself be absorbed in a renewed purpose .. the science and art will take care of itself. Have a Great Day Dr. M