From: Dr. Margolies

Driving through the streets this fall in Atlanta is a beautiful sight. The weather has finally 
allowed our many trees to turn into their beautiful shades of red and orange. I realize that 
nature allows change many times each year and we should be doing the same. Our personal 
and professional lives need a seasonal „spring and/or fall house cleaning.¾ The cobwebs of 
thoughts and ideas that need to be trashed will provide room for more. Imagine a closet 
crammed and stuffed to the ceiling with unused and non-implemented programs and office 
ideas. If you were to generate just one new idea and asked your staff to implement it .. and 
it too had failed for lack of effort or skill .. your proverbial closet would be too full to stuff 
in more. How could you consciously decide to implement more ideas when your closets 
are already full .. ready to crash its contents upon your head if one more „failure¾ was 
shoved in. It¼s this unconscious thought that stops us from growing .. generates chronic 
fear of failure .. stops us from reaching for more .. more .. which is a natural progression 
of effort and energy. 

I recommend we consider our own seasonal house cleaning. This is a perfect time .. before 
the holiday rush .. to re-think where we¼ve been and where we want to go. Rather than 
dwelling on our failures let¼s consider our success. I realize that some of these e-mails are 
read by struggling DC¼s, some fresh out of school while others are seasoned veterans. I 
hope that the reverse if true and that each of you find peace and happiness in whatever level 
of success you find yourself in. Remember success is not only a consideration of monetary 
wealth .. wealth is also weighed in happiness .. fun .. fulfillment. 

We all are successful .. we provide a valuable service and our efforts to assist our 
community with conservative healthcare is unequaled. With this in mind .. what plans will 
you implement to capture the minds and hearts of your community this special season? 
What programs can you implement for your patient¼s, their friends and family? What areas 
of public relations can you explore to meet more people this winter season and provide 
awareness of your skill and goals? What internal office management skills will you 
improve .. including staff training and patient services? This is the time to clear out your 
closets and make room for new ideas .. some that may not work today .. only to try again 
and again. Failure is a test of wills .. will you do it again .. not learning from your mistakes 
.. or will you try again but succeed because you made the correct effort willingly. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year is a special opportunity for us. The general 
attitude within our profession is that this is a slow season. The general thought is patient¼s 
are more interested in spending their money on others than on themselves. We also 
perceive that stress is so great that time allotted for office visits is taken by their need to 
shop and make ready the holiday spirit. This may be true but it¼s also a time to reflect. 

This e-mail is a week before the American Thanksgiving holiday. For our e-mail friends 
overseas, this holiday remembers a special time of brotherly love and acceptance. A 
meeting of the minds at a dinner table with Turkey, yams and all the dressing. It is a special 
seasonal event when we thank those that have helped us through good times and bad, as 
well as provide for those less fortunate. Do you have a food-a-thon implemented with a 
local charity in your office? 

Christmas is a seasonal holiday which marks a very special day within a large segment of 
our society. All religions promote family unity and the birth of kindness and love. Is your 
office a wealth of warmness .. family values .. a true place of healing?

New Year¼s is renewal  .. resolutions and promises .. reflection .. Have you begun to 
Spring Clean? Have you written goals and action steps?  Have you reviewed your office 
material .. patient educational programs .. service attitude and awareness .. staff posture 
and their goals and desires? 

Take a moment to reflect on the above. Reflect on how you can improve inter-office 
communications and patient services. This is not the time to slow up .. but to accelerate 
your dedication and goals.

Dr. M

P.S. If you need some help implementing or creating a program or two .. just ask. Also, if 
you have some winning ideas for this time of year .. let us know. My fax number is 770-
491-3799.