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Issue 1 - January 2003 Discovering, developing and living your passion ”We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.” By Mark Sanna, DC From childhood most of us are taught to fear passion, to view it as dangerous. We are led to believe that there is something dark about passion – that it has a sinister element that compels people to commit crimes in its name, that it is irrational and unpredictable, that it brings heartache and regret. We begin to believe that the pursuit of passion is also the pursuit of pain and uncertainty. Why put everything on the line when the payoff might be resounding failure or humiliation? Why take on risk when we can take a much safer and foreseeable path? History, factual or fictional, confirms our fears. What good did passion do Romeo and Juliet? Not so much their physical passion as the passion that compelled them to abandon privilege, money, family and friends to create a life. No wonder we recoil into safe, comfortable roles, fearful of the reckless abandon that is passion. Webster offers no less than twelve definitions for passion, only some of which pertain here. But there is a common denominator to most: strong emotion. Webster defines passion as any powerful compelling emotion or feeling, a strong fondness, enthusiasm or desire for anything. Passion brings out your best. When you are passionate, you are more self-confident and entertain more possibilities for your future. Passion is empowering, heightens your awareness, engages your attention and kindles your excitement. Passion provides inspiration and stamina. Passion is not an emotional high. It is not an addiction. It is not limiting, nor is it an all-consuming obsession. Perhaps most importantly, passion is unconditional. It may evolve, but it is unwavering. You may bludgeon it, suppress it, squash it or lose sight of it, but it is a given, a constant. Your passion is ready and willing to provide all the stamina and inspiration you need. When you act from your passion, you do not need to call on your reserves for energy or initiative.
If, for example, you have a passion for sailing and someone offers you an afternoon on a schooner, you could have a fever of 103, a stack of documents to review or a party to attend, but you’d still get to the dock on time – even if you had to finish the documents in record time, miraculously fight off the fever or make a circuit of the harbor before the party started. If sailing were that important to you, none of these things would be showstoppers. If not, you might tell yourself that it would he nice to go sailing, but chances are you would procrastinate and lose the opportunity. The Passion In You Passion is dynamic. Acknowledge and nurture it and it will evolve to encompass new areas and directions. As one passion evolves, you may discover others. Some might argue that passion is limiting because it binds you or makes you single-minded. Not so! Passions are activities that you are attracted to. Your passions might be writing, gardening and working with children; mine might involve business and personal improvement. In considering the distinction between the two, think of your life as a building under construction. Your interests are the bricks that give shape to the building, whereas your passions are the mortar that holds it all together. The variety of passions is limitless. However, few of us are fortunate enough to discover all or even some of our passions so our buildings remain unfinished – skyscrapers, cathedrals, warehouses and monuments unrealized. Passion Integration When you make choices that let passion in and keep it there, you achieve passion integration in which your life becomes a reflection of your heart. Every aspect of your life mirrors what is important to you. The activities you engage in, the places you go and the people you see bring out your passion and keep it flowing. Successful individuals live their lives passionately. By keeping the level of passion in their lives high, they also keep their energy level and the quality of their experience high. Begin Today You are capable of personal greatness and are entitled to it, but you and only you can bring it about. By committing to your passion, you are vowing to take control of your life and to create your own self-fulfilling future of success and fulfillment. Causes of lost passion • Too much free time: adjusting patients loses its priority. • Too much pressure/stress: It’s almost always self-induced. • Being “too busy”: No positive energy. No planning. Unfulfilled goals or setting unrealistic goals. A lot of ‘busy work.’ You change the location of things on your desk but don’t really clean or organize anything. • The solo battle: “Why do I have to do it all?” “Nobody cares but me!” “Can’t anyone do anything right but me?” • No one understands: Nobody cares about how tough it is. Nobody understands chiropractic. Nobody understands how managed care is killing us. • Lack of freedom: You become married to the practice. You hide from reality by hiding in the practice. • The anti-chiropractic “public image:” 20/20 reports, negative newspaper articles, etc. • Lack of practice growth: Usually associated with lack of planned office procedure. • Routine activities of chiropractic: It’s always the same old thing. • Personal problems: Marriage, children amd substance abuse contribute to lost passion. • Physical and mental exhaustion: Your life begins to run you. No exercise, you’re tired and unhealthy. You do nothing except make excuses. • Financial pressure: Just keeps getting worse as you go along without direction. Becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Restoring Lost Passion • Too much free time: Cluster-book, schedule for and adhere to a schedule that takes practice building into account. • Too much pressure: Reduce external commitments, shed non-productive endeavors, start a brain trust, plan family times. Be involved in something bigger than yourself, but not too many things. Put your heart and soul into something you love and believe in. • Being too busy: Create increased expectation. Raise the bar or have a Patient Appreciation Day. Shed management decisions with investments and let the experts do it for you, shed non-productive endeavors, delegate responsibilities, adhere to a strict schedule, plan vacations in advance. Don’t talk to anyone during practice hours – have your calls screened. • No one understands: Attend seminars, become proficient in a particular technique, have a brain-trust partnership, visit other progressive doctors, set goals, listen to tapes, read motivational books. Get up early. Read a minimum of 15 minutes per day, write goals, read your affirmations. • Lack of freedom: Pre-plan family times and trips, have a staff retreat, have a “love list” of your favorite things, people, places, etc., have a “date night” with your spouse each week, consider associates and additional staff and profit centers. • Lack of practice progress: Take a serious look at your practice; see what your office looks like. Sit where patients sit, lie where patients lie. Ask yourself, “If I were a prospective patient, would I come to this practice and trust my health to these people?” Visit other offices. Set goals. Get in ‘present time consciousness’. Keep records, graphs and charts. Add new services. Expect growth. • Routine activities: Eliminate or delegate. Add excitement. Reinvent your practice. Try something new. Do something different. Change something! _ |
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