Thirty years and over 25,000 clients later, no matter where I go, the number one question I hear every day, is, “Larry, what can I DO to build a bigger, better and more successful business or practice?” And, believe it or not, it is a question that comes from the mouths of not only new or struggling small business owners or entrepreneurs, but surprisingly enough, from those who have solid medium-level operations and even from those who are the so-called superstars.
Tell me what to “DO” has become the mantra of this generation. Tell me what to DO to get more new business! Tell me what to DO to get people to comply and stay with me longer? Tell me what to DO to stop my employees from turning over so fast…and on and on it goes – DO, DO, DO.
What it really comes down to is that all of you who are in business for yourselves really want to grow more fulfilling and outstandingly successful businesses, but either the way you are currently “doing it” isn’t working, or according to what I hear, you have been there and done that and “nothing” seems to be working. Believe me I know the feeling.
[quote_center] I Failed Big Time, Before I Learned How to Succeed[/quote_center]
When I first started to practice way back when, I failed miserably for the first seven years, and it didn’t matter that I was raised in a family that utilized the services of a chiropractor and that I loved my profession with all my heart. It didn’t even matter that I thought myself to be clinically competent, having graduated at the top of my class.
What did count was that no matter how hard I tried and regardless of all the things that others told me to DO…success in any form was an elusive commodity. In my case, things started to change radically when I started to change me as a person and that, of course, changed me as a professional practitioner. Then, and only then, did all the DO’s start to be effective.
I Actually Decided To Change Who I Was
Yes, although very painful, once I discovered that I was responsible for my own success or failure and that it wasn’t the school I graduated from, or my community, or the insurance companies or the competition, etc., I actually made a decision to diligently work on me – on who I was inside. Believe me, it wasn’t easy to accept that me, myself and I, was causing my failure and not necessarily what I was DOING.
It was my concepts and visions, my beliefs, my securities and insecurities, my lack of confidence, my fear of rejection, my inability to confront, the words I selected, my methods of expression, the limited thinking of the people I hung around with and all the other intangible personality traits that actually caused the lack of results I was experiencing with the actions steps that I was taking.
Identity-Based vs. Strategy-Based
You see it is WHO you are, not only what you DO that determines your success in business and in life. It can be stated like this; “Who you are determines how well what you do works.” It is a persons’ “Identity” that determines how effective the action steps taken will turn out.
It is a combination of a person’s purpose, their energy and enthusiasm, their belief in what they do, their desire to make a difference in a patient’s health and how they communicate their message that makes all the difference in the world. Remember, people won’t ever buy the message, without first buying the messenger – their concept of who they are and what they stand for.
Success is, in fact, very personal. It is about your clarity, your congruency, your determination, your guts and audacity to be different and to stand for a higher purpose while aligning with all the great principles of success.
And clearly, I am not saying that you shouldn’t know what to DO! You must indeed become expert in all the strategies, procedures, protocols and action steps that build and operate your particular business. Yet, be forewarned that regardless of the skills you have acquired, when push comes to shove “It’s The “Who”, Not The “Do.”
You are hereby notified that success, health and happiness are part of your destiny and you can claim them anytime you wish. This is not an idle statement or some trivial positive jargon from a Personal and Practice Development coach. And it is not meant to encourage you beyond your capabilities — it is the truth about “WHO YOU ARE.”
Dr. Larry Markson is the Personal Empowerment, Practice & Business Success and Prosperity Coach to over 100,000 people for the past 27 years. He has devoted his professional life to helping others transform their thoughts, actions and feelings until they are able to experience the fulfillment of their life’s goals.
He believes that your business, practice and/or your personal life are waiting for a leader (YOU) to show up and that, “Who you are ‘inside-the-skin’ determines how well what you do works.”