Technique Rollercoaster

Hi, guys. Chris from Patient Centered Training and today's video. I wanted to talk about something that I know I went on as a journey when I first graduated. And pretty much every chiropractor I've met has gone on this same sort of journey. And I call this sort of the technique roller coaster. And what I mean by that is, most of you will have had something like this. So I graduated, and I was all buzzed. I had all these techniques, all this stuff I'd learned at college, all excited. And I go out there and I start using them. And pretty quick, the imposter syndrome kicks in. I start doubting it. I'm not sure if I'm doing well. I don't feel I'm getting very good results. And then about six months after I graduated, I did an SOT course. And suddenly I discovered this new technique, sot, and I stopped bringing it into practice. And I'm all enthusiastic about it. It seems cool. I do it, it gets results. I get a few patients who I was stuck with suddenly start getting better, and I'm all, oh, SOT is great. It's amazing. It's brilliant. It's totally changing how I'm practicing, and then I'm on this high. And after a few months, some doubts start creeping in. I'm suddenly not getting quite as good results as I was before. I'm starting to realize I kind of find what I expect to find, but as soon as I change what I think I'm looking for, what I'm finding changes how much of this is coming from me. I don't know if this is working. And my results started to drop down. And about six months after that, not to worry, I found a new technique. I'm going to go and do a different seminar now. And I learned a new technique. I can't remember what the second one was offhand, but I come back from the seminar all buzzed, all excited, ready to try this new technique, and it works. And I start getting results with patients and people I was kind of stuck with, suddenly had a breakthrough and go, oh, my gosh, it's this new technique. I should totally do that with everybody. And then after a few months, the doubts start creeping in. I'm not so sure I'm not getting those same results. And basically, once or twice a year, I would go up and down on this roller coaster. I would learn DNS, I would learn taping. I would learn all kinds of other techniques out there, and I'd go up and down and up and down. And every time I'd come back enthusiastic, getting good results. And every time, after a few months, that initial peak seemed to waver. And I was on this roller coaster for a few years, and I see a lot of colleagues on the same one. And it always feels like you've just got to learn that one new technique, and you come across something and go, oh, that sounds great. That sounds really interesting. I should do that. You buy the books, you do the course, you buy the online videos, whatever it might be, and you just end up feeling like you're on this roller coaster and this perpetual, like, hamster wheel of just the next thing, the next thing. And I got fortunate in that I had a mentor kind of point out to me. They said, yeah, you're on the technique roller coaster. And they were the ones who helped me step back and see what's actually happening here. What's actually happening is that I'm every six to nine months, getting all fired up about what I do, getting all enthusiastic, and I'm coming back, and I'm communicating that to patients, and I'm communicating that enthusiasm, and I'm talking more about what I'm doing. I'm talking more about how this is really different. This is a new technique. This is something I've just learned. And my patients feel like they're getting better care. They got a more enthusiastic chiropractor, they're getting some newer techniques, and I'm confidently delivering. Okay, yep, that did that. Great. That just worked. I'm really ramping up a lot of the contextual effects, and then when the doubts start to creep in, I stop, and I don't ramp up those effects, because suddenly now I'm not so sure, and I don't big it up as much, and I'm not all excited about it. And the technique didn't matter. I could have gone and done completely different techniques. I would have had the same results. I'd have had that roller coaster up and down and up and down and up and down. Realizing that was really powerful for me because it made me realize I don't have to go up and down. I know where the ups come from. It's not from that special magical technique. And, hey, I'm not knocking techniques. I still go on technique seminars. I'm going on one in a couple of months. I'm really excited for it. But I know that the excitement is about learning a new technique. But it's not necessarily what I need to convey to the patient. What I convey to the patient is, is that enthusiasm for getting them better. It's that excitement about the results they're going to get. It's that I'm confidently delivering the best techniques that I have at my disposal. Since being able to do that, instead of going on this roller coaster, I get to stay on the up bit and I don't dip down every few months for suddenly I'm not sure about, oh, is this technique for be all and end all? I thought it was. So I'm not bashing techniques here at all. But if you recognize that you were on that roller coaster, the thing to bear in mind I want to share with you is that it's not the technique, it's not the course, it's not the seminar, it's not the special thing you did, it's your attitude and your energy that you are bringing to those encounters that is getting you those better results. And if you can make that self sustaining, there's no reason you have to spend your whole career on that roller coaster. And believe me, I have met chiropractors who have spent decades on that. It's not a fun place to be. And also you don't get as good results for your patients. So hopefully if that recognizes that something you see in yourself, that's a little spark for you, what you want to do is focus on communicating that. And obviously communication skills are something I'm particularly interested in. I have a bit of a bias there, but it's been my experience, both in myself and for many colleagues, that improving those skills is what allows you to stay up and not keep dipping down on the roller coaster. If you're not in the group already and you want to learn more about this, then I'd really recommend checking out my new Facebook group, Patient Centered Chiropractors. Pop links below this. You can search that in Facebook. I'm sharing content there every day at the moment, so if you want to get out of that roller coaster, the best way to do it is I'm putting free videos up there every day. I'm going to have a bunch of cool new things coming out in 2022 as well. Some new projects and things I'm really excited about. So keep your eyes out for those as well. But if you've got any questions, the group's the place to be. You know, I'm putting loads of content out there, but it's a great place to ask colleagues for advice as well. I'm happy to chime in if you're stuck if you've got any questions, but there's nearly 200 of us there, so there's lots of other colleagues you can draw on for help as well. We can all create this community. We can collaborate so we can all get better results and also just enjoy our practices more. You know, that's something that I'm really passionate about. So if that sounds like it's for you, check out that group. It's completely free. There's loads of content there. It's patient centered chiropractors and I look forward to seeing you there.