True confession here – I am not a HUGE fan of Dr. Phil’s. However, in the early years of his TV show I used to watch on occasion and felt like he made some great points about the choices we make and how we live our lives….
So, short of catching my 15-year-old smoking pot in her room (no worries – even my grandkids are older than that), or finding out my husband has three other wives (beLIEVE me – he doesn’t!) here are some of my favorite Dr. Phil-isms:
- No matter how flat you make a pancake, it’s still got two sides.
- That dog don’t hunt.
- Opinions are like asses. Everybody’s got one!
- You can glue feathers on a dog but it still doesn’t make him a chicken.
And then there are two I find most applicable to decision-making, when things just don’t seem right and I’ve come to a crossroads…
- Just how’s that workin’ for ya?
along with…. - You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
During the past few months, as I’ve faced several difficult personal decisions, those sayings have rung in my ears many times. Even with business decisions, I keep confronting and considering them… and it occurred to me you might want to consider them, too.
Believe me – acknowledging what isn’t working is a great motivator!
As follows:
The very best way to doom a business is to put blinders on to problems and resist the changes that are necessary to keep it afloat. We all run into situations with our practices and our clients that just aren’t working well and need to be changed.
Some examples: each time someone calls you on the phone to inquire about your services, you help them as much as you can… but they don’t hire you. How’s that workin’ for ya?
Another example: Mrs. Smith owes you $500, yet she keeps calling you for additional help. You remind her that she has an outstanding balance, and she promises to pay you as soon as her social security gets deposited, but she doesn’t make a payment. Yet you still keep helping her out, adding to her bill… so now she owes you $800. How’s that workin’ for ya?
And still another: when people ask you what you do for a living, you tell them you are a private advocate. They ask what that means, and you describe the kinds of things you do to help patients. They ask you what you charge and you tell them. They respond with, “That’s too expensive. Must be only rich people can afford an advocate.” and you just let the statement lie there. You don’t provide them with the reasons that is not true, nor a different point of view. How’s that workin’ for ya?
As practice owners and practice-starters we run into these kinds of situations every day. Yet few of us take the time to face them, analyze them, figure out what needs to be done differently – and then make the change. And it’s not working for us at all! And a good number of us will go out of business because we’re so good at pretending.
As Dr. Phil tells us:
You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
So get moving! Acknowledge, strategize – and shift your approach. Find others who can help you, find advice at the Alliance website, or find answers in books written to help you get past those hurdles. Among the best resources for the problems cited above are the courses found at PracticeUP! Online – tailored to those exact hurdles, providing solutions.
That’s the best way to make your own dog hunt – and hunt successfully.
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