Ego is the enemy
If there was one book all new graduates should be forced to read before being allowed to register & practice, it’s “Ego is the Enemy” by Ryan Holiday.
I love it.
Whenever I lecture, I start by saying all Chiropractors have two things in common.
1) We all have amazing life changing results with some patients.
These are easy stories to whip out on stage, which gently imply that they should happen all the time or you’re doing it wrong (or not often enough).
2) We all have patients that simply don’t respond in the way we want or anticipate.
It might be an unexpected or early plateau in recovery or a flat out non-response.
But we ALL have them.
You. Me. BJ Palmer. Jesus Christ. Uri Geller.
It’s the non-responders that teach you something.
But to learn you must listen and assess and be honest about the results.
Always stay a student.
“A persistent cycle of pragmatic learning, experimental adaptation, and constant revision driven by a uniquely disciplined & focused will”
This would be a great way to practice, wouldn’t it?
Want to guess who this was written about?
Answer at the end.
The more I have learnt since I qualified in 2001, the more I realise I know very little in the bigger picture.
Or as John Wheeler who helped develop the hydrogen bomb said:
I was simply so ignorant of how the body worked I didn’t know I was ignorant.
I should have listened to my patients and assessed them objectively.
No matter how bad you are as a Chiropractor, you will always have patients that think you can walk on water.
Don’t believe the hype.
Mastery is an ongoing process.
Are you stuck in an echo chamber on Facebook or with your technique, group or association?
If you are angry and upset with other people’s views in Chiropractic, maybe, just maybe, you aren’t so assured of your own beliefs as you would like to think?
If you are a BCA member, go to a UCA conference. If you are a UCA member, go to a BCA conference.
If you think muscle testing is bulls**t, learn Afferent Input with Simon King
If you think Chiropractors should only adjust, go to an instrument assisted soft tissue manipulation seminar (IASTM).
Only an amateur is defensive.
Be a master.
Action to take today:
Buy Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday – read it, make marginalia and read it again.
https://history.hanover.edu/
Go and talk to some people that have completely different views in Chiropractic than you. (Note I said talk, not message/argue on Facebook).
The quote was about the one and only….
Try Dan Carlin’s podcast, it’s fantastic.
https://www.dancarlin.com/
And as always don’t waste those valuable adjustments,
Speak soon
Simon