09/12/2025
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
Firstly, apologies for the radio silence last week - fortunately my daughter’s op went well and she’s been recovering like a champ.
On the other hand we’ve had a few additional curveballs thrown at us since, resulting in us having to pull her out of school unexpectedly - meaning I’m not going to be back to work full time for a while yet.
These emails might be a bit more intermittent for the next few weeks as a result, and I’ll be slower at responding to your emails - but rest assured I’m still here!
(Also thank you to everyone who got in touch to wish us well for her operation, it was genuinely heart-warming to receive so many messages!)
Now, onto this week's email…
Despite all the goings on recently, this last weekend I managed to make it to an in-house adjusting workshop I arranged for my team with Adian Robinson.
Long time readers will know I’ve rated Aidan for several years now, and even ran a hugely successful joint event with him and Simon Billings earlier this year (more on that later…).
As always he brought a ton of passion, expertise, and inspiration, and we all left brimming with enthusiasm for using what we learned the next day with patients.
One of the things I love about Adian is that he doesn’t just teach adjustments - he teaches a completely different way of thinking about practice to most DC’s.
To me, it draws the best parts from multiple perspectives and approaches to chiropractic, and puts what we as a profession are uniquely best at - adjusting - front and centre… without making it the “be all and end all”.
And every time I’ve been to one of his trainings, you can feel everyone in the room start to get excited to start putting it into practice…
Because when you start with the adjustment instead of ending with it - after “warming them up” with lots of other techniques - the whole treatment feels more intentional, and often ends up being far more effective too.
It also makes sense in the simplest possible way: the adjustment is the one thing our patients can’t get anywhere else.
(Again, I’m not putting down other methods like STW, needling, rehab here - I use all of these in my practice too)
Anyway, at the lunchbreak on the first day, I was sitting with a colleague from a nearby clinic who we’d invited down to join us.
He’s been in practice for a couple of decades, and was talking about wanting to make the leap to this way of practicing too.
He could already see how it would make his work feel more purposeful, and reignite his passion for practice.
But he was struggling with making the leap:
“What I’m not sure about is how to do this with someone like Mrs Jones - she’s in her eighties, comes in every month, and has had the same routine for years…
“... what if she’s not happy if I don’t do the same treatment as usual?”
I recognised his discomfort, because it’s something that gets almost every practitioner in this position - you can see how you’d like to practise, and a better version of your day, your energy, and your results.
But the distance between there and where you are right now, and where you want to be, feels huge.
And because making that change can seem like a giant leap, the whole thing becomes intimidating before you’ve even started.
This is the part most people never analyse - they think their fear is about the patient’s reaction.
But that’s not the real issue - it’s actually the size of the leap.
When you expect yourself to change your whole approach overnight, your brain will fight you on it every single time.
Not because it’s impossible (I’ve seen some people pull it off), but because it’s unnecessarily difficult.
It’s like trying to sprint at full speed, the first time you put on running shoes.
Technically you could… but you probably won’t.
And even if you did, you’d make the whole process far more stressful than it needs to be.
Those who did reinvent themselves overnight typically find it comes at a significant cost, and a bunch of patients do in fact leave.
Which is why so many practitioners opt instead to stay exactly where they are - even when they’re unhappy with it.
It’s not lack of desire, it’s the fear of failure.
Which is a shame, because the real solution is simple - don’t make it a leap.
Break the change into steps your brain can actually accept - they’re enough of a challenge to get you excited, but not so much you start to get stuck in “but what about…” patterns.
When the path feels doable, you’ll actually take it… and the moment you start moving, you realise the distance wasn’t as impossible as it looked.
So here’s what that looked like for this colleague:
Step 1 - keep yourself out of the panic zone and start with new patients only.
Before you introduce anything new to your existing patients, take the pressure off yourself by stopping this idea that change has to happen all at once.
That’s the story that throws you into your panic zone and shuts everything down.
When the change feels huge, your system freezes and you default back to what you’ve always done.
But when you narrow your focus to one simple step - something small, controlled, and absolutely doable - often the anxiety can turn into excitement.
That excitement creates the beginnings of confidence, and you lower the stakes from “changing your whole identity” to “a simple experiment”.
New patients have no expectations or “previous version” of your care to compare against.
Starting here this gives you “easy reps” - essential to developing confidence (your brain needs experience here, not theory).
As you build your reps and confidence, the whole enterprise stops feeling quite so new, and a bit more familiar.
And that’s when you’re finally ready for Step 2: just offer the change.
This is where most practitioners get tied in knots by their own overthinking.
And when discussing with this colleague, he thought he should say something like this:
“𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘟𝘠𝘡, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬…”
It’s polite, respectful, and well meaning…
but it’s still an act of persuasion.
Persuading - even when done politely - still carries pressure.
That pressure makes the change feel risky.
I replied “I know what you mean, but you’re still deciding for her, and trying to persuade her into the new thing. Instead, all you need to do is offer it.”
What you want instead is a tone that offers, informs, but maintains their autonomy.
Here’s the wording I suggested:
“𝘔𝘳𝘴 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 [𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯]...
.. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳….
.. 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬?”
Then just pause and wait - a little pause here is key
Most practitioners skip the pause because they’re nervous, so they keep talking and end up falling back on the typical habit of trying to convince the patient.
Don’t do that - give them space, let them answer, and pay attention.
Even if the words say yes, they might still express some hesitation non-verbally.
This approach works by removing pressure from both sides.
You’re no longer dragging someone into your new system, and they no longer feel like they have to agree or risk disappointing you.
It becomes a collaboration instead of a sales pitch.
And the key mentality to have is this - you don’t need them to say yes, just to make an informed choice.
That way, you’re no longer carrying the weight of having to “get it right”, and it’s fine if they say no or change their mind.
You’re simply offering both options, and allowing the patient to choose.
(𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 - 𝘢 “𝘯𝘰” 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 “𝘯𝘰” 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥)
As I told my colleague, the one thing I never want to happen is for my patient to feel I never gave them the option… because I was too worried about what they’d think.
So if you’re thinking of making a significant change to your practice, remember - you don’t need to do it in one leap
You don’t need to risk losing half your patient list, but you also don’t need to persuade people into anything.
Break it into smaller changes - start with new patients, and then just gradually offer, instead of persuading.
That way you avoid analysis paralysis, evolve without blowing everything up, and keep your passion alive after decades in practice.
And on that note, one last thing:
When Aidan, Simon and I ran that event I mentioned back in May, one of the most consistent bits of feedback we got from attendees was that it reignited the spark for them.
And I don’t just mean comments on a feedback form before they leave.
Many of the attendees kept in touch, and shared this with us weeks - in some cases even months - afterwards.
I’ve been teaching workshops for over a decade now, and can honestly say it was one of the most transformative weekends I’ve ever participated in.
Which is why I’m incredibly excited that we will be running it again next year.
I’ll be sharing more details soon, so keep an eye on your inbox for that…
