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Four Years, Really? Wow! Time Flies When You Set Your Goals High

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Monday, April 18, 2011

Dr. Martha’s Monday Morning Motivational

It’s hard to believe that Monday, April 18 2011 is the four-year anniversary of Optimal Chiropractic.  It seems like just yesterday I was standing in line with my classmates awaiting our hard earned diplomas.  Going back to that date, April 22, 2006, I know that there was no way I thought I would be where I am today.  Here I am five years after my graduation from Logan College of Chiropractic, running a successful wellness practice and I can’t help but remain in a constant state of gratitude.

I was thinking back to when I decided to open my own practice.  While it seems like yesterday it also seems like a lifetime ago.  I have accomplished so much in four years.  Prior to graduation I had planned to move to Colorado but through a chain of events and changes I was suddenly back in Springfield, IL where I had grown up living in my parents house and attempting to find myself.  After about five months, I remember my dad asking me if I was going to use my doctorate? I realized then that I had to do something because what I was doing, which was nothing, wasn’t enough and wouldn’t work much longer.  It was at that time I decided to open my own practice.

I am not really sure what I thought when I opened my practice.  I knew I had to do something, so something is what I was going to do.  We all eventually get to a point when we realize what we are doing isn’t working and come to the decision that we must do something different or we have the possibility of becoming insane.  Insanity, after all, is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results but doing nothing differently! By April 18, 2007 my office was up and running.

Lately, I have been reflecting over the past five years since graduation.  I feel like I have lived a thousand lifetimes.  I looked back at my five-year list, which I wrote in November of 2006 at the Lifebook Lounge in Chicago.  As I looked over the list I was awed, almost EVERYTHING on my goal list has been accomplished and I know without a doubt that I will cross the rest off by October and by 2012 will start the new year with the new list I have already began to create.

Setting goals is important and BHAGs, big hairy audacious goals, are even more exciting.  When I set my goals I wanted to reach 1000+ visits a month, be TMC chiropractor of the year, share my heart in front of 100’s of chiropractors, qualify for the Boston marathon and run my best time there on the anniversary of my mom’s death, and the list goes on.  Then they seemed intangible but I knew then what I know now if you believe it you achieve it.  So I set my goals and my intentions and began to speak in affirmations. As the days, months, and years passed I was able to reach goal after goal because I KNEW I would.

Today more than ever I am growing and I know that I am about to hit another tipping point that will propel me into my next five years.  Five years that will lead to more reached goals, more changed lives, more friendships, and more successes that put the icing on the cake of life.  I am so excited for what lies ahead and where I am headed.  I can always feel when change is near and currently the feeling is overwhelming, in a good way.

Thank you to every single person: family, friends, practice members, past and current staff, and colleagues who have allowed my dreams to become my reality. I am truly grateful that you chose to support me, believe in me, and be a part of my journey.  I am so honored that you have supported me and your continued support will allow me to continue to make my impact on the world. You are as much a part of this as I am!  Thank you and may God’s love bless you today and everyday!

Happy Birthday as well to my step mom, Elaine! I LOVE YOU! Thank you for adding to our family. You are a blessing and I love you for being a mother to me! I know my mom smiles and is honored that you chose to love us as your own!

Love. Laugh. Adjust.

Dr. Martha Nessler, Innate Girl

Will Katherine Live To Be 103?

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I was just speaking with my 94 year-old patient, Katherine, about her goal of outliving her cousin, Gladys, who lived to 103 years-old.  She was sharing that she feels like she’s getting “more well” with every adjustment and how glad she was that she decided a year and a half ago to get under care.  We then discussed some changes she could make to move forward and closer to her goal.  I’m awed by her determination to fulfill an internal  burning desire.  Like I told her in 2008, I will do everything in my power to help her achieve this and she can guarantee that I am her number 2 fan! We all have to become our own number one fan.

Katherine is inspiring.  She is a breath of fresh air and an encouragement to everyone in the office.  She is one of those practice members of which you wish you had a million more.  She really gets the chiropractic lifestyle and the wellness paradigm. She constantly reminds family and friends to invest in themselves now because when you are “old, crippled, broke, and alone” it’s too late to invest and then it’s just maintaing at the best level possible.

When Katherine came to me a year and a half ago she was completely numb on the left side of her body.  Upon exam and x-ray, significant scoliosis was detected.  Her significant scoliosis was causing multiple subluxations throughout her spine and therefore she was experiencing considerable nervous system distress.  The scoliosis had also caused multiple compression fractures in her spine throughout the years.  When I explained to Katherine what was going on tears filled her eyes. I asked her why she had tears and she simply stated that she wished she would have done something earlier.  I hear that alot.  I was empathetic to her sadness but informed her that we would do anything possible to help her live out her remaining years at an optimal level.  That is when she first shared her goal of outliving Gladys.

Katherine has been under care here for a year and a half.  Her numbness is gone and she has improved her overall quality of life.  There isn’t a day she isn’t smiling and telling me how much she loves me for investing in her and being her wellness coach.  Little does she know she has done more for me than I could ever do for her.

She is a constant reminder to invest in myself now by taking care of myself chemically, physically, and emotionally.  She is a constant reminder that it’s NEVER too late to get well.  That any goal is attainable with the right action steps, support, and a crystal clear vision.

Katherine is the perfect example to return to when you are contemplating investing in your own wellness.  It’s inevitable you either pay in little increments over time and maintain OR you pay a big, lump sum in the end and deal with the outcome you get.  I know I would rather chunk it down like any BHAG (big, hairy, audacious goal); rather than procrastinate.  Procrastinating is interesting; it’s a gamble; it’s cancer of the mind .  My wellness is just not something I’m willing to gamble with.   Are you?