Yesterday was certainly one of my most favorite days in practice! After reading that, you are probably thinking that you are going to read a patient testimonial or about some crazy chiropractic miracle, however we saw NO patients yesterday.

Every quarter we take an entire day and spend it together developing ourselves and our team. In the morning we usually spend time reviewing our goals and refreshing office procedure skills that need polishing, and in the afternoon we simply go have fun! In the past we have done paintball, bowling, BBQ, etc. This day was very different.

8:30 am We gathered at the office for a light, nutritious breakfast and spent time connecting with each other. It was a great start to the day, catching up with everyone.

9:00 am We spent 20 min discussing the exciting developments that are happening in our company… the purchase of a new 6,200 sq/ft building in Redmond that will house our newest satellite practice and the offices of Worksite Wellness. We also discussed the 2008 Blair Chiropractic Convention in Dallas this year and of course our famous annual Mexico Trip.

9:20 am We dove into a presentation on the Starbucks Experience. The Experience was broken down into five categories and we discussed how they would apply in an Upper Cervical Office.

Make it your own
Everything matters
Surprise and delight
Embrace resistance
Leave your mark

10:00 am Our guest speaker for the morning was Craig Sigl, CHt, NLP-t. Craig is a certified hypno-therapist who is also a NLP Master and certainly the real deal. He has specialized in helping golfers break 80 by removing mental barriers. For two hours he took us on a journey to clear the belief systems that hold us back in life. We found out that many of these programs are so deep we don’t even realize them. Then he gave us some tools that we could actually use on our own to start removing these limiting beliefs. I think what hit us most was how specific we need to be with what we want our life to look like.

1. Decide specifically want you want
2. Clear all of your mental baggage
3. Focus on the end result
4. Take Action!

12:00 pm Lunch was delivered by O-ToGo Organics. A nutritious, completely organic lunch that we were able to enjoy while discussing what we experienced. It was so cool to hear that the chatter over lunch was all about what we had learned in the morning, and how it could could be applied in our everyday lives! No gossip, news or meaningless banter.

1:00 pm We arrived at Red Hook Brewery. Except… this was no brewery tour! Because nestled behind the brewery, was a high ropes challenge course that I have been dreaming about for years. We spent 2 hours on the ground performing challenges that brought us together as a team and gave us each insight into how we operate. For me this was a huge surprise, I was really only concerned about getting on the ropes course however, I was amazed at what we were able to uncover playing some really simple games.

Just Jump!

3:00 pm We hit the high ropes course! WOW! The was some of the most fun and growth I have had in a long time. It was fascinating to see how our team operating individually in a super challenging environment. We saw a side of Ashly, our newest team player, that we have never seen before! Naomi, our veteran Massage Therapist, who was clearly the most apprehensive for the weeks lead preceding climbed entirely through the whole course. Molly infectious laughter could be heard for miles. Christina, Susan, and Brigit were the only one to attempt the triple black diamond challenge. Imagine standing on a platform 150 feet in the air then having to jump off and out 6 feet to a dangling rope only to have keep the momentum to swing another 6 feet to the other platform! I was impressed and would NEVER have guest they would have done that! Our Myers Brigg personality expert said ORANGE, ORANGE, ORANGE !!

Our Facilitator, Scott from Adventura Consulting was the true glue that held the afternoon together. His ability to join us as a group and elevate us up was fascinating. He had this amazing ability to call us on out shit without anyone taking a defensive position. He was real, authentic and super versed in this subject. We liked him so much we may even take him to Mexico with us!

The day ended with a few well earned cold beers from the Red Hook Brewery. It was nice to spend some time talking down the high points of the day.

The feedback since has been great! I think we all had some real takeaways both personally and professionally. We really got to understand how each of us makes decision and operates inside of challenges. We certainly became closer as a team and it was the perfect event to take us to the next level.

What about our patients!

They loved it, they were so enrolled in that fact we took that time together. LIFE is way to short to not have fun at work. In fact, WORK SHOULD BE FUN. I really believe that when you are linked into something bigger than each of us, we truly amaze ourselves with what we are really capable of!

Here’s to more outstanding experiences!
Darren