Process

I have noticed more and more lately that most of our culture is not willing to go through the appropriate process that is needed for growth and success. We are always trying to look for the easy way out...i.e...diet fads, get rich quick schemes, run your first marathon in 3 weeks or hard work is no longer the norm for our graduates. There is a process to everything in this world no matter the situation or scenario. When one starts with level A and skips B through Y hoping for Z they may experience success at times but I can guarantee that the success will not last and they will have missed the growth phase of the journey needed to reach Z.

The picture above is the one and only way to take a nap. There is something very comforting about having a little one all snuggled into you with nothing else in her mind other than how much her dad loves her. Raising little ones is the epitome of following the process and letting it take its time to develop into something special. From breast feeding to bottle feeding to eating solid foods...from laying still to crawling to walking/running...from blank stairs to baby talk to saying her favorite word "DA DA"...from diapers to potty training to taking her to the store for big girl undies...all of these are a process that can't be interrupted at any point in time or else the growth process is altered (except for some reasons my girls try to skip crawling and go straight to walking).

The PROCESS surrounds us in everything we do 24 hours a day 7 days a week. From our physiology constantly trying to maintain a state of homeostasis, to your daily routines to developing goals in a macro/micro strategy. b

I can think of a couple examples of process that are exhibited in my day to day life. In the world of distance running and triathlon success is defined by following the process of consistent/smart training over years. Yeah you may have incredible results early but to truly tap into success in the sport its a process of waking up each and every day realizing that every workout you do has an impact on tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. As a coach I typically try and educate my athletes that each workout or training session is a stepping stone towards success later on. Its best to follow the process now and understand the effort your giving will help you down the line. I know lots of athletes that become January/February champions in that they push the process to far or jump out of line to early in the season and pay for it come June, July and August when those of us that followed the process are passing them on the race course.

 Another process that I deal with daily is in the form of helping my patients get better. Being a health care practitioner I have tried over the years to not get emotionally involved into my patients injuries but I have come to the conclusion that its impossible. If a patient doesn't improve after one visit I typically will go home to my wife in frustration only for her to remind me of the process. The way I have practiced chiropractic over the years has evolved with both the knowledge I was taught and the knowledge that I learn via treating patients every day. I will rarely start treating the immediate area of pain on a patient. Dealing with a very athletic population I know deep down that the individual is more than likely routed in functional dysfunction. This is typically when I have to tell the patient that it was a process over a course of time in which they became injured. It is then up to me to focus on providing them with direction, guidance and the tools to heal not the main complaint but the dysfunction that has developed over time. If I jumped around in my diagnostic process and didn't put all the pieces in place then I can almost guarantee I would be out of a job as its usually a practitioner with a solid process that gets patients better.

What I challenge you to do is think through your day to day activities and identify what your process is. What do you do daily that supports your goals and efforts. Do you have a process of setting yourself up to succeed or does your process support defeat and constant below average results.

Make It Count!!!