The truth behind what patients really want….
Many moons ago I read a book by a marketing guru called Jay Abrahams called “getting everything you can out of all you’ve got” and in it he said something like: People are silently begging to be led to action.
Now, this idea really stuck in my brain, are people secretly deep down desperate for leadership and to be told what to do?
Can we really all be that insecure we need to told what to do? Or is this simply reality that we all need teachers in whatever form works for us?
When you read the auto-biographies of famous people who are leaders in their field they are frequently wracked with self-doubt and fine examples of “imposter syndrome”.
The reality is imposter syndrome doesn’t really exist per se, if you have knowledge someone else does not, then you can help them.
The reality is that no matter how much you learn, there is always more to learn, mastery is a lifetimes work.
Nigel Kennedy the famous violinist, a child prodigy from the age of six, at 60 years of age still practices 3 hours a day.
The learning never ends, but it order to master knowledge you must use it.
A world famous and acclaimed musician practices (not performing, practicing) on his violin 3 hours day.
One challenge for practitioners new to nutrition when they start to learn with the Core Concepts in Chiropractic Nutrition course is they are inhibited about selling or even recommending supplements or giving diet advice.
Who are they to tell people what to eat or not too eat?
Will the patient think they are after their money by selling them supplements?
Well, as Jay rightly says, actually people are silently/secretly begging for just that.
All of them?
No, but a lot are, and if they not into it at the start, give them time to trust you and you may find them more receptive in a few months time (remember Esther the steely eyed scot from a few weeks ago?).
That is why on the ACN health questionnaire we have a specific question about how willing are they to change their diet and lifestyle &/or take supplements with support on a scale of 0-10.
I will not nag or pester anyone to change if they are unwilling, but I will make sure if they clearly need it, that I take that in to account in my prognosis and make them aware of it also.
When it comes to supplements, it is all about quality.
The form of vitamin, is it an active form or inactive?
I do not want my patients taking the inactive, folic acid in the vast majority of cases, they should be taking active form folate, 5-MTHF.
You can read about it here from a previous newsletter
The mineral is it chelated to an amino acid? If so which one?
If magnesium is attached to oxide, it is a coming straight out with your poo, it if is attached to a citrate, we are good to go.
And the dose matters a great deal.
The “RDA” was established after the war to stop gross deficiencies, but what about optimal health?
Supplements are simply a way to plug the “nutrient gap” between what your patient is eating/absorbing and what they need to regain and maintain their health.
The majority of supplements patients buy are low dose and in poor forms.
They will not make the changes your patients need to actually feel better and for your care to be significant and sustainable.
A patient of mine had a long history of very weird and wonderful symptoms, including many mental health types ones with a lot of digestive stuff, to go with her neuromechanical issues.
Over a period of 6 months we provided care plus diet and supplements and she slowly recovered.
Then after a period of stability on all fronts with on-going care, she just started to fall apart at the seams.
The reason?
She stopped buying her high dose, high quality supplements from us and bought replacements from Tesco.
Back on the good stuff and we are all good once again and her results from neuromechanical care became sustainable once again.
So you have a duty of care to recommend supplements that are in the right form and dose – the patients want to know what to buy in order to get better, they want to be led.
If you wish to sell them in clinic, great, makes it easier for them, if not you can always recommend a site like natural dispensary which will only sell to patients when they give a practitioners name. They go under your account and every month you get 20% commission, so that way you may not feel like you are “selling” per se and you don’t have to hold stock.
If you do not want to commission they send them links to other online stores, but you MUST tell them what to buy.
The challenge is until you have seen someone truly change and come alive after changing diet and adding in vitamin D or B12 or magnesium, you cannot truly understand the power of it.
They can go from depressed, fatigued and in chronic disabling pain, to alarmingly perky in a matter of days and weeks.
It is absolutely remarkable to witness.
Once you have seen it happen, you will be able to speak with real certainty and the feeling of worry about not knowing enough will fade away because you have swallowed the red pill and know the truth.
They need you knowledge and they have paid for it.
Who are you to deny them a chance to recover their health?
And as the brilliant James Clear so rights says:
You need to stop being your own bottleneck to change, for you and your patients.
ACTIONS TO TAKE:
– Check out www.jamesclear.com, he is the master of creating habits
– Check out www.naturaldispensary.co.uk
– Get out your own way and take action with easiest supplement of all time to prescribe: Vitamin D. Could there be more low hanging fruit to pick?!? It is the hottest nutrient on the planet, start recommending it and save lives.