How to Differentiate Your Practice

Do you want to make your practice stand out from the rest? Do you want to build a great team that will deliver an excellent patient experience? Do you want to make a profit while making a difference?

You can’t do any of that if you don’t know what’s important to you.
You can’t do any of that if you don’t know your core values.

Having clear practice values is a great way to Differentiate Your Practice. Your core values gives you clarity and focus. It ensure that all your employees are working towards the same goals. Your core values support the practice’s vision and shape its culture. That’s why every single business decision should be aligned with these values.

What are core values?

Core values are traits or qualities that you consider not just worthwhile, they represent an individual’s or an organization’s highest priorities, deeply held beliefs, and core, fundamental driving forces. They are at the heart of what you, your practice and its employees stand for in the world.

Most people coast through life without any kind of consideration for what is truly important to them. This means that unfortunately for many, life is something that ‘just happens’ to them.  Even tough, they are making hundreds of decisions every day, those decisions aren’t directed towards a specific purpose. 

Why are core values important?

• They help us identify our priorities.

• They guide decisions, intentions and behavior.

• They help us decide what to make time for and what not to make time for.

Our core values are at the foundation of who we are and if that foundation starts to crumble, nothing will be stable – not even your best plans for achievement. We are now on shaky ground and the energy around our efforts and behavior is no longer strong. This can make a person feel uncertain, overwhelmed and out of balance.

While there are hundreds of different values, you typically will live your life according to only about five to eight core values. There are times when core values can shift and change. Sometimes we may take on the values of our family or the community in which we live or grew up in.

However, we can also make a conscious decision to adjust or change values when they are no longer in alignment with who we are or who we want to become. Our values can also strengthen over time. For this reason, it is important to check in with your core values regularly, a bit like assessing your direction and path midway on a journey.

When we make decisions that are not based on our core values even if we succeed, we often feel unfulfilled. Especially, if we intuitively feel “off” or “not right” about that action or that outcome. Sometime we may try to ignore, avoid or suppress this “off” feeling and try to continue on. When we do this we create unnecessary stress for ourselves and our loved ones.

How to identify your core values.

Step 1: Identify and write down six people who are important role models or valued connections for you.

Step 2: Think of the values they embody.  For example, your list might include: “my grandfather for his acceptance and love,” “my husband for his kindness,” “my colleague for his listening skills,” and “my friend for her loyalty,” to name a few. These values you admire in those role models are clues to what’s important to you.

Step 3: Use a values inventory. You can find various values inventories online.  Our free online values inventory will be available in our upcoming workshop. Click below to register.

Step 4: Keep a journal.  As you journal about your day to day experiences, you’ll start noticing patterns.  These patterns of feelings, decisions and behaviors will help you identify some of the values that guide your day to day living.

Step 5: Think about some of the peak and low experiences in your life. For example, if you felt a lot of pain in the past after the betrayal of a friend, loyalty might be an important value for you. Or, if you were voted most likely to succeed in high school, achievements may be important for you. These moments could direct you to what you care about most.

Are you ready to make your practice stand out?

How do you identify the priorities in your practice right now? What guides your decisions, intentions or your team’s behavior?  How do you determine what to focus your time on each day?  Without identifying a set of guiding core values, it will be very hard to set priorities and live according to what’s important to you. Without identifying your top three to five core values, your practice won’t stand out from the rest.

Are you ready to take control of your life and your practice? Are you ready to build a winning team and make your practice stand out?

If so, let’s get started today!

Click below to access the core values workshop. In this workshop, you will get the following:

• 2 Live Sessions
• Course Workbook
• Partner Exercises
• Group Discussions
• Action Plan and Implementation

Core Values Course Access

As a valued member of the Optometry Divas community, this Core Values Workshop is available to you completely FREE of charge. Ready to get started? Click hereto log in and access the course today!

For non-members, you can still benefit from this transformative workshop. Click here to purchase the workshop recording and gain immediate access to the tools that will help you build a values-driven practice.

Until next time, remember to think BIG, take risks, and become the CEO of YOU®!