Issue #17 - July 2010
The 'I Was Gonna' Syndrome
What gives us the edge over others is learning from their mistakes or habits that have contributed to our lives. Having the opportunity to grow up with three older brothers, the I was gonna syndrome came out on several occasions. There were various chores that were expected to be done and were not, mysteriously fell under the excuse of “I was gonna do it.” This “I was gonna” category still may affect us today. My brothers, bless their hearts, had the I was gonna syndrome down to an art and science, and periodically I still hear it today.
From the fondest childhood memories of your past, you may have picked up good and bad qualities that have affected your practice and personal effectiveness today. Think about it – from your ability to confront issues, to over thinking something, to finishing unfinished projects, to waiting for the phone to ring. How do you handle these matters? Implementation of a marketing idea, training a new staff member, cleaning up clutter, simple remodeling job, buying a new piece of equipment, getting paperwork and chart notes completed, doing reports, finally taking care of those patients, over chatting, under chatting, not having a purpose, not having a mission statement, spending too much time on Ebay, coming to the office late, leaving the office early, and so on and so on, with out a doubt we could add more to the list.
This year, work on the 12 most important things you want to improve in your office and your life. Don’t waste any time on what you don’t want, accentuate the positive and focus only on what you want to improve. We all have many traits that are always a work in progress.
For instance, making sure everything is done at the end of the day, making staff members accountable for their duties, having practice improvement plans and adhering to it, staying off the computer unless it is absolutely necessary, complimenting the people that you work with, having a mission and purpose statement that defines you and your practice, and once again, the list goes on.
It is not just about the I was gonna syndrome but breaking the habits that continue to hold us back. Looking back at your family heritage, your family gave you far more good qualities, traits and habits than bad. Somehow, the bad habits such as the I was gonna syndrome stick out because they are the ones that we most want to change and strengthen. If this is one of the phrases that you use for an excuse to under achieve, it is time to change it from I was gonna to I am going to. By just putting a general statement out in the universe you don’t make an affirmation to achieve or create any thing unless you start your sentence out with I am going to.
So, if you still think we have things to do to improve our profession and make a difference in this world, please don’t look back and wish it was different because you were caught by the I was gonna syndrome.
