Why I am a Doctor of Chiropractic

Years ago, a chiropractic patient turned chiropractic advocate named Bill Esteb wrote an informal treatise of sorts for my chosen profession:

Why I am a Doctor of Chiropractic

Because I honor the inborn potential of everyone to be truly healthy. Because I desire to help the newborn, the aged, and those without hope. Because I choose to care for the patient with the disease, not the disease. Because I wish to assist rather than intrude; to free rather than control. Because I seek to correct the cause, and not its effect. Because I know doctors do not heal, only the body can heal itself. Because I have been called to serve others. Because I want to make a difference. Because every day I get to witness miracles.

Because I know it is right.

At the time, I liked it. It may have been a bit zealous in tone, but it made me feel good about being a chiropractic doctor when I read it. So, I hung it on the wall of my office. But years went by, I moved offices, changed my décor, and ended up putting the plaque in a box, on a shelf.

Out of sight. Out of mind.

Then recently a friend of mine sent me a link to a talk by Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action.  Simon has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers.

Simon Sinek reminded me of the importance of knowing (and being able to articulate) why we do what we do.

Like most other people, I know what I do. I provide chiropractic care. And, while that statement is true, who cares? Every chiropractor provides chiropractic care. So what?

Like many other people, I know how I do what I do. I specialize in Activator Methods chiropractic care. And, we often combine chiropractic care and massage. Between myself and our massage therapists we provide a full range of treatment options for neck pain, headache, sciatic leg pain, back pain—including options for post-surgical back pain and complex cases—all under one roof. But again, so what?

According to Simon, people don’t buy what we do, or how we do it. People buy why we do it.

So, I took Simon’s challenge. I asked myself, “Why do I do what I do?” As a result, here is my present day informal treatise of sorts for my chosen profession:

Why I am a Doctor of Chiropractic

Because I believe people deserve drug-free, noninvasive options

for treating pain and inflammation

that “first, do no harm.”

It may not be as quite as eloquent (or as inclusive) as the one at the top of this page, but in a world where too many people seem to act as if their aches and pains are caused by an ibuprofen deficiency, it clarifies why I do what I do.

So….why do you do what you do?