As a noted motivational speaker once said, positive thinking will help you do everything better than negative thinking will. That adage has proven true in my life.
A coach I work with often asks, “What’s your North Star? What’s your goal, the thing that always leads you home?” In recognition of Sept. 13 as Positive Thinking Day, I have been reflecting on the fact that at many stages of my life, positive thinking has helped me stay focused on my North Star and end up where I wanted to be.
I entered college with a goal of being a doctor — either an MD or a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). Getting through undergrad school was tough. I was good at math and chemistry, but biology was all memorization. I had to work hard at that.
“At many stages of my life, positive thinking has helped me stay focused on my North Star and end up where I wanted to be.”
My friends would sometimes call when they were out partying and I was at the university library studying, saying, “You’re missing out on a good time!” When I was tired or tempted, I would focus on my North Star — imagining the things I could buy and do after earning my degree. Because I was a young man (and a little vain), I would dream about getting an Audi A8, an innovative luxury car with a high-powered acoustic sound system, a turbocharged engine, and big wheels, tires, and rims. “This,” I told myself, “is my car.” That positive focus and my sense of self-preservation gave me the momentum I needed to finish my degree.
While getting through undergraduate school was tough, getting through PT school was tougher. But by then, I was more clearly focused on my goal — to own and run my own business. Getting a job after graduation was easy, but creating and running a physical therapy practice that would pay me
as much as I could make working for another company was by far the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life.
I had to take a pay cut at first, but I had the grit, desire, and ambition to succeed. I set a goal when I opened my practice of earning several additional credentials, including board certification as an Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS). But I didn’t understand the marketing needs of my business, or what it would take to make it successful. At first, I simply didn’t have the money to pursue those goals, so I had to put them on hold. At that point, the only goal I could afford was just to survive and live to fight another day.
After learning how to market and grow my practice successfully, I was able to advance toward one of those goals. Last summer, I took the test for OCS certification. Only about 6% of all physical therapists in the nation have earned this prestigious credential, which qualifies a clinician to treat any orthopedic condition in surgical and non-surgical contexts. Although I missed passing the test by a single point last year, I stayed focused on my goal, tried again, and passed! I am happy to report that I now hold an OCS certification.
I am continuing to look for ways to grow and improve, including obtaining exciting new technology and the certifications required to apply it in our clinic. After practicing as a physical therapist for 19 years, I am at a stage in my career where it may not make sense for me to earn these certifications myself, so I am setting a new goal: finding the next generation of people who can help me reach that objective.
As Positive Thinking Day draws near this year, I hope you will find the inspiration needed to focus on a North Star of your own!
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