Atomic Habits to Transform Your Osteopathy Practice

Lightening View

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a self-help book that offers practical strategies for developing good habits and breaking bad ones. The book is divided into four sections: The Fundamentals, The Four Laws of Behaviour Change, Make It Obvious, and Make It Satisfying.

The main concept of Atomic Habits is that small changes in behaviour can have a significant impact on our lives. Clear says that to achieve significant changes, we must focus on creating good habits and breaking bad ones, rather than on setting big, lofty goals. He emphasises the importance of taking action, building systems, and creating an environment that supports our desired habits. By making small, incremental improvements in our daily lives, we can achieve remarkable results over time.

Core Lessons

Lesson 1: The power of small changes

As an osteopath, focusing on small changes in daily routine and practice can lead to big results in the long run. For example, implementing a system of regular patient follow-up calls can lead to increased patient retention, improved patient outcomes, and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

Lesson 2: The importance of environment

The environment in which an osteopath practices can greatly impact their habits and behaviours. By creating a workspace that is organised, clean, and conducive to productivity, an osteopath can set themselves up for success and create positive habits around patient care and practice management.

Lesson 3: The role of identity

Clear emphasises the role of identity in making lasting changes. The concept is relevant for all osteopaths whether a personal brand (Alan Zaia Osteopathy) or business brand (Osteohustle). A strong brand identity helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors, build trust with your patients, and create a sense of purpose and direction. By adopting a clear and consistent identity, osteopaths can create positive habits around their brand values and behaviours. This leads to a stronger sense of purpose, more meaningful interactions with customers, and the ability to achieve your desired goals.

Lesson 4: The Four Laws of Behaviour Change

Clear outlines four key principles for making and breaking habits. As an osteopath, applying these principles to practice management, patient care, and personal growth can accelerate your personal development, business and career progression.

Make it obvious: The habit needs to be effortless for us and require no active thinking.

Osteopaths can make positive habits obvious by creating clear and concise action plans that are easy to understand and do.

For example, if an osteopath wants to develop a habit of reviewing patient files before each appointment, they can create a simple checklist and place it in a prominent location, such as on their desk or computer screen. By making the habit effortless and requiring no active thinking, the osteopath can seamlessly incorporate the habit into their daily routine.

Make it attractive: If the habit is unattractive we likely won’t have enough willpower to do it over and over.

Osteopaths can make habits more attractive by framing them in a positive light and associating them with something enjoyable.

For instance, an osteopath who wants to develop a habit of writing weekly blog posts can make the habit more attractive by associating it with their passion for sharing health information and helping patients by providing a fantastic resource for them. They can also set up a routine where they write in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment or reward themselves after publishing a post

Make it easy: The less friction there is between you and the habit, the greater the chances are that you’ll actually do it.

To build positive habits that are easy to follow, osteopaths can reduce friction and make the habits more accessible.

For example, if an osteopath wants to develop a habit of exercising before work, they can make the habit easy by laying out their workout clothes the night before, packing a gym bag, and having the equipment they need readily available. By reducing the barriers between them and their desired habit, they can increase their chances of success.

Make it immediately satisfying: Our brain rewards immediate returns so it’s good to come up with something simple that brings us joy right after we perform our habit.

Osteopaths can make habits immediately satisfying by incorporating small rewards that they enjoy after performing the habit.

For example, an osteopath who wants to develop a habit of reviewing their patient notes after each appointment can reward themselves with a purposeful stretch or meditation. By creating a positive association with the habit, you’re more likely to repeat it consistently.

Summary

Atomic Habits by James Clear is a book that teaches you how to make small, incremental changes that can have a big impact on your life.

As an osteopath, you can apply the principles of atomic habits to grow your patient list, get ahead in your career, or provide an excellent patient experience. By focusing on small, consistent actions, you can build good habits that will help you achieve your goals.

Overall, Atomic Habits provides a practical guide for osteopaths looking to make lasting improvements in their practice and achieve success in their careers.