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Resolve to lead by example in the New Year
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Happy New Year! My guess is that your year is off to a fast and furious start and, like each year before it, you are embracing 2014 with the same sense of optimism, great anticipation and … yes … even a little trepidation. No matter how many times we have done this before, beginning a new year brings with it a certain amount of pressure. Pressure to not only make resolutions, but to actually execute them. But are such resolutions realistic aspirations or merely goals for which we are destined to always fall short?
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” While Lincoln’s sage advice certainly rings true as it relates to resolutions of a personal nature – physical, intellectual and emotional – do his words transcend our professional lives as well?
There is no doubt we can resolve to be better professionally. Any practice management expert will agree that leading by example is the single most important initiative an optometrist can take to positively impact his or her practice culture. Whether your goal is to see more patients, add a new technology or develop an area of specialization, your actions certainly effect change and impact outcome. So, if it is this easy, why are resolutions so hard to keep?
The pure and simple truth is we do not live – or practice – in a vacuum. There are so many external factors, each of which plays a role in influencing, if not mitigating our resolutions. Undoubtedly, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an aging population and competitive market forces will all play a role in how well we execute our 2014 resolutions.
In our ongoing effort to provide colleagues with timely and clinically relevant information, Primary Care Optometry News recently convened a panel of industry experts at the American Academy of Optometry’s annual meeting. Representing virtually every facet of the eye care industry, our colleagues weighed in on a variety of topics ranging from the ACA to megatrends in eye care to the evolution of optometric practice. I encourage you to take a few minutes and hear what they have to say. I am confident you will find it enjoyable and invaluable as you navigate your New Year’s resolutions.
From all of us at Primary Care Optometry News, best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.