"I don't want to grow up, I am a Toys-R-Us® Kid!"™
Our fascination with never growing up constantly tugs at our psyche and will continue as long as people inhabit the earth. Toys-R-Us® knew this and my vivid memor
ies of this jingle are testimony to the success of their marketing campaign.
There are times when the thought of growing up is scary for all of us. These are usually times of uncertainty and most people would rather avoid uncertainty than embrace it. Personally, the thought of marrying my beautiful wife and buying a house was daunting enough. But, the rewards were awesome so I grew up a little and took it on. The next step for us is to start a family... which means I am going to have to grow up even more!
By now you are probably thinking, "How does all this relate to community pharmacy?" It is relevant because community pharmacists are facing a new, tougher reality where they are going to have to grow up even more and do so very quickly if they want to survive.
The next step in growing up for community pharmacists means becoming conscious about what drives success in their pharmacy and then facing the new reality head on.
To help you understand what conscious about what drives success in your pharmacy means, I think it would be wise to share a story with you. We hired a strategic coach to help us address a few issues we faced while growing our business in the early 2,000s. After our initial session he said, "The one key thing I have noticed is you are an unconcious competent business." What he meant was we were successful but we had no idea why. He challenged us to become conscious of why we were successful and become more intentional and powerful in everything we do.
Becoming conscious (or more aware) about what drives your success is all part of the growing up process. To address the new reality, I bellieve every community pharmacist must first acknowledge for themselves that they have as much if not more influence on patient health care than any other provider. And, beyond being conscious of this fact, it's time to grow up even more and step into that role consciously, intentionally and powerfully.
By accepting this, you will start the process of becoming conscious of what drives your success now and what will drive it as you face the new reailty.
So, what can you do to start becoming conscious about your success now and in the future?
The following things can help:
- Accept the new reality of the pharmacy industry
- Be dynamic in your pharmacy, not static
- Set goals and benchmarks to measure progress
Rick Coakley, the founder of Waypoint (and my father) is fond of saying, "It is impossible to get where you want to go, if you don't know where you are." No truer words have ever been spoken especially in our current environment. If you want to get started identifying where you are currently, please click the following button to download an self-assessment tool that will help you determine where you are today.
Where does this wisdom come from?
The content of this blog is inspired and verified by our experience helping independent community pharmacists enjoy financial independence during and after their life in pharmacy.
When a pharmacist reaches out to us for information and help, we endeavor to give them as much free value as is possible. In addition to providing educational, self-assessment and strategic planning tools (like The Community Pharmacist Lifecycle), we invite qualified pharmacists into our formal discovery process.
The first step of the process is completing The Inspired Goals Workshop. This 90-minute session enables us to deliver a detailed and personal Inspired Independence Blueprint. The blueprint provides a personalized roadmap for achieving your goals and enables you to fully understand the value of joining The Inspired Independence Program.
If you wish to learn more about any aspect of our work, the free value we offer, or to be considered for The Inspired Goals Workshop, visit our web site at www.waypointus.com or call 843.873.4420 and ask for Ben or Matt Coakley.
At Waypoint Pharmacy Advisors, we take care of you!
