We all know that a certain amount of stress in our daily lives is perfectly normal and somewhat necessary to ensure we perform optimally at work, especially when we are faced with the decision making process. But we also know that chronic stress can prove disastrous to our health, especially if it is a long term continuous process.

As health care professionals, we are all too well aware of the physical effects of stress and when chronic stress invades our lives and our bodies are in a constant fight or flight mode, we produce an excess amount of hormones that lead to changes in heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism and physical activity.  We have also seen, often anecdotally, the physical and physiological states that can be caused by the conditions of chronic or repeated stress.  These states being disease.

I was really interested in what Dr Zhen Yan and her colleagues at State University of New York, Buffalo have had to say on the matter of stress in a recent study of the mechanisms for the regulation of ligand-gated ion channels and synaptic transmission. It has already been documented that these hormones influence the prefrontal cortex (PFC) region of our brain and, as I mentioned above, a healthy amount of stress allows these hormones to enhance our memory and decision making. Too much though, and our mental flexibility and attention take a hammering and our performance in the workplace (and in our everyday lives) decreases.

What has been confirming for me is the impact that repeated stress, and continued stress actually has on memory function.  This study has now identified the specific hormones and their effects on memory function when under conditions of chronic stress.

The discovery  of how these hormones relate to cognitive function is extremely important to understanding the role that chronic stress can play on our ability to think and act optimally both in the workplace and at home. Various stress related mental disorders have been linked to PFC  dysfunction and these findings will now help break down the disease process caused by chronic stress reactions within the body.

Living in today’s world, we simply can’t ignore the stress that is put upon us. Our adolescents and young adults are entering the workforce already under much more stress that could have been conceived off a mere 10 – 15 years ago. We live in a success-oriented society and it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to escape from the competition and desire to succeed from a young age.

It’s therefore vitally important that we address both the cause and effects of chronic stress in the workplace and come up with effective answers to address the problems that our current lifestyle predisposes us to.

We know stress is bad, we know it leads to ill health. Will this change the way you do your work? Will it impact upon the decisions you make for clients?

Does being reminded of the impact of stress on performance and health make you take notice of the potential stressors and cumulative stressors both at work and at home?

How will we talk to our children about stress?

What solutions and opportunities do we have to make stress work for us?

I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and experiences. Please leave your comments below and join the discussion over on our Facebook wall

Have a great week

Jo from Purple Co

About the Author

Jo Muirhead | Passionate Rehabilitation Consultant | Trainer | Mentor

Jo Muirhead   is the founder of Purple Co, the Purpose for People Company.  She has 18 years experience as a Rehabilitation Consultant and is passionate about changing lives, and about empowering Rehabilitation and allied health Professionals to build successful and sustainable consulting practices.

Purple@purposeforpeople.com.au | www.purposeforpeople.com.au

‘How does this relate to marketing?’ I hear you ask. Well, good question. It relates perfectly, because if you know how to offer a solution to a client, then you know how to market yourself and your services. No more arguing with yourself (or me) – you are actually a marketer.

I am very grateful for being able to read an article written by Jason Leister “How to Grow a client” (JasonLeister.com) that was sent to me by http://www.earlytorise.com/ on 21 Feb 2012. In reading his article, I felt as though I had found someone who could articulate what I have been doing and encouraging other professionals and consultants to do for years,

This is where marketing as Rehabilitation Professionals starts……

When you can solve a client’s problem better than anyone else, you’ve made a big step toward success.

Jason cleverly discusses how to “Grow a client”. What he identifies is the need to create a system where you can “pull” (I say attract) potential customers to you.

This pull is a slow, gentle pull that allows your potential customers to KNOW you, LIKE you and TRUST you.

When customers or potential customers show up in your world, this means you are doing or have done something to attract them. For us as allied health professionals and Consultants, customers most often turn up through word of mouth. What is the best way to get a word of mouth referral? Do an exceptional job on a difficult case. Do a superb job and you will get you noticed. Simply solve a problem.

Conversely, if you have customers who balk at your fees, are annoying to work with and just make you a little bit crazy, then you need to ask ‘how have I attracted them?’ Jason pulls no punches and suggests something in your attraction process lead them to think their behaviour was acceptable to you. This is certainly worth thinking about and changing rather than lamenting and becoming resentful.

So understand this – marketing to prospective customers will take time. However, there’s not too much more work to be done if you are doing a great job. Solving a problem and developing relationships with prospective customers are relationships that will be nurtured and allowed to grow. However, you do need to tend this relationship; it does requiring nourishment from you.

Now, to do this well, effectively and efficiently, you will need a system. But that’s OK, a system is all about doing the same thing consistently.

Start with what you know – solve a problem.

Have a great week

Jo from Purple Co

About the Author

Jo Muirhead | Passionate Rehabilitation Consultant | Trainer | Mentor

Jo Muirhead is the founder of Purple Co, the Purpose for People Company. She has 18 years experience as a Rehabilitation Consultant and is passionate about changing lives, and about empowering Rehabilitation and allied health Professionals to build successful and sustainable consulting practices.
Purple@purposeforpeople.com.au | www.purposeforpeople.com.au

Are you like me?

I thought I had a great ability to get the information I needed from GP’s and Treating Health Professionals.  It would always take me a long time; and it would mean I needed to organise case conferences very regularly but I got the information I needed…….eventually.

My approach however was expensive.  Expensive not only for my rehab case costs but expensive for the demands on my time.

What if there was a better way? A quicker way? A more cost-effective way? A more personally fulfilling way to get the information you need from those involved with your client and without the need for regular case face to face conferences.

Well there is!

I have mentored several Rehabilitation Consultants in the past 3 years, of different disciplines, whom I have been able to assist develop more effective and time efficient ways of getting MORE from their interaction with Treating Medical and Health Professionals.

The first key to developing open communication channels with Treating Medical and Treating Health Practitioners is to understand your INFLUENCE.

How you use your influence to build rapport quickly and deliberately will enable you to develop a communication channel where information can be exchanged and clients can participate in an integrated, transparent rehabilitation process where they remain the centre of their own experience.

The second key is a SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.  Like you, your colleagues and your customers, not all GP’s and NTD’s like to be communicated with/to in the same way.    I will address this in my next Article .

Experience alone will not teach you how to influence and communicate with GP’s, NTD’s and Treating Health Professionals. There is a method and application of a specific communication strategy that if taught and applied will result in significantly increased outcomes for information flow, responsiveness and cost effectiveness.

We are expected to INFLUENCE Treating Medical and Health Professionals.  Here is an opportunity to learn specific strategies to apply your INFLUENCE to achieve faster, more cost effective results.

Have a fantastic day.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jo (from Purple Co)

Are you frustrated that they cannot, or will, not answer the questions you need answered within reasonable time frames?

So was I!

Take a look at this short video. If you listen carefully you will find 3 specific strategies that will empower you to take control of all of your communication and achieve faster, more useful results with such communication.

This video shows you 3 specific ways you can get MORE from every communication right now.  These 3 are part of 6 specific strategies that I have developed and worked with successfully.  All these strategies can be implemented prior to needing to involve any level of independent medical opinion (IMC, IMO and IME).

• How much more quickly will you make progress with your clients when you have the medical information you need when you need it?
• How much more will you be able to achieve if you don’t have to resort to adversarial use of “independent advice” to achieve communication.
• How many more referrals will you attract because you are able to access medical information from Treating Health Professionals quickly and cost effectively?
• How much more personally satisfying will it be for you to be treated as the Health Professional you are as you engage in purposeful and real conversations with GP’s and NTD’s where information is exchanged  freely?

After all, who really wants to be sitting in a medical centre at 4pm on a Friday afternoon waiting for a GP who is running 2 hours late?  I don’t!

We can’t escape the need to interact with Treating Medical and Health Professionals as Rehabilitation Professionals.  Let’s learn how to use our exciting knowledge and skills to improve our communication and improve outcomes.

Have a great week

Jo (from Purple Co)

PS……

Wow! Before I published this article, a heated discussion about the subject started after I shared it with a group of Consultants on Facebook. (to join the conversation go to https://www.facebook.com/PurpleCo). There are some strong opinions about this message.

Well, I am guessing you already know that the best way NOT to help a client get a job is to treat job seeking as ‘compliance management’.

I guess you also know that there is an assumption made, for Rehab Counsellors and Psychologists, that when you get a job in Occupational Rehabilitation then you automatically know how to get a client a job. I don’t think that is true. But you don’t get off that lightly. If you were able to get yourself a job, chances are, that you can teach someone else ‘how to get a job’.

In 17 years of experience in rehabilitation consulting, and teaching, training and mentoring Rehabilitation Consultants, the BEST way to assist clients get a job is to know what type of consultant you want to be.

It may come as a surprise to you, but you don’t have to be everything to everyone! Actually that’s pretty impossible.

Let me explain what I mean in this 3 minute video:

Choose what type of consultant you want to be when it comes to helping clients to get a job. If you are well motivated and working to your strengths you are going to have much greater success, AND you will enjoy the job search part of your job so much more (imagine that, actually enjoying the job search client’s you have).

Build upon your success in 3 ways:

Resource yourself
Develop expertise
Empower client’s to use their own networks
I would love you to join the conversation about how you think the best way has been to help your client’s to get a job. Please leave a comment in the comments section below; or join the conversation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PurpleCo.

Have a fantastic week

JofromPurpleCo

How we manage our efficiency, is how we behave effectively. There is a whole range of thoughts and attitudes tied up in how we approach our work. The purpose of this brief power-shot is not to unveil those unhelpful thoughts and beliefs ( lets save that fun stuff for another day) but to share with you 3 simple, easy to apply ACTIONS you can implement right now that will shine a HUGE big spotlight on where you can become more efficient and by consequence more effective.

1. STOP asking yourself how will I get this approved?
Instead ask – what does my client really need?

If you are so convinced and certain of what you know your client needs, then it will be easy to ask for and receive the approval. You have to be convinced of your own professional judgement and have certainty around how YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE to a client.

2. STOP double handling information
I made a HUGE impact on my business and my work-life and I saw just how many times I was repeating the same information over and over again about a client. This is so not necessary.

A challenge for us – who can find the number of ways to use the same information so you only write it once?

3. Schedule EVERYTHING

Seriously, I mean everything. If you think you are overworked, or have too many clients this is the BEST way to confirm the answer. This takes discipline and commitment , but I can assure you it was s the most worthwhile activity I implemented in 2011. My effectiveness and my income grew considerably. What I LOST was anxiety and the constant state of urgency that appeared to plague my case load because I was over committed.

The ability to achieve KPI’s or revenue targets is not based on a Magic number of clients in your case load.

When you take ACTION and implement these 3 simple tactics you will be empowered and in control of your work. You will NOT be controlled by the urgency of everyone one else right now!

Who is up for the challenge in Tip #2 – send me a message in the box below, how many ways can you find to use the same information???????

“You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”. – Aristotle

Happy Consulting –

If you know someone who might benefit or like to know this information, please feel free to share.

Jo

Check out what’s new at Purple Co

http://purposeforpeople.com.au/mentoring

http://purposeforpeople.com.au/career-assessment-coaching

Does your recommended reading get done when you need a procrastination strategy?

OR, does it wait until you made a bit of a boo boo at work because you weren’t up to date ( that’s embarrassing huh!)

Well here you go, some new changes have been made to the SRC Act that came into effect as of 7 Dec 2011. I thought these were kind of important and would be a helpful thing to know….. so straight from the Comcare website to you.

19 Dec 2011

A number of changes to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 came into effect on 7 December 2011.

The changes include:

the reintroduction of compensation for injuries sustained during an ordinary recess—such as a lunch break
the introduction of coverage for certain employees working outside Australia where the Minister declares the country or class of employee covered by legislative instrument
ongoing compensation for medical expenses even if payment of other compensation is suspended
access to the Consolidated Revenue Fund to pay compensation for certain long latency diseases
enabling development of regulations that will prescribe time limits for claims determinations and reconsiderations.
Comcare will issue Jurisdictional Policy Advices soon to explain the changes in more detail. For further information please contact Comcare on 1300 366 979 or email strategic.policy@comcare.gov.au.

if you would like to know more then click here to go to the Comcare website

What do you think of these new changes? How will it change your management of a Rehab Plan for an employee under the SRC ACT? Leave your comments, thoughts questions in the comments section below. Would love to generate a discussion on this topic.

Happy reading

Jo

Wanted to send a quick message to you to say thank you for your support in 2011. Your contributions are very much appreciated. I am excited by what 2012 has in store for us. Take a moment to watch my short video.

If you would like to know more about the Training or the Mentoring, send me an email , or click on this link –> purple@purposeforpeople.com.au with the headline “Hey Jo I want to know more”.

Have a great Christmas and New Year. May 2012 be the start of something awesome for you!

Jo

One of my biggest lessons during 2011, has been that nothing makes sense without VISION. I have to admit Stephen Covey’s well known quote ” start with the end in mind” really does bring success.

I have learned that VISION brings the end picture, the end result into focus as the DESTINATION.

VISION brings everything into amazing clarity. With VISION I was able to see more clearly. I was less distracted less prone to follow the new shiny thing and much less likely to stray off my course.

VISION BRINGS FOCUS

What has FOCUS achieved for me 2011? Focus for me has resulted in realizing the VISION I set in 2006. A magnified VISION has now been born.

Let me share a couple of FOCUS examples from my 2011 mentorees

Liz started her own consultancy 8 weeks ago, and in the space of 7 weeks she has increased her business by 36%. By being FOCUSED on her VISION, she has created the work life integration she had only dared dream about before commencing this journey. What is so awesome is Liz now tells me ( and anyone else who wants to know) that she loves her job.

What else has FOCUS achieved? Well in the case of Rachael, in the space of 7 weeks she has built her own consulting practice , and has now replicated her management salary. A surf before breakfast; writing notes in local cafes; missing the peak hour traffic are the perks of her new work life.

FOCUS allows you to plan for time off. My FOCUS has enabled me to work 1 week out of 2 for 6 weeks to spend more time with my son over Summer.

VISION when combined with FOCUS are the momentum for DRIVE. When VISION is clear, you become FOCUSED to achieve your VISION and now you are DRIVEN to achieve your VISION. It can’t be helped. Get your VISION clear, allow it to come into FOCUS and you will be propelled ( DRIVEN) forward.

Don’t let 2012 just be another year that was, get clear on your VISION. You can CREATE the work life integration that you want.

Would you like to know how to get clear on your VISION? Want to know how to bring your VISION into FOCUS? Want the DRIVE to bring your VISION into reality? Then contact me to register to be part of an exciting VISION building day coming your way Feb 2013.

As an example, you may be interested to know that there are 306 VA’s listed on LinkedIn in the Melbourne area alone.

We have found that the roles of Receptionist, Secretary, Personal Assistant and even Executive Assistant are being cut back in many companies. On the Australian Government website Job Outlook they state that receptionists have average prospects over the next 10 years. Our research would indicate that this may be true in smaller businesses but in corporate Australia things have already shifted.

One Sydney employer in conversation this week indicated that they have one PA serving 7 income producing staff, whereas not long ago the ratio was closer to 1:1. Their strategy has been to replace secretaries with younger graduates who are keen to get ahead in their industry and thus don’t mind sharing some of the duties of reception and some PA work (like research and analysis) for senior staff as part of gaining experience in their role.

If you have the requisite skills and are interested in becoming a VA then we would suggest that there are at least three ways to go forward:

Start your own business.
Buy a franchise (yes, we are aware of at least one VA who is offering training under license for $8000 guaranteeing your first clients, and stating that with 3 fulltime clients you can make up to $80,000p.a. as a VA.
Start out working for an another VA who is already busy.
One sign of the rise in the number of VA’s are the number of forums available online. Forums, where VA’s register and ‘hang out’ in virtual community and where job opportunities are often advertised, include: A Clayton’s Secretary, Australian Virtual Business Network, Working Women’s Network and Vyva. There is usually a membership fee to join these forums of between $100 and $200 per annum.

At Purple Co we use two awesome VA’s who make really significant contributions to our business model and efficiency.

We are seeing this as a powerful opportunity for people with injuries and disabilities who want to pursue income generation, with skills easily transferable into this role. Just as we are seeing the rise of self employment and solo business operators, VA’s fall really neatly into a a reasonable, realistic and achievable incoming producing role.

Purple Co will be launching Business of 1 in 2012 to assist people make a successful transition to this and other types of contractor, solo business types of “work”.

What has been your experience working with a VA? Leave a comment below and let us know.

We would also be really keen to know your thoughts on this business endeavor to assist people with injuries and disabilities create their own earning capacity.