Talent Is the Entry Fee: Why Good Chiropractors Stop Short of Greatness
- Dr. Lucas Marchand
- 35 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Lucas Marchand, DC 12/15/2025
Most chiropractors don’t fail. That’s the problem.
They succeed just enough to stop asking the hard questions.
Dan Patrick said something this morning about Kyler Murray that applies perfectly to chiropractic. Murray may be one of the most talented Texas high school athletes of all time—football and baseball. At every level, talent carried him. And now, in the NFL, he's still talented… but talent alone no longer separates you. At this level, everyone is talented. The separator is work. Commitment. Professional seriousness.
That's where the analogy stops being about Kyler Murray—and starts being about us.
Talent Is What Gets You In the Door
Chiropractic attracts talented people. We’re smart enough to survive a demanding education, coordinated enough to develop hands-on skill, and personable enough to work one-on-one with patients all day.
Talent gets you licensed. Talent gets you patients. Talent gets you comfortable.
And comfort is where progress quietly dies.
This is not unique to chiropractic. Dan Patrick drew the parallel to Michael Jordan, and it’s worth slowing down there—because the details matter.
Jordan came out of UNC under Dean Smith, already elite. When he entered the NBA, he was immediately spectacular. Scoring titles. MVPs. Individual dominance.
But championships didn’t come right away.
Why?
Because early Jordan was still playing a talent-first game. The ball stopped with him. The offense bent around him. He won awards, but the team didn’t win titles.
It wasn’t until Phil Jackson pushed a deeper question—Do you want to be great, or do you want to be everything?—that Jordan changed.
He trusted teammates. He played within a system (triangle offense). He gave up control in service of something larger.
The result wasn’t less greatness. It was more.
A Quick Correction (Because Precision Matters)
There’s a popular myth that Jordan “took a pay cut” in his prime to help build championship teams. That’s not exactly true. He was actually one of the highest-paid players in the league during the Bulls’ second three-peat.
But here’s the real point—and it’s more relevant to us anyway:
Jordan gave up usage, not just money.
He gave up shots. He gave up control. He gave up being the only solution.
That’s the sacrifice that unlocked championships.
And that distinction matters for chiropractors.
The Chiropractic Version of Coasting
In our profession, coasting often looks like this:
A solid patient base
A decent reputation in town
$7,000–$9,000/month take-home
Nice house, nice reliable cars, a couple vacations a year.
From the outside, it looks like winning.
From the inside, something subtle happens.
You stop tracking outcomes. You stop sharpening communication. You stop questioning your systems. You stop reading anything that makes you uncomfortable.
You’re not bad. You’re not failing.
You’re just… done growing.
That’s the danger zone.
The Comfortable Ceiling
Sometimes the biggest risks are invisible—not dramatic blowups, but slow plateaus. I don't have to remind you that excellence is context-dependent, not just effort-based. There are many examples of how even elite professionals need systems, checklists, and feedback to avoid stagnation.
Put those together and you get an uncomfortable truth:
Most chiropractors don’t lack talent. They lack deliberate practice once survival is no longer at stake.
Early on, hunger sharpens you.
Later, comfort dulls you.
And because nothing is wrong, nothing changes.
What “Great” Looks Like in Chiropractic
Greatness in chiropractic is not about working more hours or seeing more volume at all costs.
It looks like:
Ruthlessly clear clinical reasoning
Willingness to refer out without ego
Tight systems that reduce decision fatigue
Honest metrics instead of vibes
Continuous skill refinement—hands and words
It means giving up the illusion that you are the practice, and building something that works because of structure, not heroics.
Just like Jordan didn’t stop being great when he trusted his teammates—he became historic.
The Self‑Audit: Are You Coasting or Competing?
This isn't a personality test. It's a performance audit. If the numbers make you uncomfortable, that's not a flaw — that's feedback.
Answer yes or no. No stories. No justifying. No vibes allowed.
1. Clinical Seriousness (The Craft)
Can I clearly articulate why I chose my last 3 treatment plans?
Do I track outcomes beyond “they said they feel better”?
Have I referred someone out in the last 30 days without ego or hesitation?
When was the last time I intentionally worked on getting better with my hands?
If I watched video of myself adjusting, would I learn something—or be bored?
2. Communication & Influence (The Game Film)
Can I explain my care plan in under 60 seconds without jargon?
Do patients accurately repeat my explanation back to me?
Do I ask for commitment—or hope they come back?
Am I comfortable discussing money without defensiveness?
Do I rehearse and refine explanations instead of winging it?
3. Systems vs. Heroics (Jordan Before Phil)
Could my practice function for 7 days without me?
Do I have written systems—not just routines in my head?
Do I start most days executing a plan rather than reacting?
Have I reduced decision fatigue—or added to it?
Is my time spent on high‑leverage work instead of constant problem‑solving?
4. Metrics That Matter (No Vibes Allowed)
Do I know my Patient Visit Average?
Do I know my reactivation rate?
Do I know my average new patients per month over the last 365 days?
Do I know my true monthly take‑home (not gross)?
Do I review these numbers monthly?
5. Professional Restlessness (The Separator)
Have I read something in the last 90 days that challenged me?
Have I asked for feedback from someone better than me?
Am I learning to pursue excellence, not just avoid failure?
Do I feel slightly uncomfortable with my current ceiling?
If nothing changed for five years, would I feel proud—or bored?
Scoring the Audit
There are 25 total questions.
0–8 yes → Operating primarily on talent
Your practice runs on instinct and personality. Your next move is building one system. Pick the biggest daily frustration and document it. Write down the steps. That's where structure begins.
9–14 yes → Comfortable
You've built something sustainable, but growth has stalled. The fix isn't more effort—it's more intentionality. Pick one category where you scored lowest and commit to 90 days of focused improvement.
15–19 yes → Intentionally good
You're running a professional operation. The gap between you and greatness is probably not clinical—it's leadership, communication, or leverage. Find the constraint and eliminate it.
20–25 yes → Competing for greatness
You're operating at a high level. Your challenge now is maintaining restlessness without burning out. Keep asking: What would I do if I were starting over today?
No judgment. Just clarity.
The Power Move: Look for Imbalance
Instead of obsessing over your total score, the real value is imbalance.
Example:
Clinical: 5/5
Communication: 2/5
Systems: 1/5
That chiropractor doesn’t need more CE.
They need leadership and structure.
This mirrors Phil Jackson’s insight with Jordan:
The issue wasn’t talent. It was distribution and trust.
The Question That Matters
Phil Jackson's question applies perfectly here:
Do you want to be good, or do you want to be great?
Good chiropractors coast. Great chiropractors stay professionally restless.
Not anxious.
Not burned out.
Restless.
Because talent is the entry fee.
But seriousness is what separates the merely successful from the truly great.
And the uncomfortable truth is this:
If you've been comfortable for a while, you already know the answer. The only question is whether you'll act on it.
Have a wonderful week,
Lucas
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