Pay Yourself First or the Ultimate Price You Will Pay

Since we spend most of our waking hours at work, and if our boss happens to be a miserly, condescending, fault finding slave driver, that environment would destroy the proactive-creativity and ambition within the most buoyant, generous and optimistic individual. 

And, if your boss happens to be YOU as well, then no matter where you go, there you are.

All modesty aside, the most important person in any start-up is the one who gave it life and is driving it to its stated goals. Serving both the customer and the employee. You may be able to survive without your accountant, lawyer and top talent for a time. You may even survive without your best clients as the business evolves. But if it were not for the courage and vision of the founder, the enterprise would never see the light of day.

Most of us however, we’re taught to take the smallest piece, get on the back of the line, wait your turn, be modest, stop asking and don’t be greedy. To be selfish is bad to be selfless is good. We were sold role models like Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Mahatma Gandhi who selflessly gave their lives to their respective causes. And of course, there’s our own mothers, who worked themselves to the bone and gave up (or we’re willing to give up) everything so that we, their children, can have a little more.

Who can possibly argue with that saintly behavior and outlook?

Then there’s the do what you love, and don’t worry about the money philosophy, that seems to be popular with so many creative people. Therefore, many of us who start a business and selflessly take care of everyone else, and yet neglect to take care of ourselves, (both in our health and compensation) end-up paying the ultimate price ... burnout. 

Another words, we pay ourselves last, and inevitably undermine the very engine driving the enterprise towards its ultimate destination.

My working career began in my father's taxi shop some 40 years ago. I started helping out at the age of 13, and by the time I was 16, because of dad’s legal problems, I ended up running the business with some 70 employees. An extremely hard-working, smart and ambitious man, my dad was never much interested in the rules imposed by bureaucracy. So, he was arrested, and sentenced to 2-5 years in a federal prison, for tipping. Turns out, our government frowns on that kind of generosity, when it comes to their agents. 

Our business relationship began with the idea that I’m working for the family and therefore don’t need to be paid. But should I need money for expenses he would just give it to me. So the effort wasn’t connected to the reward. It was a weird and awkward relationship that created an environment where I worked extremely long hours, and did not allow myself to be compensated, because I was selflessly working for the greater good. 

This philosophy followed me throughout my career. As I worked very hard to take a business off the ground, and as it began to succeed, I habitually continued to put myself last. What inevitably happened was that I could no longer force myself to do the things that made the business succeed in the first place, as I dug in my heels, and began the process of self-sabotage. I saw myself doing it, I understood what was happening, but I was totally powerless to stop it.

It is of course possible, to force yourself to do the work without compensation for a time, as you’re taking a business off the ground. The problem comes in when paying everyone first and yourself last becomes the driving philosophy of your management style. Because there are always things to spend money on. There is no limit on how much marketing, inventory and talent you can invest in. So, in the name of delayed gratification, you become a martyr to your own dream, and fall on the sword of selflessness.

Imagine treating your best, most dedicated, and proactive employee that way, and for so long. It will most certainly undermine their natural ability to do those difficult things that make the business work. Eventually, either physically or emotionally, they’re going to quit. But when compensation is tied directly to the results created, and the founder is paid first, then she will have the continued motivation to grow the business so that the enterprise can thrive.

The child within is very attuned to fairness and can become extremely vindictive when witnessing us taking care of everyone else, while neglecting our own needs and desires. Perhaps in the beginning, he will buy your dream and be willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of the vision, but when the business begins to create results, and yet he is treated like an entry-level serf, bitterness ensues. 

When promises are broken, compensation neglected and long hours the norm, that child within, will turn into an obstinate donkey, and won’t move no matter what you do to prod it. 

One of my close friends is a tremendously successful entrepreneur with stores in all the major malls around New York. He works extremely hard and for some 30 years he’s kept unusually late hours. But at the end of the year, after his busiest season, he goes out and buys himself a new sports car. He generously rewards the most important person in his business and is therefore able to justify the effort to the little boy who resides within. And this in turn, benefits all of his employees, customers and vendors.

So, this is a case for practical selfishness. As making yourself happy and rewarding your effort generously, is the most selfless thing you can do for yourself, your business, and the world.

Alex Lubarsky is the founder of the Health Media Group, Inc. a company that produces the Science of Human Optimization Conference and the Physician, Inc. Mastermind, he is the author of The Art of Selling The Art of Healing: How the Rebels of Today are Creating the Healthcare of Tomorrow and Why Your Life Depends on it. In his weekly RADIO program, he interviews some of the more innovative physicians, authors and celebrities from around the nation.

Word of Mouth Exclusively is A Recipe for Mediocrity Indefinitely

(Listen this article HERE)

Over the last 51 years I’ve slept some 18,615 times.

My experience has been pretty diverse too, as I’ve slept in the Soviet Union, China, Mexico, Italy, England, and Vietnam. I slept on trains, airplanes and boats. As well as on the floor, at the office, and in the woods. It could be said that with approximately 148,920 hours of sleep, under my blanket, I’m somewhat of an expert on the topic.

And in all of that time, and in all of the places where I’ve laid my head down, never have I given much thought to the pillow under it. Sure, some we’re better than others, but not in one instance did I get up in the morning and feel compelled to call a friend and tell them about my extraordinary pillow experience.

So, if the pillow manufacturer was exclusively counting on my referrals, it would prove to be a disappointing business model.

On the other hand, Michael J. Linden, founder of My Pillow, built a 300-million-dollar business, selling what is perhaps one of the least thought about products in the world. Primarily by forcing this sleep-utensil to the forefront of our minds. And, for all intents and purposes, he was probably the most unlikely person to have built that.

One of the rules in polite society is that you don’t bring up politics or religion at the dinner table, lest you offend someone with opposing beliefs. In business as well, it’s recommended that you keep your personal views to yourself and try to present your message in a neutral manner.

Michael however, instead of sporting a customary jacket and tie in his ubiquitous infomercials, wears a large silver cross prominently displayed over his dress shirt. In addition, he is an enthusiastic Trump supporter, telling anyone who will listen why this President is the best choice ever. And if that wasn’t polarizing enough, he began building this business, while addicted to crack cocaine.

Word of mouth exclusively is a recipe for mediocrity indefinitely:

●     Primarily because you’re operating at the fiercest level of competition. Where everyone else in your industry is fighting over the same small percentage of the population who are already believers. These people understand your unique approach, and they understand how effective and helpful it is. They also know what to google when searching. So now they just need a provider in proximity, who they think can help them, and can do it at a price they are willing to pay.

●     Word of mouth is also sporadic and unpredictable. Usually resulting in a feast or famine roller coaster. Relying on this tactic alone, most entrepreneurs will keep their head just above water, never gaining the momentum necessary to achieve the results they envisioned when starting their business.

●     The only word of mouth that spreads virally is the negative kind. Much like a weed it requires very little help. The positive word of mouth that we’re looking for, must be cultivated, woo’ d and courted like a shy maiden.

●     Most entrepreneurs, who use word of mouth exclusively, will tend to be less selective in who they accept as a customer. Willing to take on anyone who knocks on their door because of practical pressures. Which in turn frustrates the therapeutic outcome, and dilutes their statistics, confidence, and reputation.

●     Also, since like attracts like, on the off chance that a difficult and frugal client makes a referral, it will be of someone even more frugal and difficult.

●     You are giving up all your personal power, and control, and placing it on the lips of people who are very busy living their own lives.

●     Additionally, word of mouth alone won’t generate enough force to tear the gravitational pull, and propel a business to prominence, and the founder towards prosperity and freedom. It will just kind of coast down the runway indefinitely. And eventually, this brave entrepreneur, will come to the inaccurate conclusion that she was simply not meant to fly. 

●     After a few years, this can become demoralizing, exhausting, and result in a downward spiral and inevitable burnout.

Please don’t misunderstand, I think that word of mouth is an important part of growing any business. And will naturally bubble up, from our willingness to serve our clients to the best of our ability, and from the bottom of our heart. But what is preventing us from serving the larger population and providing value to them in a similar fashion.

Won’t that as well generate world of mouth?

There is also the placebo factor that comes into play when an expert achieves celebrity status, by educating the public, on a large scale. So, by the time a patient shows up in the waiting room they know who you are, what you do, how you work, and are primed and ready to get better.

Looking at his reviews, I know Michael gets a tun of referrals, sent to him by happy customers who have already purchased his product and swear by it. But those amazing clients, came from his ongoing effort, of putting his well-thought-out message consistently in front of millions and millions of people.

He turns a lot of dirt, sort of speak, to find a few gems.

In fact, he spends 100 million dollars per year (30% of his gross revenue) on bringing his evangelical message to the masses. And you’d think, to enjoy that level of success, his product would have to be the best quality or the best priced. It did not even make it into the top five best pillows in the Bestreviews report and is about 40% more expensive than many of those options.

The mistake most entrepreneurs make is thinking that the quality of their product, service, or infrastructure alone, is enough to bring the masses to their door.

Marketing, why none of it works, and how all of it does.

Most people who say they’ve tried marketing, and were disappointed with the results, left something out of the recipe, used a wrong ingredient, or did not stick with it for the full term. A onetime ad in a local newspaper is not enough. A sporadic mailing or lecture, a social media post or being a guest on a local news program even, won’t do it.

But when you combine all these approaches, and consistently bring your unique message to the public in a passionate, almost evangelical manner, you will begin to get attention, and create converts. People who go from being the grumpy and skeptical ‘Walter” (Jeff Dunham’s ventriloquist dummy) to an enthusiastic Amway recruit, as spreading your message becomes their personal mission.

Alex Lubarsky is the founder of the Health Media Group, Inc. a company that produces the Science of Human Optimization Conference and the Physician, Inc. Mastermind, he is the author of The Art of Selling The Art of Healing: How the Rebels of Today are Creating the Healthcare of Tomorrow and Why Your Life Depends on it. In his weekly RADIO program, he interviews some of the more innovative physicians, authors and celebrities from around the nation.

Why Medicare for All is an Idea worth Considering

Born in the former USSR, and having seen socialism first hand, I’m not a big fan of this political legerdemain. Although, I think that the program aggressively pushed by Senator Sanders and his minions, may be worth our consideration.

What could be the problem with providing government-sponsored health insurance for all 320 million citizens of the United States? Especially when virtually all democrats and a significant number of republicans seem to favor it? With the health status of the average person in our nation declining from one year to the next, isn’t this the natural next step for us to take? Isn’t it humane and righteous to provide care for all those who need it?

Or is it this system that is the very reason for the precipitous decline?

I of course understand, and am certainly not immune to the suffering of others. And at least in theory, I would love to see everyone provided with all of their worldly needs. As all suffering is extinguished and the sick healed. It is the real-world practicality of the situation however, and my experience in actually living in a society that was built up on the very pillars of this misleading ideology, that wanes my enthusiasm for it.

And please believe me when I tell you, I have no interest in changing your mind on the topic, either one way or another. For, I’ve lived on this planet long enough to realize that it’s not that ‘if we do not know our history that we’re doomed to repeat it’. We will repeat those tragic events of the past regardless. Being familiar with them however, may give us a glimpse of where the wind will be blowing the inevitable inferno, allowing us a few extra moments to make our own plans accordingly.

Before the passing of Medicare into law on July 30 1965, Ronald Regan warned us of its dangers, and predicted that our placing a toe into this particular pond, one receiving the lava spillage from an erupted volcano spewed from the depths of hell, will be the beginning of our demise. At the time of course he was thought heartless and callous, but today his prophetic vision is much more palpable, as we find ourselves up to our neck in simmering water, convinced that once we submerge the head, all of our problems will be solved.

Please bear with me as I do some math so as to clarify my point. In 1960 our healthcare expense as a nation was 27.2 billion dollars per year. That’s when you can go to the hospital and give birth for under $100.00. Then with the passing of Medicare in 1965, we opened a Pandora's box that made the management of disease, and not its resolution, the most profitable business in our nation.

By 1995, the healthcare expense hit a trillion dollars per year, as most of the payments for health services were relegated to third-parties, such as the government, and the insurance companies. Which, with some 2000 governmental mandates, became an arm of this entitlement bureaucracy.

It would be at this point, or more likely much earlier, that any sane entrepreneur would recognize this trajectory unsustainable, and abandon the project post haste. The government however has a different view on the topic, and eternally seeks to answer the illusive question of: how can we find the funding to sustain and even grow this burgeoning program. So, by 2005, healthcare spending hit 2 trillion dollars. What it took 40 years to do the first time, it now easily accomplished in just 10 fast years. And today, at 3.67 trillion dollars in annual healthcare spending, we’re about to double again.

Practicality be dammed you say!

England has made it work, Canada, Switzerland, and Australia all have some version of socialized medicine. All ‘civilized’ nations in fact are providing ‘free’ care to their citizens except the United States. And although I won’t pretend that I understand the financial and social nuances of those nations, I am very clear on the fallacy of this system. And no matter how loud the masses become, as they chant ‘healthcare is a right’ you cannot convince someone who has seen the devil with their own eyes, that she does not exist.

It is so easy however to sell people on fleecing their neighbors when it benefits them personally. Although we would not gather as a mob and walk down to the biggest home in our neighborhood, to take some of their furniture, and give it to someone who has been eating off milk crates. Even though, in some minds, that would be the ‘fair’ thing to do.

But somehow, we don’t have a problem in doing exactly this, with their bank account.

If we look throughout history, especially if we agree with the premise that ‘healthcare is a right’ it would be interesting to know its biggest promoters. You’d think it would be the more righteous men like Winston Churchill, or Abraham Lincoln perhaps, who were our most revered historic leaders.

But I was surprised to learn, that socialized medicine, the brainchild of Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, was embraced by non-other than Adolf Hitler. As he began to subdue the masses by offering them something of value for free. Eventually of course, the simple math of the situation, suggested that he begin to exterminate those who we’re the biggest burden upon the system.

Stalin as well promoted socialized medicine. But maybe you would expect that in a communist society. And yet we can be pretty sure that he was not so much concerned with the health and well-being of his constituents, since he put millions of them to the death with very little cause or thought.

Our ‘problem’ here in the United States, is that unlike the above dictators, exterminating those who place the biggest burden on our system of healthcare, is not in vogue. But don’t for a minute believe that it’s not possible, even likely, when the system suggested becomes fertile for the unthinkable.

No, my friend, the only hope our system of care has, in fact our future as a nation, is when we rebuild the relationship between the physician and the public. Get rid of all third-party intervention and refocus our attention from the indefinite management of chronic disease to the art and science of human optimization.

Because socialized medicine is hell.

Seesaw of Survival: The Missing Ingredient to a Thirving Free-Market Medical Practice

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who

cannot change their minds, cannot change anything.”  ­

- George Bernard Shaw

The doctor who invited me to lunch was looking down at the white table cloth, running his fingers around the borders of the still empty plate, as he humbly confided that he was ‘lost’. After 16 years in an integrative practice, having invested a small fortune into a centrally located office, and the latest technology with an equally impressive price tag, this remarkable healer was at wits-end to the unrelenting up and down’s of his outwardly successful practice.

There is a place between success and failure that I’ve come to know as the seesaw of survival.  It seems most prevalent in the business of healthcare especially. Brilliant, gifted and passionate healers who spend their entire career working very hard serving their patients, spending long hours in the office, and lost in thought at the dinner table, who never experience the geometric growth that can be seen everywhere else in nature.

At the point of conception, a new life begins with just one cell, then it divides into two, four, six … twelve, thirty four. A trillion. If it followed the linear progression of most health businesses it would never survive. Fortunately, or paradoxically, a practitioner can subsist by the hairs of his chinny chin chin for decades, never failing completely but never succeeding entirely.

Over the years I’ve had the unique opportunity of interviewing and hosting remarkable healers who seemed to have accomplished the impossible, they’ve developed a seven-figure practice that depended very little, or not at all, on the angry bureaucracy of third-party reimbursement. They fell back in love with the practice of medicine, their patients experience the healthy benefits of a time-generous practice; and the doctor has the personal time to actually enjoy life. Having spent the last fifteen years in the business of marketing integrative doctors (before they were known as such) I’ve personally known physicians who were able to propel to astronomic personal and financial success, as well as those who continued to, for the most part, keep their head above water, lamenting their lack of business and marketing acumen for the frustrating state of affairs.

The latest, most advanced vehicle, when driven on fumes will never tap its innate ability for full self-expression. It will never be able to perform the way it was designed or reach the speeds it is capable unless it has the fuel necessary to perform at its maximum potential. The fuel of any business, including healthcare, is its ability to reach and educate the public about the unique attributes of its service. Build trust; impart knowledge, confidence and understanding, while conveying a palpable proficiency to help solve my problem.

In a recent interview with Doctor Ronald Hoffman, MD the founder and host of the “Intelligent Medicine” radio program, and Manhattan-based center bearing the same name, the well-known practitioner and pioneer of the modern integrative medicine movement, shared the humble beginnings of his impressive success trajectory. Once he graduated medical school it did not take long for him to realize the limitations of an insurance-based practice. So he left that model, and hung up a shingle for his free-market, direct pay center. And although consumed by fear and doubt at first he knew that this was the only way he could practice the kind of medicine that made sense to him.

In the early days Dr. Hoffman would search out any opportunity to speak to groups, even though he thought of himself as naturally shy, and a public speaker who he considered to be awkward at best. Willing to drive to a different borough and subject himself to the life-draining traffic of our bustling metropolis, he would address intimate groups that could comfortably fit around a kitchen table, at some tiny health-food store, and share his unusual perspective on health and healing. As he developed a proficiency of speaking in public, an opportunity presented to host a radio program, on a small scale at first, but then nationally, reaching millions of people who he was able to educate, serve, and provide a valuable perspective without seeking anything in return. This generosity and consistency endeared a generation of listeners who saw Dr. Hoffman as the expert of experts and lined up at the reception desk of his modern office.

To activate your Flux Capacitor, according to the eccentric Dr. Emmet Brown of ‘Back to the Future’ fame, you have to reach 88 mph. If your DeLorean Time-Machine only reaches 87 mph, you will cruise at that speed forever or until you crash into the movie theater at the end of the mall’s parking lot. To get your health business to propel beyond the seesaw of survival, you must engage the local market and you must do so consistently, boldly, creatively and unapologetically. Most practitioners, who spend money on marketing, do it as an afterthought, cautiously reaching 15 mph; surprised and frustrated by the sparse results. In fact they only remember to do any promotion at all, when the eerie quiet emptiness of their office and a very bored front desk person reminds them. That is the main reason why potentially great practices never make it out of the mall’s parking lot, and great healers remain a local ‘best kept secret’ carefully passed down from one ecstatic patient to the next like some valuable family heirloom reserved for the benefit of a select few.

It is also why the insurance and drug companies took control of healthcare, for they have no qualms about spending a significant portion of their resources on getting in front of the public, and telling their story.

As a nation, we are one of the most unwell generations of people who have ever wobbled to a local artery clogging non-food establishment, exhausted from lack of physical activity. There is no dearth of people needing your expertise there is not one person who wouldn’t benefit from your advice or care. Our entire three trillion dollar medical system is focused on the indefinite management of disease and the clumsy suppression of symptoms resulting from a chronic and unaddressed underlying cause. There is a problem with the infrastructure of this model of care, and the modern, proactive doctor, who wants to focus on helping her patients thrive at their maximum level of human expression, is sacrificed on the altar of a third-party controlled system of medicine and the bureaucratic payment schemes that promise the illusive access to free care.

Your only competition is not the doctor across the street but apathy among your neighbors. Other practitioners can be a source of referrals, comradery and support, but if the public is not educated about the merits of prevention, if they are not motivated to take action on improving their wellbeing, we will continue to experience the devastating results of escalating diseases of neglect.

When you signed a contract for your office space, you agreed to a monthly expense that came along with it. It’s part of doing business. You pay your rent when you’re busy and you pay it when you’re slow. It’s a commitment that is included in your annual budget. And one that is built into your fees. I believe that if you are to break the inertia and get off the seesaw of survival, your marketing investment should be at least 10% of your gross revenue, and be included in your expense projections for the year. It is the fuel of your business and one that is missing in most free-market healing centers that I’ve seen. If you don’t engage a properly fueled engine to take you where you want to go, then you have to rely on the wind, the current, and the kindness of strangers.

Marketing, why none of it works, and how all of it does.

With the new political environment there has never been a better time for the entrepreneurial-minded doctor interested in a free-market practice to thrive. The soon to be de-regulated three-trillion dollar system of care will become more malleable and ready to be re-engineered into one that is wellness-oriented, prevention-minded, accessible and affordable for those who need it.

If things are to get better, as it regards our national well-being, someone has to make the time to take a stand.

Health Media Round Table

Free-Market Think Tank

• ·         At this live event, like-minded practitioners have an opportunity to introduce themselves and their healing approach to local colleagues, who can be a source of ongoing referrals.
• ·         We discuss innovative ways to engage the market and develop a loyal following.
• ·         Real-time feedback on what kind of marketing compilation garners the best practical results.
• ·         How companies with proprietary professional products and innovative technology can help our doctors access a marketing platform and leverage their promotional resources.
• ·         Effective free-market practice structures that allow for a life-long relationship between doctor and patient, gutting perverse incentives, and creating the time necessary to address the underlying cause by laying the infrastructure for prevention and optimal wellbeing.
• ·         Learn from successful healer-entrepreneurs who share the steps they took to achieve impressive tangible and intangible rewards available solely in a free-market practice.
• ·         How breakthrough technology will improve the relationship between doctor and patient and refocus care from the management of disease to that of human optimization.
• ·         Discover the latest products and companies that will enhance your practice and impact the efficacy of patient care and retention.
• ·         Understanding the role of money is a tool and how instead of working hard for money you can get your money to work hard for you.

For an invitation to a future Health Media Round Table please send your contact information to alex@healthmedia.us or 516.596.8974.

Power to the Healer: Laying the foundations of a Liberated Practice

There are a few names in the wellness industry that shine. Mehmet Oz, Andrew Weil and Mark Hyman to name a few. They are at the very pinnacle of fame, fortune and freedom, a position not available to everyone who chooses to become a doctor.

Most physicians will work for a clinic or hospital, a few will give a go at their own practice, but will actually be working for the insurance companies and the government. Because the very definition of employer, is one who pays for services rendered.

If we were to diagnose our system of care, and look for the cause of its fundamental malfunction, and inevitable collapse, we would eventually end up shining our flashlight at the cracked, unstable, and convoluted infrastructure of reimbursement. For over 50 years, payment for health care services has come from third-parties, and not the patient herself.

How did this come to be in a country where every other system is built on the philosophy of free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and capitalism?

It was because of high demand for workers during the Second World War, that our government placed wage restrictions on businesses, so as to create a fair playing field. Forcing the more creative employers to offer other benefits, like health insurance, as an added value to attract new employees. Until that spark of brilliance erupted in the brain of some unsung entrepreneur, one’s health care had nothing to do with their job.

It was out of that seemingly innocuous act, and at the time perhaps even justified, that began the deterioration of both our system of care and the health of this nation.

And with the creation of Medicare in 1965, an entire segment of the population was offered unlimited, free access to the very limited and expensive system of care.

I am not arguing right or wrong; but works or not. And not it is.

Today if a specialist accepts a Medicare patient, it’s more out of a sense of duty and pity, than the promise of a $7 dollar check that this government agency will begrudgingly send via its more efficient sister-agency, the post office. And should the doctor forget to dot the (i) or cross the (t) that same militant bureaucracy will rain upon the head of this most unfortunate practitioner like an Armageddon firestorm of death.

Most doctors will feel like they have no choice and accept this backward system as their only option. A few will not. And those are the ones that I am interested in speaking with. Because perhaps, they don’t have to.

In just 24 months we can help lay the groundwork for a practice that is mostly independent of third-party payers, because we position the doctor as an expert in their particular field in front of thousands, perhaps millions of their best potential clients. Those people on the other side of the stethoscope who also don’t like the current system of care and can afford to opt-out.

By testing and exploring the message that best resonates with the public we are able to help establish the doctor as top in their field. And as word spreads and momentum builds, serendipitous opportunities begin to unveil themselves, ones that would never be seen from that third-party medieval dungeon of bureaucracy.

Not everyone can be a Dr. Oz, ordained by Oprah, and placed at the altar as the ultimate expert on all things health. And you don’t need to be. All you need to do, is allocate some time and resources, and begin exploring opportunities outside of a system that doesn’t appreciate your talent, commitment, hard work, and individuality; as member of mankind’s most noble, hard-earned, and inspiring profession.

Alex Lubarsky is the CEO of Health Media Group, Inc., founder of the NAVEL expo and wellness marketing expert, who for over 10 years promoted top wellness oriented physicians, authors and celebrity activists to the public. His events have attracted 10's of thousands of health-minded, proactive consumers. His mission is to help create an affordable, wellness-focused and consumer- driven system of health care, where the doctor is revered and the patient healed.

What Your Doctor Can Learn From my Shoe-Shine Man. – By Alex Lubarsky

“There’s no shortage of dirty shoes, you just have to figure out how to get em’ in the chair.” – Don Ward (NY’s favorite shoe-shine man corner 47^th Street and 6^th Avenue NYC)

‘Hey Mister, your shoes need shining!’ – The man who had set up a shoe-shine stand on a New York street corner said to me as I was waiting to cross Sixth Avenue with my teenage daughter. I looked down at my feet, and did not feel an immediate need to sit down on one of the two office chairs, my innocuous accoster jury-rigged onto a wooden platform. ‘I’m good’ - I answered. Without skipping a beat, now focusing his smiling gaze at my 14 year old daughter, ‘Miss, your boots need a shine!’ One more time I looked down, now at the boots that were recently a prized possession of my wife. This time he hit the nail on the head. Those boots were in desperate need of exactly his kind of attention.

With a technique for shining shoes Don perfected over the last 20 years, he went to work with all the joy, speed and pride in his work of a true professional. As he was shining the boots, he continued making comments at the scruffy shoes of the people passing by, explaining the psychology of those who turned him down ‘those are trust babies, they did not like being called out on a perceived imperfection’, and at the same time sharing his own surprising story with me.

‘I was a pastry chef, then I lost my job and was jobless for over three years, before that I was an accountant working in a cubical.’ Smiling at my daughter, he whispered as if sharing a secret ‘that was boring, don’t do that!’ Quickly returning to his story, he said ‘I had Johnny Carson in this Chair, I told Ted Turner of CNN his shoes need shining … he did not have time for a shine but gave me a $20.’

There are lots of things to love about Don, he is a free spirit, he did not settle for a government handout or a system that was, as he put it, referencing a Seinfeld episode ‘killing independent George’, he is a marketing machine, and he is good, very good at his work.

It’s just not the same with most people who are good at their chosen craft, be they doctor, chef, lawyer or auto-mechanic, few are able to market themselves effectively and many believe that if they just do a good job, word-of-mouth will take over and eventually they will be very successful. Maybe, but that may just take two lifetimes.

Understanding marketing is crucial. If educating the public about your service is not incorporated into the cost of doing business, if it is something that comes as an afterthought rather then top-of-mind, true success will always be just around the corner French-kissing your competition. You will either learn to embrace marketing or you will always be at the mercy of those who do.

Maybe that is why our system of health care is run by third-party shysters that have virtually nothing to do with it while the doctor is relegated to cabin-boy status on the lowest deck of his own ship. 

With what is the ultimate insult to the health care industry, by a self-perpetuating bureaucracy, all controls of the helm will be placed in the hands of a few ‘selfless’ politicians. Most doctors will capitulate to the virtual subjugation by an emboldened, oppressive system that will have them working in the proverbial cubical, as third-party bureaucrats slowly kill independent George.

It’s not about money. It’s about freedom, and it’s about practicing medicine that touches your soul, makes you excited to go to work, and doing it on your own terms, not to mention, makes some kind of an impact in the sobbingly-sad and epidemically-deadly health statistics of generation Y and her children.

The only chance for the future of health care, indeed for the future of our country, is for doctors to identify what their passion is, cultivate a message, dump all the insurance companies, say no to government intervention and begin marketing themselves, just like they pay the rent in their office, i.e. consistently and for as long as they wish to be in business.

There is no shortage of un-well people, you just have to figure out how to get em’ in the chair.

For the last ten years, I’ve ended each of our weekly radio programs with a wish and a prayer, and it is with that thought that I’d like to begin our partnership:“May G-d give us the wisdom to protect our health from the drug-pushers, the mangled-care monopolies and the compulsory medical Marxist, may the health care provider unify and take back the health care industry, and may it happen within this decade.” www.HealthMedia.us 

Andy Griffith Stands up for the PP Act: The Peril’s of Compulsory Medical Care

By alex lubarsky

In a recent commercial espousing the benefits of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or the PP Act), the late Andy Griffith put his credibility, and hopeful-enthusiasm behind this little piece of legislation designed to help ‘fundamentally transform’ the United States of America.

“Nineteen Sixty Five”, Andy began, “la’da good things happened that year” he said in his friendly, cowboy-English twang, “like Medicare”, he continued with the confidence, fluid delivery, and sincerity as that of a paid actor. “Free check-ups, lower prescription costs and better ways to protect Medicare and us from fraud”, he promised, while pointing his authoritative finger at the viewer.  I did not know Andy and never saw any of his shows, because growing up in the 70’s my TV watching was limited to 3 channels of state-controlled news with ‘grandpa’ Brezhnev espousing the benefits of our Lenin-style social utopia. It was kind of like your version of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, but different.

The first time I came across an example of a warped-reality inflicted by media misinformation, I worked in an auto repair shop. After years of seeing the insides of engines, I clearly noticed the difference between one that used quality, high-octane fuel, and those that used cheap gasoline. I mentioned to a customer that the rumbling and pinging was the result of residue build-up on the valves and spark plugs because the cheaper, low octane gasoline did not burn as well, or as clean. The expression on the face of this ‘mass-media intellectual’ changed noticeably, as he began to explain to me why what I was saying was clearly ignorant, mendacious and wrong.

The PP Act is not a new idea. It’s not kinder or more progressive. It’s not cheaper or more efficient. It does not take better care of the elderly or the young and it is not somewhere for us to get to but an ideology for us to get away from. But don’t ask me, just talk to many of my Russian-speaking doctor friends who actually practiced medicine in a government-run system of care, eerily similar to the one that you are about to embrace. Talk to their patients, read the countless books on the topic, and perhaps you'll see what I see. Although sadly, to get the feel of this medieval whip on your naked back, you’ll probably have to experience it for yourself.

Back in 1949, in his book “Compulsory Medical Care and the Welfare State” Melchior Palyi wrote that “In democracies the Welfare State is the beginning and the Police State the end. The two merge sooner or later, in all experience, and for obvious reasons … all modern dictators have at least one thing in common. They all believe in Social Security, especially in coercing people into governmentalized medicine.”

If it wasn’t so tragic, perhaps I could say it was paradoxical that Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were history’s biggest proponents of socialized, free, single-payer, universal, government-controlled, (or whatever sobriquet you would like to assign this menace) public health care. Clearly these men did not have the health of their subjects in mind, when they pumped their fist and rhythmically rhapsodized the benefits of putting their party in charge of your health. Captivating the enchanted, fawning masses, and like the Pied Piper leading the gullible crowds to a future that they could not possibly want or imagine.

Please don’t misunderstand, I think it’s important that we as individuals help others who are in need of our help. I don’t think my family would have survived a year, when we first immigrated to the United States in 1979, if not for the generosity, kindness and proactive empathy of the American people. There are indeed many examples of this kind of munificence throughout this country by those who have made and gave away great fortunes: Andrew Carnegie, J. Paul Getty, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates to name a few. Of course those who made lesser fortunes, yet gave no less generously every day of their lives are people you can easily find in your immediate circles, perhaps in your own home, or mirror.

My warning, more to affirm my own beliefs than to try and change anyone’s mind, is that the more power we place in the hands of third-party systems and self-perpetuating bureaucracies, the less health we will ultimately enjoy. And since our freedom to live life on our own terms is in direct correlation with whether we can think clearly, move fluidly, and have the strength and energy to pursue our dreams, we must become vigilant to the veiled treats to our independence, and cognizant to the structures of wellness and the roads to optimal health.

A society that embraces wellness, allowing it to permeate its culture can only be created by a free-market system that educates people, inspires them and ‘sells’ them on the benefits of a lifestyle that circumvents many of the chronic diseases that have become the norm. We don’t even question it anymore, we’re just sitting there, sipping and bathing in the toxic swamp of modern chemicals that unravel our DNA strands, hoping against hope that someone will come up with another chemical that will reverse that insidious process before it’s too late.

You and I are smarter than that, we set our own course, we examine the facts, vet our allies and seek out the knowledge with which to build the foundations for optimal wellbeing, lasting beauty, fabulous fitness and inspiring longevity. I think Andy would like that.

Alex Lubarsky is the founder of Health Media Group, Inc., host of the weekly Health Media Live radio program, and one of the organizers of the NAVEL Expo. He was born in Moscow, Russia, during the reign of the former USSR. His passion is to inspire personal responsibility and the freedom that it fosters.