The beginning of a new year can be bittersweet—coming off the high of celebrating the holidays and diving into your regular work routine can often be anticlimactic. What motivates me to get an enthusiastic start into the New Year is the opportunity to set new goals—personally and professionally.

One of the very first steps to take in goal setting is summed up perfectly by Steve Chandler in his book, 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself. Tip number one: Create a Vision. "What you do is create a vision of who you want to be, and then live into that picture, as if it were already true," Chandler quotes from a personal anecdote in the book. He also emphasizes that you don't wait until you receive a vision; you create one. In other words, you can make it up.

If you've dabbled in personal goal-setting techniques before or have experience in management, you know that this tip is not new. However, have you ever really applied it wholeheartedly to your career and business in physical therapy? Have you created a vision of what type of PT you want to be—both personally and clinically? Are there skills that you need to learn to expand your treatment repertoire? If you are a practice owner, do you have clear business goals of what you want your practice to achieve? Have these goals been communicated to your staff?

At the American Physical Therapy Association trade shows I attended in 2007, many PTs talked about protecting and advocating their right to provide particular treatments in a time of heavy competition from other health care providers, such as chiropractors and athletic trainers. Creating a vision for yourself and your business, and then working toward those goals, can help you stay one step ahead of the competition and trends in the industry.

As you create your vision, don't forget to envision yourself as part of the greater society. As an election year, 2008 is poised to be an important time to think about many national critical topics, such as health care. Be a part of the national conversation on this topic, without overwhelming your patients. For example, encourage a newer staff member to plan an obesity-prevention seminar in your community to raise awareness of the health care issues that arise from this epidemic. This would help promote your practice and give a staff member a chance to expand his or her skill set.

Another national topic that is finally culturally popular is environmentalism. Set up a recycling program for those magazines in your practice's reception area, as well as for those paper records and/or daily notes that are no longer pertinent or useful. Simple signage in your practice that tells patients you are taking extra measures to be environmentally conscious might lead to referrals from patients who appreciate not only receiving quality physical therapy in your clinic, but also your business' good will.

Creating a vision for yourself and your business might take you just a few hours or a few days. In the end, you can be sure to have a road map that will guide you and your business to success throughout the rest of the year. Let me know about your professional visions and goals, and I will share them with our readers.

Arati Murti