According to legend, Lao Tzu was leaving China when he was stopped by a border guard who wanted to know about his philosophy. Lao sat down and wrote eighty-one chapters before he got up, then walked away, never to be seen again. One of his sayings was that A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one’s feet. His point was to take care in the beginning. The Code does this at the very start by having the therapist acknowledge a goal or promise to provide the best possible professional services to clients.

The positive thinking industry says having a goal is the first step to everything else. Knowing where you are going is critical, they say. While the therapist may not write this one down, as they suggest, it is good to know where the therapist is heading, something which may occasionally be forgotten in the daily rough and tumble of lotion and laundry.

C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, a story about three children and a lion named Aslan in the magical kingdom of Narnia. Aslan tells the children they will forget their goal but that he will provide signs or symbols to appear which will cause them to recall what they are about. This first ethic serves the same role as Aslan’s signs. Ethics is the sign post that reminds the therapist what the profession is about.

Having a sincere commitment also makes really good business sense. Earl Nightingale used to tell the story of a store at the end of a San Francisco trolley line. The passengers had to disembark and wait while the trolley turned around. In front of all these tourists with money in their pockets was a store with a sign in the window, No Restrooms for Trolley Passengers / No Change for the Trolley. Here’s a guy, Earl said, we need to help out of business as quickly as possible. Customers loitering right outside his door and he was turning them away. Discouraging business is not exactly committing to provide the best possible professional service! Had he provided the restroom, they would have had to walk past his wares to get there. They would have been inside where they could purchase instead of outside where they could not. They might buy sunscreen or pens or candy or a pocket book to pass the time. Making it easy for the customer to buy what they want and what will do them good is part of providing the best possible professional service.

Taking the time to provide a clean establishment, to learn new techniques, to provide an atmosphere of soothing comfort–even if it requires an extra step–meets this ethic and makes excellent business sense as well.

Sincerity creates success. The person who is best has sincerity. There are not many success stories where the person did shoddy work. The highest quality of work reflects not only on the person doing it but also on the profession that supports that person.

Substandard work reflects poorly on the industry which has given the therapist recognition as a legitimate health care provider, a status which was fought for to achieve. Divided we fall can be no truer than in this field. If a client is asked if they have tried another establishment, inevitably their decision was made on one encounter. If they had a bad experience with a single therapist, all the other therapists at that location lost that client. Therapists are in this together. They depend on one another.

Focusing on the ideal was recommended by the fabulously wealthy Andrew Carnegie. Concentrate: put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket, he said. If the therapist is not watching it, who is? The commitment to provide the highest quality care to clients is a good thing to watch.