Overcoming Success-Defeating Behaviors [3 of 4]

There is one behavior that limits your possibility of success no matter how much you believe and no matter how great of a leader you become.  This will be your glass ceiling if it is not fixed.

For some it’s easy, for others nearly impossible – for all it can and must be worked on and here is the best part about it… it is basically effortless in nature once you have it down.

And that is your ability to have Vision.

Do not underestimate the word that represents the action of being that brings your practice and your dentistry to life.  This really is the key to everything that is made possible in your practice.

Without this – you are stuck with success that happens by accident as you remain in your own way, unable to see the barriers that are holding you back.

The lack of vision, purpose and direction is one of the most serious self-defeating behaviors you can possible have.  This is the ultimate neglect of any doctor and practice owner.  It will lead you down a road that you may not want to go and you may not even realize it until it’s too late.

I hear this story all the time…

With PPO’s and someone leading a doctor into becoming a discounted commodity and a same-as-everyone-else dentist.  Only to end up regretting it.

It begins by making excuses such as “not enough patients” and other bs.  I have yet to meet someone who says all of their new patient problems were fixed by signing up for insurance.  In fact, most often they now have a bunch more patients that they would love to give back.

I see this with over expanding the size of practice, number of team members, hours of operation and in many other ways.  Thinking that some random change is going to fix all the problems.

On the other hand, I also see every single day doctors who lack their own personal motivations and visions about where they want to see their practices go.  They stay “small and simple” (their words for making the excuse of why they can’t seem to grow).  The truth is, they have no vision beyond what they are doing as they continue to run on the wheel, going through the motions.

There is nothing wrong with small and simple.  You can have two, three, four ops and a few team members or a half dozen and still do millions and millions of dollars.

Nothing in dentistry is determined by the size of anything – it never dictates revenue.  The only way to grow is to have the vision to make it happen.

Let me say this again… Growth will not happen unless there is vision for it.

Recently, my new book The Dental Success Secret explains the way to think about your practice and your future, bringing those two together things together so that it puts you in the state of ideal for what you want to see happen.

Did you grab this Book yet? You Need It – Now.  It’s perfect for your New Year…  

Get Your Free Copy of The Dental Success Secret >>>

I can’t tell you enough about how important this is.

You don’t have to force it, over think it or copy someone else.  All you have to do is be yourself and let yourself dream what it is that you really want for the future.

And, this lack of vision (self-defeating behavior) gets even worse… because if you don’t have vision – guess what – neither do your Team Members or your Patients.

And those people need it even more than you; or they will never be effective or satisfied or even feel good about being a part of what you are doing.

Now, there is something else that you must know when it comes to this.  You must have vision for your practice and for your life – and you must have vision for your dentistry.

The old saying is you only diagnose what you know, and it’s true.  However, I know a lot of doctors who have great clinical skill and they have the knowledge and repertoire to do amazing comprehensive dentistry (and even treatment planning), but they lack vision…  They do not see the big picture of their patients’ mouths and sometimes it is because they are in a rush or they are scared of overwhelming the patient and other times it is just because they can’t see it.

If you fix this, you will fix just about everything else in your practice because everything begins with vision both for your business and for your diagnosis.

Think about this deeply.  How does your vision affect your patients’ health?  Who can have a greater impact over their smiles, confidence levels and every other part of their mouths – the patient or you?

Wow, what a big responsibility, because your patients only get as healthy as your vision will allow.  How can patients have visions bigger than their doctor allows them, educates them and helps them to see.

This brings us back to that glass ceiling.  A ceiling you can’t see that is there; that you have put there often subconsciously and unintentionally but none the less it is there.  And until you choose to look beyond it, you will never be able to breakthrough it.

Now is the perfect time, it is the only time you have and I suggest you use it for the most amazing, inspiring and motivating exercise and activity any doctor could ever go through… dreaming about what you want, thinking about all you desire, envisioning the perfect practice for your future.

How great it is to have this responsibility – the vision for your life, for your practice, for your team, for your patients and above all else for yourself.

Because with great responsibility comes great opportunity and that is the way it is supposed to be.

If you struggle with this ‘vision’ thing or you simply would like guidance on it, start here with my new book and then let’s talk about it.  No one looks at, in, through more practices and doctors’ lives than yours truly.  And I have good news: I practice what I preach as I have vision for you, as my patient, and I won’t let you down and I won’t let you let yourself down by settling for anything less than you deserve and are capable of.

Get Your Free Copy of The Dental Success Secret to Help With Your Vision >>>

And next week, we get real serious and hammer out the final self-defeating behavior of even the best Doctors and Practice Owners.