So, you say YOU want to be successful…

I am often asked what I experience as commonalities of dentists who do, have, become more than most. During my conversations with some of the most successful dentists in North America, I am constantly listening for the common traits and behaviors to surface. They typically all reinforce my belief that there are 3 underpinning philosophies, experiences, concepts that control or hold back dentists from achieving true breakthroughs in their life and practice.

Something that you probably wouldn’t guess about my writings here in this weekly opining of my thoughts, ideas, and strategies for getting more out of your practice, is I am often writing to one single dentist who I have encountered over the past weeks or maybe even to myself about something that has been on my mind.

And this week, I am sharing a lesson that has stood the test of time and is worth your reading.

Success is of course based on an individual dentist’s own opinion, experience and desire as to what “success” even means in terms of patients, income, time, autonomy, influence, and so on. You nor I can dictate to anyone what success should be for them.

None the less, for those who pursue ambitious goals, dreams, desires in their life and practice, I have found these 3 things to be the determining factors as to whether they will ultimately achieve their objectives and how much time will be lost, life elapsed before they get there.

First, and I think 100% most importantly, is their environment and surroundings both geographically, domestically, and with regards to education, knowledge, training, etc.

People in general, only become as successful as they know is possible, as they know what exists. This is what I call the “small town syndrome” not that there is anything wrong with small towns, I grew up in one. It’s just that most people who only know their neighborhood (or the “lifestyle”) that they grew up with will come to naturally expect this to be their future. It’s water seeking its own level, the reality of human nature.

And I can assure you if you think about what is holding you back right now, this moment, what has instilled fear in you or causes you to hesitate, is it because of the influence of what is around you. Might be your team. Might be your community. Might be your spouse. Might be your friends. Might be your exposure to what you see as possible.

You will hit the ceiling that you have set for yourself even if it is subliminal or subconscious. We all have one. And it is only by force and dramatic accelerate will you break through it.

I suppose if there was one thing above all else that I am paid to do and am valued by my clients, it is the breaking of their ceiling for them, acting as catalyst to facilitate them raising their expectations, eliminating their negativity, burning old habits, destroying bad practice models. I’m like the intervention for success minded dentists who have fallen into a habit of whatever they believe to be true about their practices and opportunities.

Creating a new awareness of what is possible is about breaking free from your environment.

The next thing is having systems that create success for you, that leverage your time and skill and set you up to maximize your production. Simply put, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, almost all of my clients are seven figure income earners that I work with privately, they are still maxed out at capacity for taking on even bigger cases or pursuing more complete dentistry.

If you make $100,000 a year or a $1,000,000 a year you still reach a certain point that you can only achieve so much given the practice model you have and operate within. To get more, you have to make adjustments, change, do something different.

This is where the value of an outside perspective comes in and truly it’s the only way…the old adage of seeing the forest through the trees as example.

We all have income barriers some bigger than others. I tell people that I create intentional and dramatic change in my business every 90-days by living what I call my Year in a Month Philosophy. We force accelerated progress by the way we approach things and that allows us to try more things every year than anyone else and thus our results for ourselves and others are represented by this approach.

The final commonality that I see leading people to success or what keeps them from achieving the next breakthrough in their life is the degree at which they value time, life, experience, and the confidence they have and level of deserve they feel.

Now, that is a lot in one sentence, however they all go together, directly related are confidence, deserve or self-esteem, and value on time, life, experience.

You see, if a dentist doesn’t truly feel they deserve the next level in life they will do things to sabotage and keep themselves where they are. If they don’t have confidence to be successful due to past failures or to any underlying fears then they will always come up with excuses why they have to wait. And that leads directly to not valuing time.

The most successful dentists I know and the private clients I work with demand respect over their time and they also do more than all other people. It is true the richest clients I have go on more vacations, help more patients, donate more money, work less than all of those who struggle to get by.

So your challenges are simple:

– Breakthrough your environmental barriers

– Create systems to force leverage and accelerate growth

– And live with my favorite philosophy CARPE DIEM

– And accept nothing less for yourself

The biggest turn off for me in life is to listen to a dentist who says they want to wait or delay or make excuses for their lack of progress. When you stop accepting these things for yourself you will automatically begin achieving more for yourself, your practice and your patients.

Life is too short and you’ve invested too much, to delay getting everything you deserve.

What are you waiting for? If not NOW, when? When will you commit to building your dream lifestyle practice that not only serves your patients but serves you?

Let me help you get started on that path and create your own practice blueprint…

The most telling questions I like to ask people are…

WHY DO YOU DO WHAT YOU DO – what is your purpose for being a dentist…

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU – what motivates you, what are you working towards…

And

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF 2-3 YEARS FOR NOW – what does your practice look like.

Give me a dentist who can answer all of those questions and I will show you someone running a practice that fits their vision, living the life they were meant to live and all the while, enjoying every minute of it.