How would you describe your “work life balance”?
Interesting question, isn’t it. Because you can’t just lay it out and say, “I work these hours in the office, I have these days off and these weeks vacation, which means I have balance.”
On the other hand, you can’t really quantify balance. That’s not the balance we are talking about. It goes beyond a math formula.
The biggest fallacy of having balance in your life is that a lot of it depends how much you enjoy what you are doing and if what you are working towards is something that drives, motivates and compels you to want to keep doing it.
It’s very simple, if you are in pursuit of something worthy (and it is YOUR goal, ambition, or objective), then “balance” has an entirely different meaning.
If you are loving what you are doing, as the saying goes, you’ll never work a day in your life. But really that’s a load of you know what too because to get to a point of really loving something – in and of itself – takes work, a lot of work, grueling work and at some point probably you really didn’t love it at all.
This, to me, is really where “lifestyle” begins.
The reason you are working plus the work you are doing. Those two elements aligned in such a way that you wouldn’t want to be doing anything else while achieving your desired goals. If you have those to two things perfectly set-up for yourself then you can now actually consider having balance.
I hear all of the time from Doctors who don’t believe significant growth is possible because they are already busy, already tired, already “doing so much” and yet they want to improve, they want more (as in money, profit, autonomy and time). The problem is, they believe the only way to get there is “more of the same” when in fact that’s the opposite of what is required.
We know what “more of the same” gets you. Now, you still must continually repeat proven principles, daily focuses, business fundamentals and clinical disciplines – but MORE of the same work on the same level you are doing it now, you will quickly run out of time and energy to make anything greater actually happen. And that’s when you get out of balance.
Sometimes, the Doctor is willing to do whatever it takes but they are concerned that the team will complain and be overwhelmed with “more” because once again they are already busy, every minute is used up and there is stress as it is.
Again, this is very small-minded thinking focused on gradual, linear increases.
Improving and achieving something greater is about replacing existing actions with better and higher-level actions. That means swapping out inefficiencies for more effective execution – it’s about elevating your game.
If you look at the recent Super Bowl – on the outside looking in – it appears every team is doing the same thing. A football team playing football. And you would be deadly wrong. If everyone is doing essentially the same thing, then how can one team win far more often?
In fact, that exact thinking is what throws someone completely out of balance. They chase new outcomes by doing increasingly more of the same flawed tactics.
For Doctors who want to achieve a true lifestyle practice, the first thing they have to understand is that looks, sounds, feels completely different for every single doctor. And that is the point.
You must go back to what are you trying to achieve and then define the ‘how’ that puts you in perfect alignment so that it isn’t drudgery and you are able to thrive at what you are doing.
Most doctors never even allow themselves to question the what and why and how let alone actually giving themselves permission to do it in their own way, on their own terms, in their own style.
Most doctors have nothing more than a job. A practice that owns them. They just hope to get some money from the leftovers at the end of the month. They are still working to pay the bills rather than actually running a business that is going to work for them.
Now, that doesn’t mean these doctors aren’t making two, three, four, five, six, seven even eight hundred thousand dollars a year of income. It does means they aren’t having a very good time while doing it. They are probably working so hard to make it happen that they can hardly enjoy the lifestyle and prosperity that the practice provides.
So, what do these type of doctors do? More of the same. Grind it out. Or worse than that, they go looking for every possible quick fix, easy button, magic bullet, simple solution to a complex problem and try to patchwork their business together to get through another month.
This is what leads to having no ‘work life balance’ because your business and practice have no balance, no autonomy, no consistency, and no reliable results that you can count on.
Not a good place to be in. Which is why so many doctors suffer the fate of taking the practice home with them every night mentally, emotionally and sometimes even physically with charts and notes or journals and books or bills. Then eventually the worse thing happens… it becomes a part of every conversation and there begins to be no separation from work and life.
Today, I ask you a couple very profound questions and they are the overriding themes of my newest book Lifestyle Dental Practice…
WHERE is this vehicle called dentistry taking you?
WHAT is your practice as a business delivering to you?
Is it what you want?
Is it as much as you deserve?
Is it enjoyable along the way?
And, perhaps one of my very favorite questions of all time, when it comes to your Lifestyle Dental Practice: What would you change, make better, and do differently?
Your journey into making the answer to that question a reality in your life and practice begins inside of my new book Lifestyle Dental Practice.
Next week, I’ll share some strategies and structure around this whole “balance” thing, but first you should start exploring and really challenging yourself. Is there ‘more’ you want? There is certainly ‘more’ possible!
Your Lifestyle Dental Practice will deliver the balance you deserve, which is essential for the level of success you aspire to. The question is will you take the leap and begin the expedition necessary to bring it to life…
Get Started With a Free Copy of My New Book: Lifestyle Dental Practice >>>
