Let’s talk about those realities from the last Weekly Report. You see, most doctors just keep dreaming about some-day and what-if’s as they wait around for the perfect time when they can make the decisions they really want to, make the changes they know they should, and do the things that will lead to a better life and practice.
If you ask me, I want you to be at a state of ideal now. It won’t ever be perfect, but it will be exceptionally better.
Whatever an ideal state looks like to you, you sure shouldn’t be settling for less. Which, I know often happens more by accident rather than a conscious decision.
The best part about being an independent dentist also happens to be the worst part… no one tells you what to do. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Except when you are trying to figure out what to do next. Or first. Or change. Or improve.
Fear of making the wrong decision results in self-doubt, procrastination, sabotage, and ultimately prevents you from being your best self, pursuing your actual dreams, and doing the things that you really want. However, if you can get over that hesitation, you can achieve your grandest ambitions as anything is possible.
Bluntly, whether you like what you’ve got or you don’t, it’s your fault because you are in charge. You are not just the doctor of the practice but also the leader of the team, the owner of the business, and the decision maker for every possible decision.
Besides, who doesn’t love to be in charge? I’ll tell you who, a person without any direction or plan or goal, that’s who. As long as you have those things, then you are going to be in great shape.
You probably have plans, directions, and goals, though they might or might not be motivating you. Instead what may be more difficult for you is having to constantly go it alone. Decide on your own. Have everything resting on your shoulders. Carrying the burden of the business instead of it liberating you.
You become your own self-limiting factor.
There are two realities about being a practice owner that you get to choose from as a private practice independent doctor.
1st – Allow your practice to become a limitation for you in all ways… money, time, experiences, relationships, autonomy, dreams,
The other option however is why I’m here, my purpose in your life and that is…
2nd – For you to choose to design and engineer a practice structure that becomes your greatest leverage and liberation for your life.
The question is at what cost do you operate your practice. This cost is not from rent and electric bills, not from equipment or supplies, or even people.
It’s the cost… to you…
To your health. To your family. To your peace of mind. To your other passions and interests.
You hear me say time and time again that dentistry is a vehicle (at least it is supposed to be), to take you wherever you want to go.
No matter how much money you make… and I want you to make as much as possible because you deserve it and because it means you are changing lives of the people you serve (if you are here then I know you are doing dentistry the right way, so I can confidently say that)…
No matter how much money you make, we have to look at three things:
1. Do you enjoy it, are you having fun, feeling fulfilled, and invigorated clinically?
2. Is it on your own terms with a balanced lifestyle and schedule?
3. Do you have anything to show for it when it’s all said and done?
You know those airplane rides that get you where you were headed but were so darn bumpy or turbulent you couldn’t sleep, or maybe you’ve owned a clunker of a car in your life that wasn’t so reliable but it got you where you wanted to go, most of the time.
There are lots of vehicles to take you somewhere, some more preferable than others. In business, as the esteemed owner of your dental practice, you get to choose the vehicle, the speed, the path, the passengers, heck even the color. But most of all… you get to choose the destination!
And that my friend is the key to a career of great significance. It’s about having somewhere this journey is taking you that you actually want to end up, doing what you love along the way, and being at your very best so you have complete fulfillment.
In dentistry, compared to other professions, this isn’t so hard because you can create leverage through a variety of options. You get to choose your own team members, patients, type of dentistry, how and when you want to work. You even choose how much you get paid.
Only real professional business owners get to wake up every single day and decide how much they want their lives to be worth, their days to be valued at, and (as long as you work backwards to build the demand to support your objectives) can make it actually happen.
This is the key to take total control over the success in your life and practice. Now is the time for you to get what you want out of all that you have built, sacrificed, worked, studied, and invested. Finally, you can tap the unlimited potential that practice ownership (that is you as a business not just as a dentist), was designed for you to achieve.
The entire point of reverse engineering (the secret to business success and acceleration), is that it prevents waste, frustration, and detours along your journey.
How can you possibly know how to make decisions or adjustments to your business if you do not have an exact place where you want to end up or a specific goal you are trying to achieve.
Like building a house without a blueprint or creating a treatment plan without a diagnosis. If you first know what you want, then you can create it.
There are some things I’m asking you to deeply consider this week before we go another step forward.
What do you want…
Your schedule to be?
Type of dentistry to do?
Daily responsibilities you have?
Level of income to be?
Lifestyle structure balance?
Now, you can’t disconnect these items away from each other. The two most important are reassessing lifestyle and responsibilities because they both give you or take away from you time, freedom, and autonomy. Then you have to determine your income and then build the schedule and get the type of dentistry you want to support all of this.
Most people show up, see the patients in the schedule and hope there is money left at the end of the day. Without reserve engineering, it’s impossible to be in control of the outcomes.
You might have a sense of what you want this to be one year from now or a few years from now. You might want to change it based on how it is right now in this moment.
The key is that you know what you want – first. Determine this and then we can work backwards to align all components and parts of this for your success.
I can promise you, when you start with a blank page and you outline your state of ideal, you will be more excited and invigorated in your daily execution than if you are just grinding it out and living through it.
Your homework is simple: layout the practice structure you wish to have for the items I have listed above. Rethink this at least once a year and probably more often.
The key is to get ahead of it, not behind it. Be thinking about the future now so you can be headed in the right direction and progressing towards where you want to go next.
Today we are dealing with lifestyle, income, responsibilities, schedule, and dentistry. Next week, we’ll tackle the team and of course finally the patients – the two most important groups of people you can’t live without.
Make no mistake about it though: they fit into your structure, not the other way around. There are the ‘right’ ones for every part to make it all come together.
It is all about practicing with purpose, for purpose, on purpose by setting everything up to serve your greater vision. There’s some food for far more than just thought.
