It was really refreshing to receive such significant feedback (and more accurately a whole lot of “hell-ya’s”), from my recent Private Practice Reports we focused on in the first quarter. I have great news. There are more coming your way.
In fact, I pride myself (more so than anything else) on being the Champion for Independent Dentists. And really more than that, the General of not just sustaining, protecting, preserving Private Practice but actually for ensuring that Private Practices continue to prosper and remain as the cornerstone of Dentistry.
While I do fully and firmly believe Private Practice will always out-number the DSO’s and Corporations, that isn’t as important as for them to out-perform them – and that won’t even be a close race. There isn’t even any comparison to make.
The reason is simple… Ownership.
Today isn’t the day for me to go into the concepts and principles around this. There are economic and industry undercurrents that will ensure I’m right – that we’re right.
However, the greatest reason why I believe in the pride and power of Private Practice is because there is more to it than just the doing of the dentistry.
Sure, some segment of doctors will always choose jobs, others will create careers, and then there are those that will grow businesses. You are proof of this concept.
More so though, what I’m here for is not to only make sure Private Practice endures, it is far more of a meaningful mission of mine to make certain you are living your best life and growing into your potential. After all, how can there be thriving Independent Dentistry without thriving Independent Dentists.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “living the dream” and actually it’s one of those most annoying sayings because people usually mean it facetiously; which I find that insulting. Instead, I am here to make sure you are actually living your dream. Your real dream. The one you see now and the one you evolve into for your future.
This brings us to a crossroads and my topic today. You see, some people live in fear over the economy and the unpredictability of the world and therefore they search out security. Yet, there is a steep price demanded for that reassurance. What people don’t realize, until it’s often too late, in searching for this idea of security they also give up their independence.
With independence comes a different sort of security that you can’t buy or be given. Autonomy. And for that there is no replacement. It is essential if you are to truly realize all of your ambitions.
There is a funny thing about the people who have it all… they believed they could. Regardless of external forces, despite setbacks and challenges, in contradiction to outsiders, and against all odds they decided that they would only accept the exact practice model they wanted that would also make possible the lifestyle they deserved.
When I ask the question “what motivated you to become a dentist,” – even if it includes family history or wanting to help people – the number one answer is always to be able to make a good living and still have a life.
And you know what, not just 5 or 6 but 8 out of 10 are writing that very answer while at the same time either burnt out or wanting out or just feeling like they have not yet arrived at their state of ideal. That perfect picture they once envisioned has become elusive.
It’s not that they are unhappy. Sure, some are, others not. It’s that they haven’t achieved the level of success and lifestyle they anticipated by now.
I mean, when you’re a doctor, it’s not hard to earn a good income. It is more about what you have to give up, what you have to sacrifice, the responsibilities that you have to carry, the compromises you make in exchange. Whether that’s long hours or too much stress or playing manager or being distracted when you are home or too tired to enjoy your family.
You know the things about yourself (your life in general and your practice in specific) that you wish were better. You can make THAT list. You should. Because without it you’re living an illusion.
But there is a more important list to make. The one of all the things in your mind you believe aren’t possible, that you can’t do, that won’t happen.
Is it insurance, team, schedule; is it no more than a few days of vacation; is it profit, investing, and building wealth; is it getting patients that are actually interested in life-changing dentistry?
Don’t be afraid of that list. Instead rise above it. These are just a few of the things I’m going to be covering in my upcoming Power of Private Practice Whiteboard Session (watch your email in the coming weeks for details).
Here’s what I can tell you: if you line up the doctors that ‘have it all’ and are the envy of many, it’s not the ones with the biggest practices, it’s not the ones working the most, it’s not the ones even doing the biggest cases, it’s not the ones with the biggest teams…
It is the doctors that have decided exactly how their practice is supposed to fit in and facilitate their lives and not the other way around.
It is the doctors who are clear on what they deserve and that they take full pride in the fact that their definition of success is the only one that matters.
In all of my books I highlight countless stories of doctors who have had their own personal success. This is what I call creating a Lifestyle Practice, because it is not a cookie cutter concept. What you design is as unique as you are. You will, I assure you, see commonalities in all of them and yet you will see even more individuality and differences in them also.
That ANY DOCTOR, who decides to, CAN SUCCEED in their own way is not something you ever hear in a lecture room or at an annual convention or in your local study club or online or in a trade publication or anywhere else. You won’t find these stories of real success anywhere except here.
And not one of them would be possible if they hadn’t embraced their independence, took control, exerted authority, and completed what was required to have their practice service their life by engineering a business and practice model that made ownership not just work but worth it.
To be successful without giving in to the norm, without sacrificing your principles, without compromising your clinical philosophy, and without giving up your life and time with family to do it – isn’t what others want you to hear or believe. They want you to be a slave to your practice.
In dentistry, your fate is your own and what matters is that at the end of each day you finish fulfilled, well compensated, and able to move on with the rest of your life. Your practice does not have to be an anchor to the life you are building, a distraction to time with the people you value, and an impediment to your pursuit of other things you love…
Kids, grandkids, skiing, fishing, golf, tennis, art, reading, photography, hunting, community service, mission work, travel… simply making memories and having fun.
It really boils down to how much you value yourself and the fleeting time you have. As you have heard me say before: no doctor deserves to wait until ‘life after dentistry.’
The entire point is to run your practice so that you can grow your life; not to grow your practice so that it can run your life.
My main point to you today is that ANYONE can become successful in ways in which they never truly thought possible. ANY doctor can choose to write the next chapter differently than the last by creating something that makes you proud and serves your greater purpose.
My most successful doctors all did the three things most doctors never do:
1st – They gave themselves permission to not feel guilty about wanting more than they have today; even if that means working less and making more.
2nd – They made the commitment to define exactly what they wanted their lives in and out of the practice to look like.
3rd – They took action and did the things necessary to make that a reality for them, their teams, their patients, and their families.
The reason these contribute to success is because accomplishment is formulaic. It is not accidental nor does it require some natural ability or certain type of personality. It requires only one thing…
You to be true to yourself… to not suppress but to live into your dreams and that means you first must be willing to dream, to expand your vision, to think outside of your status quo, and choose change that allows you to create what you really want.
This is your one life. It’s yours to make the most of. I’m so proud you have chosen Private Practice, let that not be enough… there is so much more to discover and become, to profit and prosper, to experience and explore all through embracing the Power of Private Practice.
