Let’s flip this thing upside down and reverse it from last week. Here is the fatal flaw that gets in the way of so many doctors and prevents them from being successful…
Playing defense by preparing for the worst-case scenario.
This is actually why preparation is so vitally important. This is why visualization matters. This is why raising the bar, having higher expectations, and setting a standard of excellence is necessary.
I say often: aim for state of ideal and expect it to go exactly as you plan. Then if there are things you have to adjust, that’s fine. If you choose to make exceptions, so be it.
Just don’t live every day as an exception. Just don’t operate as if failure is a certainty.
Doctors, what if you simply aim to make tomorrow better than today, to make next month better than last month, to make this year your best year ever?
Isn’t that the point? Why settle for what already know you can achieve.
As I told a dozen practices last week during our Advanced Training Course, make today your biggest day, diagnosis your biggest case, collect your biggest check, schedule your most valuable appointment.
For Champions, this is the expectation! They show up without a doubt they will be victorious. Any other outcome is unthinkable.
You should wake up expecting (not hoping – expecting) that this week will be your BIGGEST week in all the categories that matter leading to this month being a record setting month.
Of course, they won’t all be the best ever. Sometimes you’ll fall short (but likely still exceed old averages). But a new record will NEVER be set if they happen only by accident.
Here’s what else Champions do that others don’t do (and what extremely successful Private Practice Owners do)…
They have a NON-NEGOTIABLE list. They have ZERO tolerance on subpar, lethargic, or lackluster performance. They simply will not accept this – from themselves or anyone else.
As you know, what you tolerate you endorse.
This requires impeccable discipline from you. Because if you are the one who slacks off, slows up, thinks small, plays defense, expects the worst – then, so will everyone else.
Doctors, how often are you upleveling the Morning Huddles for an ideal day or are you just getting through it as quick as possible?
Are you settling for emergencies only or upgrading treatment for optimal health?
Are you reviewing your schedule to maximize value or accepting whatever gets placed in any timeslot whatsoever?
Are you conditioning your A Players for peak performance or just letting the dysfunctional flat tires get all the focus?
My mission for you is very simple…
Always play on OFFENSE. Think, act, visualize, and prepare to win and never leave anything up to chance. You stand to lose the most so you must take the most control and accept the most responsibility.
The proactive strategy to win the day must come from you. You see what others can’t see, you get the whole picture, you understand every aspects, you feel deeper, you see further, and you think in an elevated way.
It is just exactly like your patients. You are the guide leading the way. Where you focus – either ahead at new horizons or behind at past failures – everyone else’s eyes will follow.
Are you going all in all the time or just when the mood strikes? Are you giving every patient the best you’ve got or prejudging so you don’t take any risks? Are you working hard to become a winning doctor or just settling for a participation trophy?
Defense is reacting to the day, complaining about the schedule, focusing on all the exceptions, going through the motions of each visit, trying to avoid problems, and to preparing for failure.
Offense is creating the day, maximizing the value of the schedule, capitalizing on every opportunity, finding ways to win no matter what, and making everything (and everyone) better today than yesterday.
For those doctors who have a habit of living out the worst-case scenario, it starts by being driven by problem-based dentistry, by sitting back waiting for something to happen, and taking no initiative as if outcomes are predetermined regardless of what you do.
For Champions, they are committed to realizing the best-case scenarios by believing that they are in control of outcomes, by focusing on possibilities not problems, by being proactive for your patients’ long-term health benefit.
Now, your mission is to take a proactive approach to everything… every patient, every team member, every phone call, every appointment, every pathway to health. That begins by elevating your expectations and constantly redefining your state of ideal so you can always better your best.
This type of mentality brings out something bigger than you that generates a natural energy that will serve as a catalyst to shape and change, elevate and improve, increase value and impact in greater ways.
You will no longer abdicate your outcomes to randomness. Anything that helps a patient to move along their pathway to health should be implemented (because you expect a YES every time)… pictures, proof, pain, pre-call, pre-pay, prepare, follow-up, follow-through, education. After all, we can only help those who say yes to treatment.
If there is an action, a habit, a routine that you and your team can take that leads to greater opportunity creation then ensure it always happens. Doctors, stop holding back because you think it might not make any difference.
Prepare for your state of ideal and expect to succeed each step of the way. From your morning huddle to your end of day debrief and everything in between. From your monthly reflection to your future-focused strategy sessions and everything in between.
This is the key to breakthroughs and achievements. It all begins with clarity of desired outcome with exacting detail of what victory looks like for you. Followed by unwavering belief that you will realize your grand potential.
This is not just a big deal, doctors, it is THE deal to delivering more life-changing dentistry and more meaningful practice success.
You get to pick either defense or offense, either worst-case or best-case expectations. And that choice is determined by the decisions you make and the actions you take.
If you’d like to talk to me about achieving more success, please contact my office here.
Respectfully,
Scott J. Manning, MBA
