Making Your Practice More Like Santa’s Workshop

I hope you are doing exactly what you want to be doing this weekend… enjoying time with those you love, making memories, and taking a moment to check-in, reflect, savor and celebrate.

But, then again, I also hope that for you every single day.

You know my story. You’ve been hanging around here long enough to remember the turning point for me was when a dentist said, “I just can’t wait until life after dentistry.”

I thought to myself “how sad that this guy must be living a life that he doesn’t enjoy, feeling trapped by circumstance, and just waiting until everything he has ever worked for is over.”

You are supposed to be enjoying the life you have while building the life you want in the future. Life is an evolution… your career, your practice, your wealth, your family – all a progression of events building upon themselves.

Your practice and chosen career should be like your workshop for a better way of life. An enjoyable means to produce everything that is important to you; not a forced servitude that you must endure.

That is why I wrote the book The Dental Practice Shift, to serve as a guide to navigating your practice to something that you were in control over instead of (like most everyone else) at its mercy. It focuses on the mindset changes necessary to transition from feeling like a over-worked cog in a factory to being the creator of a place that enables you to change lives from that of your patients to your team to your own.

Essentially, how to turn your practice into Santa’s Workshop where you deliver health for every one of your patients, opportunity for every one of your team members, and fulfillment for you and your family.

Unfortunately, some doctors become frustrated, disappointed, and resentful of the practice they find themselves in. These Grinches scoff at the notion of a lifestyle practice of your own design, choosing to be held captive by the status quo instead.

Let’s think about Santa and his workshop for a moment. Is he bound by industry standards, handcuffed by limited beliefs, restrained by criticism, or controlled by fear?

You might say, “Scott, don’t be ridiculous, none of this is real, it’s imaginary.” And I would respond, “So is everything you let hold yourself back.”

If I asked you to make a list of the reason why you didn’t hit your annual goals this year, what would be on that list? (If you are reading this and you exceeded your goals – which I know there are many – congratulations are in ordered, but indulge me and please keep reading).

On that list… What is real? What is made up?

I can’t grab low expectations, I can’t hold self-doubt, I can’t touch peer pressure.

What if, just for this holiday season, you allowed yourself to believe. Believe in everything that your practice can be, believe in your true potential that remains untapped, believe in prosperity and abundance like never before, believe in finding the joy and happiness in the pursuit.

I hope your year has been very fulfilling for you but if it wasn’t… if it wasn’t exactly the way you wanted it to be, take note, not exception, and make a promise to yourself that you will not live another day outside the state of ideal because you deserve it.

That is a decision you can make right now because it is a choice. There is always a choice; a choice to believe in what is possible or believe in only what you’ve seen in existence before.

There is one prerequisite above all others in Dentistry… In order to thrive, in order to provide the most extraordinary patient care, in order to achieve your financial goals… a happy and fulfilled doctor.

They call him Jolly Old Saint Nick for a reason. A glum Santa doesn’t make too many fun toys.

The same goes for you. Show me a doctor who doesn’t love going to work every day and I will show you a doctor who isn’t closing many big cases, who isn’t inspiring their patients, who isn’t motivating their team, who isn’t pushing the limits of possibilities in their practice.

All of Santa’s magic is dependent upon belief, an entire workshop runs on the imagination, and the holiday spirit is fueled by the optimism that tomorrow can be better than today.

It’s never too late to have the practice of your dreams, it’s never too late to make a difference, and it’s never too late to keep getting better. Simply give yourself permission to discover your potential, to exceed your goals, and to live life on your terms. Now is the perfect time to reflect and make new commitments for 2023.

I would imagine Santa’s Workshop is busiest the day after Christmas. There are inventories to take, adjustments to make, processes to review, and lists to start. At the conclusion of the holiday, Santa surely can’t wait to begin building again for the year ahead and getting ready for all that is to come because he knows next year will be even better.

So, what’s next for you? How will next year look different? How will next year be better? What’s on your 2023 wish list?

Actually, I’d love your help in making my list too by sharing with me what I can do to better help you next year.

Please take a moment and give me some feedback with this very short 3 Question Survey. I’m putting together my plans for the key topics I’m going to cover in 2023 – and I want to make certain they’re focused 100% on the challenges that matter most to you.

As a “Thank You” for your time, I’ll be sending you a free book of your choice.

Take The 5 Minute Survey and Select Your Gift Now…

As you close out your year and you set your sights on 2023, remember that there are no limits to what you can achieve other than the limits you place upon yourself. Choose to believe in all that is possible.

Enjoy these holidays and don’t forget to take a moment, look around, and smile. You’ve done well by doing good, you created so much by helping so many.

That is the magic of your workshop, it’s a special place limited too only by your imagination. I can’t wait to see what you do next. I’m confident you are about to begin the most amazing year of your life, because we’ll make it so.

I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a Prosperous New Year!

Real quick before the festivities begin, I would sure appreciate it if you’d help this Santa, me, make my workshop even better for doctors like you. I’ve got three simple questions I want to get your feedback on and in exchange I’ll let you pick your own gift…

The 3 Question Survey for Dental Success in 2023…