I\u2019ve been known to issue this challenge to Doctors I\u2019m speaking with\u2026 sit down with your team, hand out a piece of paper and ask everyone to write down your Practice Mission, Philosophy, and Purpose.\u00a0 And have every team member read it aloud.<\/p>\n
I understand what you might be thinking.\u00a0 The point, however, is about more than just being on the same page.\u00a0 It is more importantly about DOING MEANINGFUL DENTISTRY.\u00a0 The only way to do this is to first identify what Meaningful Dentistry is to you.<\/p>\n
The most important point of this part of your Lifestyle Practice Manifesto is that it is not enough to just \u2018work when you want.\u2019\u00a0 No doctor in my life would be content with only this and certainly not just by earning a lot of money, because\u2026<\/p>\n
Meaningful Dentistry Matters.<\/p>\n
It matters for two reasons:<\/p>\n
First, if you aren\u2019t invigorated by what you are doing then nothing else is sustainable.\u00a0 You can have all the fulfillment in the world in terms of schedule and even income but if you aren\u2019t doing something powerful with your patients (if you are stuck doing discount crowns or just drill it and fill it dentistry, for example), then it\u2019s just not going to be something you can tolerate long term or execute at a high level.\u00a0 No one could or would want to.<\/p>\n
Of course, I\u2019m not here to tell you that you can have a practice where you never do another filling, but I am telling you that you do have control over the type of dentistry that you do.\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you that if you don\u2019t leave it up to chance and you have a comprehensive vision for your patients\u2019 mouths then you absolutely can create a practice approach and business strategy that is specifically designed to cultivate and BE ABOUT Meaningful Dentistry.<\/p>\n
Second, if you want to have lifestyle leverage and if you want to master the first part of your Manifesto that we discussed last week then \u2013 guess what \u2013 try getting there through volume-based, churn-and-burn, roller skate dentistry.\u00a0 It\u2019s not going to happen and it would never be sustainable even if it did.<\/p>\n
Therefore, you must find your path to Meaningful Dentistry.\u00a0 Whatever THAT means to you.\u00a0 It is the secret leverage point for time and money that makes everything else possible and allows you to realize the rest of your Lifestyle Practice Manifesto (Team, Patients and Profits).<\/p>\n
The pride felt when you are no longer \u2018just another dentist\u2019 puts a little lift in your step, brightens your smile and above all else feeds your purpose and strengthens your confidence.<\/p>\n
There is only one way to develop the second part of your Lifestyle Practice Manifesto and that\u2019s deliberately defining what Meaningful Dentistry is to you and what you want it to be for your patients.<\/p>\n
Define.\u00a0 Describe.\u00a0 Develop.\u00a0 Diagnose.\u00a0 Do.<\/p>\n
The best way to make it possible is to continue to develop your skills, find the things that motivate you and identify your passion so that you are never resenting what you are doing.\u00a0 Finally, you\u2019ll be looking forward to every day of dentistry.<\/p>\n
This is why the second part of your Manifesto is so important because before we can create it we must define it.<\/p>\n
When you think about the fulfillment of your own life outside the practice, you then have to do the same thing with your life inside of the practice because that serves the other and allows you to have balance with both sides of your life.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s possible this is review for you because you have a well-defined clinical identity already.\u00a0 That begets the next challenge: it\u2019s not enough to know what you want, you then have to have a plan to create it.<\/p>\n
And that will be the result of our completion to your Lifestyle Practice Manifesto as we have three more key parts to move through\u2026 Team, Patients and Profits.<\/p>\n
The morale of today\u2019s story is simple: you can\u2019t have a fulfilled doctor without meaningful dentistry and you can\u2019t have meaningful dentistry without a fulfilled doctor.\u00a0 These must be in alignment.<\/p>\n
That compass we talked about last week must be pointed true north towards your clinical calling so that you arrive at that point where you love what you do so much so that it drives you forward.\u00a0 You should feel at peace with the sacrifice you make to achieve your practice goals.<\/p>\n
One of my most powerful driving motivations to do what I do and to choose to help create the path for my doctors is because with dentistry you have the ability to literally decide what kind of dentist you want to be and what kind of dentistry you want to do.<\/p>\n
Free from judgment or force by anyone or anything.\u00a0 You are, if you choose to be, in total control.<\/p>\n
And this control begins by finding your center clinically and to do life changing care for your patients through your own definition of what meaningful dentistry is to you.<\/p>\n
Our next three pillars to your Manifesto will be built on the foundation of this one right here.\u00a0 We\u2019ve set the compass with the First Pillar \u2013 Fulfilled Doctor.\u00a0 We\u2019ve begun building the foundation with the Second Pillar \u2013 Meaningful Dentistry.<\/p>\n
And now we move forward to the Effective Team.\u00a0 Before we go there, you should reflect this week asking yourself: what is your clinical vision for your practice as it stands today, where do you see that going in the future, what percentage of your time are you doing meaningful dentistry now and what do you need to change in order to get closer to your Center.<\/p>\n
Part 3, building an Effective Team, next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"