Where else would we begin our first official Weekly Report of the New Year other than with the ultimate determining factor for the results of each day and that\u2019s with the value of your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I promised some return to fundamentals early in the year because it always comes back to the things that your practice success is built on in the first place that will lead to the biggest growth opportunities and room for improvement going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are three big shifts that you must make to create leverage in your practice and break away from the limiting plateau of hours in your day and time in your schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you bring these three concepts to life in your practice you have the ability to achieve financial goals that most would simply not believe possible. What\u2019s even better, no matter your current level of success or daily averages, this is the place you can always go back to refine your approach and unleash even more potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The value of what goes in your hours determines the value of what you get out of your time. This is the origin of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, in mindset, you have to get rid of the idea that you are just a producer of dollars of dentistry for hours of work. You are not a machine nor piece of equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, you are paid for what you know and do (knowledge and skills), not the time it takes to actually get it done. Never forget that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you realize that yes, the dentistry has to get done, but you should not be at the mercy of your production per hour (we\u2019ll work on improving this metric as well, as it\u2019s an indicator of how much you\u2019ve increased your value over hours).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why I call you a creator. You are able to create opportunity and that is where your time value and leverage comes into play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can in fact \u2018create\u2019 any amount of dentistry for yourself in any amount of time based on your engagement with patients and your communication and diagnostic skills. And then you expand that by way of your team\u2019s abilities and coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the point is, you are not a \u2018producer\u2019 or a \u2018deliverer of dentistry\u2019 \u2013 you are a creator of opportunity and your time value is in what you do with it, what you know, and most of all how you engage people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This leads to the second big mindset shift related to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The highest value activity, of everything you do, is diagnosis. I know I sound like a broken record reminding you that you have two major responsibilities and goals every single day\u2026 motivate the team and diagnose the dentistry. If you do these, it\u2019s a rising tide that lifts up the value of all the rest of your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In doing this, you can achieve a multiple of what you are use to by shifting your focus to creation and being on offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reality is (in most practices), everyone, especially the doctor, is playing defense. They are running around dealing with insignificant things because the operations are not efficient, because the team isn\u2019t taking initiative and working independently, and because everyone is working beneath their highest value priorities and tasks. That\u2019s why the results are average and they seldom break through plateaus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have said this many times: the trap practices fall into is \u2018taking what they get\u2019 instead of \u2018creating what they want.\u2019 While I say it here nearly every single week, if you actually take it from the screen and bring it to life, you would ask yourself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat am I doing right now to CREATE what I want?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If every Team Member ask themselves, \u201cWhat is the outcome I want for my patient I\u2019m talking to right now and is everything I\u2019m doing focused specifically on that outcome?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This same question should be applied to time: \u201cIs what I\u2019m doing right now the highest value action I should be doing, thinking, executing, following through with?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The discipline to do what is most important (and the strength to ignore anything that isn\u2019t) is the hardest part of breaking through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you rush diagnosis or you short change a visit or you make a new patient wait or your front team has to follow-up with a patient because they aren\u2019t prioritizing things properly to close the treatment while the patient is there \u2013 all of these things are the result of confusion about what is most important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus, the second point about time is: are you clear about what actually is your most valuable actions, tasks, and responsibilities and are you dedicating appropriate time to these opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the third mindset shift to increase the value of your days and your time is to understand that this applies to all time, not just your clinical hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wrote recently that most doctors, at the very best, control their clinical hours but they don\u2019t have any parameters or structure to their non-clinical business hours or to their personal hours outside the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, the mindset shift is, value yourself and your time above all else, in all ways. The last thing you should do is give away or waste your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Give away your words, your money, even your energy if you must but don\u2019t give away your time. At least do it very consciously, very deliberately, and with great intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waste any of these if you must \u2013 they are all able to be replenished \u2013 your time is not and therefore the value of your time is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some things matter a lot, some things matter less, some things just don\u2019t matter at all. Some things make a difference, some things make less difference, some things make no difference at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ultimately, the value you get out of your time, energy, and effort has everything to do with you knowing the difference and then being as strict as you can be with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your lessons this week are very basic and yet they are the lessons you must master if you want to make your days worth more to you with less stress, effort, and hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You create the value of your time, you do not produce the value of your time. The actions you put into your hours must be the highest value functions to drive the creation goals you have and the results you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And most of all, all time matters, not just your patient hours between the morning and end of day huddles. I say all the other hours and what you do with them (either work or leisure, practice or life), determine whether those clinical hours are worth it in the first place\u2026or second place, in this case. Follow that philosophy and you\u2019ll find harmony and happiness in and out of dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next week, we\u2019ll do a deep dive into your schedule structure and how to level up your game in 2021. I\u2019ll show you some big leverage factors that will elevate your dollars per day no matter where you are at right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My challenge for you today and I hope your commitment to yourself is: value all of your time by paying attention to it, putting a structure around it, embracing the fact that you are in control, and own your ability to create whatever you want with your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember this: your time is never \u2018spent\u2019 doing anything if it\u2019s used doing the right thing. Instead, it\u2019s invested and that means there\u2019s a return whether quantitative or qualitative. So don\u2019t let a minute pass you by.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"