Have you ever heard the expression that you are your own worst enemy?!\u00a0 I would assume that you have, I wonder however if you have ever thought about what this really means.<\/p>\n
It happens to be the single greatest enemy you will ever face \u2013 yes \u2013 yourself.\u00a0 And most people won\u2019t ever want to tell you the truth about this (and I would turn and run away from them as fast as you can because they will lie to you about other things too).<\/p>\n
Everything begins with what goes on inside of the leader’s head, the Dentist, the business owner, the person whose name is on the front of the Practice.\u00a0 It all begins here.\u00a0 And then of course it trickles down to the very foundation of every staff member, each area, and touch point and experience every patient has.<\/p>\n
But.<\/p>\n
It begins with self-sabotage.\u00a0 And it happens to the best of us, it happens to everyone.\u00a0 Every day there are little things that we miss, forget, choose to ignore that serve as that little devil on our shoulder making us think things that are not true.<\/p>\n
One of the greatest ways and most significant ways that I serve my Doctor Clients is in helping them eliminate, manage, and otherwise marginalize this enemy that they fight every day.<\/p>\n
There are 4 major enemies that are all within your control that begin with you and I will address them briefly here and elaborate over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
Of course there are factors that determine your success and profit, your new patient flow and your ability to take more time off, and all other areas of your Practice, however if you want to focus on the areas that have the greatest impact, begin within\u2026yourself.<\/p>\n
First \u2013 when I coach, guide, motivate, and layout blueprints for the life and lifestyle of Dentists we always begin with POSSIBILITIES \u2013 and what they truly want.\u00a0 What is the IDEAL.<\/p>\n
Now for me, my question is simple\u2026What is the POINT if the IDEAL is not what we are striving for, I don\u2019t get it.\u00a0 Especially given the analytical, detailed-nature and art of being a Dentist you should always be striving for all that is possible and the ideal set-up for your life and practice.<\/p>\n
This is the first enemy, the one that clouds your vision as to what is truly possible for you, your practice, your family, your life.<\/p>\n
Second \u2013 the next major enemy, and this is one that is tough, it must be fought on a daily basis, it is the fact that most Dentists short themselves of higher value cases because they do not PRESENT, EDUCATE, and OFFER to the patients what is truly possible, the best case scenario, the luxury edition.<\/p>\n
Many Dentists they make pre-judgments, or even go so far as to make decisions for patients and boy oh boy is that nuts.\u00a0 And it is not your role.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, I said it.\u00a0 It is not your role to make decisions for your patients.<\/p>\n
It is the role of the Doctor to evaluate, assess, educate, demonstrate, and provide all of the possibilities and options that are available to the patient and then to help guide them to the best possible solution for them.<\/p>\n
You will always sell yourself short.\u00a0 I promise you this.\u00a0 It is human nature and even the masters will subconsciously sabotage by preconceiving someone’s (a patient’s) ability and willingness to pay, invest, appreciation the treatment that you can give.<\/p>\n
You do follow me here, stop prejudging your patients, fix it now by always explaining and giving the IDEAL, BEST, healthiest, most natural, PREMIUM opportunity that is within your talents, expertise and possibility of dentistry to serve the patient best.<\/p>\n
Third \u2013 placing blame, not accepting responsibility, abdicating results\u2026in other words your next biggest enemy is \u201cthinking that it is everyone else or anyone else\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, I have no doubt that you have well trained, dedicated, amazing, and the best-in-town staff, I\u2019m sure they are incredible, they are YOUR staff \u2013 however \u2013 within every team, there is a weak link, during every week there are bad days \u2013 no matter how great you\u2019ve made ’em, there is still self sabotage and carelessness and this comes from a lack of ongoing, daily, and consistent accountability.\u00a0 It comes from lack of communication, it comes from lack of follow-through.<\/p>\n
And that is always the leader’s responsibility.<\/p>\n
It is not YOUR job, it is your responsibility to be proactive and to take initiative and to have the tools, resources, systems in place to PROVIDE others around you with the TOOLS they need to be successful.<\/p>\n
You combat that enemy by making your team as strong or even stronger than you\u2026that is what great leaders do, you don\u2019t have to micro-manage, in fact that IS NOT the answer, rather creating an environment of independence, initiative and team unity is, but it won\u2019t happen on accident.<\/p>\n
Fourth \u2013 I will stop here today with this one, I would say to you that your biggest demon or enemy is what you already know it to be \u2013 COMPLACENCY, boredom, doing the same thing day after day like a human robot.\u00a0 You can\u2019t help but to fall down on your game a little.<\/p>\n
Now, that doesn\u2019t mean your dentistry suffers or the quality of care goes down, that could be debated based on the positive energy in your office.\u00a0 Rather I mean your personal and team morale and your HUNGRY PASSIONATE nature to be your best slides, which stops you from growing, not always in size but as a professional and certainly a person and even more importantly growing your wealth and prosperity.<\/p>\n
This requires constant and never ending attention, like nourishing your body every day and feeding your mind with education and challenging yourself, you must fight against the status quo, accepting \u201cthe way it is\u201d and making any excuses.<\/p>\n
Be ambitious.
\nPursue the ideal.
\nChase your dreams.
\nLive your bucket list.
\nHave more fun.<\/p>\n
Reach down deep inside and remember your purpose, your passion, and fight off anything that tries to suck the life out of you.<\/p>\n
The point to all of these enemies of your daily prosperity and enjoyment of dentistry, patients, and your practice \u2013 is you must acknowledge them and counter act them, you must be proactive and fight the good fight.<\/p>\n
And I suppose, self-servingly, I would be remissed to not say the obvious\u2026<\/p>\n
NO ONE GOES INTO BATTLE ALONE
\nAt least not and come out alive.<\/p>\n
Find someone to help motivate you.\u00a0 To do battle against the enemies within and set yourself up for success with systems, diligent effort, training, and coaching to keep you at your peak performance and focused on progressive dentistry and progressing towards your goals and objectives and dreams and desires for your life.<\/p>\n
In sports sometimes you just enjoying playing\u2026but still, if you were honest about it, it\u2019s more fun to win.\u00a0 We all know that.<\/p>\n
Such as in life.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s more fun to play to win.
\nSo why not treat every day like the championship and give it all you have got.
\nYou can beat these enemies, you just have to want to.
\nAnd then go and get someone who can help\u2026
\nHelp make YOU better and more effective at doing what You do best.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when life gets a whole lot more fun.
\nAnd that\u2019s what you deserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"