You\u2019ve been misled.\u00a0 Big time!\u00a0 About these two major things.<\/p>\n
Both of which most Dentists base their entire existence around for the duration of their careers.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t wake up to it sooner or later you will really put yourself at a major disadvantage in your ability to enjoy the lifestyle that dentistry is capable of providing you.<\/p>\n
Some figure out the lifestyle thing simply by working less.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of any other profession that allows for working 3 days, 4 days, whatever days you want and A) make a full time living, B) get rich if you have the discipline and C) operate a real business \u2013 all while designing your own schedule.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t get me wrong, this is one of the greatest benefits about Dentistry and you should absolutely take advantage of it.<\/p>\n
The problem is, most do this at the sacrifice of their practices\u2019 potential.\u00a0 They don\u2019t think they can have it all.\u00a0 So they lower their expectations, settle for less but have the lifestyle schedule they want.<\/p>\n
Others do the opposite: give up everything, work like crazy, make the money and do very well.\u00a0 However, they give up a lot more than just time.\u00a0 They lose peace of mind, health, real happiness, and the balance necessary to be present with family.<\/p>\n
Both of these problems stem from one form of thinking.\u00a0 They both equate dollars and hours.\u00a0 Meaning that you have become nothing more than a high paid self-employed slave to your practice; instead of a business owner with leverage from your skills, knowledge, investments (in people, patients and your practice).<\/p>\n
This begets the two biggest lies in dentistry\u2026<\/p>\n
1st<\/sup> \u2013 That \u2018hard work\u2019 wins.\u00a0 More hours, more patients, more of pretty much everything leads to more results, more success and especially more profits.<\/p>\n Of course, there is no guarantee to any of this and there absolutely is no (as in zero), correlation to \u2018hard work\u2019 equaling more money.<\/p>\n Oh, you better believe you have to work hard to get what you want in life.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t have to work hard, then there would be a whole lot of lazy, inept people finding their way into your lot in life.<\/p>\n The hard work is required but the key thing is what you are working hard on.<\/p>\n How you define \u2018work\u2019 matters a lot…<\/p>\n What \u2018work\u2019 is: where you put your focus.<\/p>\n What \u2018work\u2019 is worth: where you derive your value from.<\/p>\n What \u2018work\u2019 is yielding: where it is taking you.<\/p>\n This is why I always use the example of a \u2018busy day\u2019 with lots of patients will nearly guarantee that you aren\u2019t making any money.\u00a0 What you do requires time to do it.\u00a0 The more people you see, the less dentistry you are doing.\u00a0 Otherwise you wouldn\u2019t be able to fit so many people in if you had more work per person.\u00a0 Save maybe ortho and some of our specialty practices.\u00a0 Even still, if you fill up a day of volume and spend less time with each patient, it will result in fewer opportunities and less dentistry.<\/p>\n You want to work hard on the things that matter.\u00a0 Work hard to get more efficient.\u00a0 Work hard to increase speed.\u00a0 Work hard to increase quality and reliable outcomes.\u00a0 Work extra hard to improve case acceptance.\u00a0 Work hard to cultivate and educate quality patients.\u00a0 Work hard to develop your team.<\/p>\n Do not work hard just \u2018doing\u2019 dentistry.<\/p>\n You see, if you do work hard on all the other things, then you will soon see that the \u2018doing\u2019 of the dentistry doesn\u2019t have to be that hard (I didn\u2019t say it wouldn\u2019t be taxing, but hey that\u2019s why you get the big bucks).<\/p>\n Trust me, the one thing you will always find without exception the higher up the income ladder you go: the \u2018hard work\u2019 is all mental and never physical.\u00a0 Even the athletes making the most money would be defined as the smartest players not the most physical ones.<\/p>\n In business, healthcare and every realm in life, \u2018hard work\u2019 has a different definition with an outcome that equates to not what is expended but what is gained.<\/p>\n I like to say in life it\u2019s about what you give, in business it\u2019s about what you get.<\/p>\n Smart people have more to show from \u2018hard work\u2019 than not so smart people.\u00a0 Think carefully about how you define your work and where you place your effort.<\/p>\n You can have a whole lot of hard work resulting in everything but money if you don\u2019t get this figured out.\u00a0 When you do and you hit your stride, dentistry becomes fun and rewarding.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s not effortless but the effort necessary is invigorating.\u00a0 It is almost therapeutic regardless of how physical the work is because your mind is carrying the burden.\u00a0 This results in your effort, knowledge, time, people and investments all become leveraged through smarter execution, not just pure volume-based grunt work.<\/p>\n Think about this and ask yourself where you could be working smarter and how you might need to change your definition of \u2018work\u2019 and perspective on this whole idea of \u2018hard\u2019 anything.<\/p>\n Next week, I\u2019ll bring you the other myth you have been told.\u00a0 And let me tell you now \u2013 it\u2019s going to rock you at your core and go against just about everything you have ever heard.\u00a0 It is the most significant difference between the average income dentists and the elite high earners.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be liberating once you hear it, that is if you can handle the truth without getting defensive or buying into the myth.<\/p>\n Now, you\u2019ve got work to do, hope it\u2019s worth something to you and more now after today\u2019s report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"