"The way to get started is to Quit talking and Begin doing!"
~Walt Disney
Trip to Nashville...
It started by taking a deep breath. You are doing it now because you just read it.
That deep breath energizes you, and calms your mind. The next step was to stand up and stretch. It's time to take action.
If you sit there and think about just how HARD that thing is going to be. How long it's going to take. The greatest amount of wasted time is the time NOT getting started! There is no person in this world who sat and contemplated their way to success.
There is a delicate balance that teeters between not taking a moment to think before you act, and crashes to the ground from going to fast. You never really want to be at the stage where it's perfectly balanced either - or you go nowhere and it's just no fun. It's better to always be thinking of "what's next" and that the teeter will crash if you don't keep trying to balance and go forward. The further ahead you run, the more interesting it will get keeping it all in balance. You learn to stop when you need to take a breath, reorient yourself, and then proceed. Learning that never doing anything is the only way to fail.
How guitar taught me a late lesson
All my life I wanted to learn to play guitar. My brain kept telling me, it would be too hard. I'm too old. What would be the point....
For my 40th Birthday, I bought a cheap guitar. Since the day I picked up a guitar, I rarely have a day that I don't play. What I thought would be a difficult task, was. Learning to play has been frustrating and hurts these stiff hands and arthritic fingers.
The point wasn't to learn guitar so much, as to set a goal and do something. Even if it was hard. To prove that I could do it.
Here I am at 54 and still playing most days. Better than I was when I started, but I have learned that learning an instrument was VERY important in my life. It has helped free a part of my creative brain. Writing songs and imagining sounds that I can now bring to life. Playing with lyrics and being able to engineer a scenario in my mind....it has helped me to write.
Why the hell did I wait so long to do this?
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty"
~Winston Churchill
37 years...I will have to start saying 38 in another month - of this business has taught me that my clients tend to procrastinate. The Teeter totter tends to stay closer to the ground and the feet stay level for a LONG time before a little bouncing happens.
Yet, our business has a proven business model with an extremely high success rate! Why is that?
Most dentists are entrepreneurs at heart. Talented, smart and a sincere desire to help others. These are all important traits to succeed in business! Some pessimists in our business would say the golden years of dentistry are over. Others see opportunity like I do.
The pessimists say that there are too many competitors. True.
The pessimists say the costs are too high. True.
The pessimists say the fee guide is too low. True.
The pessimists say it's too expensive to start the business. True.
The pessimists say there is a lack of trained and motivated employees available. True.
Pessimism has thrived in dentistry. It's lead to a lot of sad and angry grumpy people. The attitude should change! Every business has these problems! The optimist has a different view.
There are too many competitors....true, but the optimist is finding ways to "do it different"
The costs are too high...true, but the optimist has found a way to deliver a superior product at a price that their customers find great value in.
The fee guide is too low....true, but the optimist has discovered how to keep the prices low, the quality high and thrive from volume of sales
The cost to start is too high...true, but the optimist realizes this barrier to entry makes his own product even more valuable.
There is a lack of trained and motivated employees...true, but the optimist realized this long before the shortages and invests regularly in advancing his team with CE and a work environment that encourages entrepreneurs to flourish.....
Dentistry is no different than any other business model. It must learn to adapt to grow and thrive. The techniques are in place and the opportunity to thrive is there for the optimist who recognizes unlimited potential.
It's never too late to "pick up the guitar" and learn how to play. If you are the older, established business or just starting out. No matter what. There is an opportunity to thrive in dentistry.
Surgery, implants, cosmetics, sleep apnea, orthodontics, botox, preventive health care, total health, periodontal, AI and advances in imaging....
The world has an opportunity to learn just how advanced PREVENTIVE DENTAL HEALTH care has become. How the healthy mouth can help an entire body flourish. The importance of a smile...an investment that pays large dividends.
Are you the optimist in this business and ready to advance this to new levels?
The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing.....