Belief Busters

Going to the next level will require a breaking or changing of current beliefs.  But that’s not easy for some.  A belief can be strong.  Changing it may seem invalidating.  You are being asked to not just do something different but to believe something different.  It’s like changing over to another political party’s philosophy.  That’s what it feels like to change beliefs.  But, in order to get different results you must do things differently, which means believing differently.  So, in order to make more money and have more time off be prepared for the emotional upheaval you’ll experience.  But let’s keep things in perspective: this is just dentistry! 

Multiple choice test

The points listed above are great benefits to having a large office but there is a cost to it.  As alluded to earlier it takes a lot of money to get it up and going and keep it going.  But more importantly is the mindset one must have to make it work.  How would you answer the following questions?

1.           Having more staff members means:

     a.            A high overhead

     b.           More drama and stress

     c.            An HR nightmare

     d.           If cross trained there can be more flexibility in the schedule

2.           A large space is…

     a.            Too expensive

     b.           Too much maintenance

     c.            Braggadocios and makes me a target for other dentists

     d.            Being able to capture high volume of patients and same-day treatment.

3.           All the expenses that are required to run that size of office is:

     a.            Just too risky

     b.           Something that just makes me uneasy

     c.            Really stressful

     d.           Just part of business

4.            Doubling the size of my office

     a.            would mean having to come up to the office on the weekends just to manage all the extra work.

     b.           Is just too hard to imagine.

     c.            Would be impossible to manage unless I start to “cut corners.”

     d.           Would  make for a more powerful practice

Obviously the “correct” mindset would answer d. to all the above questions.  The questions do expose some of the fears of a dentist considering the change.  These concerns are valid.  But in order to grow some of those concerns will need to be overcome.  Going skydiving and jumping out of an airplane may be terrifying for one person but may provide an adereline rush for someone else who looks forward to the chance.  Neither one of them are wrong, just different.  If you really want to grow but have hesitations the best thing to do is swallow your pride, admit you have some unfounded fears and embrace the challenge and jump!