As I was nearing the end of my daily morning walk with Nolabees the other day, I thought, “I can’t wait to be done with this walk.” I was a little shocked by it, and I immediately became curious. What was going on with me? I love my morning walks, especially in the summer. I get to start the day with some movement, fresh air, quality time with my dog, and the freedom to listen to any podcast that I want. It’s my time that is truly dedicated to taking care of myself. Besides, early summer mornings are so full...
My favorite part of dentistry was always creating the positive and fun relationships with patients. In fact, the good relationships may have been the only thing I liked about practice. I’ve always enjoyed connecting with people. Unfortunately the actual practice of dentistry got so hard for me that I lost sight of that for a while. Now that I get to help people while filling my own bucket, I remember how important connecting with people is to me. Since I’ve begun coaching, I have had the chance to connect and get to know the most incredible people– mostly dentists, of...
Ever wonder why some organizations run like well-oiled machines, and others face problem after problem? It all comes down to one thing: leadership. Leadership creates the culture. Everything trickles down from the top. I have worked in several different offices during my time in dentistry, and they were all different. One of the offices had okay systems in place but also got by without systems. The boss was more of a dictator-type leader. He was always right, and what he said went. We rarely challenged him, but I learned over time that if I could suggest an idea in a...
When I look back on my career in dentistry, the parts I loved the most were networking and creating relationships with other dentists. Working in private practice was not that fulfilling for me. I always felt burdened, like I couldn’t do enough to please my patients. That left me feeling empty and unappreciated. But when I went to the Pankey Institute to try to save my career, I absolutely loved the learning environment and the friends I made. When I got involved in the local dental society, I loved the sense of community that brought. Now that I am hosting...
It’s your lucky day if you’re getting a little bored of reading my blogs… I have another podcast interview to share with you today! If you’ve invested so much of your time and energy to get into dentistry that you’re in it for life, think again. It’s scary to consider walking away from this career you’ve built, but it doesn’t have to be impossible. You can safely plan a career transition or modification before you feel too stuck. Sure, it’s still possible to diversify after you feel stuck, but why not get started early? There are many ways we can...
Many of us graduated dental school thinking the only way to be a dentist was to have your own private practice. With practice ownership, you get to have all the control, make all the important decisions, and be the one in charge. However, with practice ownership, you have to have all the control, make all the important decisions, and be the one in charge. That responsibility isn’t for everyone. More and more, we are starting to see that dentistry doesn’t have to be a one-size-fits-all profession. Today so many young dentists are finishing school with massive debt, that they don’t...
You know I write about career happiness a lot. Finding it and sharing it has become my mission in life. Because I know how awful it is to feel anxiety and depression from your work, I want to help you avoid that. We spend most of our waking hours there. If it creates such turmoil in your life, then you spend most of your waking hours feeling cruddy. That just doesn’t seem worth it. My message to you has always been that life is too precious to waste it feeling miserable. I’ve been writing about this and sharing my dental...
Most of us really value the importance of work life balance. Especially now, it seems to be more important than ever. My guest today is Andrew, a dentist in the UK. Andrew came to a crossroads in his career when he was forced to make a tough decision. He had to choose between continuing on in a very happy, successful dental practice or walking away from that to maintain the most important relationship in his life. See how it turned out for him… Three years ago, I came to a junction in my life where I really struggled. It turned...
We can get so caught up thinking we have to fit into this perfect image of how to practice dentistry. That usually means having a busy, successful private practice. By now you know that I love to challenge that idea. So here is my challenging viewpoint: it is possible to be passionate about dentistry outside the Dental Op. My guest today proves it. While Carrie Ibbetson is clearly passionate about life at the dental chair, her true calling within dentistry has pulled her interests in a different direction. Carrie is a dental hygienist with a slightly different mission. Listen to...
It’s quite challenging to objectively see ourselves and our behavior, isn’t it? The different filters we use to see the world influence everything in our lives. It makes sense– if we don’t really see the world objectively, how can we see ourselves objectively? What do you see? We’ve all seen this drawing above. At first, most of us either see a young woman or an old lady. It’s not until someone points out what you can’t see, that you finally see it. It is amazing how your perspective changes when you change your perspective. The Energy Leadership Index (ELI) Assessment did...
