You should always change where you sit. Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before. “They” always suggest this as a simple way to change your perspective and see more opportunities. Whether it’s sitting in a class or on a bus, being in the exact same spot every day can limit your point of view. Let’s face it. Change is hard, and staying in your comfort bubble is easier, even when it comes to simple routines. Last weekend I had the chance to do the one thing that always makes me nervous. I attended a...
Can you imagine what it would be like to divorce your career? It’s a strange concept, I know. But what if we looked at our careers the same way we view our human relationships? With marriage, you don’t commit to a lifetime together after seeing a photo of someone, researching them online, and then only talking to their friends about whether they are the right fit. Instead, you date and get to know your potential life partners. You start out casually, only committing to that person once you experience life with them. Then, when you know they’re The One, you...
In December of 2012, one year after having quit dentistry, I wrote this follow-up post to clarify why I compared leaving dentistry to leaving a cult. I’ve added a few updates to the post. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! If you’ve ever wanted to quit dentistry, you probably felt like leaving your career was like leaving a cult. I recently broached this oh-so-controversial topic of whether dentistry is like a cult or not, and luckily for my ego, there wasn’t a huge backlash. Not everyone loved my analogy, but that’s okay. It sparked some interesting discussions in...
Hard to believe I originally wrote this post about leaving dentistry on November 29, 2012. A lot has changed, and not a lot has changed in dentistry. With another leaving-dentistry anniversary behind me, I remember how grateful I am to break free from feeling trapped for so long. Years ago I received this email from a fellow dentist that inspired this blog post. It was a breath of fresh air to read “10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too”! As a dentist of 12 years, I could relate to your article. As a fellow colleague, I commend you for...
Ahh, dentistry. What a noble profession. We put our hearts and souls into taking care of others. We invest much of our lives learning our craft and doing everything we can to make our patients comfortable. When our hard work pays off and gets great results, we celebrate with a deep sense of joy and satisfaction. And when our very best efforts don’t lead to the desired results; we feel defeated, disappointed that we couldn’t do more for our patients. We have such good intentions. Even when it comes to business, I always thought dentists incorporated a different level of...
Time… it’s that one thing we can never get back. The finite nature of time is actually a gift. Its scarcity makes it the most valuable thing we have. Have you ever noticed that when you have eons of time to get something done, your efficiency goes down a lot? Maybe it’s why we procrastinate or why they say if you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it. (Please tell me I’m not the only one!) The end of a year or season creates that reality check that we need to appreciate time. Many of...
Whether you have a tough day at work or actually hate dentistry, I hope that you don’t regret becoming a dentist for long. The crazy thing about dentistry that many people don’t understand is that we can enter into the field thinking we are going to help people, create solutions, and have nice relationships. But we get here, and we spend much of our time feeling like we are not impacting patients, our solutions don’t always work out, and those nice relationships get overshadowed by the difficult ones. Believe it or not, it’s easy to regret becoming a dentist. Some...
Ten years ago I walked away from my career in dentistry. I had spent so much of my life investing in becoming a dentist that it was a very difficult move. One week after I quit for good, I found a blog post titled, 10 Reasons I Hate the Dentist. I decided to have a little fun and write a response to this fellow blogger. Overnight 10 Reasons Your Dentist Probably Hates You Too went viral, reaching all corners of the world and getting translated into many different languages. It was quite a ride, and the most incredible part of...
There, I said it. I hate dentistry… sort of. When I was younger, I chose dentistry as my forever career because I loved smiles, and I wanted to work with people. I really liked people. I always considered myself social and friendly, and I was a good student who enjoyed math and science. Dentistry seemed like the perfect fit for me. As a patient, I always loved learning about my teeth, and the day I got my braces off, I loved the result. It seemed impossible that I would get to a point in my career where I would one...
How long do you need to stay stuck in indecision before you decide it’s worth changing? I had a conversation with a friend the other day about the idea of “thinking about it.” She was wanting to make some changes in her life, and when faced with an option, she said she wanted to think about it. The thing is, she’d been thinking about it for years now. She was in a constant state of indecision. Our discussion got me thinking about a time when I was stuck thinking about things in my life. The timeline is impressive– and maybe...
