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...
As dental professionals, we face change every day. We should be pros at it by now. Small things in the office constantly come up– things like sudden adjustments to the schedule or having to change course on a procedure mid-treatment. We learn to accept that it’s impossible to 100% predict treatment plans or anything else without that crystal ball. Adaptability becomes second nature, as we constantly handle these unexpected shifts. You’d think we would have mastered our fear of change by now. Image by Gerhard G. from Pixabay But when it comes to the big changes, we really struggle. Even...
I’ve been having a lot of conversations lately about boundaries. Drawing boundaries is a good thing. It helps us stay true to ourselves. We get the chance to choose what is best for us, and the amazing byproduct is that we can be better for others. It’s definitely a win-win. On the flip side, though, saying NO too often can get in the way of living. Take the movie, “Yes Man.” Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn’t have the highest rating according to the Tomatometer, but the movie’s message is one of my favorites. In it, Jim Carrey plays Carl....
“Wow! Being a perfectionist is a curse!” I dramatically said to my patient with a sly smirk on my face. After what felt like an eternity of revisiting the stupid ledge that remained on that damn distal box floor of the MOD prep on #3, I had nearly given up. Fighting the patient’s tongue with my right hand while holding the mirror to barely see around my left hand doing the actual work, my right arm became fatigued. I was caught up in an obsessive pattern of alternating between blindly reaching for that ledge with a quick zip of the...
Find your passion, and you’ll never work a day in your life! Don’t you hate when people give that advice? For most of us, our passion is hardly profitable. I mean, how can I possibly make money cooking, eating, traveling, and hanging out with friends? Image by Luisella Planeta Leoni from Pixabay Yeah, yeah… I know that’s what they always say. I also know that it’s true. If you love what you do, it makes the work more fun, and it’s easier to get through the bad stuff. Finding your passion is great if you get lucky and happen to...
The Golden Rule is great, but there is one area in which it is lacking. Howard Farran recently wrote a column in Dentaltown titled, “Follow the Golden Rule.” In it, he offered excellent examples of how we can share our greatest and highest good with patients. When it comes to clinical care, we should only do treatment on patients that we would choose for ourselves. I like that. It allows us to lead with our integrity. Equally as important, he dives into how we treat patients on a personal level. We can get so caught up in the nitty gritty...
I stepped in dog poo the other day. Yes, that’s right. I’m blogging about dog poo. Let’s see if I can find meaning in that one! So here we go. It was the perfect storm of events that led to me stepping in poo. I was walking my dog, Nola(bees,) around the park while listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. I was trying to rewind to a specific part of the narrative, and there was a park services truck on the walking path driving towards me. Being the thoughtful, considerate person I am, I stepped aside into the grass. The...
Which came first– gratitude or success? Chances are that growing up you learned that the more success you would have in life, the happier you would be. Somewhere along the way I believed that too, so I set my life up to create the ultimate happiness. I accumulated it all– the degrees, the friends, a husband, a home, and the perfect dental career. Eventually I learned the joke was on me. I found myself living this successful life, but I was unhappy, and I couldn’t feel grateful for all of the wonderful “things” I had. It turns out, success does...
You’ve heard me say it before… many dentists often believe our skills are so limited, that we can’t even imagine starting a side hustle. Something happened to us in dental school that made us believe that. We started getting tunnel vision. The only path we could see moving forward was the traditional full-time gig, practicing clinical dentistry. We thought that would give us the picture perfect life: freedom, respect, and being of service. That’s great when it works out, but for many of us, we get here and realize something is missing. By that point, we’ve invested so much in...
Read about the one and only NEXT Dentist Career Design Conference on March 13th 2021 to help you explore non-traditional or non-clinical careers! If you’re like many of the dentists I know, you may have wondered what are some alternative careers for dentists. I’ve been searching for this answer for years. It seems to be the elusive question that no one in our industry can answer. Even now if you search this on Google, there is no clear cut answer about what options we have outside of clinical practice. The ADA has a list of different ideas, but even if...
