Have you ever thought that maybe you didn’t want to help people for a living? Seriously, tell the truth. If you have had that thought, you know you’d never tell anyone, and in fact it’s pretty tough to even admit to yourself. I felt that way for a long time. There, I said it. In a recent conversation with a client, he shared with me the ideal qualities of his dream job. Although he doesn’t yet know what the job is, he made a great list of what is important to him. As he was rattling off his list, he...
Do you ever feel unhappy, bored, uninspired, and annoyed by work? Do you ever look down into your patient’s mouth during an exam and think, “Ugh, if I have to look at another tooth, I don’t know what I’ll do.” I used to have that exact thought at times. The more I felt stuck in my career, the louder that thought became in my head. It’s not fun at all. Feeling like you have no options is really stifling. You know what’s keeping us stuck? We won’t get out of our heads. For many years I went round and round. ...
I’m shocked to announce that Nola has run out of wisdom to teach me. I know it’s surprising. I never thought a butt-sniffing, poo-eating creature as amazingly clever as she is, could ever run out of wisdom, but Nola is out of ideas. Luckily our walks together have led me to another source of wisdom… the podcast. After walking in silence every day for months, I’ll admit I kind of got tired of hearing my own thoughts over and over. I got bored with myself, so I decided to multi-task and learn something new during that hour. Of course I...
How do you feel about change? Do you love it, or do you fear it? I love change! You know why? Because without it, I’d still be that same person I was 6, 10, 15 years ago. I would still be stuck exactly where I was. Change is scary for all of us, but I can’t imagine my life without it. Over the past 5 years you’ve followed my career journey, and I’ve been so fortunate to follow yours. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since we started sharing our stories in November of 2011, the month...
In my last post I marveled at how easily Nola is able to immediately let go of another dog’s aggression toward her. I even gave myself a little pat on the back for being so relaxed about it too… as if I’m always so calm, cool, and collected. It wasn’t until I read this comment from a reader, that he reminded me that I’m not always as skilled as I’d like to think I am at “shaking it off.” He said: If dentistry taught us something, its being able to move on after that last excruciating conversation with someone who’s...
Have you ever noticed how sometimes the most simple discussions can bring about the most unexpected moments of clarity? While hanging out with a friend a few weeks ago, he reminded me of an old memory we shared. He is a high school teacher, and several years ago he had a student in his class with very bad teeth and very little money. She needed serious help, and he felt so strongly about helping her, that he paid me to do her dental treatment for her. As we reminisced about how amazing that story was, I realized that I had...
I never thought I’d say this, but I’m actually having fun with my new business. Work isn’t generally something we associate with “fun,” and I didn’t choose to do this because I thought it would be “fun.” I’m sure there are people who choose this for that reason alone. People decide to go into this type of business for all sorts of reasons. Some do it for the money. Some want to dream big. Some are lonely and are just looking for social interaction. Some even do it for the personal development. I have a friend who did it because...
Remember how I said you cannot do this business alone? Well, I’m about to contradict myself. You have to do this business alone. Wait! What? First I said you cannot do this alone, and now I’m saying you have to? Well, they’re both true. You have to do it alone… when you are not relying on your teammates, which is most of the time. Most of the time, you are doing the behind-the-scenes work that sets you up to work with others. If you don’t lay the ground work for your business, there is nothing for your team to help...
In sharing the “simple” routine required to do this business, I left out one key factor to success in this company: You can not do this alone. Team is essential. Without one, you will not survive in this business. But with one, you will thrive. This is why it is so crucial to plug into the people and the system provided for you. My support team does 3 necessary things for me. They are: Teachers Worker Bees Cheerleaders (more…)
Since I had never been in the network marketing industry before and had no clue what to do, I was a sponge for any information I could get. When I opened my starter package, I felt a little overwhelmed, but my excitement for my new career experiment kept me going. There was a lot of information, and I had no idea where to begin. Turns out, it’s not unlike buying a new TV or a desk from IKEA: it helps to read the manual. My kit was like a manual that told me exactly where to start, so I just...
