Do you ever feel like you’re trapped in an endless loop of unhappiness with your dental career?

And no matter what you try– more vacations, dropping down a day a week, or learning that new procedure– nothing ever really fixes your career. You always end up in the same feelings of depression and anxiety. (Hint: your career is not supposed to feel this way, so stop justifying that it’s normal!)

Ask me how I know this. I spent years riding the roller coaster of dentistry. For weeks I tried my best to love it, then the next few weeks I’d struggle to walk into the office. This cycle would repeat itself over and over, and I didn’t know how to get out of it.

Let’s call this the Dental Grief Cycle.

Awareness is often the key to creating change. If you’re on a habitual loop, and you can’t break out of it, then something needs to shake it up. When we start by understanding the stages of this loop, that’s the first step toward breaking free.

It starts with…

Denial: Justifying Feeling Unsettled.

For a while, you brush off your discomfort as temporary stress. It’s usually just a rough patch that will eventually pass naturally. But no matter what you do, it keeps coming back.

And over time, it leads to…

Anger: Feeling Resentful.

The more you ride the pain roller coaster, your frustration intensifies. You recognize your dental career isn’t what you envisioned. The stress mounts, and you begin feeling disillusioned about your career choice. You resent your patients and even yourself for choosing this path.

But you’re not ready to face the truth, so you start…

Bargaining: Clinging to False Hope.

You might think cutting back hours, switching practices, or even buying a practice will bring relief. These generic changes feel safer than confronting deeper issues, so you hold onto hope that following the conventional, cookie-cutter advice from others will fix everything.

Despite all you’ve tried to fix it, you find yourself in…

Depression: Searching but Lost.

You begin to scratch the itch that something better is out there for you. As you explore, you get caught in the Google Spiral, looking outwardly for alternative jobs dentists can do, only to give up after a few weeks. You hope there’s a solution, but you don’t know what to do or where to start– so you convince yourself that you have no options.

When you believe you have no options in life, you end up in a…

Deeper Depression: Stuck and Hopeless.

After numerous dead ends, doubt overwhelms you. You question your capabilities (even as a dentist,) and you feel completely trapped because dentistry has left you with no transferable skills. You believe there’s no way out.

Acceptance: Wake-Up Call.

This is often marked by a serious event. Whether you get injured or sick, you lose a loved one, or the unimaginable happens, our most difficult experiences often serve as a giant call out on your life. You realize that life is too short, you can’t keep living like this, and something HAS to change.

At this critical point, two paths emerge:

1) You stay trapped in the Loop, aka No Resolution. 

Despite having your big wake-up call, you return to ineffective fixes, never confronting deeper issues, and nothing ever changes. The cycle repeats, deepening your feelings of hopelessness and knocking down any confidence you ever had.

And years of your life pass by, knowing you’re missing out on your true potential. Or…

2) You break the Cycle with a Real Resolution. 

That’s where my coaching program comes in. You stop settling for a life in pain and finally take control. You challenge the beliefs holding you back, gain clarity, and create a real plan to move forward. Instead of temporary fixes that don’t work, you’ll choose meaningful change. No more hoping things will magically change.

No more feeling stuck and no more wasting years of your life.

Did you know that I’ve created the solution that can help you break the cycle (unless you want to stay in the loop, of course)? My program, Start Your Side Gig, is designed specifically to help you decide what’s best for you and find practical, achievable strategies to align your career with your values.

What do you choose? Do you want to stay stuck in the loop or are you ready to finally build a career and a life that fits you?