How many of us always have great days? I suppose that how we define a “great” day is subjective depending on what a great day means to each of us individually. More often I find myself hearing people say in response to their day, “Well today, at least I’m vertical” or “I’m on the right side of the grass.” I usually find these kinds of responses really humorous, but a little sad.
One thing that I am beginning to value more often is time. I am realizing that time is the one gift we receive that is so incredibly valuable. Our days consist of 24 hours of time which must be used wisely. How horrible it would be to live each day in a state of sadness or despair. However, we all have “bad” days from time to time. It’s all a part of life, and each of us face irritations throughout the day. Traffic congestion, poor customer service, car problems, a difficult person that we’re dealing with, etc. can cause us to think that this is turning out to be a really bad day. ......
One of the challenges of being an employer is the responsibility to your business and patients to prevent employment lawsuits. The focus of any great practice is providing the best care possible to your patients, and the last thing you want is an employment lawsuit distracting from your primary purpose. Unfortunately, these lawsuits are more common than you may think and are not only reserved for careless employers.
There may be ways you have been unknowingly putting yourself as an ......
In any partnership, a lot goes into success. Each person needs to work with the other to make the partnership work properly. Dental practitioners often find numerous benefits of working together. A dental practice partnership can prove beneficial in allowing the practice to maintain competitiveness as the cost to maintain technology continues to rise. It can also aid in managing flat or decreased reimbursement rates. In some areas, these partnerships are critical for competing with greater competition within the local ......
We frequently hear comments around this time each year about how quickly the year went by. “Where in the world did the year go?” “I can’t believe the year went by this quickly!” “Where did time go?” The fact of the matter is that life moves along at a breakneck pace and seems to pick up speed all the time. Most of us will certainly find this to be the case as we get older.
However, now may be a good time to call a strategic “timeout” to assess our success this year. In other words, how do we think we have performed in all facets of our life throughout the year? This assessment should include all areas that are of major importance to us personally and professionally. Our discussion today will focus on the importance of taking a strategic timeout to do two things which can lead to success. ......
You practice dentistry because you enjoy helping patients. At the same time, you went into business to make a profit. What happens when you discover that a trusted employee is stealing your profits? Think it cannot happen to you? Think again…no one is immune!
In this article you will learn to recognize the profiles and modus operandi of embezzlers, safeguards you can implement to protect your practice from being an easy target, as well as what to do if you discover that you are a victim of embezzlement. ......
Having a good advisor by your side as a business owner is extremely important. It can not only increase the profitability of the practice but can also help eliminate bad decisions and reduce the headaches of business ownership.
Range of Support
Do It Yourself
In an attempt to reduce overhead cost some practice owners attempt to keep their own books. Whether they purchase a check writing software or keep manual records, they simply hand off their records at the ......
There are people from all walks of life whom we consider to be successful in whatever way we personally may define success. When you study these individuals and how they manage their lives, many times you’ll find interesting things they do that set them apart from others. First of all, their confidence in the face of hardships is driven by their ability to let go of the negativity that holds so many individuals back from being successful. It seems that successful individuals are those who in many ways thrive on facing obstacles and how they overcome them. Their mantra in life could be summed of with “Obstacles do not block the path; they are the path.”
This perspective helps successful people think differently from most everyone else. This unique way of thinking is important because, if you think like everyone else, no matter how smart or talented you are, you will hit the same “ceiling.” By thinking outside the box and being different (going against the grain), successful people are on track to rise above their limitations. So let’s take a look at some of the ways that successful people go against the grain. ......
The older I get, the more I realize that almost all progress in life is not accomplished by individuals but by teams. We hear about the achievements of business superstars such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg on an ongoing basis. What we don’t hear about is that the achievement of these individuals is due primarily to their respective teams. These are the groups of individuals who work in concert with each other to see visions, ideas, and projects through to completion for miraculous results. Of course, someone had to dream and communicate the vision of what in their own mind was possible. This is where much credit can be given to Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg.
The ability to lead teams and draw out the best in teams is a tremendous talent to have. Additionally, the ability to effectively facilitate communication within a team can quickly identify someone as a superstar leader. This team could be as diverse as a church group, a volunteer community organization, or a committee/task force within a corporate setting. Regardless of what type of team we may be a part of, we know that effective communication is essential. Without it, the team’s goals could be misunderstood, its efforts uncoordinated, and eventually ineffective communication could lead to extreme frustration with little to no hope of achieving the desired cohesive final result. We all know that communication is a good thing. However, when we are working with a group of people—rather than in a one-on-one setting—there are unique challenges and strategies to consider. ......
The older I get the more I think about all the “small stuff I have sweated” about over the years. These are the things that at one time seemed to be tremendously important and major priorities for me. At particular times of my life, some of these things actually were priorities. However, when looking back over the years (hindsight is always 20/20), I now realize that those “old” priorities turned out not meaning a thing in terms of their lifetime value to me or to others. In essence they were only insignificant, inconsequential things (small stuff) that I unnecessarily worried about at the time.
I recently read a fantastic book by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff for Men. This book identified fifty-two simple things that we can do to minimize stress in today’s mega-busy, tech-driven environment. A side note here is that Dr. Carlson has authored several “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” books that have become bestsellers. For today’s blog, we won’t have time to talk about all fifty-two things Dr. Carlson identifies. We will cover just a few of the most significant “takeaways” that I feel are most applicable to each of us: ......
