Last updated on September 23rd, 2020 at 10:29 am
The New Year is here and we all know what that means–time to make resolutions. Everyone wants the coming year to be “the” year in which they finally make that change, achieve that specific objective, start making the big bucks, or make good on old promises to themselves.
But despite the sincerity of these dreams, for many, the coming year tends to turn out just as disappointing as the last.
Why is this?
While there are many things that can happen which might result in failure, there is one thing in particular that can doom people’s dreams right from the start: What is this you might ask?It’s the tendency to concentrate heavily on past failures and get hung up on them.
You’ll see this quite a bit. Someone will continue to devote attention to points at which they failed while ignoring where they have been successful. This can get so bad that they begin to believe they are more or less a failure in general with no real hope of achieving much.
(Related: The First Step to Building a Successful Practice)
I’ll give you an example. You see twenty patients in a day. Things go well with nineteen of them and they offer you varying degrees of appreciation for your help. Things don’t go so well with one. Maybe you started late, weren’t able to get everything done you wanted or it was a new patient and you just didn’t hit it off. While of course you would have to handle what came up with that one, it does not negate the fact that things were perfectly fine with the other nineteen! But I ask you, what sticks with you and who are you talking to your spouse about when you go home at night?
So before you start making your resolutions for this year, I want you to look back at 2011 and acknowledge the successes you have achieved. Think of all the good things you’ve done and goals you’ve accomplished-big or small. Think of all the patients you helped in some way, instances where you presented a treatment plan and it went very well, systems or programs you implemented in your practice that worked, personal achievements for yourself or your family, times you made something happen when others had doubted you, etc.
And as you look back, don’t think about your losses and failures. Completely ignore them. Dwelling on them doesn’t help anyone.
I think when you go through this last year and really look at what you have accomplished, and where you were successful, you might be very surprised; in many cases you will have accomplished far more than you would have thought. You’ll find that it wasn’t all bad, it wasn’t all failure, and that perhaps you are just a little bit more capable than you thought you were.
Well, it’s true. You are capable of more than you’ve been given credit for. You can make this year the best year ever in your practice.
There will be barriers and obstacles along the way, but those don’t have to stop you. Handling these is simple – in many cases you just need the know-how. That comes from training and that is where MGE can help.
Give us a call today and together let’s make 2012 your best year in practice!
Luis Colón provides this general dental practice management advice to furnish you with suggestions of actions that have been shown to have potential to help you improve your practice. Neither MGE nor Luis Colón may be held liable for adverse actions resulting from your implementation of these suggestions, which are provided only as examples of topics covered by the MGE program.
