We celebrate LABOR but seem to try assiduously to avoid it. We have a “BUREAU OF LABOR AND STATISTICS”, yet we find both unappealing. YUK!
Recently, I’ve seen several marketing pieces aimed at dentists that promise a more leisurely, relaxing and happier life. One shows a picture of a beach and the other a lake. The message is clear. You’re working too hard and you deserve a better existence. They promise the “Holy Grail” of income without LABOR.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
And all you have to do is plop down 5-6 figures on their programs in order to achieve this worthy goal!
Who wouldn’t want to spend more time at the beach, by the lake or with your family?
And you should. You’ve worked hard and YOU deserve it.
BUT…
There’s NO ONE that I know, who is a successful entrepreneur or small business owner, that doesn’t work their butts off. The promise these people are making is just “pie in the sky” and unrealistic; unless you hit the lottery. Even then, look what happens to most of those “winners”. Most go bankrupt in short order.
In short, there’s no “free ride” in this life.
BUT…
These “marketing” tactics work. They get you to read and dream. They can even get you to go to a less expensive, yet still costly, “discovery” weekend, webinar or course where you will be shown “PROOF” that this could actually happen to you. They’ll even show you “statistics”! Other sales and persuasion tactics will be employed so you will buy into this fantasy of a “better way”.
Well…
Sorry to tell you, dreams are not usually reality and success just doesn’t “happen”. There is NO MAGIC FORMULA. Success takes planning and hard work.
Even if there were a “FORMULA”, there are way too many variables for any stranger to know them in YOUR life. Every person, business and market presents unique challenges and opportunities.
The problem that most dentists have isn’t that they don’t work hard. Most that I know workway too hard. Most take enormous amounts of CE. Most buy the latest and best technologies. Many even go to endless “management” courses and seminars.
And many of these efforts have resulted in less than fulfilling results; Systems not implemented, technologies in a closet and staff resentment.
Yes, a major cause of staff issues within YOUR practice could be the result of poor implementation.
You come back from a course, all excited about how you’re going to better care for your patients. Monday morning you even have a meeting to discuss this new system. And then…
You’re met with blank stares. You’ve shattered their lives. You’ve upset their routine.
YOU have become the bad guy. And so, you back off.
But in your head, its become US vs. THEM. It becomes that way for ‘them’ too.
How’s that been going for YOU?
THE REAL PROBLEM?
The problem is that there’s never been a “planning” process.
The result is that most dentists work harder and not smarter.
I know, that sounds cliché. It is. And still, its true.
When was the last time you actually sat down and laid out a strategy; a comprehensive strategy, aimed at how you’re going to accomplish a specific goal?
I bet you have when you did your first implant case, your first veneer case or your first ortho case? You studied and you planned. And, IT WORKED!
YOU DID STRATEGIC PLANNING for your dentistry, which culminated in successful treatment.
So why haven’t you done this with other parts of your business and even private life?
Strategic Planning, as you’ve already experienced, works.
And yes, I’m sorry to tell you, it’s WORK. Sometimes, its hard work and sometimes, to some, its painful. But as YOU’VE seen, it’s effective.
Want to know more about how strategic planning can help YOU?
Contact us and get a copy of my book “From Here To Where?”
Enjoy your Labor Day!
Michael