There you go. Another four letter word. Rather than a curse word, it stands for “Fear Of Missing Out”. Far from being just a silly catch phrase, FOMO could change your life. I used to live with two opposing personality traits. The first was making sure that I did things right, so I made sure I analyzed the challenge before making a decision. The second was a sneaky suspicion that I was going to miss out if I didn’t act quickly and that bordered on fear: Yes, I have FOMO.
Through the years I have been able to blend together these two opposing approaches to come up with a more decisive way to fuel my success. A “ready, fire, aim” methodology of decision making. It has served me well for over four decades and it can help you too. I found that as long as I got up when I stumbled, I never really failed. You only fail when you don’t get back up. In fact, I found that each mistake placed me closer to the right answer or action, and that not doing something successfully the first time did not mean I was a bad person or a complete failure. The neat thing about this is that I found that I could invest (a return on what I spent) in an education and coaching relationship with various consultants and mentors from all walks of life, not just Dentistry. This step of faith was my “ready” in the 3 step “ready, fire, aim”. It gave me the confidence and competence to feel that my decision to execute (fire) was the best decision at the time. The final step, aim, took the form of slightly adjusting the trajectory of the decision I had already made. The score card is that I was right over 90% of the time and it has made all the difference in the world.
On the other hand, I see a majority of my friends in Dentistry going “ready, aim, aim, aim, aim, aim, aim, aim………….”. It is so rare that they ever pull the trigger and it’s this lack of FOMO that is holding them back, because they are missing out on lowering their stress, increasing new patients, and learning to remain profitable by increasing their practice 15-20% a year.
It’s a New Year and I want you to step out in faith and make some quick decisions. I won’t spend the time by reprinting the hundreds of emails from dentists that were early adaptors and got ready and then fired with little aim other than the commitment from just a suggestion I made for them to act and the logic of the action I proposed. So here are a few things you need to think about for about 2 seconds and then DO:
- Join BEST for Dentistry: bestfordentistry.com. It is now the largest group dedicated to the survival of the independent practice of Dentistry. We have more practices in BEST than any one national corporate group in the US and we continue to grow because doctors are finding out they can save thousands of dollars every month using our Alliance Partners. You are missing out if you have not joined. It costs you nothing and will give you a new look at saving and lowering your overhead.
- Ops Tracker: The simple communication software that is changing how successful practices run their offices. It replaces light systems, radios, sticky notes and even yelling down the hall for less than $200.00. Read this (https://summitpracticesolutions.com/2016/09/19/the-ops-tracker/) and see if the Ops Tracker could help you stay on time and communicate more efficiently than the way you are currently operating.
- Visit summitpracticesolutions.com: My new book entitled Marketing the Super General Dental Practice will be out in a few weeks. Don’t wait to find out how I was able to average over 250 new patients per month in my main practice. While you are there, also take a look at the various items available on the Products page:
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- The Super General Dental Practice.
- THE ROADMAP to Wealth & Security: Your Complete Guide to Dental Transitions.
- 180 Degree Dental Journey
- Does Your Marketing Have A Pulse?
- The Hygiene Factor
- 100% Case Acceptance
- Solving the Cancellation and No-Show Problem
- How Patients Choose a Dentist
- The Last Word in Overhead & Dental Benchmarks
- The searchable by subject quick link to all of the articles we have published. An invaluable free resource.
4. Contact me directly: Allow us to forward you our Practice Growth Analysis sheet along with a request for a copy of one week’s schedule, and a current year-to-date Profit and Loss statement. We will spend an hour or so on the phone with you finding out your concerns while showing you any blockages and how to fix them.
Here’s to the best year you have ever had. This can be your “do-over” button — a new start on embracing the FOMO in each of us. I guarantee it will propel you to new levels of satisfaction and practice growth. This is how you Summit.
Michael Abernathy, DDS
972-523-4660 cell
[email protected] -