When things slow down around the holidays, at the end of a long day I find myself watching an old movie about military, spies, and intrigue. During the Cold War, the US Government had an “acrostic” for people who would concede their loyalty to their country: MICE.
M: Money
I: Ideology
C: Compromise
E: EGO
These four words were the “why” when it came to betraying their country, friends and themselves. Could it be possible that in life, these are the very things that we use to justify our lack of success in business?
It‘s a new year and for most of us, we find that we did a little better than last year, but certainly much less than we are capable of, or needed to do. We tend to begin the year on empty dreams and promises and finish with a renewed vision of making the next year different: Different by actually setting goals, creating a plan, and executing those plans by a predetermined date. But if history is any indicator of our future, 97% of those reading this will fail again. I want to make the point that we too, are “MICE”.
• Money: At the start, most businesses need to make money and be profitable. We all had to move past the point of break-even to a point of being able to have enough excess to someday have choices in how and when we retire. Money is important, but your goal in life is to be balanced in your business and family life. You can already tell that you missed the boat and betrayed yourself if you are not saving at least 20% a year, have secured the insurance and asset protection that protects you in the event of death, disability and from lawyers, and are spending the time it takes to be the spouse, parent, or friend your kids, spouse, and friends always thought you would be. If you are just starting out, money, school debt, and making ends meet tend to overwhelm your every thought. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a “job” will ever give you more than “just the money”, because “just the money” will never be enough. I see young doctors thinking that they don’t have any choices except working for a large corporate practice for their entire career. I know, you are just doing this until you can scrape enough together in order to buy your own practice. This begins the very common habit of delaying your goals because you are waiting for the “I will do this when” moment to come along. I will open a practice “when I” am debt free, or I will take the time away with my family “when I” have the business in better shape. The trouble with this is that “when” is a moving target, and a poor excuse for not doing what you need to do now. Is “money” a good reason to betray your dreams and life?
• Ideology: The dictionary defines this as a set of conscious and/or unconscious ideas that constitute one’s goals, expectations, and actions. With a perfect ideology you shape the “perfect” culture of your life and practice. If you hold limiting beliefs or you have let someone else set this ideal for you, life will be filled with unrealized expectations, or a standard of mediocrity surrounded by coming up short and few options in the future. Compromise can be a bad thing. Don’t trade your set of goals for someone else’s. Make your practice the practice you always knew you would have. You control your practice’s success or failure. Why not make a new goal for 2015?
• Compromise: Being in my mid-sixties gives me a different perspective on decisions I make about business. From my vantage point, I get to see how hundreds of doctors have “settled” for what’s left over in a business (Dentistry) that has unlimited potential. Compromise is settling for less than you deserve. 2015 holds a unique opportunity in that you can decide to take a different path to success: www.bestfordentistry.com web site will soon be up and running along with a different perspective on Dentistry and a culture that will allow the average dentist to perform at a higher level with consistent results that adapt to an ever changing environment that we face in Dentistry. Remember that the “BEST” stands for “Building Everyone’s Success Together”.
• EGO: A person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance is the single most important trait we see in the successful. Why would any dentist compromise their clinical, financial, or ethical dentistry and settle for anything but the best for themselves and their family? Self-esteem is not a part time job, but a full time commitment. Far too many dentists see themselves as failures, and often times this leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy for their careers and lives. I’m here to help every dentist elevate themselves and their practices to a new level with no compromise. Don’t let how you see yourself today rob you from changing the results you can achieve in 2015.
In 2015 don’t betray your profession, by becoming “MICE”. Rather, step up and make the most important decision of your career by changing the trajectory of your practice and becoming the “BEST” dentist you can be.
This is how you Summit.
Mike Abernathy, DDS
[email protected]
972-523-4660 cell