Dr. Ron Arndt was a certified master coach for dentists for many decades and he wrote the book, "How To Know If Your Dental Practice is Killing You?" It is not on the market at this time, but I learned a lot more about the stress of running a dental practice and how it caused him to have a heart attack. Luckily, he is still my mentor and we have a great relationship, so I can share with you some of his amazing wisdom. Sometimes people ignore the signs of health problems when we shouldn't. I get so concerned for people that don't deal with stress and I truly want to prevent any potential health issue for anyone I can reach.
Part of my dental coaching is taking the pulse of the practice. I run reports, review the schedule, meet employees and ask lots of questions to diagnose what action steps need to be made. This has taken decades of experience for me to guide dentists in running their business successfully. So let's dive into some topics.
You can ask yourself if you have ever experienced any of these warning signs?
- You go to bed worrying about your dental practice and it's tough to get a good nights sleep.
- You aren't truly present when you are with friends and family.
- All you think about is work, challenges at work, unfinished business and your mind is on overload.
- You have lower energy and you give excuses for why you are tired. (When you truly know you are not taking care of yourself.
- Your children are starving for your attention and want you to play games with them.
- When you go on vacation, it takes 4 days before you can relax and then you start stressing about going back to work.
- If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. After all, it takes too long to explain to delegate it to someone else.
- You tell yourself, "I am smart and I don't need anyone's help. I can do it on my own."
If you can relate to even one of these statements, please don't ignore it. It's a warning sign that you should listen to. An accumulation of these signs is what made my mentor have a heart attack.
What did he do? Well, he decided to start over. What I mean is he fired his team, developed clear roles and expectations and had them re-apply for their position. Yes, he put his foot down and said something like, "These are my core values, my vision for the practice and what I expect! Are you with me or not?"
Anyone who has had business coaching knows that this is the foundation for your success. My clients develop a clear, written business plan that asks some tough questions. We use this document as a living, breathing document that makes every decision about their practice. This takes the stress off the guess work.
The key is to publicly affirm who you are, who your want to serve and how you want to do it. These values you choose freely and have a clear understanding of the consequences of your choice. Your core values you truly prize, you are willing to act on and your would repeat it again and again.
Guess what! Patients want to know that you operate from a set of values that honors and respects them. PERIOD.
I am ever so grateful to have a mentor like this and I pray that each and every one of you get that lucky! I can't express how important having a support system that truly cares about you and your practice.
You are not alone and do not have to live in mediocrity. Life is meant for you to be the captain of your own ship! I hope you find so many answers in my book called, "Hidden Treasures: Finding The Missing Revenue In Your Dental Practice." After all, Dr. Arndt wrote the foreword and gave some amazing words for you too.
Be well,
Heidi Mount
