Change Your Mind, Change Your Results

There is no shortage of people talking about mindset and positive thinking. I am not an advocate of the “secret” or subliminal messaging. I don’t believe that simply visualizing what you want will magnetically attract it to you. However, I do believe the quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life. I also believe if you are positive and you develop a bullet proof mindset coupled with consistent execution and action you can accomplish anything you want in this world.

The most successful people on the planet think and act differently. For starters, many of them operate in abundance vs. scarcity.

Scarcity:

…..there are already so many people doing those procedures what is the point of taking these programs or courses?
…..patients don’t want that type of dentistry because it is expensive
….there are just too many dentists in town…too much competition that’s why my schedule isn’t full
…..you just can’t find good team members

Abundance:

….there is a need for cosmetic dentistry, implants, etc.
….there are plenty of patients seeking out high value dentistry I just need to get them into my practice with sophisticated marketing
…..competition is increasing, this will keep us on our toes and help us improve our processes
…….there are numerous people out there that would be a great fit for the team we need to begin our serch for them

Furthermore many of them have a Growth vs. Fixed Mindset:

In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success.

Growth mindset is the opposite. People with a growth mindset believe growth and progress is possible and it is simply a matter of investment into learning and a consistent effort that will drive this progress.

Which one do you have? How do you know?

Ask good questions and the answers will emerge. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to determine whether you have a fixed vs. a growth mindset.

1. How do you react when someone disagrees with you?
2. How do we react when a colleague or team member gives us feedback or calls us out on an area in which we need improvement? In other words….How do we react when someone is presenting to us a better way to do something or an alternative to the manner in which you complete your tasks now?
3. How do we react when someone questions or scrutinizes an idea we present?

People with a growth mindset have the desire to destroy old habits and beliefs that no longer serve them and find better ways of doing things to create better results for themselves.

For Example: If you are presenting treatment and your case acceptance is 35%., whereas another doctor in the same group or office has an 80% treatment acceptance……the logical thing to assume is the doctor with the higher treatment acceptance has a better presentation technique.

An individual with a growth mindset would seek out that doctor and learn from them. They would actively model their behaviors and process in order to achieve higher results for themselves.

A doctor with a fixed mindset would say: I am a conservative dentist…I don’t “sell” treatment to my patients. Maybe they would blame the patients or the team or anyone else for that matter for there lower conversion rates. The patients don’t value dentistry…the patients just can’t afford it….I do my part but my team doesn’t book the appointments etc. They often time operate from ego and insecurity, victim vs. leader, and simply stagnate or worse regress.

Bottom line: a true growth mindset comes from continuous and never ending learning/improvement which in part is learning from feedback. White Belt Mentality!

Look, if your anything like me you are a major work in progress. I would love to say I think abundantly at all times or exhibit a growth mindset each moment of the day. Its simply not true. I am not striving for perfection here. I am looking to progress and grow each day. 1% per day for the rest of my life. The more consistent I am in this area the more I improve. Today I believe spend more time in an abundant and growth state than I do the contrary and it has increased my fulfilment in life and dentistry. I wish the same for you 😊