Attitude is Everything
the person you want to be. — Henry David ThoreauOur thoughts and our attitude determine who we are and what others think of us. Those “others” include your patients, your staff and your peers.
Your attitude towards yourself, your staff and your practice resonates through your pores like you just ate a big bowl of spaghetti with extra garlic. It is so important to carry an appropriate attitude as you work in your practice. Your attitude creates you and your practice.
As patients come in, you should have an attitude that your happy to see them and your going to help them with their dental health. If you have an attitude that your going to make a boat payment off of this next patient, the patient will feel that attitude. They will probably only help you make one boat payment as they’ll be short time patients from the feeling and “vibe” they get from you.
Your staff also senses your attitude. I know of several dentists who have an attitude that they want to make as much money as quickly as they can. They care little about the staff or the patient. This is fun for the staff for the first few months. Then, they get bored and burn out very quickly.
One book I have read at least four times is a book by Napoleon Hill called “Think and Grow Rich”. The title is more than what it seems. Napoleon Hill researched many wealthy individuals in the early 1900’s. One of the biggest revelations Napoleon Hill found was that what differentiated many wealthy people from others was their attitude. It wasn’t just an attitude towards making money, it was an attitude towards life, family, church, and themselves. Controlling your attitude and keeping positive is important for your practice and for your personal life.
An exercise that Napoleon Hill recommended was choosing one area of your life, it could be your practice, that you would like to change. Take one half hour each day and sit back and relax. Envision that one thing you want to change with a vision of what you would like that one thing to be. If your focusing on your practice, envision the perfect practice that is perfect to you. Do this exercise for thirty days and your attitude towards your item to change will look much different.
