The Dental Jungle – Balance

By Dr. Bill Williams

Prologue: Summertime is here and the living is easy. We made it through the busy travel, CE season that found ourselves in Wisconcin, Miami and the Florida Keys, Buenos Aries, London, and Scotsdale. As you strive for balance, consider what Alex has to say.

In the dental jungle there are 101 stories; this is the 20th in a series of these stories. Dr. Alex Middleton, The Guide, relates the following story from a conference he sponsored on a cruise to the group of dentists he is mentoring.*

Sailing into the Land of the Midnight sun above the Arctic Circle, the Viking Star reaches far north to Honningsvag. The last speaker on the voyage was Dr. Geoff Pratt of Victoria, Canada. His topic was “Balance.” Geoff was a charter member of the Solstice Research Group and moved from Guelf, Ontario to Victoria as part of a plan to finish well before retiring. His career revolved around his training at the Pankey Institute. Geoff’s charge for the conference was to put it all into perspective for the group.

BALANCE

Being a $10,000 A Day Dentist is not all about making big money, producing big dollars and seeking maximum capacity at all costs. Money is just a way to measure service. Serving yourself also must be in the equation… as well as serving your family, your community, and your God. A major focus for Geoff ever since attending the Pankey Institute had been to balance the Cross of Life: Work, Play, Love, Spiritual.

To those who knew him, Dr. Pankey’s Cross of Life represented a way to view lifestyle equilibrium. What we put into life equals what we get out of life when all the parts are balanced. When they are out of balance, the overweighed segment drags down the other parts and places us in jeopardy of overload which can lead to breakdown. Much of our effort should be reserved in seeking to plan our lives so that there is adequate input into each of the four quadrants of The Cross of Life.

We serve one at the expense of the other in some cases. We get unbalanced. But what if we could serve all at the same time? When we place our values properly centered on good, guiding principles, we violate none of the rules. When we give our best effort to our patients, when we follow God’s Golden Rule, when we honor our family and spend adequate time at rest for ourselves, we bring balance, valuable balance, to our lives.

As dentists we have the awesome opportunity to live fruitful and balanced lives. Planning a life is as important as planning a career, planning a year or planning a patient’s case. 

Take time to plan balance in your life… It takes… TIME.

Listening to Geoff’s lecture on balance, Alex could not help but think that this lesson would be particularly well suited for Dr. Carley Matthews. Top Gunners often tend to be out of balance and need someone to call them back to the center now and then. The role of a mentor and coach is to do just that.

Dentists need time away from the grind. Being at the office all the time can be detrimental to physical, mental and spiritual health. Balance is better than burning the candle on both ends and in the middle, as Geoff’s talk reflected. Alex always found international travel mixed with dental continuing education a refreshing change of pace that added to his knowledge, skills, as well as his sense of adventure. The next time you’re looking for a break it may be time to consider an international dental getaway!

*Excerpt from The $10,000 A Day Dentist 

Author: Dr Bill Williams

Director of the 5M Mastermind

Listen to the Podcast where Dr. Williams is interviewed by Dr. Anissa Holmes where they discuss dental marketing and the value of the dental mastermind.

Join us: CALLING ELITE DENTISTS: 5M MASTERMIND 2018

Links and Notes here for REPLAYS of past Profitability webinars