Looking back… Looking Forward

Regrets, I’ve had a few…. But, then again, too few to mention

And so goes the song My Way, done so brilliantly by Frank Sinatra and covered beautifully by Elvis and others.

Last year was a wonderful year for me, my family, my friends, and, I hope, for you. Was it perfect? Absolutely not! Did I have setbacks? Oh yeah! Regrets? (see above) Adversity? Plenty of it for all of us.

Mistakes and missteps, disappointment and frustration are all part of the game for you, me, and anyone who’s alive. And I fell down a lot in 2022 and in the years preceding it. But I’m alive, doing really well, and excited and curious for what 2023 will bring my way.

In her magnificent book, The Choice (pictured below), Dr Edith Eger, a 95- year- old practicing psychologist and Holocaust Survivor, talks about the problem of believing that our mistakes, discomfort, and disappointments signal something about our worth and lead us to think that we deserve these unpleasant things.

That is simply not true.

You see, our feelings are generated by our thoughts, and our thoughts are generated by our own choices. Barring catastrophic illness or injury, most of the adversities we face can be used as tipping points for change.

I have been very open about the missteps that knocked me down. And as I talk to more and more dentists out there, knockdowns are more the rule than the exception. And each time I picked myself up, I became Better, Richer, and Stronger; in fact, I hold a kind of warped sense of gratitude for those times because I would not be who I am today if they hadn’t happened. As Dr Eger writes, “you can live to avenge the past, or you can live to enrich the present. You can live in the prison of the past, or you can let the past be the springboard that helps you reach the life you want now.”

The world in general and the world of Dentistry are throwing a lot of changes and challenges to every one of us.

We all know what they are, and we can choose to live in their misery or we can choose another way.

So today I ask you, as you embark on your journey towards goals and benchmarks for 2023,

How will you use the challenges of today to springboard yourself to YOUR preferred 2023?
How will YOU use your best skills to generate financial, health, and emotional profits in your life? Will you resist the temptation to see that patient who left your practice, that short endo fill, or that open crown margin as things that define you, or will you see the positive impact of your work and do your best to curiously pursue improvement and create your best self?
How will you maintain an appreciation for all that you are, all that you have, and all the people who surround you?

And, perhaps most importantly, will you resolve to support, to your imperfect best, as many people as possible in your personal and PROFESSIONAL life?

Better Richer Stronger is a dream come true for me. Welcome to my dream come true! I am so looking forward to bringing you some great vehicles for growth in 2023 and beyond, so that you can welcome me into YOUR dreams come true.