Look Ahead

    Look ahead to a brighter future in 2008.  Looking back over the year just past has it's benefits.  It gives you a chance to see what worked and what didn't.  Now you know what you want to keep doing, or do more of next year, and what you hope to never deal with again.  Even if some of the same problems arise, hopefully you'll know how to deal with them better.  Then there are the things that have no saving grace.  You lost your temper and hurt someone's feelings, you made a mistake that still makes you blush, one of your employees said something in frustration that she didn't really mean, someone quit and left a lot of hard feelings and burned bridges behind.  Realize now, there's nothing you can do to change any of that.  Leave it behind the door marked 2007.
    Bringing up and reliving pasts pains doesn't solve anything, even though you may tell yourself it does.  It just keeps it alive and ugly.  Once a situation can't be changed by talking about it anymore, shut it down.  Move on and put your energy into something you can affect.  Sometimes people feel that if they can understand every nuance of a problem they can somehow fix it.  All they really do is hold whomever they are talking with, hostage to the past. 
    So where will you start to make 2008 a great year?  Does your schedule need tweaking, your staff need motivating, do you need some new changes in your practice?  If you're the dentist, it starts with you.  Even if you have a practice manager, at some point you have to get involved if you want to have the practice of your dreams.  While you have some time now during the holidays, think about all the things you'd like to see in your practice.  Write them down as they come to you.  Every one of them.  Don't edit out things because you think your staff won't support it or it's too much effort.  It costs you nothing to write it down.  Once you're done, look over your list and rate the importance of each item.  Just ask yourself how you'd feel if each item actually became a reality.  Then rate them from 1-5; 1 being in the "yeah, that would be nice category and 5 being "Wow, if only I could make that happen, I'd have the practice of my dreams!"  Guess what?  You are on the way to making it happen.  You took the first step, you made it a part of your vision for your practice.  Pick one or two of the things that you rate a 5, those will be the goals you work toward, first. 
    Don't worry, you don't have to do it alone.  We're going to get your staff involved. You can't just walk in on January 2 and say, "listen up, this is how it's going to be from now on."  Well, you could, but I doubt you'd get what you wanted.  You have to let them know about your vision and you have to ask them to make it their vision as well.  I'll be back to help you plan how to make that happen.