Dentaltown November 2013 - (Page 16)

howard speaks column Find us on Facebook continued from page 14 www.facebook.com/dentaltown coach who taught me the proper way to run. People who run marathons have a high cadence, they lean forward, and they try not to swing their arms left to right. Basically, the point I'm trying to make is I raised my hand. I realized, "I ain't gettin' it done," so I brought in consultants for my body. If you're stressed and burned out, it's time to start getting your body in better shape. I've met thousands of dentists over the last 25 years and any dentist I've ever met who had his or her body in shape was never burned out. Ever. Since I've been training for an Ironman triathlon, I've been really tuned into a message board on Dentaltown.com called "Ironman Training" [Editor's Note: You can view the entire thread here: www.dentaltown.com/IronmanTraining]. The other Townies who post on this thread will get up early in the morning, ride their bikes 50 miles in two hours, come » Howard Live Howard Farran, DDS, MBA, is an international speaker who has written dozens of published articles. To schedule Howard to speak to your next national, state or local dental meeting, e-mail jenna@farranmedia.com. 2014 7 FEB Mount Baker District Dental Society 28 FEB Oklahoma AGD 14 MAR Orange County Dental Society 5 APR Mid Continent Orthodontics Bellingham, Washington www.mbdds.org Oklahoma City, Oklahoma www.oagd.org Irvine, California www.ocds.org Scottsdale, Arizona Barbara - 800-374-1330 barbara@tipedge.com www.tipedge.com home, shower and get ready for work. The cool thing is, because they've worked out, they come to work totally fired up and engaged! Why? Intelligent people know that even though they weigh 150 lbs., they live inside a 3.5 lb. brain. The brain has a trillion circuits, was built by 3.6 billion DNA base pairs, and it's probably the least-taken-care-of organ in the body. People take better care of their teeth by brushing and flossing and getting their teeth cleaned every six months than they take care of their brain. If your diet is horrible and you don't exercise, don't sit there and wonder why your 3.5 lb. brain isn't working right. It's all connected. Once you start taking care of your body, then you can really focus on the remaining three Bs. Along the same lines as what I've explained previously, when you start focusing on your business and you realize that your practice is just not getting it done, guess what? Raise your hand and hire a consultant! I'm serious! When I started my practice, right out of the gate I hired Sally McKenzie. I thought I was doing well, but Sally McKenzie came in and took us to another level pretty much overnight. Since then, I've had Sandy Pardue and other consultants come to my office to help me figure out the best way to run my practice. When I talk about consultants, I'm usually asked, "Well, is it worth it?" Dentistry is a cottage industry - if you sneeze in dentistry at one end of the ADA convention hall, everyone knows about it at the other end of the hall. Consultants cannot make a living in dentistry by taking money from dentists and providing no value. Every consultant I know has reams of happy customers. Consultants wouldn't exist if they didn't work. Believe me, consultants work! My friend and colleague Dr. Jerome Smith in Louisiana might have one of the best - if not the best - operating practices in the profession. I mean, his practice runs better than a Rolex watch, and he still has Sandy Pardue come in and consult on a regular basis. When you ask him why, he just laughs and says, "You can always do better! It's always a value. I've always seen Sandy as an investment. She's never come here once when she didn't bump us up to the next level." If you're burned out, there's a good reason you're burned out, and nine times out of 10, it's because of something you're doing (or not doing). If you're not taking care of yourself, it's time to hire a coach, and if you're not taking care of your business, it's time to hire a consultant. ■ What do you think? Visit Dentaltown.com/magazine.aspx and post your comment under Howard's latest column. 16 NOVEMBER 2013 » dentaltown.com http://www.facebook.com/dentaltown http://www.Dentaltown.com http://www.dentaltown.com/IronmanTraining http://www.mbdds.org http://www.oagd.org http://www.ocds.org http://www.tipedge.com http://www.Dentaltown.com/magazine.aspx http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown November 2013

Dentaltown.com Highlights
Howard Speaks: Not Getting it Done? Hire a Consultant
Professional Courtesy: Painful Advertising
Continuing Education Update
Second Opinion: The Role of Teamwork in the Third Era of Medicine
Deprogrammed Open Bite Can Help with Veneers
Bruxism Worse with Splint
Corporate Profile: Burbank Dental Laboratory
Product Profile: Eaglesoft 17
Debunking the Social Stigma of Stress
The Personal Side of Stress
In Your Face: Facing the Realities of Stress in Dentistry
When Tragedy Strikes: How to Prepare for and Recover from a Natural Disaster
The Latex Problem: It’s More Complicated Than You Think
Why Dentists Require Specific Exercise
How Much Money Can You Make When You’re Dead?
Denture Stabilizations with Small-diameter Implants
You Should Know: CrownMen
Product Profile: Synergy
Product Profile: NuSmiles ZR
Continuing Education: The New Evolution of Chariside CAD/CAM Technology
Ad Index
In This Issue: Dry Brush Inside Bottom Teeth First
Perio Reports
Dentally Incorrect
101 Ways to Reduce Stress
Achieving Goal Congruency

Dentaltown November 2013