Dr. Ginger Bratzel offers solutions for when negative things happen in the office and how to handle them so they have the slight amount of impact on your goals.
Do you sometimes feel that the whole world is dumping down on you?
Yeah, it’s an awful feeling but it happens. It happens to all of us. The world is not perfect. Days are not perfect and things fall apart.
Just recently, I received a question asking, “How do you keep a positive attitude when things go bad?”
I wish I was a perfect human being to say that I don’t have those kinds of problems and that when things like that happen, I just row with it. But I’m not, just like everybody else. But there are certain things that we all can do to stay positive.
I want to share with you some things that can help you cope with these problems.
First, you have to give yourself permission to have a “less than perfect day.” We are dentists and we were taught to be perfectionist. We are type-A personalities by nature, and whatever we are doing, we always want the best results for patients so that pushes us to have that ‘perfect mentality’ even when it’s not realistic or even necessary.
RANGE OF SUCCESS
0————————–80%——-100%
Failure——————Success–Perfection
Success and perfection are NOT the same thing. If 0% is failure and then 100% is on the other side of the scale. A hundred percent is perfection, but if we look carefully, success really starts at 80%.
So at the 80% mark, stop ,congratulate yourself and give yourself a break. That takes the pressure off.
So what do you do when you don’t go as planned?
1. Give Yourself Permission to Breakdown
Sometimes, when unexpected things happen, you need to breakdown. If you want to cry out, go to your office and or your car, then scream and cry or whatever if you want. But of course, you will want to do that in private because you still have to maintain your composure in front of your patients. Make sure that you have that time alone. Often, before you can have a BREAKTHROUGH, you have to have a BREAKDOWN first. Celebrate that, because wonderful things are coming your way. Probably there will be breakthrough in technology, with team, and with patients. So treat that as a blessing, because you’ll going to make something new happen in your life.
2. Get away and take a break. STOP!
If you have to get away because of the situation, do it. Go for a short, little walk even if it is in the middle of your booked day. I’d rather you be 10 to 15 minutes behind in your schedule than sit there and suffer through the situation. And remember, don’t make rush decisions. Put up a stop sign. Tell yourself to stop for a bit. Try not to do anything that moment and don’t overreact. Is the problem really yours or is it someone else’s? If it’s technology picking on you, it’s not your problem; it’s just a fact of life. So don’t ever rush to reaction.
3. Don’t do something you are going to regret
Just because we have an instant access to communication, like calling, texting, or emailing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the time to use them. Put a hold on it. If you feel you want to write something down, you can write a draft of an email but don’t fill in the recipient’s name so that you will not accidentally send it out. You need to think about it for awhile. With a little time and little perspective, you’ll find out that it’s a lot easier than you initially thought.
Remember, when you reach success at the 80% mark, congratulate yourself and take a break! Then celebrate if you had a breakdown because soon you’ll have a breakthrough. Those are the keys to staying positive when things go bad in your office.
Are you a dentist who wants to get all the patients you need, maybe we should talk?
I invite you to contact me right now at Results@GingerBratzel.com to schedule a complimentary ‘get acquainted meeting’ over the phone with me to see what opportunities are available right now in your practice to make patient attraction and practice growth a priority.
If you want more patients, you need to send me that email!
I wish you nothing but success,
Ginger