Why are some dentists hopelessly broke?

I’ve turned this thought over and over in my mind. First of all, it’s uncomfortable. I mean, guy or gal goes through at least 7, likely 8 years of school, then another 8 years or more, equivalent in CE their entire career, practicing one of the most lucrative and exciting healthcare careers and they are broke, even after practicing for 35 or more years.

I lose sleep over this. I really do. It’s frustrating and unnerving.

I do believe I know why this happens.

And, it’s not a complicated explanation.

THE REASON IS right between their ears. These guys and gals fail to properly “suspend their own disbelief” that they can actually BE successful and BE heavily rewarded as a dentist, in their chosen profession. And, further, that it’s OK to be rich and rewarded for their skillset.

What’s more important is, it leads to these folks not wanting or not being able to BUY IN to what the successful dentists in the profession are doing.

I’ve heard it before, “Oh, I can’t do that. That’s not my style.” Or, “My patients won’t react like his patients.” Or, “People in my area are too sophisticated for that marketing strategy to work.”

I had one of the nation’s most recognized dentists (at the time, now he’s a distant memory to most) tell me, “I’m just not that good and I never will be. I wasn’t blessed with those kinds of talents.” He was referring to his inability to keep the money he earned rather than dumbly squander it. He lacked money mgmt skills and desperately needed them.

He was and is hopeless in his own mind. How can an outsider change that? They can’t.

If you fail to change YOU, then quite simply, your circumstances won’t, either.