Last week I left Minnesota.
Let the wind flow through my shoulder length hair, threw on a cowboy hat and explored the heartland of the US.
Once upon a time, I was a cowboy in dentistry.
Yea, yea, yea, you might be rolling your eyes… not another one of Grandpa Lam’s stories. Hey you keep coming back here each week!
Though lately, I’ve been talking to a lot of young dentists. Most of them straight out of school. With each and every one of them, I ask them, what’s stopping you from going out and just buying a dental practice outright.
It’s one of two likely answers.
1 – I don’t have any business sense and my dentistry is still cruddy. I want to learn more before I take on the risk.
2 – I’m too indebted and owe a lot of money from dental school, I don’t want to even think about the risk of taking on another loan.
Both answers scream of risk mitigation.
We live in a risk averse society. It’s just a fact. Just look outside your practice and find all the covid precautions going on at the moment.
So is all this risk aversion really necessary?
Yes it can keep you safe. Yes it can keep you out of trouble. Yes it can feel comfortable.
But imagine if the first cowboys in the US didn’t believe in Manifest Destiny claiming the barren prairielands of the west. Taking on the hard work, the risk and ultimately the sacrifices to gain a better life.
That’s what you face as a young dentist.
Do you want to take on risk, learn quick and make a lot of mistakes? Or do you mitigate risk, learn a bit slower and avoid mistakes. Everyone is entitled to their choice of risk tolerance, but understand what route and why you choose it can certainly accelerate the learning curve.
Your timeline on walking into the sunset like an old John Wayne movie is predicated on you learning quickly and creating opportunities for yourself. But don’t be sealed off from taking any sort of risk, because the most gains are given to those who do take the greatest chance on themselves.
That’s why you applied to dental school. Taking the biggest leap of faith in your time, career and relationships to fix a few holes in teeth.
Thrive on my fellow dentite cowboy.
Lam