It’s a sad day for any New Year’s revelers.
At least we won’t’ have to see too many dorky New Year’s Eve glasses at Times Square tonight. Remember, we won’t have a convenient place to put two eye holes until 2030. So long 2020, besides the obvious craziness, there were so many great things that came out of this year.
I can see we are very astute to personal hygiene and ungodly at keeping a supply of two-ply toilet paper. Killer Hornets were a thing, but they weren’t. Hell, we attempted to ban Tik-Tok, but it’s still dancing away on our phones. And not to forget, we had a rapper Kanye run for president and Carol Baskins graced us with a lovely Tango (and not a Tiger), on Dancing With The Stars.
Life has been swell to say the least.
But as with all good things, and bad things, it all must end. So long 2020! It’s time to usher in 2021 and let you in on my top three things I’ve learned since being in quarantine to help any dentist.
Numero uno.
#1) Realize not everything is in our control. Who would’ve thunk a spiky little ball that floats in the air would induce a forced at home vacation for several weeks this year?
We don’t know how deep the cavity goes until we’re lathering ourselves up in pulp tissue. Just as we don’t exactly know how tomorrow will go. What we do know is that tomorrow is a different day, and you can either treat it the way you expect it (expect anything!). Or you could take it like a nun with a ruler about to give you a good whoopin.
Don’t be set with everything going a certain way. Remember a Maxillary first molar has as many canals as you can find, an endodontist will tell you 70% of the time, there are four, I’ll usually find them at least the first three.
Numero dos.
#2) After meeting so many run down dentists this last year, I really wondered why. Most were being treated like crap from other docs, their own staff and the changes a pandemic yields. Why do we treat ourselves like this? Notice how I say, ‘treat ourselves’. I can’t control how others treat you, but if we allow ourselves to be surrounded by such a**holes, or subjected to such abuse, are we truly the victim if we aren’t willing to remove ourselves from such affliction?
Find the pain point in your life. Think. ‘What is it, if I could make change, would help me feel at the top of my game’. Then it’s still on you to sit down and have the tough conversations, make the difficult decisions and put thought into action my friend.
Finally numero treis.
#3) Be willing to spend on yourself. I’m not talking shopping sprees for clothes or that new iPhone. The brief dopamine hits aren’t even worth it.
Spend on something much more fulfilling. When it comes to dental products, I ask myself, ‘Hey Lam, is this going to make my life (or my staff’s lives) easier and save me time? And/or is this going to teach me a beneficial skill I will be able to use’?
Paying for convenience is a no brainer. What’s the point of saving so much money anyways? A hearse never stops at the bank before the funeral. Don’t be the richest person in the grave, use the hard earned money you’re making to create convenience in your life. Use the time you save to apply to what you truly love. If playing candy-crush is your true love, I’ll accept it… I’m still stuck at level 1582…
And as for picking up new skills. We don’t know what we don’t know. I didn’t know how to make furniture, remodel a house or bake cookies. But hell, I youtubed and pulled up some recipes, and figured you can use cookie dough as mortar between mitered joints in the coffee table I’m making. Just kidding.
But I do feel strongly about the upcoming change to a digital currency in the next decade and have been arming myself with the skills and knowledge to bring our dental world up to speed with it.
What I’m trying to say here is, don’t give up on the learning part of your life. It’s that same feeling when you knock out a perfectly prepped #19. You can see the margin like someone had used painters tape all around the tooth and the occlusal retains anatomical waves that conform to the opposing tooth in all the right places.
You can take away everything in my life, but I will always be left with my thoughts and my skills. And with that, I can always rebuild from.
I want to take just a little more time at the end of today’s episode to wish all of you for coming here week in and week out. I can’t believe it’s been another year now (2 all together). If you’d like to hear anything specific in the upcoming year, I’m always up for a challenge, send me an email or a message. Otherwise, I wish you and all of yours a Happy, a Wonderous, and Thriving New Years!!!
Love,
Lam