New Year Goals for Dentists… That Don’t Crash and Burn

January rolls in and suddenly everyone's scrambling and setting goals. And their goals. Like, let's increase production by 20%. Let's finally get our hygiene reappointment rate up to 90%. Let's work fewer days, but make more money. And by March, just like our New Year's resolutions, those goals are either forgotten, ignored, or they're just buried under the next wave of chaos in the practice. Why? Because most goals in dentistry aren't designed to stick. Today we're going to be talking about how to turn your goals from wishful thinking into measurable motivating action.

Welcome to the Next Level Practice Podcast. I'm Kelly Dahmer, and today's episode is for every dentist who's tired of setting the same goals every year and then wondering why nothing changes. And listen, we've all been there, okay? You start with the best intentions. New plans, new tools, new ce, new energy. And then production dips, team motivation fades away, and suddenly next year becomes. Well, maybe someday we'll get there. In this episode, we'll break down how to set smarter goals, ones that create clarity, accountability, and lasting results for your practice and for your life. Okay, here's what we're going to be talking about on today's episode. Why traditional goal setting doesn't work in dental practices. The difference between activity and outcome goals. How to align your personal purpose with your practice growth. The simple three step system to create momentum that will last. And how to measure success beyond just the numbers. So what is the goal setting track? So what I do most of my days is I actually get to meet with dentists who need support in creating an annual business plan. And that starts with creating goals, identifying the gaps, and building a plan in order to to close those gaps. And that's where the business plan comes in. And so we start with the goals. And the problem is that most goals start too big and too vague. It's like, let's grow the practice, let's work less, let's make more. But the problem is goals without metrics are dreams without a deadline. You can't manage what you can't measure. And the problem isn't a lack of ambition, it's a lack of alignment, specifically with your team. The other problem we tend to see is that we just set these lofty goals without actually taking into consideration where we've been. So before you set new targets, take stock of what's worked and what hasn't. What brought you energy this year, what drained your energy this year, which habits or systems produced results and which Ones just wasted time and created chaos. Reflection reveals your real opportunities for growth. It's also a great place to benchmark where you've been and where you want to go. You can't design a better year if you haven't learned from the last one. So I mentioned something earlier that I don't know if both of you caught, but it's the activity versus outcome goals. Said another way is like one strategy is worth a thousand tactics right now you still have to have the tactics in order to work. But here's where most practices go wrong. They just set the outcome goals. They just set the strategy goal. Higher collections, maybe lower AR x amount of new patients, but they forget to set the activity goals that actually create those outcomes. And the activity goals is what we want to tie your team to. So for example, if our outcome is increase production by 10%, the activity is tracking case acceptance, tracking reappointment rates, right? All of those input numbers that are really important that are going to lead to the output numbers. So let's talk about that three step framework for goals that actually stick. The first is to clarify your vision. Define what success looks like for you. And it's not just in the numbers, but in lifestyle. So think experience. One year from now, what do you want to be experiencing in three areas? Time, money and culture. Do you want to work four days a week? Or maybe you want to scale down to three days a week? Do you want to move from taking random days off that equal two weeks bumping all the way up to six weeks off so that you can take time and travel with your family and those vacations that you've been putting on? Or is it something around decentralizing yourself from the administrative side of the business and having a stress free team? Really clarify that vision and define what success looks like for you. Make sure it's measurable. The second is to quantify the path, right? So assign specific metrics, assign specific owners and milestones. Who's responsible for tracking the progress? What are we reviewing in daily huddle? Do we even have a daily huddle? And what's measured weekly? The last thing, and I hear this all the time from our doctors, the thing that we miss the most is systematizing the follow through. So what sort of accountabilities are we putting on the back end? Like, okay, we've created these wonderful goals, We've created these wonderful milestones the team is familiar with and they're excited about, really. But if we don't have accountability rhythm on the back end to make sure that we're following through on these goals, then it doesn't matter. It's like information without implementation has no value. Right. So that would look like daily huddles, monthly check ins, quarterly reviews, biannual team summit. I mean, whatever you need to create in order to make sure that you have a specific time dedicated to review your progress. Because consistency beats intensity every time. I want to tell you about a doctor I just spoke to yesterday, Dr. D. I'll call him Dr. D. And it could be that you hear a lot about yourself and Dr. D's story. Okay. This is his $200,000 turnaround. So when I first started talking to Dr. D, it was. He had purchased his practice three years ago from a transitioning doctor and his team.

They have a very strong pull over the practice. Okay. So I guess what I'm meaning to say is this team is the one that's really running the show and he's very much aware and takes responsibility that he's been treading lightly because of the, you know, the fear of loss.

Sometimes that means we're managing from scarcity and we're not actually the one leading the team. And what we really uncovered was, okay, Dr. D has been putting about $100,000 into the practice each year in order to keep this thing running. And also he's not able, he's not able to actually define his vision that he wants for the practice. So we worked together, we set goals so that we could actually profit a hundred thousand dollars this coming year. And we could also motivate his team. You know, on this culture survey, his team was very clear that goal setting wasn't happening, path to reach goals wasn't happening. Like they would like to see some goals. He also wants to see some goals. So we're going to set some goals in place and actually work towards having the practice be solvent, having the team be empowered and really giving him his joy and his leadership back in his practice. Dr. D is not alone. I feel like there's a lot of doctors we talk to that maybe it's not just that they recently acquired the practice, maybe they've been dealing with this for a really long time. So if you feel like you're Dr. D, there's comes a decision you have to make where it's like, how long do I want to allow the unacceptable to be unacceptable? And that's a question you should ask yourself. Now that we've created these great goals, right, it's time to make a leadership shift. As a leader, your team doesn't just need to know the goal, they need to feel the why, right? So tying your goals to their purpose. Maybe it's less chaos, smoother days, better patient care, more bonuses, more time off. And if you haven't listened to the episode we did on Different Personas, go back and listen to that one. Because there's different Personas in the practice. People are motivated by different things, and it's important to understand that about each of your team members. You're not just managing the metrics, you're creating meaning. And people don't buy into numbers, they buy into purpose. So let's recap. The first thing is to set goals that connect to your vision and your daily actions. The second is to replace resolution with rhythms and accountability. Right. Build accountability, not just ambition. And I get it. If you need help designing your 2026 game plan, you're not alone in that. Book A free strategy session with our coaching team. We'll help you identify your top three goals, uncover your biggest blind spots, and create a step by step roadmap to make this your most profitable, most fulfilling year yet. I'm Kelly Damer and this is the Next Level Practice Podcast. Thanks for tuning in. And remember, it's not about setting bigger goals, it's about building better habits.