The Life You are Entitled to Lead

Welcome to Million Dollar Dentistry with your host Gary Katie, brought to you by Next Level Practice. Next Level Practice is the leader in dental practice management. In fact, they are the best in the world at creating happy teams that implement sustainable results. Your host Gary Katie welcomes you to this podcast as he discusses the common concerns, challenges and shares his decades of experience in empowering dentists and dental teams to go from good to world class. Gary Katie is a visionary voice of Next Level Practice and has for the past 20 years interrupted the status quo of the dental world. He continues to bring national attention to the oral systemic connection and, and believes in the complete health dentistry model. He is a powerful educator and advocate for dentistry, dentist and dental teams. He is inspired every day by the courage and personal successes of the doctors and team members he has the privilege of working with. Welcome, Gary.

Hello Amber. Nice to be back here.

Definitely. Well, we talked about last time. In the last one we talked about a bleak picture just. But it was kind of accurate of what many dentists lives resemble that outward presentation of success, but they're masking painful sense of desperation. And today this episode is about hope that we don't have to live that way, that it doesn't need to be that way. So what do you have to say about this in the life you're entitled to lead?

It is all good in the gated hood, is what I have to say about that. It's all good in the gated hood. Yeah, you know, but it's all good in the gated hood and living in a lifestyle that, whatever that might be, you know, that's, I'm playing with, with you. But you know, it's like really, really having a picture of a practice that, you know, you know, when you, when you first, you know, I love baseball. So it's, you know, like spring training. It's like everybody thinks that, you know, it's going to be the best year ever. And I always think about dentists like the day they graduate and they work their tails off in dental school and, and, and then they're, they're sitting there at this, you know, like this big world ahead of them and this picture of the ideal. And then, and then it's like, here's your key, you know, here's the keys to your practice. And, and then it's like I think of needle on the record like, you know, and it's like, okay, then you're faced with reality and then, and then, you know, we go into the spiral that Dr. Laser Guy did in chapter one. And this is really about really, you know, painting the picture of expectations if some doctors didn't have. And really we're going to, you know, talk about the 17 points of an ideal practice and then really like what it looks like. Because if you don't know what it looks like, you can't get there. And if you don't know that, that's a reasonable, established thing. Because as we spoke about in the last episode, people have just become resigned that this is just the way it is for them. And what we're saying is, let's talk about, you know, a picture of really what a healthy, well balanced, standard general practice should look like. And, you know, that's what we're going to outline in today's episode.

Wonderful. So let's just jump right in. So have all the income you desire. What exactly? I mean, is that even possible, really?

Yeah. You know, most dentists are living in a defaulted world, meaning they just kind of get on the court of play and work hard, throw hours at it, throw their best ideas at it, throw new patients at it, and then, however, you know, it kind of falls out. Is like how they've done income. And we're saying, no, this is a designed career. You're an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur means that you have the total freedom to create, even if you're starting out and you're sitting as a dentist, getting your speed up in a corporate practice. And that's completely fine. You know, you can sit there and do that, and that's all good. But what we're saying is that you can absolutely design a lifestyle. What we do is we reverse engineer. You say, I want to make this amount of money. You know, money is a relative thing. And I know this might be hard for some people because it's like, considered. Its concept is considered scarce. It's actually abundant. And how you get it is by creating value. And then how you get it in dentistry is creating value and have a business that is profitable. You know, there's three ways to make money in dentistry. Spf, I call it to remember, it easily. S stands for salary, P stands for profit, and F stands for freaking equity. And so.

I like the F1. That was good.

Yeah, well, you know, I'm politically correct and I don't swear. So, you know, but, you know, doctors don't think. Think of making money that way. They think like, okay, they have a job in their own business and, you know, it's an expensive job. And I want them to move from a dentist with a job to becoming an entrepreneur, leveraging their assets and Then taking them out to being a CEO, if they choose to step aside, they don't even have to be in their practice and they can still have money being made. And this is, you know, dentists don't know what they don't know. They're just doing what the. What the masses is. They're staying with the herd, and they don't have to do that here. They can actually step into and design a lifestyle income. And here's the other key piece, and we're going to get into it. One of the numbers, like, in the amount of time that they want to spend. See, uncollapsing time and money is really important. They're mutually exclusive. Like, one doesn't have to affect the other because, you know, I have a lot of dentists that don't sit chairside, and their other practices are like ATMs for them. They just crank out profit. And they're entrepreneurs and they love that.

You know, so this is where you really start with and helping them create dreams or even dream big, because they're. They're. They went to school to be dentists, so they're dentists. They didn't go to school to be business owners. And that's kind of one of those things. They get out and you think, oh, my goodness, I have to own my own practice. And they jump out into the world and then it's like, oh, my goodness, I own my own practice and I'm a dentist and how do I do this exactly?

And then, you know, you get on the drill fill and ppo treadmill, and you run hard, you run fast, and you try to outrun your expenses and you try to outrun the lesser, you know, reimbursements from insurance companies, and that becomes your life. And I'm saying, no mas, no mas, please. No mas. That's my Spanish for the day.

There we go. I love it. I love it.

Honoring my Latino dentist and dental teams out there. You know, we have all of our work translated in Spanish. You know, we have a practice in Puerto Rico. And, you know, they go, gary, can we translate everything? I had a gentleman who's just a magic man. He trans. He's just crazy. He translated million dollar dentistry into Spanish and all of our work into Spanish. You know, it's otolo reg galia. I can't even say the darn word. But, you know, Jace, I didn't know I was going down this road. You know, I like tangents because we got to make this fun, you know?

Oh, yeah. And I can follow right along with Tangents. That's, that's. My squirrel mind is like, woo. There we go. Okay, let's bet now. But I can come back to the nut. I always say my squirrel mind may go off, but it'll.

Amber, could I just give you a hug this morning? You're the cutest ever. I love your, I love your sweet southern accent and then your metaphors. I have this picture of a squirrel running around crazy with the tail flapping around. And then you just come back to the nut. So we're back to the nut.

Okay, Back to the nut. Okay.

All right.

So, you know, we're talking. That's what I, you know, I always think about with the. Teaching them to dream big. So that's, that is a wonderful.

Well, here's the problem with number one, they don't even know that they can go from a defaulted life to a design life that isn't even on somebody's radar. To even dream about that. That's the problem. So we're just fixing that problem right here, going, just choose what you want. And then now let's go build it. Most people are trying to back in and they never get there. That's why only, you know, 4% of dentists retire financially free. That's why most dentists went from 62 on the average just 10 years ago. Now they're at 69, 10 years later and they can't retire. It's not okay. No, cut it out, Cut it out. All right.

And that's the beauty of this, is that they're going to learn something different, that there is a different way and they can have it and that they deserve it.

Yes.

All right, so work as many or as few hours as you would like, really, and still make money.

Yeah. Some people, you know, doctors, when they first meet me, they go like, are you smoking? Are you smoking the good stuff? Like, and I always say, yes, it's medical marijuana. It's. No, I don't smoke marijuana. But, you know, it's like, here we are. When I first wrote the book, we did not have legalized marijuana, so I couldn't even use that joke. Amber. I know I'm not smoking the good stuff here. Friends, like I said earlier, you know, cut out the idea, take away the myth, eliminate that. You know, to make more income, you have to work more hours. You know, this usually, you know, this is a generation gap for boomers. You know, they were, they were told by depression era people who influenced them. You know, if you want to work, you have. If you want to be successful, you have to what? Finish the sentence. You have to what, Amber?

Work harder and longer.

Exactly. And I go to my. I teach my. My baby boomer doctors. Hashtag no. Hashtag duh. No wonder why you're French fried. No wonder why you can't sustain this. Un. Collapse your time, un. Collapse your money. And let's take you into the world. And this is not like airy fairy. This is like real deal holy field is what we're talking about here. So what we do is we take how much money you want to make and how much time you want to work, and we reverse engineer how much you need to do each day. And, you know, we're going to get into that in detail later, but when you reverse engineer your time and money, now you're at. Cause in the matter of a number, that's going to land you in the trajectory that you need to be when you're ready to hang your loops up. So that's what we're talking about here. We're talking about the opportunity to really dig in and really go for the time and money you deserve. So you can look, why are we working? You need to have time to enjoy it, and that's the key to what we're creating here. Yeah.

You said in. In that section that there are three basic ways, and the one that you didn't recommend was the working, the adding more hours. And then you're talking about increasing production per hour. And then the third way was to increase production. And by hiring an associate.

Yeah, I mean, there's. There's so many different ways in dentistry that we can take you and it. And it's aligned with your values, the way you want to work. Some dentists don't want to put an associate in. Some people want to be just more productive, more efficient, and they're happy doing what they want to do. Or some people want to put on more hygiene, and they can't fill the one they have. But they have tons of patience. And the gap is they don't know how to create value. They don't know how to create systems. They don't know how to create a hygiene department that just spins off. We have hygienists doing more than associates now. We've had hygienists up to 2,500 a day, you know, because they're complete health hygienists. You know, they've shifted how they do hygiene and what hygiene stands for.

Amazing. Okay, so have your patients show up and have them show up on time. Now, I'd like to see that one.

Yeah. Well, here's what I learned here. You know, doctors that are grappling with not having their patients pay them or not having patients show up on time, it's because my definition of leadership, and I learned this the hard way, is that you go first. You go first. And so how to, you know, you're not going to have everybody show up on time. Amber, let's be honest. But what happens is what we do is we allow the morals and values that we live by to be in the universe that happens around us. So if you want your team to show up on time, you need to show up on time. If you want patients to pay the bill for you, you have to pay your bills. That is like the most fundamental. And that's usually an eye opener for doctors. They don't operate by agreement. They don't. And we are. You're going to learn more concepts about this, operating by agreement. Who's going to do it, what are you going to do, and by when you get it done. See, this is the trust issue. When you're breaking agreements or missing agreements, this is where the root of all upset and inefficiency shows up. And so if you want your patients to be on time, start with you, then that's going to trickle down to your team, and that's going to be the standard for them, and they're going to be able to communicate that standard to the patients. And so, look, here's the deal. There was a time I used to be three hours late to family functions and wondered why people were pissed when I showed up because I had no relationship to this.00. And what happened was I learned from a great coach. His name is Roger. He charged me $100 per minute that I was late.

Oh, my.

Yeah. He goes, gary, you're doing great. You're like, really. Your business is really flourishing, and I really helped you grow. And, you know, but you're. The last thing you need to get is you're not a man of your word. And what do you mean by that? He goes, you don't. When you say something, people can't always count on that. And the most tangible thing is you with your time because you're late at every meeting we have. And I said, really? He goes, yeah. He goes, $100 for every minute you're late. And he goes, after that month, he goes, gary, we need to reconcile. You were 36 minutes late. You owe me $3,600. Wow. Yeah. And I was like, roger, I'm not paying You. And then I eventually paid him. And he said, that's the best $3,600 that you ever invested, because you're going to now see the value of being a man of your word. When you say something, you do it. And if you don't do it, you acknowledge that you're late. And when you operate this way and create a culture like this inside your practice, if you want people to show up on time, if you want people to pay, pay on time, you start the cascade of that, and then your team does it, and then your patients do it. It is magical. You know, I don't, you know, I don't have people on my team as, you know. You know, like, you know, we run on time and, you know, when we say there's a meeting, I mean, if you're a minute late, you acknowledge that you're a minute late. So it really honors the other person. And once people know how your standard of integrity around time integrity and money integrity, it just, it really reduces stress dramatically.

That's amazing because. And I do recognize that in my own life, when I make that agreement with another person that will both be on time, that I feel better about it. I don't have that resentment that pops up if you're. If they're not on time. And now I feel like when I go to a doctor's office or a dentist office and they're running an hour late, I'm like, you're not in integrity with your time here?

Well, and it also perpetuates problems because when, when you, when you teach them that you run late, they. It becomes an epidemic inside the practice. They go, well, he's not going to be on time, so I can just show up late. And then everybody's just showing up late. And now you have to. Now you're just. You have a cascade effect, you know, happening.

Exactly. All right, so number four is to be free to present comprehensive treatment without any fear of rejection or negative reaction from the patient. That's a big one.

You think? I mean, this is the source of a lot of problems here because, you know, I really interviewed doctors, and they, like, well, you know, some of them assimilate that the patient's problem is their problem. And they were the ones who created. That's that shame and guilt effect where, like, you know, you feel like the bad person delivering negative news. And, you know, we'll get into the Personas as we get in there. And if, you know, 75% of dentists are humanist, methodicals, and so that means that when they come chairside to the patient, two things happen. They avoid and acquiesce. So they don't want to be the bearer of bad news. And they avoid, like, the confrontation of having to tell somebody that there's something wrong with them. And so, you know, being able to overcome those things as we're going to talk about in future episodes and like, really engaging the team to highlight the problem, you know, like we highlighted the problem in a dental office with Dr. Larry Laser Guy, and we did it in a way that told the story. And there's a way to do that with a patient chair side. But this is what we're talking about right here, Amber, is an inside job. You know, most doctors aren't sitting there going, oh, I'm a methodical humanist that acquiesces and avoids. And, you know, you might know that about yourself. And you don't like confrontation, and you also don't like being a bearer of bad news. All those elements are collapsed. And then when it comes time to diagnose and treat, it's like, oh, then you diagnose to their, their wallet like, oh, this person doesn't have a lot of money. So I'm just going to, you know, I'm going to do a 10 surface filling on that tooth, you know, instead of really doing a crown, you know. You didn't laugh at that, Amber?

Well, I was, I was, I'm just thinking about sitting in the chair for a tense surface spilling. I got, I got stuck in the chair there for a minute.

Oh, my gosh. I need you to laugh on cue here.

Okay, okay.

I'm sorry.

I was in the dental chair in pain. Thank you very much.

Good, good. So look, like really identifying that this is a problem, you know, like how, you know, doctors are like, oh, man, I'm having a really rough time. I practice and. Well, you have more dentistry than you can ever do in a lifetime sitting in your chairs. But the common, the source point of the problem are all these things that we just distinguished. And imagine if you don't make their problem your problem, you actually make it your purpose to provide a solution. That's why they come to you. But we have all these personal limiting beliefs, barriers, shame, guilt, and all that collapsed. And once we uncollaps that we've done the work on the inner job, and then doctors just take the lid off and become free in this key point of growing a practice.

Yes. Okay, so having patients accept at least 67% of the treatment presented and pay for it in full and in advance. Is that going to make this your humanist doctor that we're talking about? Who is there to heal and to help a salesperson? I mean, this is going to. You're just going to take some sales technique, is it not? Or is it different? Okay, good. Tell me how to do this without sales.

Well, we're not going to do it here. We're just setting. We're setting the hope that this is all possible. You know, the goods are going to come in the episodes to follow the deep goods. But I want to really begin to distinguish. This is that, you know, the thing about this is that, you know, people that can accept an acknowledgement, Amber can't receive money. So, like, when I, like this morning, I said, Amber, I said, you know, I really like doing this podcast with you. You're really a great interviewer. You're so fun and I love. I love your voice. Like, it just. It just as. As a person being interviewed, it just brings joy to my face. You know, when I do this podcast with you and you just step right over it, right? And I go, absolutely. Amber, can you say thank you? Because then I know you received the acknowledgement, Ray, and you said. What did you say? Right.

I said, thank you. And that is true. It's one of those things that we do. I mean, it's a part of human nature, and it's something that I personally work on. Definitely.

Yeah. It's like it goes back to my book Raise youe Healthy Deserve Level, the sequel of this one. It's like in life and in practice, you don't get what you deserve. You get what you think you deserve. So one of the ways I work with doctors and treatment coordinators is if they can't receive an acknowledgement, I know they're not going to be able to take money for treatment delivered. Meaning I create value for you. My form of acknowledgement to you is paying you money. And so, like, I'll see a doctor that has low deserve or a treatment coordinator that has low deserve. And what happens is they're sitting there going on huge free dentistry. They give dentistry away. Like, I can just. I can just map this out. It's a pattern. Free dentistry given away. Accounts are receivable through the roof. Low fee schedules. Right. And low case acceptance. All connected to this one source point.

Absolutely. The deserve level. Ah, wow.

So.

So if you see the exact type of patient you enjoy seeing and do the exact type of dentistry that you want to do.

Yeah. See, ideal patients are created. No patient wakes up and says, man, I really Need a full mouth rehab. I really, you know, I can't wait. I hope my dentist has a sleep appliance for me because, you know, I snore and I really know that dentists are the right person to go to for sleep options. And, you know, I just can't wait, you know, like, I just had a heart attack. And, you know, I wish there was a practitioner that really understood that inflammation in the mouth affects the inflammation in the body and can. Can bring me on a path of preventing heart attacks and strokes. Because now I understand that the source of the problem for chronic disease is rooted in inflammation. There's, you know, it's just not going to happen. So what we do is we go, we create, okay, you tell us the type of dentist that you want to be, then we turn that and see, most people think they're selling dentistry. You're not selling dentistry. You're selling. You're the go to practice helping people look good, feel good, be healthier. That's what you're really offering people. And then the treatment you do inside that, whether that's implants, ortho, sleep, it's all reverse engineered. And we design the practice reverse engineered from the modalities with which you want to deliver and then create an entity that can deliver that and then a patient education system that actually can do that. Then you got your ideal practice with your ideal patients. It's a created thing. It's not something in our lifetime that's going to be defaulted. Now, the generation after this one, they're going to go, oh, this is just how dentistry was always practiced.

They're going to know that. And, you know, and I have to say that reading this book made me closer to an ideal. I'm still not the ideal patient, but I'm closer to an ideal patient than I was before. And as a matter of fact, I coach my own dentist. Now when she says, let's watch that, I'm saying, is that the best option when she's very good, See as many or see as few or as many patients as you would like?

Yes, A big misnomer. Dentists go, well, I don't want to be on the drill, fill and PPO mill, working seven rooms and having five hygienists, you know, some guys or gals like that. So we match the cadence and the speed and what we call is the window of acceptance. So we determine what, you know, some people, like, I have a dentist, he's like, I want five people. I want to see eight patients a day. And I Want to do higher quality, lower volume, higher price dentistry done. I have other dentists that go, I want five practices. I put on rollerblades in the morning. I want to work seven rooms. Fill me up. And I just, I just want to put my head down and just be in chair to chair and have my team move around me like an ecosystem. And I go, done. So you get to say how you want to roll each day. And it fits your usually fits the personality of what people can confront in their window of acceptance around, you know, what their life looks like. So there's no one right way to do this.

I love that. I love that this can be that they can create the life that they dreaming they're dreaming of and the one that they think that they deserve. So that's great.

You bet. You bet.

So have little or no accounts receivables. Now that was fascinating to me.

Yeah. Because I have people that collect more money than they, than they produce. And then I have other practices that have, you know, I had a gentleman who, when I first worked with him, he had $600,000 in accounts receivable. And I distinct. Yeah, distinguished why? And I went over it briefly just in the last one. It's because you don't think you deserve to get paid. There's shame and guilt underneath it. And you know, people that say, you know what, I deserve to receive this money, they hire people that have the same belief and then they get the result. And so, you know, this is really at its core, being able to receive an acknowledgement for a value created. And it's an inside job. And then it cascades by who you hire and the systems you put in. And by the way, you know, for those that are fearful of, like where you had really loose agreements and then you're putting this in, you do it on a gradient process and you re educate people. The existing patients and then the new patients, you just get, you know, they just have a new standard. They don't know the other any other way. And most doctors, you know, that are afraid to collect money, they don't have the three. The three ideal steps for how the consumer likes to pay. And we'll get into that in later chapters.

Great, that's great. So delegate all tasks that you dislike and still retain complete control and accuracy in your practice. Delegate and. Ooh, delegate and release control. Oh, but retaining control. But it's like that delegating task always feels like you're, you're losing control, but actually you're still retaining control. It's what you're saying here?

Well, yeah, because the reason why is they've never experienced having a business model be the control point. You know, it's like that. It's. You're either Hitler and, you know, in compassion for people that have been through the Holocaust, you're either Hitler trying to be a dictator and a control freak, or what I'm suggesting here is that you can be traffic signals. Traffic signals put control points in and run automatically red. And then as long as people follow the rules, the machine works. So that's what I want people to get here, is that you don't have to be a dictator and a control freak. You can still be a control freak, but you don't have to be a dictator. And you also, what we call we decentralize the doctor in the business model. So who's in the center of it is the patient experience. Who delivers that is the team. And a doctor is a member of the team, not the person trying to hold it all together. That's what's going on here.

Okay. That's so right people, right places, doing the right things. Okay?

Yes. And then having measures and metrics tell you if they're actually doing that right thing. Push to you in your smartphone. Push like Fitbit. I know how many steps I have each day in real time. Each team member is going to know what their measure is and whether they're doing it or not. And then it's up to them to make the changes throughout the day to adjust to get that outcome.

Amazing. This is. I can't wait to get deeper into this because I've just. It's like, I want to unpack this. I'm like, I want to unpack it right now. And I know we're just going over the top 17 here.

Slow your roll.

Slide.

I know.

I just want all the knowledge right now.

You see, so American of you. We all want. We all want a Big Mac in seven minutes or less. Come on.

No bread for me. You know, I'm keto, so.

Me too. Me too. Hey, Managing inflammation, getting to the root cause.

We're there.

Absolutely. So work. 80% chairside. 10% on managing your business and 10% on designing your future.

Yes. This is like if you want to work inside your business, those. Those numbers change. As you know, you go from entrepreneur to CEO. We have dentists who just want to be dentists. And they just, you know, imagine having your team leader be the control point and report to you an hour a week. That's it. One hour a week. They have their agenda they have their measures and metrics. They tell you what's working, what needs improvement, and what they're doing about it. And you go to the golf course or to your kids, and then they go to work. That's the way it should be designed. And it just was never set up that way. And they just don't know that's not their fault. So, yeah, we're gonna. That's what we're gonna do. That's. That's a good distribution for a owner, operator, dentist that wants to work inside the business. Be a dentist and have it. Have it all work and not sit there nights and weekends trying to figure it out. It's all done for you. This is all done for you stuff. You know, I don't want Dennis to. Dennis always came to me, Amber, and they would go, gary, I know what to do. I don't know how to do it. Can you just give me the how to, please? Yes, we give you the how to.

Perfect. Perfect. So 11 and 12 is have a team that motivates you and have a team that respects you and takes your direction.

Yeah, yeah. It's because, you know, again, if you're an acquiescer or an avoider, the cascade default is you have an alpha person. So. So an alpha per. You know, like, hey, if I can't confront, I better hide. Hire somebody. That person has control of everything. You will. You lose control. You don't know your numbers. You don't know your money. Like, I can't tell you how often I see, like, this displacement because they don't have a business model, but they throw a person in there. And this is where embezzlement happens a lot, because, you know, embezzlers, you know, 30% of practices have been embezzled. They. It's because of this source that I found, which is, you know, head in the sand. Embezzlers go after doctors that have their head in the sand. And, you know, we just. We just pull the head out and then we put a structure in. And, you know, quite often, you know, these. The people we see, they either rehabilitate and come on board, and. Because if they're really healthy and truthful, they go, oh, we can only get so far if it's, you know, one person being in control. And if it's not the dentist and it's the hired gun to hold it all together, you know, it's. You know, it gets stuck. And then the healthy team members, team leaders, healthy people that have been managing when they see that there's A better way, and they're freed up and they can actually, you know, if their purpose is truly to help the practice grow and help the dentist and help patients get healthy and help the team, you know, they just run with this because they just didn't have direction, and they were just strong, powerful people. More so on the competitive side, you know, where they're, you know, autocratic clear. They make decisions. They're not sitting there, you know, just on the fence with things. They just do things. And they're in the GSD club, you know, get. Get sh. Done. Right. You know, they just. In the GSD club, they just get. Get stuff done. And so that's what happens here. So it's. Yeah, you can just, you know, know that this. This shifts everything.

So having a waiting list of professionals demanding to work for you.

Ha. This is a big one. This is a big one. Everybody's like, I can't find good people. Or when I got. When I find good people, like, it's sort of like my wife, you know, I said, honey, you work so hard. I'm going to get you a maid service. I don't want you to have to clean the house. Then it's going to free you up and do more things that we could do together. And she's like, we hire a maid service. The day before the maid comes in, she's doing. She's cleaning the house. You know, dentists think that they have to have the right team to actually change their practice, and it's not true, because you live in the someday when, maybe never. And the problem is, the reason why they don't attract a team member is because they haven't thought of their practice as a product, and they don't package their practice as an experience. And this is really important with Millennials. If you don't have a meaningful point of difference in your practice, they're not going to want to work there. They don't like selling widgets. They like knowing they're impacting people and the world, and they want to make a difference. So it's how you package your practice, you know, and then what are you offering? You know, you need to be competitive against the guy down the street. And your practice needs to be a better work experience, better life experience. You know, I believe you know, that when, you know, this is why we have the best in the world on our team here, Amber, is because we stand for enhancing the quality of people's lives, starting with our own. So we have programs and protocols that really take care of the team. Like, we have. They have to fill out a dream list. Like. Yeah. What do you mean, you fill out a dream list? Yes. You have to fill out a hundred dreams, and then you're going to use the company to help you fulfill on those dreams. I mean, we have people working in Costa Rica, people are working in Australia. Like, you know, for us, we're able to do that kind of stuff because, you know, our work is done, you know, you know, in zoom and things like that. So, you know, it just. We find out what people want, we help them get it, and as long as they do their job and do it really well and responsibly, they get that kind. They get that kind of freedoms. And, you know, I didn't have that always, but now I know that that's what millennials want. Now, can we do that in dentistry? No, but there's other things that can be done that you're actually really taking care of people. And then, you know, once they see that you have the best, you know, practice for the internal customer, not just for the patient. The internal customer is the team. There's ways to build, you know, a practice that the product for working there is fulfilling, rewarding, personally, professionally, and financially.

Amazing. So then they can have fun and enjoy going to the office daily, which is 14.

Well, yeah. And guess what? You know, what happens is this is how Ritz Carlton gets people, you know, in third World countries to follow through on their systems is what they do is they create the demand. And the people that work there know that they can be replaced in a minute. That's the. That's the source of the problem in dentistry today. You know, most dentists are living in fear and scarcity about recruiting, hiring, and onboarding people. And we don't. We take that out. See, when you're not in fear and scarcity, then you're not just throwing a pulse into that position. I like that one. We should call. That's a new chapter. Throw the pulse in that position. What we're actually doing is we're hiring, we're saying it's a privilege to work here, and here's why. And you know, and we create a wait list for people that, oh, man, I really want to work in that practice, but, you know, they just don't have a position for me right now. The minute they do, I'm going to jump on it. And then they don't feel entitled, they feel privileged. And also, your onboarding process, you know, you saw the onboarding process here. We make people, you know, you look, if you want to work here. There's a purpose behind our work. You have to read Million Dollar Dentistry. You have to do a book report. You know, you have to really understand what we're doing and how we do it. And then you have to take the time and invest on your side to come here. And people really appreciate that. Once they get to the other side, they go, really? I earned the right to be on this team.

Absolutely. And I have been through that process, and I will tell you that to understand my own personal mission inside of a company, mission has been empowering in a way that I had no idea that I could work for a company and feel as empowered as I do because I'd always owned my own business before. And so for me to switch to coming into another business, was this onboarding process made it powerful and empowering.

Definitely.

I can speak to that. So number 15 is be recognized by your colleagues, your team, and your community as a leader in making a difference in people's lives.

Yes. Yeah. Once you have all the downsides of dentistry out of the way, you can then become a missionary for what you stand for. You know, instead of being a dentist with a license that has a handpiece in his or her hand, you are a healthcare hero, a warrior for changing the way people perceive dentistry and health care and have them. You are the hub, your community, because patients come to you twice a year. That the message that you give them of hope and health and wellness, you become. We have dentists who are just, like, ready to throw up their loops and say, I'm done with all this. And now they're being interviewed on K USI San Diego for, you know, you know, health care as a healthcare, you know, key opinion leader for the community. And, you know, we have people like in San Diego that are on the mission to make San Diego the healthiest city in the world. And, you know, blue zone city. And, you know, and they run a dental practice. But that's what this doctor is passionate about, you know, so you have the opportunity to really dig in and really become something bigger. And this. This does so many things. It raises, you know, how you go to work. You'll never drill a tooth again, because, yeah, you might do that as an act, but you. You do it for a bigger purpose and a bigger reason.

Amazing. That's. And to me, it's all about purpose and mission. So I like that idea. And I think when you're speaking to. You said a majority of the dentists are humanist. They're going to. They're gonna. That's gonna resonate with them also.

Yes. And the ones that are not, they're going, oh, I don't really care about that, and that's okay. But then I'm going to translate it into their competitive world called this is how you get from point A to B faster and handle all the reoccurring issues that you're dealing with.

Most definitely. So maintain control over your life and practice no matter what breakdowns come your way. Which is 16.

Well, hello. You know, this is the one I hate the most. You know, my expectation is that everything should be perfect. You know, success is a straight line from where I'm at right now and to where I want to go. And there's no barrier, circumstances or people in my way. Well, that is. Then if you have that, you're waking up into a world that doesn't exist, and you're going to be disappointed every day. And so, you know, my friend who is a copywriter, here's what he did. He would. He would copyright, and he was really proud of his work for websites. And what happened was every time somebody would want to change the copy, like, they liked some of it, they liked, none of it they liked, you know, and he. So he goes. He goes, I'm a copywriter so that people can make changes to my work so that they can have what they want to have. So he. In the past, he would be angry and he would actually drink over it, like, at the end of the day, like, he would just. Every time he presented copy, somebody wanted to change a word and whatever. And he was like, the expectation is, you don't change a word, you don't change anything. This is what the best is, and you should just do it. And he was waking up into a world that didn't exist. And therefore he was miserable every day until he shifted. He goes, I write copy so people can make changes so that they can actually have the copy that they desire, and it impacts their business the way they want it to. You know, so the expectations started to shift. And I suggest that for Dennis, you are going to wake up into a world. And I personally had. I really have a hard time with this. I'm one. I'm one of. You know, all this stuff, by the way, that's being created in this work I've lived because, you know, everything that we're doing is solutions that I found for our business, you know, that that creates happy people that implement sustainable results. Like, I. This is one I deal with every day. You know, I deal with it when I Woke up this morning. And so it's not an easy task. But what I'm saying is, is that I've never found a problem, never in my many years, in 6,000 practices, that as long as the doctor's committed, we can help together move through and solve the problem. I've never had a problem except for somebody who took his life that I can't change. And I bring that up because that's a big deal. I've had several, more than several doctors because they're living in the pain of this and the suffering of it. That's why the work we're doing here is important. I'm not a brain surgeon or a heart surgeon, but we are talking about people's lives here, and that's why this is an important distinction.

Most definitely. And which brings us to our conclusion, which, where we're talking about having a secure future, retiring with peace, dignity, and leaving a legacy, because that's what we want for them.

Amen. You know, but like I said, you know, earlier, you know, 96% of dentists don't end up in this place. And when I saw that, I'm a numbers guy, so when I see numbers like that, Amber, I'm like, okay, we got to do something about it. So, you know, I want to put as many dentists in the fourth percentile and actually grow that, you know, to bigger than four. Where, you know, most dentists, like, you know, they. They go through their life, they go to dental school, they have a family, they have things in life. They. They try not to bump into too many walls, and they try to do well for their families as best they can. And then, you know, they end up at the end of their career trying to sell their asset. And there's a better way to do all of that. And, you know, you can. You can handle debt fast. You can handle, you know, results fast. I mean, it's totally doable. But if you're. If you're living in the suffering, you can't see it. And if your expectations are, I'm just going to kind of get through life, through this day, and then at the end of it, hopefully I did good enough, and then hopefully I can sell this thing. And, you know, there's better plans and there's better actions and there's better outcomes. When you really open your eyes that it should not be this way, and you can create whatever you want.

Amazing, Gary. This was a powerful chapter here. I mean, this is true hope that it can be different than it was for Dr. Larry Laser Guy. I'm really looking forward to our next episode where we're going to talk about the CPR can cash in your pocket right now. So thank you for being here today and really sharing your wisdom and sharing your heart with us and the hope for a different future.

You bet. I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens could ever change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

Amazing. Thank you, Gary.

You bet.

Thank you for listening to Million Dollar Dentistry with Gary Katie. This podcast is brought to you by Next Level Practice. Next Level Practice is the leader in dental practice management. In fact, they're the best in the world at creating happy teams that implement sustainable results. If you would like a copy of Million Dollar Dentistry, please contact Amber Keithley at Next Level Practice. You may call us at 212-388-1712, extension 119 or go to nextlevelpractice.com podcast and request a copy in our Ask a Question box. We look forward to brightening your smile.