Skip to main content

The Dentist on Fire Manifesto

There comes a point in a dentist’s career (and anyone’s career, for that matter) when we begin thinking, “What’s next?” This is a devastating question if you find yourself following the prescribed course of life that you have seen others follow before you, and you’re actually successful at following the course. You realize, at some point, there’s a certain emptiness in pursuing the next thing. At what point have you arrived?

Where’s Valhalla?

My vision for the Dentist on Fire is for that person to become the best version of themself. Not because you’ll make more money, indeed you will make more money since the goal is true financial independence - the FI of FIRE. And not because you’ll retire early (the RE of FIRE), but because you realize that if you have the option to retire early, you won’t be sad if your body gives out one day and you can’t do your best work on your patients. Most of us see dentistry as a calling rather than a job, and doctoring our fellow human beings is a sacred privilege and responsibility. If money was not a necessity but rather a vote of appreciation for your work, would you still do it? Would you do it differently? This is the essence of FIRE, that pursuing FI makes you better, and frees you up to truly enjoy what you do. In a world where we are stewarding our money and resources well, we gain back time, the currency of life. Then we can spend the moments of our life, the time of our life doing the things that are worth spending the life on. This is Valhalla, that mythical place of yore where the heroes of old spend their remaining time as a reward for their mighty deeds. Welcome home, hero.

Areas of Development for the Dentist on Fire

We will focus on 4 key areas in this blog:

  • Financial - maximizing our stewardship of our financial resources is right in the dentist’s wheelhouse because we are exacting, and details are our love language.
  • Leadership - being a leader of the team is integral to our success, but up to the point of beginning to practice dentistry, the emphasis is on solo performance. Our team is our force multiplier, and doing it right doesn’t come naturally to us. We have to be intentional.
  • Salesmanship - this done right is a blessing to all we encounter. True salesmanship is matching people with the best solutions through expert guidance and effective communication, including listening. It is delivering value in excess of what you charge.
  • Expertise - being a true expert means understanding the why in addition to the how. This ranges from technical skill to philosophical understanding.
I’m not a master, but I get closer every day. Join me on the journey as I share what I am learning. Dental school taught you to be a dentist. But to be worthy of the title “Doctor,” we must never stop learning and pursuing mastery.

- DOF

Comments

  1. The information in the post you posted here is useful because it contains some of the best information available. downtown dental care. Thanks for sharing it. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Excellent post. I really enjoy reading and also appreciate your work.Dental Clinic near me This concept is a good way to enhance knowledge. Keep sharing this kind of articles, Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I admire this article for the well-researched content and excellent wording. Read more info about Clear Aligners Online India. I got so involved in this material that I couldn’t stop reading. I am impressed with your work and skill. Thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It is a proficient article that you have shared here.dentist woodlands I got some different kind of information from your article which I will be sharing with my friends who need this info. Thankful to you for sharing an article like this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Excellent job, this is great information which is shared by you. This info is meaningful and factual for us to increase our knowledge about it. about best dentist in conroe tx So please always keep sharing this type of information.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I generally check this kind of article and I found your article which is related to my interest. Genuinely it is good and instructive information, dentures brisbane Thankful to you for sharing an article like this.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am very happy to read this article. Thank you very much for writing such an interesting article on this topic. Regular Dental Check Up Al Ahsa Well done and always keep sharing the best knowledge with us.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed your effort and, consequently, the way you offered this information. This paper is important to us. I appreciate you giving us access to this blog.nitrous oxide sedation dentistry Indian Land sc

    ReplyDelete
  9. I appreciated your effort and the way you provided the information on blakeney dentist blakeney dental. It was helpful to us. I appreciate you giving us access to this blog.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

4 Lessons Learned From Interviewing Dental School Applicants

In the past few weeks, the admissions process for dental schools has been heating up with applicants starting to get invitations for interviews, or for many applicants, NOT getting invitations for interviews. I had the opportunity to conduct mock interviews with applicants from my alma mater a couple of weeks ago in order to help get them ready for the interview process. Knowing what I know now as a practicing dentist, I'd bet as an applicant I was someone who knew an infinitesimal amount about dentistry pretending to know what he was talking about. Here are some tips if you are going through the application process (or if someone you know is going through it): Always emphasize the positive Be humble, hungry, and smart Resilience is the single-most important quality to display Ask for help before you apply, or interview, or begin dental school Lesson 1 - Always Emphasize the Positive One thing an experienced interviewer can do without too much difficulty if they want ...

The Power of a Day

Often I'll see bios of dentists that have been practicing for 25 years, 30 years, even 35 years. We love these dentists because they have so many years of experience, and they must be doing something right to be doing the same "job" all those years. I imagine, though, what that means in terms of a dentist's personal life and how one can have the stamina to perform consistently over the course of decades through the waves of love, loss, and liability. We're responsible for a lot of other things in our lives, and not only that, we're subject to many things around us we have little or no power over that can affect us dramatically- family issues, losing loved ones, health scares, market crashes, and existential crises. What does it mean to have years of experience when no one person's experience of the years is the same as someone else's? We live our lives as clinicians in relation to our patients in weeks, months, and years. The typical healing time o...