The Power To Succeed · Winter 2016 Issue · 718 words
How Rookie Dentists CRUSH it
The rookie trying to make the team brings more to it than the fifteen-year veteran who knows they are on it. Why passion is contagious, and why being new is the edge.
Remember how you felt when you opened your first dental school acceptance letter?
Your excitement? Your pride? Your determination? That’s the CRUSH it rookie feeling. When you embrace that feeling as a new dentist … when you live by it … everyday … YOU become unstoppable!
Experience has taught me two things in dentistry: First, passion and excitement are contagious. Not the runnynose kind. The amazing kind. Think about your favorite sport. Who do you believe is bringing more mojo to the team? The guy or gal trying to make the team for the first time or the 15-year veteran already who knows they have a spot on the team?
Passion and excitement. We all thrive on it. We hunger to be around it. And that, my friends, is your edge. That is the opportunity you have that most dentists who’ve been in the game for a while forget about. You WANT success. You WANT to make the team. You WANT to CRUSH it!
Second, natural smarts may win a battle or two, but hard work wins the war every time. Think about what rookie athletes do in training camp. Are they the last to show up, or the first? Do they sneak out at the end of the day or sneak in that extra workout?
I had the opportunity to hang with Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice a few years back. I asked him what he thought made the biggest difference in his career. How did he succeed for so long in the NFL? Twenty years,13 Pro Bowls, 3 Super Bowl Championships and to this day still holds 100 records!
His answer was compelling. Every year he went to training camp, he went with a rookie mindset. With every practice, with every game and with every opportunity, he played as if he was trying to make the team. He played with the emotion you had the moment you opened your first acceptance letter.
Did you know every time Jerry Rice caught a pass in practice, he didn’t stop his route?
Did you know that every pass he caught, he’d run into the end zone?
It didn’t matter if it was 5 yards or 90 yards. Every single practice pass, Jerry Rice ran it into the end zone. When his coach asked him why, he said, “That’s the goal in a game, isn’t it?” Think about that. Think about your goals in dental school. Think about every clinical board, every practical, every patient opportunity you have. Are you playing with the same intensity? The same emotion you had the first time you opened an acceptance letter?
If you want to CRUSH it as a dentist, if you want to CRUSH it in life, embrace your strengths. Own your rookie status. And start today!
Dr. David R. Rice, a nationally renowned expert on dental practice success, and the online dental community igniteDDS, recently published C.R.U.S.H. It!, the first volume in a series of guides highlighting strategies to take your dental career to the next level.
With a steady shift in dental school graduates opting for corporate dentistry over private practice, many students with the passion and ambition of owning their own practice lack the necessary guidance and resources to realize their dreams.
That is, until now.
C.R.U.S.H. It! Brings together industry experts like Patterson Dental and The Progressive Dentist magazine to share advice and insights to truly help dentists ignite their own careers.
Split into five sections that cover topics like continuing education, team-building and personal development, the C.R.U.S.H. It! guide is free for students and available for current dentists at no cost for a limited time.
A free, web-based community, igniteDDS offers students and new dentists networking and opportunities on the job board, one-on-one and group chats, connection to top thought leaders in dentistry, and training in practice management, debt management, technology, and more. Explore the new success guide and more at igniteDDS.com.
igniteDDS.com
National Dental Student Lobby Day Dental Trade Shows
2016 Mid-Winter Meeting of the Chicago Dental Society February 25-27, 2016 McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois
Thomas P. Hinman Dental Meeting March 17-19, 2016 Georgia World Congress Center Atlanta, Georgia
CDA Presents The Art and Science of Dentistry May 12-14, 2016 California Dental Association Anaheim, California
National Dental Student Lobby Day April 11 -12, 2016 Washington, DC
David Rice, DDS
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