Adapting to life with Nolabees has been quite a crazy transition. She has been such a fun addition to our lives, and at the same time she is a lot of work. I’ve never really had a puppy of my own before. It’s different when you’re a kid and you don’t take much responsibility in the care of “your” puppy. Now that I’m on the hook for feeding her, cleaning up after her, taking her for walks and much more, I realize that it’s a bit like having a kid– except on a faster track. Of course that’s coming from...
We all loved reading about my friend, Ritu’s story about her decision to sell her practice and take a break from clinical dentistry for a little while. It was great to hear from several of you who have also made your own changes and are inspiring others! I’ve asked Ritu to write one more post. In the first one, she shared her story to let you know why she chose to sell her practice. Since she just wrote the amazing book, The Energy Shift: Increase Your Energy and Do More of What You Want Every Day, I asked her to...
One of the great perks about blogging about my dental career is that I have met some amazing people along the way. Not only are they inspiring, interesting people, but they are also people who have decided they want something different out of life. They are people who have decided to take risks to bring more joy into their lives. They are people who have decided not to settle for their existing conditions because it’s easier to stay put than to change. I’m thrilled that one of those amazing people is now my latest guest blogger! Her name is Ritu,...
With so many great holidays to celebrate this time of year, there is one holiday in the bunch that will forever be my favorite– my anniversary! It’s the anniversary of my farewell from a high intensity career in dentistry. It has been 4 years, and it is so hard to believe that so much time has already passed. It’s fitting that it all came to fruition around Thanksgiving, because gratitude is the one feeling that never wavers. I know I made the right decision, and I’m so thankful those days are behind me. What does waver, though, is my perception of...
Have you ever noticed how sometimes the most simple discussions can bring about the most unexpected moments of clarity? While hanging out with a friend a few weeks ago, he reminded me of an old memory we shared. He is a high school teacher, and several years ago he had a student in his class with very bad teeth and very little money. She needed serious help, and he felt so strongly about helping her, that he paid me to do her dental treatment for her. As we reminisced about how amazing that story was, I realized that I had...
Do you ever think that when things are going great in life, they are bound to take a turn for the worse? That you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop? Or that things have been going way too smoothly, so surely it has to get difficult soon? I used to kind of worry about that. Whenever life seemed perfect without any challenges sprinkled in, I anticipated a storm was to follow. Not only did I believe that I shouldn’t expect things to continue getting even better, but I assumed that good times were absolutely destined to be followed by...
Yeah, you heard me right, I entered another contest. After I told myself I was done, I went and did it again. And since I know you’ve been on the edge of your seat in suspense, I’ll cut straight to it… I finally won! I’ll get to the actual contest in a minute. First, the journey to get there is fresh on my mind. A while back I discovered a book called The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I loved it so much that I dedicated a blog post to it. I’ve never read another book that so convincingly and...
Yup, I got sucked in again. Just when I thought my days of entering more contests were over, temptations of a big win lured me in. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’ll go back to the very beginning. This whole blog started because during desperate times of wanting change, I mustered up the courage to enter a silly little contest. My task was to make a short video showcasing my skills in order to win a travel show host gig. If you knew me then, you would see that I am the last person who would...
Sometimes when I stop and look at the way life unfolds, I can’t help but notice how crazy it can be. I’m experiencing something I didn’t ever anticipate with this career change. Everything seems to be coming full circle, and… I never saw it coming. We can make plans and have dreams and hopes for our lives, but we never really know how things will turn out. When I was in college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. The only thing I knew was that I enjoyed studying and speaking Spanish. It really was the only thing I...
Remember how I said you cannot do this business alone? Well, I’m about to contradict myself. You have to do this business alone. Wait! What? First I said you cannot do this alone, and now I’m saying you have to? Well, they’re both true. You have to do it alone… when you are not relying on your teammates, which is most of the time. Most of the time, you are doing the behind-the-scenes work that sets you up to work with others. If you don’t lay the ground work for your business, there is nothing for your team to help...
