“Lots of people want to be the noun without doing the verb. They want the job title without the work.” —Austin Kleon
The journey to dental sleep medicine implementation and profitability is a lot like a gym membership. We’ve all seen gym ads with toned, tanned gods and goddesses exhorting you to join them. Before-and-after photos showcase stunning beach bods. You can’t help but gaze down shamefully at those extra pounds of COVID flab. You want what they’ve got. And it can be yours for a mere $19 a month for the six month introductory period.
In the real world, two-thirds of people who pony up for gym memberships never use them. After just six months, 22 percent stop going altogether, and 31 percent say that one year after joining a gym, they regretted the decision because it wasn’t worth it. They didn’t go enough and didn’t put in the work, and so they didn’t get the benefits they envisaged. Some gyms have better equipment than others, and some have more skilled personal trainers, yummier smoothie bars, and cool gear for purchase. It doesn’t matter what gym you join if you don’t show up and do the work. Here’s the thing: you still have to lift the weights. You still have to sweat. If you want to see the results, you have to drink those green smoothies even when you are at a Super Bowl party. There’s no substitute. You can’t sit on your La-Z-Boy, munching on Doritos and downing IPAs and complain that the gym doesn’t work. It works. You don’t.
The idea is laid out effectively in Ryan Holiday’s seminal, Ego Is the Enemy. “Getting where we want to go isn’t about brilliance; it’s about sustained effort. It’s not a sexy idea, but it’s an encouraging one because it means that it’s within everyone’s reach.”
This point cannot be stressed enough. Investor and entrepreneurial polymath Naval Ravikant drove the point home when he tweeted, “Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.”
Similarly, the secret to dental sleep success is no secret at all. It takes effort. Focus. Consistency. The right team. Falling down. Getting up. Learning. Applying what you’ve learned. Knocking on doors. Having doors slammed in your face and then knocking again. Repeat.
Others have done it before you, so you know it’s possible. If you want to be a dental sleep medicine practitioner, the only way to make it happen is to practice dental sleep medicine.
Don’t be a bitch. Make it happen.
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Speaking of “making it happen”, Daron K. Roberts will share his incredibly inspirational, empowering story with lucky attendees of the Transform Dental Sleep Symposium in Scottsdale, AZ on Feb. 2-3, 2024. In the months before graduating from Harvard Law School, Daron volunteered to coach at a youth football camp. Everything changed, and he decided he wanted to be an NFL coach despite having no other qualifications for the job. He wrote letters to every single coach in the league, volunteering for any coaching opportunity he could get. Eventually he was provided a position and through otherworldly commitment to the grind, he earned permanent NFL coaching roles and spent years in the NFL before pivoting to a successful career as an author, mentor, and speaker.
Experience his incredible journey when he joins the roster of nearly 20 speakers at this one-of-a-kind event. The world-class speaker list is comprised of Dentists, Sleep Physicians, ENTs, CEOs, Sleep Champions, and more. You, your team, and your practice will never be the same again.
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