One of the best-selling books on Amazon last year was Atomic Habits by James Clear. In the book, he says habits are the small daily votes for the kind of person you are to become. Directly from his website, he says:
Lesson 1: Small habits make a big difference.
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on the path toward success.
Lesson 2: Forget about setting goals. Focus on your systems instead.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
Lesson 3: Build identity-based habits.
The key to building lasting habits is focusing on creating a new identity first. Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself. You need to build identity-based habits.
So, if you’re ready to start changing your dental practice, focus on the systems that will get you there. The small daily habits that you make a part of your identity will make you successful.
Be well and do well,
Addison Killeen
One of those daily habits might be to listen to the Daily Dental Podcast, where we spend 5 minutes talking about some way to improve your practice using the resources from Dental Success Network. Join Dental Success Network where you can become part of a community to help build your new habits!
