Read on for expert advice on how to ensure you have a successful new year.
It’s January, the beginning of a year of goals, dreams, changes, updates, and resolutions. There’s actually a designated day in January named National “Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day.” The truth is, that means that less than one in 24 New Year’s resolutions, or rather less than 4% of New Year’s resolutions we make are ever realized or achieved.
As you start the new year, keep in mind the acronym S M A R T when you are setting your goals.
Most new year’s resolutions are vague, such as “I’m going to work out more,” or “I want to manage my finances better,” or “we’re going to grow the practice this year,” or “let’s add a membership plan to the mix.”
Besides being vague, the first problem with these goals is that most are not written. There’s also a fallacy where many people think that if they simply write down their goal, they will achieve it. Unfortunately, this isn’t true. When you make a resolution and don’t write it down, you have a very low chance of achieving that resolution. As mentioned above, there’s a 4% or less chance to achieve it if you don’t you write down your goal and make it specific. Studies show that your chance of achieving that goal increases to somewhere around 10% when you do write it down.
The 3 Big Keys to achieving your goals this year are:
- Making them SMART
- Write them down somewhere you can see them regularly, such as in your planner, or on a vision board.
- Get an accountability partner. When you do all three of these things, your chance of achieving your goal skyrockets to around 90%. The accountability partner could be a friend or family member, co-worker, or a coach or mentor.
The most important lesson here is that you verbalize this and write it down to someone who will work with you on the goal and help you achieve it. Then work backwards with the desired result and measurable outcome as you kick off 2022 and work to make your goals attainable.
I challenge you to think about how you can grow your practice and your personal life together. If adding more membership plans as a bigger part of your practice is something you’re aiming for, be sure to check out these recent podcasts for more information.
May 2022 be your most successful new year yet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Tyler Williams is the founder of both Pinecrest Dental and Pinecrest Practice Growth. He is a proud husband and father of three.
He has written numerous articles for the Utah Dental Association, Dentistry Today, and Dental Economics. He is the author of three books, The Owner’s Guide to a Productive Dental Practice: 7 Pillars Every Dentist Needs to Grow in the New Economy, Reason to Smile: 11 Keys to your best oral health ever, and The Consumer’s Guide to Dental Implants: 3 Keys Every Adult Needs to Know About a Smile Transformation which can be found at major bookstores and on Amazon.com.
He is a real, “wet fingered dentist,” and has completed thousands of dental implant and restorative procedures.
Dr. Williams has been featured on ABC’s Good Things Utah, NBC News Radio, the ForbesBooks Radio podcast, The One Thing marketing podcast, Sirius XM Radio, UK Health Radio, KTALK Utah radio and in several national dental research publications, including reviewing articles for the Academy of General Dentistry’s General Dentistry journal. He has several published articles in online and print journals, including: Dental Economics, Dentistry IQ, ADA News, Dentistry Today, and The Profitable Dentist.
He has also been recognized as one of the most influential dentists in Utah by Kleer’s list of Most Influential Dentists in America. He also hosts a bi-monthly podcast called The Practice X-Factor.
He is currently the owner of Pinecrest Practice Growth, which helps practice owners create a prepaid dental practice, free of insurance dependency and poor financial health.
(To contact Dr. Williams, please email him at twilliams@yourpracticegrowth.com, text/call (801) 268-2323, or visit yourpracticegrowth.com.)
