Don't Be Held Hostage To Your Fears

One of my pet peeves is watching capable people held back by their fears. I’m not talking about seeing someone scared by a spider that eats birds. No, I’m referring to the everyday fears that we encounter in our day to day lives that keep us from being all we can be…if we give into them.
Of course, WE can see the overreaction when we look at other paralyzed into inaction when we see it as an observer, but all too often, we fall victim to them ourselves.
At the inauguration of FDR, he said: “All we have to fear is fear itself.” Wise man.
I tend to not worry too much. I’m just built that way and I recognize and respect that we are all wired differently. But we need to keep in mind that there’s silly, unnecessary risk and then there’s calculated risk. If you’re reading this, you probably took a calculated risk with taking out student loans. But you probably didn’t buy into a Canadian gold mining company that your friend’s cousin told you to buy when you met them at a wedding. Or buy that “can’t miss stock” your patient told you about.
Maybe you want to own a practice but are afraid of the risk. Perhaps you need to hire another assistant because of long wait times, but you’re worried about the risk. Maybe you don’t want to invest in a patient appreciation party because it might cost too much. Perhaps it’s avoiding that CE course because after all, it IS a lot of money.
To be clear, I am not telling you to take silly risks. I AM suggesting that you consider taking calculated risks. Sometimes. You know which ones I’m talking about, Maybe you’re facing one right now.
You got here because you’re smart and sometimes you just need to move outside your comfort zone. Again, don’t bet the house on it, but some of the greatest things in my life have come when I’ve carefully analyzed possible outcomes and decided that the benefit outweighed the downside risk. So, don’t be reckless, but sometimes if it feels right, it is.
And you will lose from time to time and that’s OK. We are built to weather storms. Just don’t be reckless.
I once asked a mentor: “How do you get experience?”
He said: “Through failure and learning from it.”
I asked: “How do you learn from it?
His response? “Through experience.”
So true.
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Wishing you all the best!!!

GLENN KRIEGER IS AN ORTHODONTIST WITH 20 YEARS OF RESTORATIVE AND COSMETIC DENTISTRY EXPERIENCE BEFORE HE RETURNED TO ORTHODONTIC RESIDENCY. DR. KRIEGER LEARNED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF WELL-DESIGNED PRACTICE POLICIES AND SYSTEMS DURING A YEAR AT THE SCHUSTER CENTER FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA, AND AN UNDERSTANDING OF GENERAL ACCOUNTING PRACTICES AND INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL’S “DENTIST AS CEO” PROGRAM. HE IS THE HOST OF “THE ORTHOPRENEURS PODCAST” AND MANAGES THE ORTHOPRENEURS FACEBOOK GROUP.