Behind Every Great Dentist Are Other Great Dentists

It’s often said that you are known by the company you keep. But it’s not just a matter of appearances — in many ways, the trajectory of your life will be defined by the people you choose to surround yourself with. It’s interesting, then, that this is one area of our lives that we tend not to be strategic about. We prefer to let relationships develop naturally instead of actively cultivating the right relationships with the right people.

Throughout our lives, we have the opportunity to strategically expand our social circle. We can choose to spend time not only with people who are just like us, but also with those who represent what we aspire to be — people who challenge and inspire us. We love being around people who share our enthusiasm for the same things. But we need to be around people who show us new possibilities — people who will see our abilities and raise us to new visions. This is one of the great things I love about our faculty group — how everyone contributes to making the organization better, and how that, in turn, makes each individual within it better.

Take a look around and ask yourself — Who fulfills this role in my life? Who are my most inspiring colleagues? Who is living the kind of life in dentistry that I would like to live? Then do what you can to align yourself with these thought leaders and see for yourself the energy they can bring to your career and life, if you let them.