Is Your Energy Output Being Misdirected?

I heard a car buff talking the other day and he said something when discussing his passion for high-performance cars that struck me as a great metaphor for life in general. He was saying that the important thing in assessing the performance of a car was not how much horsepower the engine produces, but rather how much—and how efficiently—that output of energy is transferred to the rear wheels.

In today's hyper-competitive, super-busy society, we see a lot of people producing a lot of horsepower. But unless you are using that energy in the right way, you're not going to get any farther ahead.

Consider the following statistical snapshot of life in America. This data comes from research that was done for a presentation I delivered a few years ago, but I am confident things have not changed considerably since then.

• One-fifth of all meals are eaten in a car


• 75 percent of people routinely work through lunch


• 70 percent have sleep problems


• 70 percent don't exercise regularly


• 25 percent of fathers spend less than 1 hour a day with their kids


• 25 percent of dentists report high or extremely high stress

This is a statistical portrait of an increasing typical specimen in today's society: the person who is exceptionally busy but not optimally productive. If you are an independent dentist and you see yourself reflected in this profile, it's time to take a serious look at what you are doing.

Being a dentist today can and should provide a fulfilling and balanced life—inside and outside the practice. Everything you do, every day, should be in the service of a greater purpose and it should feel that way. If it's not, that means you need to run a diagnostic and identify how and where your energy output is being misdirected. It's time to get that energy to your rear wheels where it can really help move you forward.


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