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I have a really wonderful patient.

Actually, I have many wonderful patients.

But let me tell you about John.

John is in his nineties.

He’s 92.

Or 93.

Or 94.

I’m not sure which.

And he still drives.

And he’s as sharp as a tack.

Mentally.

I hope I’m as sharp as him when I’m in my seventies.

Recently John had to give up tennis.

You see, after he fell out of a tree that he was pruning when he was eighty-nine, he’s never physically recovered, and he said his regular tennis doubles opponents were always playing it down his blind side.

And so tennis for John became less fun…

One of the things I love about John, and his tennis, was that up to the age of ninety whatever that he was still playing, John continued to have tennis lessons from a tennis coach.

Until it became physically impossible for him to cover all of the court, John wanted to make sure that his shot making and his stroke play were both as good as they could be.

You see John knew the lay of the land.

As a WWII POW, he’d been through a bit.

And what he knew about his tennis game was that if he didn’t keep on top of it, with as much help as he could get, then his game would get away from him.

His tennis coach was there to keep John accountable and to make sure that he was performing to his best potential.

Now it would be nice if we could all have our own personal tennis coach.

To keep us on top of our game.

But what about a business coach?

How many business owners go through their business life without professional assistance, and advice and accountability?

And then get to a sticking point, or a wall, where everything starts to unravel.

There are plenty…

For me, as a weekend amateur golfer, I always found that I performed best when I had my golf swing regularly checked and monitored by a professional on a regular basis.

That’s how my golf game stayed at its best, and as a serious ten marker, I always was able to walk the tightrope between a game on song and a game ready to self destruct.

And those of you who’ve played golf at that end of A-grade know the frustrations of a game that teeters between the joys of perfection and the jaws of desperation.

One time, in the space of five days, I shot 79 on the Tuesday, 91 on the Wednesday and then 74 on the Saturday.

All on the same course and all played on the same handicap [of 12].

So what’s my point?

It’s the same in our businesses….

One day we can be sailing along quite nicely, and then the next day, the next week, the next month, well, things are different.

And for the worse.

And you wonder to yourself what the heck just happened?

Because you thought that you had it nailed…

But you didn’t have it nailed….

You just thought that you did.

Having a coach, an ear, a mentor to bounce ideas off may have been an advantage when things have gone south…

Because sometimes there is a second set of eyes, or a second lot of grey matter who’s able to think outside the box, and also think independently and without emotion about what is best, and what is happening.

And what needs to happen.

A good golf coach can spot the weaknesses in your swing a long time ahead of when they start to manifest as problems that are so ingrained that they become very difficult to correct.

I like to think that with all my dentist coaching clients that I take them to a point that is better than when they started.

And I do…..

But I more often than not realise that although I take them to a better place, that sometimes along the way that place can be precarious, and they can indeed be on a knife edge precipice that needs even more assistance to maintain position..

Most of the time, the initial improvement is just the beginning…

There’s usually so much more that’s needed to maintain what has been built so that it stays built.

And can be built upon…

So in dentistry, just like in golf, there’s rarely a quick fix that stays fixed.

It’s long term mentoring and commitment that wins out in the end.

It’s a fact of life that lottery millionaires more often than not blow their millions in a very short time.

It’s said that if all the wealth in the world was evenly distributed, that within one or two years it would soon be back in the hands of those who originally had it…

And it’s the same with quick found gains.

In golf, and in business.

Only with commitment and accountability do we see those who have gained it keep it.

Not lose it.

How are you doing?

Are you keeping it?

Or are you losing it?

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My upcoming in depth two day workshops will be held in London in August.

You can reserve your places here: Click Link To Order 

I will also be holding my celebrated one day workshop in Melbourne in June and in Auckland New Zealand in July.

You can reserve your seats for Melbourne here.

You can reserve your seats for Auckland New Zealand here.

*****

Have you read my book , How To Build The Dental Practice of Your Dreams [Without Killing Yourself!] In Less Than Sixty Days.

You can order your copy here: Click Link To Order

*****

The Ultimate Patient Experience is a simple to build complete Customer Service system in itself that I developed that allowed me to create an extraordinary dental office in an ordinary Sydney suburb. If you’d like to know more, ask me about my free special report.

Email me at david@theupe.com

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