The Season Every Dentist Pretends They’re Not In (E.311)

 

“Sometimes you have to prune the branches so the plant can grow again.” – Dr. Chad Johnson

 

Brief Overview of the Episode

For the first time, Chad opens the curtain on a five year stretch filled with tough pivots. Letting go of an associate he deeply respected. Wrestling with a long-term shoulder injury. Deciding whether to close a location. Ending a major technology investment. Facing slow months right after paying off major loans. Instead of hiding these moments, he walks through them with humility, humor, and honesty.

Regan guides a candid conversation about reframing success, learning to rest, and accepting that sometimes the season you are in requires pruning, not pushing. The episode becomes a grounded blueprint for any dentist forced to rethink their pace, their priorities, or their definition of success. 

What This Episode Reveals

• Growth is seasonal, not constant.
• Some months require pruning instead of pushing.
• Contentment often shows up disguised as contraction.
• Momentum is not the only measure of progress.
• The smartest decisions often look like losses from the outside. 

What You’ll Learn

• How to recognize when you are in a season of recalibration.
• Why slowing down can be the most strategic move you make.
• How to lead your team without burning them out.
• How to make decisions when you are mentally, financially, or physically worn down.
• How to build longevity by protecting your capacity. 

If This Sounds Familiar

• Growth feels forced.
• You’re tired of pretending everything is fine.
• You’re questioning what you actually want.
• You feel pressure to expand, but something inside says pause.
• You’re carrying load across home, work, finances, and health and trying to survive it.

If that’s you, this is the episode you needed but never knew existed.

Next Steps

Listen. Pause. Reassess your season.
Pick one area of your life or practice and back up the bolt.
Your next season depends on it.

---

Most dentists look at their numbers and hope they tell the truth. They rarely do.

If you want clarity, get it before the next slowdown exposes the gaps you ignored.

Take a free 60 minute coaching session at InvestmentGradePractice.com and see what your practice has been hiding from you.

 

---

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Regan Robertson: The Productive Dentist Academy Podcast Network

[00:00:03] Dr. Chad Johnson: the last year or two has taken me to a growth pattern that I wasn’t expecting, and the growth didn’t necessarily mean bigger or better. It meant that I was calibrating more to what I wanted my life and my practice to become. My journey of learning to say no and getting there because I haven’t arrived, but learning to say no.

[00:00:30] Dr. Chad Johnson: It has been tough because it’s admitting that sometimes you’re gonna call a spade a spade and that you need to back off of a project, or that you need to prune the branches, or as you’ve described Reagan, that you need to back the bolt up. So today, Reagan, you and I are going to have a candid one-on-one discussion and allow the listeners to think about what it means for them at certain parts of their life when they have to reassess.

[00:00:59] Dr. Chad Johnson: Prune the [00:01:00] branches. Back up the Bolt. Reagan co-host Reagan on the illustrious podcast Everyday Practices Dental podcast. How are you doing today?

[00:01:13] Regan Robertson: I am excited for our conversation today. I think backing up the bolt is, is timely and appropriate for a lot of our listeners out there, so if you are at an inflection point.

[00:01:24] Regan Robertson: Where you’ve suddenly realized, uh, what am I doing this for? Meaning why am I hustling so hard to get to that next level of growth and is that what I really want to have, or is it what I think I want to have? And you know, I think part of that lie that we tell ourselves that growing is, is, is a constant state.

[00:01:48] Regan Robertson: Um, I think the lie is a nuance. It’s, it’s not that. Growth is wrong. I think we just tend to focus on it from a financial aspect of life [00:02:00] and we sort of dole down or silence that. Growth can be spiritual, it can be personal, it can be philosophical, and there are times in life when we should be focusing on that.

[00:02:11] Regan Robertson: And so from the. Public perspective that might look like contraction and that might look like, oh, they must be failing. So for example, yeah, I’ve been with you on this journey now for Yeah, for over a decade. And yes, it has. I’ve seen you go through the exciting. Stages of expanding from one practice to three,

[00:02:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: right?

[00:02:35] Regan Robertson: And, and being gung-ho, like hands in the air. Actually, you jump with both feet in the air touching those feet. Uh oh yeah.

[00:02:44] Dr. Chad Johnson: Literally. Sure. Ex

[00:02:45] Regan Robertson: excited about that growth, and, and I’ve seen so many dentists do the same. Something might happen in life. So it doesn’t mean that once you get there, you, you should stay there.

[00:02:55] Regan Robertson: It doesn’t mean that once you get there that that’s where you wanted to be in the first [00:03:00] place. And so, right. I would, I would really like to know, since you are so open and you’re so well, you are, you’re so sharing

[00:03:07] Dr. Chad Johnson: to a fault. Sure. It makes for a great podcast host, right?

[00:03:11] Regan Robertson: It does. I mean, no, I think it’s amazing that you’re willing to, to show your what.

[00:03:16] Regan Robertson: What journey you’ve gone through in the hopes of helping others. Sure. And so you’ve now gone down to one practice?

[00:03:22] Dr. Chad Johnson: Two? Uh, still the two. Two, oh, you still have two. Okay. But, but I have one team and we go back and forth and so, so, okay. So you do a certain, it’s kind of one practice location, two locations?

[00:03:32] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct.

[00:03:33] Regan Robertson: Okay. Okay. So you have two practices, but one team and you, and you split it. Do you split it? How many days do you split for each? Like how does that work?

[00:03:40] Dr. Chad Johnson: We do two weeks at one and then one week at the other. So every three weeks we’re rotating.

[00:03:45] Regan Robertson: How has that worked for you?

[00:03:48] Dr. Chad Johnson: Really well, and I’ll tell you, funny enough, this is really dumb, but it’s a fun, um, joy in life is I have different lunch locations that I like going [00:04:00] to at the one.

[00:04:01] Dr. Chad Johnson: Oh, this is so you Yes, I know. And so it’s just kind of fun to be like, Ooh, today I get to go to Charlotte’s, you know, for some, uh, fried chicken and maybe I’ll get some mac and cheese. And, um, they’re just different restaurants that I like going to, and that kind of almost makes it. Worth. Its while. ’cause I go, that’s kind of fun to have a little variety.

[00:04:21] Regan Robertson: Well, do you think that that is one little micro step that you’ve taken to keeping the joy in your life because. This has not been an easy process. You have had some really stressed out, I wouldn’t even say months, I would say you’ve had a stressed out year in the past. Maybe two. I don’t know. I’ve seen you.

[00:04:38] Dr. Chad Johnson: Maybe five down.

[00:04:40] Regan Robertson: Yeah, maybe five. Yeah. And yet, and yet, I know inherently you tend to be an internally optimistic person, but how have you not lost yourself in this?

[00:04:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, so. I, before we were, uh, recording, I, I was, you know, alluding to the idea of [00:05:00] learning to say no and learning. Um, uh, there are a few examples this past year of, you know, ways that I’ve tangibly said, you know what?

[00:05:11] Dr. Chad Johnson: I think this isn’t what I want. Interestingly too, with Joanne and coaching, I, she would ask sometimes, what do you want? And even back when Carrie was coaching, what, what do you want? And sometimes you can answer that, but other times it’s just like, I don’t know. For example, like when, when people say, what do you want to do when you retire?

[00:05:30] Dr. Chad Johnson: It’s like. Well, I mean especially let’s say you’re 25 years old or 35 years old, it’s just like, what? What do I know? You know, so, and I’ve talked about this way before.

[00:05:41] Regan Robertson: There’s a lot, lot of space in between that there’s 20 decades in between that

[00:05:44] Dr. Chad Johnson: and knowing like, what, what, I don’t know what my 65-year-old self would want to do.

[00:05:49] Dr. Chad Johnson: I know what my 46-year-old now self would want to. To, you know, but that, like, that’s just hopeful thinking it would be as though asking a kindergartner, what do you want to do [00:06:00] when you grow up? Now they have an idea, but it’s not necessarily an accurate idea.

[00:06:05] Regan Robertson: No, I tell, no, I, I talk to, you know, right. When you’re in the college age, also, it’s very normal to have no clue what you wanna

[00:06:12] Dr. Chad Johnson: do.

[00:06:12] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct.

[00:06:12] Regan Robertson: And that’s completely normal.

[00:06:14] Dr. Chad Johnson: So you asked, you know, like, how, how do I, how do I keep my act together? Um, I mean, I suppose being grounded in faith and grounded in family time and other stuff, as chaotic as it is, it’s not as though, you know, I get to just rest when I go home. Um, ’cause you know, it’s off to soccer practice, off to basketball practice, off to this and that, you know, so.

[00:06:39] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. And many of the listeners be if they’re small business owners or even associates. I mean, you know, life is busy. Um. But as I’m crafting more and more what I want out of the practice and having gone from three down to two now and considering, you know, like I was [00:07:00] even looking at my contract was coming up for my lease and should I, um, should I build, should I renew it?

[00:07:10] Dr. Chad Johnson: And it crossed my mind. I was like, should I just close it and tell the people, Hey, I’m over at the other office because the other office. Is, uh, I own the suite and so I don’t have to have to pay rent. And so I would, you know, not have to do a, a monthly lease payment of 8,000 a month. And, you know, just for, just for one location that I’m keeping open, you know, two out of every three weeks and.

[00:07:37] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, I also, I don’t know, I was telling, I think in my workout buddy Ryan, um, we were walking in the morning one time this week and I said, you know, I think I’ve just learned to roll with the punches of, uh, having gone fee for service out of the PPO land. There are times when I might have a slow day or a slow week, or honestly, there’s sometimes [00:08:00] when like, I don’t know, last month was just.

[00:08:02] Dr. Chad Johnson: As the young kids say, very mid. Okay. But it was just mediocre.

[00:08:08] Regan Robertson: Is this October or was it September? It

[00:08:09] Dr. Chad Johnson: was October.

[00:08:11] Regan Robertson: Oh, okay. If,

[00:08:11] Dr. Chad Johnson: if not September too. But I know, I notice, you know, like. Um, I had finished my last payment for the construction loan on the West Side practice. That was 12,000 a month. And so I was like, yes.

[00:08:26] Regan Robertson: Yeah, congratulations.

[00:08:27] Dr. Chad Johnson: Right? Thank you. And then so I, it’s like the next month’s gonna be great. Right? That’s what you’d think listeners. Right? But what happened then was the next month we fell short of our goal by like $30,000. Well, listen, that doesn’t help. Um. You know, having 12,000 less when you, you know, I listen, I suppose it helps.

[00:08:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: It helps, but it doesn’t like make it like, wow, I wanna do cartwheels and stuff. It,

[00:08:55] Regan Robertson: it is so tricky because it’s an expandable contractible. So on one hand you wanna [00:09:00] celebrate, but if you’re trying to explain business to somebody who maybe doesn’t understand it, it’s like, yes, this is a win. But this was a loss.

[00:09:06] Regan Robertson: And then this unexpected thing happened At Productive Dentist Academy, we’ve helped thousands of private practice owners find the clarity inside their data. And take control again, starting with a free 60 minute coaching session. Head over to investment grade practice.com right now before the next patient sits down to claim your free 60 minute coaching session.

[00:09:25] Regan Robertson: That’s investment grade practice.com. So is it really a win? It doesn’t feel like it’s the win that it should be.

[00:09:32] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct. Yeah. Um, but at, at, like, so there are times when, you know, I am not getting, uh, the new patient. Let’s say there’s a, there’s a month or, you know, while, or something like that where I’m not getting the new patients that I’m hoping to.

[00:09:47] Dr. Chad Johnson: And, um, but I, I actually, I, we just make the most of it. And rather than, you know, being like, oh, the camera. I, I’ve, I just try, I try and go, well, you know what, like today, we get done at [00:10:00] one o’clock, and if we don’t get any phone calls by one. We’re, we’re stopping our clinical hours and you know, the, we can make phone calls and clean up and write notes for the day and stuff like that.

[00:10:10] Dr. Chad Johnson: And we normally get done between three and four anyway, so it’s not like it’s uh, you know, but like if we’re done a little bit early, every dentist that’s overly booked with a PPO schedule that’s trying to be like, man, I’ve got four more crowns to prep and it’s four o’clock already, you know, and I’ve got four more to do.

[00:10:25] Dr. Chad Johnson: And, and they’d be like, man, wouldn’t it be nice? So I am in that other. Side of the fence, the, the gr grass is greener on the other side kind of thing. I’m on the other greener grass, and yet there’s a downfall to that side. And I just go, you know what, I’ll just go home early and, uh, maybe I’ll tell Sarah that I’m gonna pick up the kids from school.

[00:10:45] Dr. Chad Johnson: And I just take that as a wind. So it’s, it’s like trying to dial it back. ’cause I, I can be a machine, but, um, my, for example, my, my hygienists don’t like working. [00:11:00] Past noon, and these days with hygienists being so short, they kind of get to call their own shots. And so it’s just like, I guess that’s when we’ll have hygiene, which sounds really weird to a lot of people, but it’s like, you know,

[00:11:12] Regan Robertson: it sounds extremely counterintuitive for Chad Johnson that I’ve,

[00:11:15] Dr. Chad Johnson: yes.

[00:11:16] Dr. Chad Johnson: And I just go, well, I like my hygienists more than I like. Another hygienist, like, I like the ones that I have. And, and so I, ’cause I could be like, well, you know what? You’re fired then I’m gonna hire someone, you know, to go in the afternoon. Uh, number one, you can’t be sure that you’re gonna have. All the, like any a ton of applications, you, you’re not guaranteed of that these days.

[00:11:40] Dr. Chad Johnson: I don’t know if I did put out a hygiene, um, applica or whatever, call for a job that, uh, help wanted that, I would get an an application and, and, and we’re in a city of a half a mill. People so you’d think, so it’s stuff like that. So I, you know, like even w [00:12:00] with um, you know, trying to readjust to the hygienist schedule and just being like, you know what, if we’re able to pay bills and it, we’re not like slaying it, but if we’re able to pay bills and we get done early, I rather than complaining about it.

[00:12:14] Dr. Chad Johnson: ’cause that doesn’t really help you. I mean, sometimes complaining and then defining how you could make it better. Okay. But there are other times where you can like, just be like, is can I just be content and satisfied with what I have? And that’s what I’ve chosen to do is be like, you know what? I’m gonna go home and go on a walk with Sarah or something like that.

[00:12:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: So, um, you know that, that I have the. I have the capacity to work more, and I like when I can. So if we got a, you know, a last minute phone call and they’re like, Hey, we’ve got someone that wants to come in right away. It’s just like, well, okay, so we’ll see ’em at one and I’ll choose my favorite restaurant around here and we’ll go to lunch real quick and have some Mexican, you know, so, um, but if it wasn’t, you know, for.

[00:12:57] Dr. Chad Johnson: Uh, that, another example [00:13:00] is, um, my, my, I have a few examples, but my, um, associate, you know, in February we didn’t continue his contract and that felt like a loss. Um, ’cause I like. Uh, you know, Dr. Ryan, it was sucky to have to, you know, discontinue it and we mutually agreed that it’s just like, you know, we’re just not getting what we should here to be able to make it viable.

[00:13:23] Dr. Chad Johnson: And that is, um, like defining a loss. You know, you like, you’re just like, do we both see the loss on the wall that it’s just not working out? Doggone it, we did. We sure tried. Don’t you better believe that we tried. He was the best. He went around, you know, to neighboring businesses and brought cookies and stuff like that.

[00:13:41] Dr. Chad Johnson: We, we would go across the street to the grocery store and, and get stuff to bring to different businesses and stuff and, you know, meeting people around town. I remember the dunk tank that we did, you know, so like we did stuff. And, uh, chamber of Commerce set stuff, open houses, you know, it just, it just never like really took off.

[00:13:59] Dr. Chad Johnson: And [00:14:00] so that, that sucks. That feels like a loss, but at the same time, it’s like, we gotta call it like it is and prune back the branches. And I keep bringing this, you know, branch pruning, uh, uh, because of my greenhouse, you know, that I’m doing now. So it just, you know, reminds me more of that. And we’ve got new tomato buds.

[00:14:19] Dr. Chad Johnson: And I guess I, all this stuff I’m learning, you know, the, the first growth of little, uh, tomato flour, you pluck ’em off. So that way it forces the plant to grow more rather than produce, you know, like send its energy to producing the, the fruit. And I mean, this is stuff I don’t know other people, it might be second nature, but I just, ’cause I’m from Iowa, doesn’t mean I know everything about growing every plant.

[00:14:40] Dr. Chad Johnson: You know, I, I don’t know this kind of stuff. Um, even Reagan, I, and I’m on a diatribe right now, but I’ll just give out all my examples and then we can, you know, pick whatever to discuss. But, um, I had, uh, and I still have a yomi, uh, robot and. Um, it’s, it’s not going as well for me as it is other PDA docs that [00:15:00] have it.

[00:15:00] Dr. Chad Johnson: And, um, you know, so like there’s a monthly expense for paying for the equipment and then a maintenance fee and stuff like that. And we just decided this summer to be like, you know what, I think we’re done with this. And, which is really a shame because I like it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome, but at the same time, my area won’t, you know, it doesn’t afford for me to, to keep on doing it.

[00:15:22] Dr. Chad Johnson: Uh, I don’t have the volume to do that. And so that, that kind of is tough because it feels like a loss, but at the same time it’s just like, well. If you call it like it is and just say, Hey, why don’t we consider selling this and stopping the, the maintenance contract and stuff like that. And lastly, the fourth example that I wanted to bring up with you, and then we can, you know, go into whatever, but, um, is my, my shoulder now for a little bit more than two years.

[00:15:47] Dr. Chad Johnson: I’ve had a couple partial tears on my left shoulder, uh, of the labrum of my shoulder. That’s been tough ’cause I love working out. It helps keep me, um, focused and, um, burn off some [00:16:00]energy and the, my, my best for, you know, oral surgery stuff, extractions and, and you know, just even my, the energy and, you know, the, the, um, the.

[00:16:12] Dr. Chad Johnson: Dopamine hit that, you know, workout brings and levels you out for the day and stuff like that. So all that, and it’s been tougher the last couple years working out. I, I’ve found a stride in that, but it’s not like it used to be like, um, I can’t cycle five hours on a Saturday morning, you know, like I used to.

[00:16:28] Dr. Chad Johnson: And, and people would be like, how did you fit that in? Honestly, sometimes I’d get up at three or four in the morning and go, and so that way I could be ready for my daughter’s soccer game at nine, you know, or something like that. So. Um, and burn the candle at both ends. But so I, you know, just, I think I wanted to be transparent and show that there’s a few examples this year and over the last couple years.

[00:16:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: That have been, um, you could consider it a, a loss. I, and I, I suppose I’m trying to spin it in a positive way ’cause of the optimist that I [00:17:00] am, but, uh, I, I look at it as, you know, like, it’s just like, it’s a, um, it’s an opportunity for me to rediscover and re re refine, um, what do I want and, you know, is my practice hours like that I’m doing.

[00:17:16] Dr. Chad Johnson: Let’s say 30 hours of clinic a week, is that not enough? Um, and, or, or sometimes 25. And is that not enough? You know, doing fee for service that I can be satisfied with that. And just because I want more doesn’t mean that I can have more just because I want it. So Reagan, with all that said, uh, I do find that.

[00:17:37] Dr. Chad Johnson: More than in a long time. I’ve been more content, funny enough with less because even this last year as we are getting rid of, uh, my associate, we reestablished the budget and we were like, man, we’ve got to cut and prune some stuff. And ’cause you know, we just, this last year, what, I mean, listen, let’s call it like it is, we’re in a.

[00:17:56] Dr. Chad Johnson: A recession of sorts in the economy. [00:18:00]And I’m not an economist, but like at the same time I think the Midwest has some feel to that and the coasts might not feel it as much, maybe they do, but all I can speak for is my area and uh, I kind of have to. Um, love the ones you’re with and enjoy the ride of, you know, what, what is thrown at me?

[00:18:20] Dr. Chad Johnson: And it goes back to our discussions consistently about stoicism and just being like, okay, with what I have, how can I receive that and handle it? So diatribe over your thoughts.

[00:18:38] Regan Robertson: I think it’s really fascinating that you’re honoring, uh, yourself by taking the time to grieve. So eventually, you know, losses, you have one loss, you can usually recover fairly quick. You have another loss. You can, you know, you, you get knocked down a little harder, but, but you can recover. And, um, and I call life like in buckets.

[00:18:58] Regan Robertson: Like you’ve got your job [00:19:00] bucket, your family bucket ears. Community bucket, your spouse bucket, your friend’s bucket. And if you, if you have issues in a, in a couple of those, you can usually tackle life and, and be all right. But when, when it hits across all, and I often find physically when you get physically hit.

[00:19:17] Regan Robertson: So it’s really interesting that you talked about your workout buddy Ryan. Yeah. And uh, you know, ’cause he’s. Been with you for forever. And so he’s seen the up and downs to have that also impact it. Uh, it reminds me, there’s two things that it reminds me of. Uh, first and foremost, one, I watched this great documentary about an octopus and it had got into an entanglement.

[00:19:39] Regan Robertson: I think it was a fight, but it lost one of its tentacles and it had to hide. So it like found a rock enclosure and pulled everything in so nothing could get to it. And it, and it stayed there for a long time. I mean, it was like. Days or weeks, I can’t remember. Yes. But it didn’t eat and it healed. It grew it back, didn’t it?

[00:19:56] Regan Robertson: It did. It grew it back and it just healed. So cool. Yeah, and, and [00:20:00] so. On the surface that would a hundred percent look like a major loss and, and, and a concern. The second thing, because you know, I’m not super into sports, although I’ve gotta stop saying that because now I clearly am, I watched the Seattle Mariners baseball team Oh, right.

[00:20:15] Regan Robertson: West to the World Series. And, uh, I got to take my dad to, to a game, uh, as they qualified. It was such a, a amazing game. They, they won it. And, and what I noticed was anytime the stakes were high. They stopped, they went backwards. They called their timeouts on, forgive me, I don’t know if it’s called a timeout, but they all went onto the mound, like to the pitchers mound.

[00:20:38] Regan Robertson: They all like discussed things. They obviously, uh, you know, were strategizing a little bit and or they would pull the pitcher. They knew how many pitches the pitcher could make and then they would pull them. So they made a decision. And sometimes those decisions look like you’re going back when you’re actually going forward.

[00:20:53] Regan Robertson: The the second piece that I was, that I really wanted. Dive in with you here is I’m wondering, it sounds [00:21:00] like you reframed. Your wins. Yes.

[00:21:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: Success reframed. Correct. A

[00:21:06] Regan Robertson: hundred percent. So, so instead of saying, okay, I’ve lost this associate who was like your twin. Like, I, I bet that hurt so bad. I know.

[00:21:16] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yeah, it still did.

[00:21:17] Dr. Chad Johnson: I just saw him yesterday afternoon. We hung out at his new office. Yeah. I went over there and, uh, it’s actually, uh, Stephanie Mohans office too. So like I went over, is he

[00:21:26] Regan Robertson: an associate over there?

[00:21:27] Dr. Chad Johnson: Uhhuh. And so I, I went over to. See her and talk with her, uh, check out her new office. And, uh, he, he was like, Hey, I waited around so I could see you.

[00:21:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: So we talked for a few minutes and I was just like,

[00:21:36] Regan Robertson: okay. So if he’s going anywhere, Stephanie Mohan is like the

[00:21:39] Dr. Chad Johnson: best option. Absolutely. That’s, um, I actually shout out Stephanie. I actually recommended it. I, you know, I was just like, Hey, uh, Steph. Uh, you know, Ryan and I are gonna call it Chris. Why don’t I said, why don’t you get ahold of him real quick?

[00:21:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: So, yeah. Well,

[00:21:51] Regan Robertson: it’s another, it’s another example of who’s to say. So, so what I wanted to underline for you there that I’m seeing is it is a, who’s [00:22:00] to say whether it’s a good or bad thing that this has occurred? And that’s where the stoicism, I think, comes in. Correct. Who knows if he doesn’t come back one day and acquire your practice like you do?

[00:22:09] Regan Robertson: You do not know what the future holds, but instead of staying in that grief and. Maybe working harder against the grain or beating yourself up. I noticed you said specifically like you go take a a walk with your wife, right. And that, that felt really great. So what, what happened inside of you that, that helped you go to that conclusion of shifting your mindset?

[00:22:36] Regan Robertson: Like what, what happened in there as you, as you were faced with several perceived losses.

[00:22:43] Dr. Chad Johnson: I think as a leader, I’m just gonna think this out loud. I, I don’t know where, where I’ll land on it, but as a leader, I could be hardcore and burn everyone away from me, but I didn’t want to do that. And so, for example, when the [00:23:00] hygienists are just like, um, like I kind of wanna work until noon after COVID, it’s just like, you know, I, I’m redefining my life and I think I just wanna work from seven to noon.

[00:23:10] Dr. Chad Johnson: And you know, like at that point I can be like, no, listen, we have standards here and you will fall in line. I am the drill sergeant and I will tell you this or that and you can leave. Because they’d be like, I understand. I’m gonna leave. And, and thinking through like, is that what I want? Like, is that, do I want to, you know, be like, yeah, I could just, you know, pick up someone else and they’ll be just fine.

[00:23:33] Dr. Chad Johnson: No. Um, I wanted to keep them or being like, Hey, listen. We’re supposed to be producing, you know, this much in a month, and we’re only producing at 70% the last two months. We need to, you know, catch up and do double the next month so that way we can catch up for those two months and this month, you know, and, um, it reminds me, for example, of the Israelites and, and the, the Pharaoh being like, you thought my dad was tough on you.

[00:23:59] Dr. Chad Johnson: The new [00:24:00] Pharaoh comes in and he goes, you not only have to make the bricks. Uh, for, you know what I’m building and stuff, you have to go find the mud and find the straw and make the bricks. And I’m doubling down like how much you have to make. So, like he just said, you, you, you feared my dad. I’m going to show you that I’m really big and bad.

[00:24:19] Dr. Chad Johnson: Anyone can do that. How did that go? And, you know, it did go over so hot for, for a Pharaoh and, um, and I, I didn’t want to be that leader that I, so it’s just counting like, okay. In the moment, I’m given so much opportunity to lead people up, but I have to make smart goals. There it is. I So it’s just like they have to be tangible.

[00:24:44] Dr. Chad Johnson: They have to be, you know, and so all the things, the, that we timely, whatever that we can get to ’em. Um, ’cause if not, then it’s just pie in the sky. It’s just like, well, we should make double the amount. Um, well, I mean, [00:25:00] yeah. Okay. Would’ve, should’ve coulda, right? So I don’t know if that made sense, but like, I just, I, I reassessed, you know, like, does, does that do me any good to be like, no, we’re gonna sit around here this afternoon if we don’t have any patients and just look at each other and, you know, wait till four o’clock now, no one would say that, but you know, there’s some days when it’s like, all right, well let’s look at an Excel sheet and look at our stuff and what, what patients can we call from dental intel?

[00:25:27] Dr. Chad Johnson: You know, like, what kind of stuff can we do? And once we’ve exhausted that, it’s just like, I mean, I suppose we’re caught up. For example, my west side office, um, our, our accounts receivable as at is at zero. So. Yeah. And it’s, Hey, it’s come a long way from last year when it was. That’s

[00:25:48] Regan Robertson: massive, isn’t it?

[00:25:49] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yes.

[00:25:49] Dr. Chad Johnson: But let’s say that you have an afternoon, you can’t call anyone and say, Hey, can you pay us? ’cause it’s all done. Well,

[00:25:56] Regan Robertson: let’s, yeah. Let’s talk about goals for a minute, because I wanted to touch [00:26:00] on the yomi, uh, yeah. Technology integration that you brought. And then, and then what to do with it. And that is one of the biggest fears is making a large investment and then having it sit on the proverbial shelf and be worried about that.

[00:26:12] Regan Robertson: But I want to call out, um, I mean, if you’re listening right now, you’re gonna know anyway, but it, there’s nuances to making decisions in business. And so it’s easy to stand outside of a situation and say, oh, well, you just have to x, y, z. So Correct. What? But, but what? That doesn’t take into account is where you’re at, where you’re at financially, where, uh, where your market is.

[00:26:36] Regan Robertson: Like I heard you say, well, your market can’t support it, which the automatic solution is, oh, well then you just have to market farther. Pull the lever. Great. Correct. If you’ve got the budget for it, do you have the budget for it? So can you talk to me a little bit about your decision making process throughout this adventure, because that.

[00:26:56] Regan Robertson: Is a very, very important part of this puzzle [00:27:00] and where, you know, some practices, when you make poor decisions or you get decision fatigued, uh, you can make some fatal errors.

[00:27:08] Dr. Chad Johnson: So I think of my shoulder injury first, which isn’t dental specific, but then I’ll get into that with my shoulder injury. I’ve, it’s funny ’cause I’ll tell people and they’ll be like, oh, you should ice it.

[00:27:21] Regan Robertson: Ha, thanks. Oh, I had no idea. Okay.

[00:27:25] Dr. Chad Johnson: And then you’ll see someone else and they’ll go, oh, you haven’t, have you tried a massage therapist? Yes, I have. Oh, okay. And, um, last night my mom, uh, says, you know, I’ve got a red light thing, this, you know, and sh and I’m watching tv, I don’t know, 7 30, 8 o’clock last night.

[00:27:46] Dr. Chad Johnson: We’re watching Gilmore Girls with the girls, and uh, we’re watching it and my mom sends me a text, Hey, I could bring that red light over. She lives a couple miles away. Oh, that’s so sweet. It is sweet. But I was just like, mom, no, it’s fine. Just give it to me tomorrow. I have a red light room mom. [00:28:00] Yeah. Right.

[00:28:00] Dr. Chad Johnson: No, um, I mean, I’m looking, I’m looking at that kind of stuff, but I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of, you know, trying to do everything I’ve got. I’ve done a PRP platelet injection into it, into the capsule. Um, I’ve got Yes, yes. Thank you listeners that are thinking through everything. I’ve got an MRI on it.

[00:28:19] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, I’ve, uh, done physical therapy for over a year and like, I’m not currently, but I’m just like doing things. Um. It’s got better, but like, really, people are overly concerned that it’s not a hundred percent and they’ll be like, whoa. Uh, I mean, I’ve had, I’ve had buddies that are like, whoa, we just need to pray for it more.

[00:28:40] Dr. Chad Johnson: Because, you know, there’s certain people that are like, you haven’t prayed enough. ’cause God can, God can take care of it. And it’s like, I believe he can, but not necessarily that he has to. And, but that bothers people too. They’re like, no. No, you just have to, I’m gonna pray right now about it. It’s like I’m, I’m open to it.

[00:28:56] Dr. Chad Johnson: Fine, let’s pray about it. But I’m not going to be [00:29:00] disappointed when, when God doesn’t take care of that. Like, you know, like that’s the biggest thing in the, the world or something. Go ahead.

[00:29:08] Regan Robertson: Well, you, you’ve, you just demonstrated, uh, a really important point, I think, next to shifting your mindset. Was it like a step to that?

[00:29:16] Regan Robertson: Yeah. It sounds to me like you just released your expectations.

[00:29:19] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct. So instead of correct

[00:29:20] Regan Robertson: expectation,

[00:29:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: yes.

[00:29:22] Regan Robertson: There’s power in that.

[00:29:24] Dr. Chad Johnson: Well, I, weirdly enough, they would say on the other end, there’s power in expecting God to do. And I’m just like, yeah, well, okay. If it, if that were to work, then that’s great, but listen, I, here I am two years later.

[00:29:37] Dr. Chad Johnson: And it hasn’t healed, and I just have to, like, I have, I’ve had to reshift how I sleep because it, uh, you know, I can’t sleep on my shoulder a certain way. I have to swim slower, but I’m still swimming. I, I really can’t lift. But I’ll do, like, I, I, you know, I used to curl 50 fives and now I’m doing fifteens and twenties, you know, just trying to get it to heal.

[00:29:57] Dr. Chad Johnson: It’s so little things. So what you’re doing, what you’re doing [00:30:00] physically, the little, the

[00:30:00] Regan Robertson: little adjustments that you’re making is to protect what you have.

[00:30:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: And hopefully rehab it. I mean, I, sometimes I just go it, maybe it, maybe it will just take time.

[00:30:12] Regan Robertson: Okay. Chad Johnson, apply that methodology, which I know you you’re doing, even if it’s on a subconscious level mm-hmm.

[00:30:20] Regan Robertson: To your business. What are you doing? What have you done over the past few months to protect and hopefully recuperate?

[00:30:28] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yeah.

[00:30:29] Regan Robertson: So that you can grow in the future?

[00:30:31] Dr. Chad Johnson: Waiting it out sometimes. I mean, just like the, just like this, the hygienists, the squid or the octopus or whatever that went, you know, it’s just like, yeah.

[00:30:41] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, and reframing what success is. And, um, I think you asked a question about the yomi specifically, and then I went into my shoulder injury. Yeah. Well,

[00:30:53] Regan Robertson: no, you were, you answered it. It’s about how you make decisions and, okay. What, so your decision making matrix, your decision making [00:31:00] process, uh, because it’s.

[00:31:01] Regan Robertson: For, for some business, for, well, for all of us, if we don’t make the right decisions or we’re in decision fatigue, yes, we have a new scenario to deal with. Yes. So I’m a big fan of there is no right and wrong. There is only what is and, and it’s our job to get through it. So no matter what, we have

[00:31:17] Dr. Chad Johnson: that stoicism again.

[00:31:18] Dr. Chad Johnson: Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:31:19] Regan Robertson: Oh yeah. Well, we’re friends for a reason.

[00:31:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct.

[00:31:22] Regan Robertson: And I am, I’m just really curious, I love where you went with that, thinking of your physical body and protecting it and rehabbing it and so, so this time of backing up the bolt, which might look like failure on the surface, could actually be a time of protection and rehab.

[00:31:39] Regan Robertson: Do you feel like you are in a time of protection and rehab with your, very much, with your practices? Yes.

[00:31:45] Dr. Chad Johnson: Well, especially because I, I still have loans to pay off. So when I bought the two practices in 2020, um, and I bought equipment and stuff, I financed it, and I have about two more years of paying everything off.

[00:31:58] Dr. Chad Johnson: I just got done with one of the [00:32:00] loans. And then over the next six months, I have three other loans, and a year from now I’ll have the. Fifth loan canceled off out of 12 or whatever. There’s, I think there’s 12, one of ’em being the, um, what is that called? The governmental loan. Um, oh. Um,

[00:32:22] Regan Robertson: snap. Are you taking snap benefits, Chad?

[00:32:24] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yeah. No, I would, uh, let’s see. Uh, hold on, hold on, hold on. What is that called? Uh, there it is. Oh, the idle loan. So, you know, I, I had an idle loan, which. I mean, my rant real quick. I, I find it funny that we had a governmental induced problem of forced closure of dental office and then to solve the govern governmental problem.

[00:32:51] Dr. Chad Johnson: They have a governmental solution of here’s some free money that you can pay off the next 30 years, and I wonder how many businesses, you know, are still [00:33:00] paying on a, a loan that they, they got to receive. For the privilege of being forced to close. It’s just, oh, it’s so frustrating. So again, it’s a different, as a different topic on a different day.

[00:33:11] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct. But business owners, it’s another will that different than the average person. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It’s another brick on top of it. Um, yeah. Uh, but for example, specifically with the yomi, um, you know, so I. Asked the company, you know, like, can we find a way to, you know, uh, to solve this? And, um, in a roundabout way, over the course of three or four months, the answer was no.

[00:33:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: And so I just said, Hey, here’s the deal. I’m gonna sell it. And, um, uh, we’re gonna sell this, so just stop my maintenance fee, you know, if you would please, I understand that, you know, like, you don’t have to, but I’d appreciate it. And, uh, they, um, they respectfully agreed to, which was cool. And, um. And so then my [00:34:00] goal, I’ve told my team, and I, I mean, I guess if Yomi hears this, I don’t care, but, um, like my goal is like I’m, I’m selling it, air quotes unquote, but at the same time, I’m, I’m not looking for a buyer because I’m kind of like, when you buy the equipment, like a hundred percent finance, you’re underwater on it.

[00:34:17] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, when you know, and so. Um, I’m just paying for the equipment and when I’m done paying for the equipment, then I won’t have to pay for the equipment. I can use that money for the maintenance fee, but I can’t pay the equipment and the maintenance fee,

[00:34:31] Regan Robertson: do you enjoy using it? Are you

[00:34:33] Dr. Chad Johnson: proficient with it? Yes.

[00:34:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, especially for full arch stuff. Uh, one a one implant kind of thing is, uh. Is actually, it’s over-engineering it, which sometimes you want it, but like sometimes it’s just like you could just drop in an implant, just do it, you know? So, um, well

[00:34:52] Regan Robertson: that’s you talking, that’s not everybody.

[00:34:53] Dr. Chad Johnson: Not everybody, not anybody or everybody.

[00:34:56] Dr. Chad Johnson: But you know, especially if you had a surgical guide, it’s just like, listen, I’ll, [00:35:00] uh, when we switched off of the yomi and I just used a surgical guide, this, this is probably Reagan. This is probably the only place that you’ll find someone. Positive talking about not using the fancy equipment. Okay. But I’ve used it.

[00:35:16] Dr. Chad Johnson: No. Everyone else is gonna be talking about how awesome it is. Right? And I get it. It is awesome. But when we switched off the first time and we did it with a surgical guide again and we got done in like 25 minutes, I was just like, oh my goodness, this is so nice. ’cause when you’re over-engineering it with Yomi, even though it does the, like the actual osteotomy site development is.

[00:35:39] Dr. Chad Johnson: So precise and it’s a breeze. It really is. The, the appointment time is longer ’cause you’re taking A-C-B-C-T, you’re hooking something onto their teeth and all the stuff like that. And it adds a bunch of time. And the setup and the, you know, all that. So, uh, switching back, we

[00:35:54] Regan Robertson: can run that through the line easily.

[00:35:56] Regan Robertson: Like we can get that, you know, it might take longer in the upfront, but if the [00:36:00] precision is better, the chance of failure’s lower. Right? Yeah. I mean, I, I can, I can pull that through. Yeah, I understand that completely. And also, I mean, you’ve, this is not your first rodeo with implants. You’ve been doing that for a minute.

[00:36:12] Dr. Chad Johnson: 20 years. Yeah. And you help

[00:36:12] Regan Robertson: others.

[00:36:13] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, um, so, you know, dialing that back, uh, is kind of rough. ’cause even the team you were talking about, like, how’s that nitty gritty work? So then the, the, the, the admin people even, they’re just like, well, so what if we have someone call and say that they saw our yomi ad, you know, and, and that we have a yomi and they want to talk about that.

[00:36:37] Dr. Chad Johnson: So I said, well, here’s the deal. You know, you, you depending on feeling that patient out, I’m not asking you to lie about it. You can just say, yes, we have a yomi. Um, you know, can we schedule you for next Monday? You can talk it through and then we can talk it over with the patient. Well, they were like, no, we really feel like we need to tell them, you know?

[00:36:55] Dr. Chad Johnson: And I was like, if you do, then you can just say, uh, you know, currently [00:37:00] with, uh, with Yomi, we’re, we’re negotiating, you know, the contract. You know, issues and stuff like that. So, uh, we’re, you know, whether we’re currently not using or something like that. But, you know, would you still be interested in coming in and discussing it?

[00:37:14] Dr. Chad Johnson: Because we don’t know when that’s gonna end. Like, that could switch. It could change. Like it’s, it went on and off this whole summer. You know, to where we were like, alright, I’m gonna get rid of it. And then I talk with the company, it’s like, you know what? I think we’re gonna keep it. And then it was, no, we’re not gonna, so it was just this back and forth.

[00:37:28] Dr. Chad Johnson: And those are details that not everyone wants to have to keep up with the backroom details. You know what I’m saying? Uh, you guys probably have backroom details that it’s just like not every client needs to know about every ba backroom detail. Right.

[00:37:41] Regan Robertson: I call it above the line and below the line. So when you get yes to the engineering portion of it, that’s, that’s where my mind goes with that.

[00:37:48] Regan Robertson: I’m curious, was there a person or a community or a therapist or a book, uh, that well that allowed you to [00:38:00] take the performance pressure off of yourself?

[00:38:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, I think the quick answer is no. Um, I mean, my workout buddy, we’ve known each other since preschool. Everyone that’s listened to all 310 episodes, you know, has heard me talk about Ryan more than once.

[00:38:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: He’s my buddy and so, you know, I’ll run stuff by him. Um. I like that we’re an EOS office, so we do, you know, traction by Gina Wickman in that I run stuff by the team sometimes That can almost be frustrating. Yes. Some people think that through, you know, they go, I mean, do you want your team knowing your business?

[00:38:39] Dr. Chad Johnson: It’s just like, well, there’s an upside and a downside, I suppose. Fair enough. Um. But no, I don’t have a great answer for that. ’cause I, I do think that’s something that I, well, to be honest, that I struggle with is, you know, like I, I just, I get her done. Um, because it would be nice to be like, I actually really do have some, but I okay to [00:39:00] be, uh, to throw a little love on the audience.

[00:39:02] Dr. Chad Johnson: I’m not necessarily getting feedback, but we come here on the podcast and we talk stuff through, right? Yeah. So, I mean, this. This gets to be therapeutic in the sense that you’re just talking stuff out. Right. I just shared something with Ryan this morning while we were working out and I just like, he didn’t have a response.

[00:39:20] Dr. Chad Johnson: Thank God. Uh, you know, like of saying, you know, you know what you should do. ’cause sometimes you don’t want to hear that. Right. I didn’t want to hear that, but I just said, thanks for listening. You know, that’s all. I just kind, it’s kind of nice just to think stuff out. Um,

[00:39:33] Regan Robertson: I almost wanna write that on like a sticky note that I hide on my body at all times.

[00:39:37] Regan Robertson: ’cause I am a quick, I think it’s a masculine trait too, and I think it’s just because I end up, you know, I’ve been a leader for so long, so I was just going to the solution mode when really that’s right. All anybody wants is to be heard and not. Go into solutions. So I’ve had, I’ve had, you know, team members over the year.

[00:39:52] Regan Robertson: Shout out Jennifer Hensley. She’s such a friend. Oh yes. Yeah. I remember she ran our events for forever. Yep. And, um, I remember her calling me one [00:40:00] day and, and she just wanted to vent. That was all she wanted. Mm-hmm. She just wanted to talk it out. And I think talking it out is actually better than saying venting.

[00:40:07] Regan Robertson: But I went right into solution and she stopped me and she said I just wanted to talk it out. And I was like. Oh, okay. And so I try, I, I just feel like that should be one of those, I wish we could have a little popup, like a text popup in our brain that would just be like, ding, like,

[00:40:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: here’s your job. Yeah.

[00:40:23] Dr. Chad Johnson: Just listen. Just let and say, huh. That must be tough. Just let them talk it

[00:40:25] Regan Robertson: out.

[00:40:25] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct.

[00:40:26] Regan Robertson: Yeah. And yeah.

[00:40:28] Dr. Chad Johnson: Wouldn’t it be funny to hand someone a sticky note that says what I’m about to tell you? Don’t solve it. Just be a good listener. And you’re actually hearing a man saying that I, I mean, I get that, you know, that’s a very, um, I’ve

[00:40:40] Regan Robertson: practiced saying something similar to that.

[00:40:42] Regan Robertson: Like, I just would like you to listen and, and that seems to work really well. Yeah. I’m, I’m curious. Thinking about where you’re at today, if you, if you yourself can kind of close your eyes and think about being in the greenhouse that you love. Oh, yes. Listeners, if he, I know he briefly touched on it, but Chad has a greenhouse that [00:41:00] has brought him an awful lot of joy.

[00:41:02] Regan Robertson: Yes. So if you close your eyes and you’re in your greenhouse. Yeah. Um, and happy that your hands are in the dirt. Yes. What would you, what would you tell yourself if you were 10 years younger right now?

[00:41:17] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, this is fun. And, um, get rid of the patients that are the pains in the butt because it’s nice loving people and wanting to love people, but you can lose that and.

[00:41:42] Dr. Chad Johnson: Like as much of as, as an extrovert, as, and I don’t know if I’m talking to myself if I would say you are or I am, whatever. But, um, that, uh, I’m talking to first person, to my former younger self. I don’t know. It’s just weird. So, um, so if I, you know, it’s just [00:42:00] like I’m such an extrovert and yet I love going to my greenhouse ’cause I’m done with people there and it’s just so nice just to like.

[00:42:08] Dr. Chad Johnson: Uh, focus on something menial that doesn’t have much consequence if it doesn’t go right. You know, like, uh, that’s something about the, the, the dentistry job that’s really tough is it’s high stakes. You know, you have people sign consent forms because there’s high stakes. And so, um, and rightfully so, it should be, it’s their smiles, it’s their wisdom teeth, it’s their inferior alveolar nerve, it’s their sinuses, you know, stuff like that.

[00:42:33] Dr. Chad Johnson: It’s important. Um, but when I’m, when I’m with patients. I’m, I’m trying to, um, find boundaries in being like, I want to love on you as a practitioner the best that I can, uh, but I’m not going to get abused, you know, like by the one-sided bad behavior from patients. And so, you know, [00:43:00] like I’d just be like, just get rid of those guys and, um, it’s going to be tough getting rid of insurances.

[00:43:07] Dr. Chad Johnson: When you go fee for service, uh, but just do it anyway and get over the fact that some of the. People that say that you’re their favorite, it’s not true. They’re lying. You know, like just they, they, you’re, you’re their, how do you are their favorite at that price point. That’s all it comes down to. That’s a good way to put it.

[00:43:30] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, but, but in conclusion, I mean, the greenhouse is a nice distraction to the day. I sometimes will be working on something and I’ll be like. I think this afternoon I’ll be able to go out to the greenhouse and like check on the seedlings and stuff like that. It’s really cool. I don’t know. I really like it.

[00:43:51] Regan Robertson: So actually. You’re taking care of yourself. Correct. And you’re not having to make difficult decisions that require a lot of high level [00:44:00] thinking and high level bandwidth and energy. Yes. And, uh, for, and it’s fun

[00:44:04] Dr. Chad Johnson: learning. It’s, you know, yeah.

[00:44:06] Regan Robertson: Yeah. It’s something that’s fun and enjoyable. I know for me, for, for like a, a year, it was Animal Crossing and Zelda on my Nintendo Switch, like, and I never, I haven’t played it since like 2023, I think.

[00:44:16] Regan Robertson: I logged in and I was like, oh my gosh. But so what was happening in 2023? Right. I needed something that was. Easy. That was low stakes. That still was fun. Yes. And, and now I think as I’ve matured too, what that looks like for me when I’m getting into what is really it, it’s a dangerous ground. It’s irrational ground.

[00:44:32] Regan Robertson: It’s, and it could create decisions that aren’t great. I, I turn inward, so I ask myself, am I getting enough sleep? Like really, am I getting enough sleep? Um, is this a time to maybe just walk away from this for a minute? Instead of just pushing through this and resting mm-hmm. And then coming back and tackling it at another angle.

[00:44:51] Regan Robertson: And, and I was amazed at what a five minute break could actually even do to, to my brain. I didn’t expect this to be a gratitude [00:45:00] episode coming out right, right before Thanksgiving. But I can tell you, I’m, I’ve been really gra uh, grateful. Like this year in particular, I’m really grateful for incorporating those lessons and.

[00:45:11] Regan Robertson: Having the space like to get old enough to be at this level in life and, and realize that that growth isn’t linear and it’s not something that is supposed to be constant. You aren’t always supposed to be sprinting. And maybe some of the challenges that we encounter in life are there by design to force us to do nothing other than to stop and reassess and back up that bolt for a little bit,

[00:45:33] Dr. Chad Johnson: right?

[00:45:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: Yeah. Uh, gratitude content pin. You know, uh, that I think is, is maybe a, a big take home to this is recalibrating that. So if the listeners, if you are having, you know, something where you feel like it’s a, a less than success, there’s one way to go about it is to. You know, uh, collaborate with people or just do it good old [00:46:00] fashioned yourself or whatever, and make it better.

[00:46:03] Dr. Chad Johnson: For example, your office isn’t, uh, producing enough. It’s just like, I don’t know, maybe up your diagnostics, maybe up, you know, how much your treatment, planning with people and discuss, you know, so like there are ways that you can do that. What if you’ve optimized that and it’s still not enough? Th um, then you pull Lever two and you pull Lever 10 and you pull Lever 100.

[00:46:24] Dr. Chad Johnson: But there comes a point where if you’ve pulled the levers and you’ve reassessed pulling those levers, and you have some stuff dialed in, but you’re still not getting all the results you want, maybe type A person, you need to reassess. Is this the season in life that you can, um, have. Every outcome go your way at all times.

[00:46:46] Dr. Chad Johnson: Well, newsflash, you’re not God and you can’t have everything go your way just because you want it to. We’re Americans and we think that’s the case, and I love how much freedom we have to our own destiny. And yet [00:47:00] there are times when, you know, uh, I heard a speaker at the dental, like in telecom last year, I believe it was there, and she talked about, listen, there are winter seasons, and she was just like, in winter.

[00:47:13] Dr. Chad Johnson: And uh, funny enough, she was a gardener and I wonder if that’s what where I started going, I kind of want a greenhouse like her. And she was talking about That’s so fascinating. It’s like an epiphany. I’m like, huh. And. She was talking about her greenhouse and uh, and gardening outside and stuff, and she grows everything and, and sells stuff online.

[00:47:32] Dr. Chad Johnson: I, she was a dentist, but also really into gardening. This is fascinating. I’m like, I didn’t realize that I, you know, subconsciously had made decisions to do what she was doing, but she talked about, listen, when it’s summer, you know it’s time to be growing. In the fall, it’s time to be harvesting. In the winter you can’t be growing and harvesting.

[00:47:49] Dr. Chad Johnson: It’s, it’s just not what it, the season affords and it’s time to reassess and go. I need to go to the shop and sharpen the blades. I need to go to the shop and, [00:48:00] um, you know, and patch the, the, the buckets. And I need to, you know, go, um, you know, do this and that and can, it’s time to, can, you know the stuff and, and get it ready for the winter and put it down in the cellar and maybe clean the garage and do the stuff so that way when spring rolls around, everything’s in order that you can plant.

[00:48:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: And it’s funny how this episode or, you know, I, I don’t know, again, my Iowa roots, if it goes back to something very agrarian, um, because for thousands of years people have understood seasons and that circadian part of your life. And, um, we’ve moved away from that. But I feel like in the last few years we’ve, we’ve at least start like glimpsed at the possibility that maybe we’ve lost something as we moved to a supermarket society.

[00:48:51] Dr. Chad Johnson: That we need to, you know, like when you’re in winter season, call it like it is. And, uh, get ready for the spring. And, you know, [00:49:00] so whether that’s self-healing, reevaluating your budget and figuring out how to cut back so that way you don’t have to produce as much. Uh, enjoying the fact pruning, pruning the branches, and then looking forward to, uh, you know, the, the spring and that you don’t, uh, if you took the afternoon off because you’re, you’re short.

[00:49:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: Uh, so for example, Reagan, this, uh, this coming summer. I planned it to where, when I’m working at the one office that I’m at, two weeks out of the three weeks, um, that we’re gonna, uh, for the summer months, we’re just gonna work three days, uh, per week. And that’s one of the ways that I’m just gonna try and make the schedule a little bit more adaptive so I can have, uh, like some longer weekends and because I’m just rolling with it and that becomes enjoyable rather, rather than fighting it, you know, like actually going with the stream rather than fighting upstream the whole time.

[00:49:54] Dr. Chad Johnson: Those are my thoughts. Reagan.

[00:49:58] Regan Robertson: Those are good thoughts. [00:50:00] What are you, what are you grateful for? Since, oh my goodness, now our defacto Thanksgiving episode.

[00:50:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: Correct. I mean so much. Okay. Listeners, listen, I wanna share something too. I went to a Paul McCartney concert in Des Moines, Iowa. Um, he finally visited and uh, he was here like 15 years ago.

[00:50:21] Dr. Chad Johnson: Um, and. I didn’t have any money back then to go to the concert. Well, this year I didn’t have any money to go this year either, but I was like, doggone it, I’m not gonna wait another 15 years until he’s 97 years old, you know, to go to his concert again, the guy’s 83, I want to go see him before he’s, you know, while he is alive, let’s just say that.

[00:50:41] Dr. Chad Johnson: And, um, I think he wanted to be seen, you know? And so, um. I am so grateful to have been able to go to that concert. It was so rewarding. And listen, it’s not Paul McCartney of 1975. It’s not Paul McCartney of 1988. It’s not Paul McCartney of [00:51:00] 2003. It’s okay that he’s 83 and he’s not singing the exact same as he was.

[00:51:05] Dr. Chad Johnson: And one thing that I was thinking was if he was so prideful. And not the, um, silly goose that he is. He’s such a silly goose. It’s just funny. Uh, I’m saying it even silly, but he’s, he’s just so, um, fun, like whimsical and lighthearted and you can just tell he’s ju he doesn’t take him o himself overly seriously, which is really cool because he could be like, no, I don’t sing like how I used to and I want to be remembered.

[00:51:31] Dr. Chad Johnson: For singing powerfully powerful ballads when I’m, you know, 40 years old and, and maybe even 50, but here he is, 83 and his voice isn’t, it’s the same, but it’s not as powerful. It’s an 83-year-old voice and I loved it. Everyone there is like, it’s an older crowd going to his concerts now, to be honest.

[00:51:50] Dr. Chad Johnson: Everyone is like grateful that he’s just out singing and enjoying himself and you know, doing what he does best and it’s just so cool. But like, [00:52:00] is he at the top of his game? No, but Paul McCartney is demonstrating these principles too. He could be like, no, absolutely not. I don’t want to be remembered for having this.

[00:52:09] Dr. Chad Johnson: Icky, 83-year-old voice. No, he’s out there. It’s just like, listen, people want to see me, and the crowds prove it. That place was packed, singing along with him and having a great time, and he’s making more memories for more people and adding to the world. I’m grateful for Paul McCart, Paul McCartney, coming to little old Des Moines, Iowa, among a million other things, but I, I can’t, I’m never at a loss for ways that I’m grateful.

[00:52:34] Dr. Chad Johnson: Reagan, how about you?

[00:52:36] Regan Robertson: Well, I love the, I love the story about Paul McCartney because I recently went to the Grand Ole Opry, which I’d never been to before in my life. Yeah, yeah. Didn’t know what to expect. Did not know it’s in the same parking lot as a Dave and Buster’s. That, that surprised me. Oh, fun. Yeah, that was really interesting.

[00:52:52] Regan Robertson: Now that I was expecting however beautiful venue and, uh, I did not even know. Who was going to be singing And Don [00:53:00] Schitz walked out and he wrote The Gambler. And when You Say Nothing at all by Alison Krause. Um, so The Real, and many Randy Travis songs among other crazy great big country songs. And he was an, you know, this older gentleman that comes out and very, very humble, very nonchalant, had a guitar with him, you know, didn’t dress up super fancy.

[00:53:21] Regan Robertson: But as soon as he started talking, I, I leaned in and, and. Then he decided he was gonna sing it, and he is like, I, I hope you don’t mind. I’m just a, just a songwriter. And you know how much I love it when people say I’m just an anything. But, uh, by the time he got to singing, when you say Nothing at all, I mean buckets, I started crying almost immediately.

[00:53:39] Regan Robertson: But I, the deep amount of appreciation I have for every human who makes it that long, physically who’s overcome, uh, you know, unspeakable things in their life, even if you think you have a charmed life, uh. I know that you’ve gone through something. Mm-hmm. I know that you are not without struggle or suffer.[00:54:00]

[00:54:00] Regan Robertson: Mm-hmm. And, uh, I’m really grateful that, you know, this year I have my loved ones around me that, uh, that I can honor where everyone is at and, and try my best to, to give them grace and give myself grace. So I’m, I’m really grateful. I’m really grateful for that. Grateful for having mm-hmm. Just even being allowed to really still be here and.

[00:54:23] Regan Robertson: Appreciate everything around me.

[00:54:26] Dr. Chad Johnson: I almost want to do the next episode, uh, all on what we’re grateful for. ’cause again, I think we could each come up with a huge list. I don’t know if anyone would listen to it, but at least I could go on and on. I really could. And I’d hate to, you know, like go into two of them right now.

[00:54:42] Dr. Chad Johnson: And it’s just like, I’ve got, I’ve got 15 that I’d be remiss if I, you know, forgot to mention ’em. So your thoughts. Yeah, we’re gonna wrap. Let’s wrap up this episode. Absolutely.

[00:54:52] Regan Robertson: And uh, and we’ll see you guys. We’ll see you guys on the other side of Thanksgiving.

[00:54:56] Dr. Chad Johnson: Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for being good listeners, everyone, hopefully that was [00:55:00] advantageous to hear real talk from a dentist who’s.

[00:55:03] Dr. Chad Johnson: I had successes over the last 20 years and also rolled with the punches, and I’m doing all right.

[00:55:10] Regan Robertson: Hey, thanks for joining us on Everyday Practices Dental Podcast. It would mean the world to me if you could leave us a like or a review on iTunes or go to Productive Dentist Academy through Google and leave us a review there.

[00:55:22] Regan Robertson: You know, we are here each week to talk about what’s possible when you lead your practice with clarity and courage. If you are ready to build a business that supports your life and not the other way around. Investment grade practice coaching powered by Productive Dentist Academy can help visit investment grade practice.com to schedule your free 60 minute coaching session so you can start designing the practice and lifestyle you’ve been dreaming about all along, or have something personal to share with myself or one of our hosts.

[00:55:48] Regan Robertson: You can email us at podcast at productive dentist com. We’ll see you next week.