Read time: 5 minutes.

At a glance:

• Quote:

• Picture

• What I’ve Learned

• Business Idea

What I Learned:

Orthodontist: My odds of success in achieving this are low.

Reframe: Maybe you’re bad at estimating the odds.

Orthodontists are a talented group of professionals—the top 1% in education, income, and achievement…yet they’re all stuck together in infinite comparison in the small cell at the top of the status pyramid.

Failure to them is not achieving a $8m/yr practice.

This week, we took S. Adam’s business book on reframes to spin a positive outlook on the common negatives we hear. Reframes work because no one has a perfect interpretation of absolute reality. We author our own interpretive experience. So, if you help shift the lens to an orthodontist fixated on a problem, you can help them achieve their impossible.

Here are 20 common problems and reframes for the common practice concerns.

1. Orthodontist: I need to tell my staff what they did wrong so they can avoid it next time.

   Reframe: Tell them what part they did well so they’re motivated to keep improving.

2. Orthodontist: I feel like an imposter posting on social media

   Reframe: Dude. Everyone is an imposter.

3. Orthodontist: These finishes are flawed.

   Reframe: Most are great, and a few are not. No one bats 100%.

4. Orthodontist: This negative Google review hurts because it means I failed.

   Reframe: A stranger’s opinion of you is little more than a public diary entry.

5. Orthodontist: My ego must be protected.

   Reframe: Ego is the enemy.

6. Orthodontist: I need to avoid embarrassment.

   Reframe: Invite more embarrassment in your practice to achieve what you want.

7. Orthodontist: My stress and anxiety are caused by my low production.

   Reframe: You won’t care about these problems on your deathbed.

8. Orthodontist: I’m afraid to do what I know I should do.

   Reframe: Life is short.

9. Orthodontist: Great patient interaction is something other doctors are born with.

   Reframe: This is something you can learn.

10. Orthodontist: No one is interested in my practice.

    Reframe: Someone out there sees this practice and location as perfect for them.

11. Orthodontist: Stress comes with too many patient appointments.

    Reframe: Reducing appointments is something you have control over.

12. Orthodontist: There are good days, and there are bad.

    Reframe: All days are helpful in different ways.

13. Orthodontist: This isn’t worth doing.

    Reframe: Imagine even the most minor actions mattering.

14. Orthodontist: I need to be myself, and this practice will take care of itself.

    Reframe: Push yourself to be a better version of yourself.

15. Orthodontist: This team member is pushy and harmful to others, and I need to learn to manage them better.

    Reframe: Some people are toxic. Fire more quickly.

16. Orthodontist: I’m the boss, and I’m in charge.

    Reframe: The person with the best idea is in charge.

17. Orthodontist: Most people are ordinary, but this patient is a basket case.

    Reframe: Most patients are basket cases once you see them long enough.

18. Orthodontist: They’re judging my staff’s mistakes.

    Reframe: Most people judge by how we respond to mistakes.

19. Orthodontist: This lab fee is too much for the cost.

    Reframe: Time and efficiency are the most valuable resources you can’t afford to lose.

20. Everyone: I’m crying because it’s over.

    Reframe: Don’t cry because it is over…smile because it happened.

*For more reframes, ideas, and inspiration for this post, check out the book and lecture Reframe Your Brain here—due credit to S. Adams.