Let’s be honest: most of us will either never make or never keep any of our New Year’s Resolutions, right? Everything sounds good as you close out one year and move into the next… Get in shape? Sure! Spend less time at the office? You bet! Take that long-awaited vacation. Definitely!

Then January 2nd rolls around and reality sets in.

That’s why I’m not going to sit here and preach some great New Year’s Resolutions to you. Even if I did, odds are they would get tossed in the pile of other great ideas in the corner, right?

Instead, I want to make one bold recommendation for you. It won’t be easy, but I know you can do it, and I know it will help. Ready? Here it is:

Stop Blaming the Economy for Business Problems!

Look, the economy sucks. We all know it sucks. Fewer people have dental insurance. Even fewer people can afford that cosmetic treatment that was your practice’s bread-and-butter for so many years.

So? What are you going to do about it?

The best way to have a better year in 2012 is to stop looking for excuses on why business is down and start taking action. Don’t believe me? Then tell me why our practice has grown every year in the last three. Tell me why our clients have seen continual growth. Tell me why some dentists are buying practices at a record rate, while others are “retiring early.”

It isn’t the economy… it’s that we stopped blaming the economy a long time ago.

You may be sitting there thinking I’m crazy, but the fact is, once you let go of that excuse, you free yourself to start growing again. Excuses just give us reasons not to take action. Reasons not to change anything. Excuses are a scape goat so we can pretend that we have no control over our fates. Once you toss that excuse out the window, a world of possibility awaits.

Most of our clients come to us because business is down. But each person has had a different road to success. Maybe it was identifying a new niche. Maybe it was doing away with insurance. Maybe it was teaching the dentist to sell the treatment. Maybe it was better / more marketing. But the one thing everyone has in common is that in order to move forward, they had to understand that they had control over their situation. When you blame the economy, you pretend you have no control, and if you don’t have control, it doesn’t matter what you do, because nothing will change.

So, in 2012, stop blaming… don’t blame the economy, don’t blame insurance, don’t blame yourself. Discard the blame and a world of possibilities awaits you in the future!

Best of luck in 2012 and beyond,
Jared

PS: Maybe business has been great for you… if so, my guess is that you long ago stopped blaming the economy… or anything else, right? I’d love to hear your story in the comment section, below!