#843: Take a Moment to Slow Down

Kiera explores not only why so many people want to slow down in their everyday lives — but also what happens once you’re slowed down.

Episode resources:

Reach out to Kiera

Sign up for DAT’s Weekly Webinar

Virtual Consulting

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

 

Transcript:

Kiera Dent (00:00.22)

Hello, Dental A Team team listeners. This is Kiera and I am so excited to be podcasting with you today. I just, I love our podcast family. I love being able to share tactical tips and tricks to make your life easier, to make you less stressed, to make you happier, and to just give you a little positive dose of goodness in your days. So I am just honored to be here with you. I hope wherever you are, you just remember you're doing better than you think you are and that life is truly just magical.

 

So I am excited for today's podcast. If you guys can do me a favor, share this with someone today. Go post it in a forum that you're in. Go share it with someone. This one is actually coming from a bunch of forums. Our marketing team went out. They looked to see what are you guys asking the questions about out in the dental world? We combed a bunch of you guys and here we are producing content for you. So today's podcast is directly from what you guys are asking in forums and I just wanted to build podcasts for you of kind of...

 

What are you guys facing? So please share this, go put it in a group. Our goal is to truly be in the hands of every single dental practice across the globe. So share this, we want to positively impact and just give you tactical tools. As a consulting company, we really do minimize your stress, help your team get on board, and we do that virtually or in person. So if we can help you in any way, please reach out, hello, at thedentalateam .com. You can head on over to our website, thedentalateam .com, click on our link there.

 

a book, a call, or every single Friday, uh, we do it at 8 a .m. Pacific. So 11 Eastern. You can actually come join a free webinar. So it's there, it's on our website. Um, but you can come see an, I shouldn't say webinar. It's kind of like learning what Dental A team is about. So if you ever wondered what is consulting about, what does it look like to work with you guys? Come, it's literally 15 minutes. You don't have to say anything. You can listen. You can ask your questions if you want to. Super easy. We tried to make it so applicable and easy for you to just come pop on super short 10 to 15 minutes. So.

 

If you're ever wondering, come ask. I'd love to see you there every Friday, 8 a .m. I believe, I'll double check that. They just changed the time on us. So I'm 99 % sure that it's every single one I lied to you, it's at 8 .30. So 8 .30 Pacific, 11 .30 Eastern. Don't come at eight, we won't see you there. But it's on our website, come join us. If you ever wanna just shoot me an email, hello at thedentalateam .com. We'll send you the link, easy peasy. I'll also make sure that link is in today.

 

Kiera Dent (02:21.262)

notes for you so just click on that if that's ever helpful. We'll start adding that so if you're ever like gosh I just I think I want to work with a consultant but I don't even know what that looks like I don't really want to get on a call come I want you to find out I want it to be easy so just come it'll be a ton of fun and it's really short 10 -15 minutes 830 Pacific every day. So on that note today's content is brought to you by the Facebook forums out across the globe and it is how do we actually slow down?

 

Um, this is a great, great question. And I was so excited when I saw it because reality is one, do you want to slow down and why do you want to slow down? I think back to COVID and I feel like we all got this like little glimpse of what I think life used to feel like it was slower. We hung out, we spent more time with friends and then COVID went away and it just feels like it ratcheted up. At least that's how I feel. And I read a really awesome book called, um, do, uh, do less.

 

and Create More by Kate Norpp. I think it is called Do Less, I believe is the name of the book. And it was just a really interesting thought process of like, is there a way for us to actually create more by doing less and slowing down? So I think there's a couple of ways to take this of like, how do we slow down? One is, I actually watch a lot of practices and they work three days and produce more.

 

And so I think be careful of our limiting beliefs. My husband and I were chatting and I said, well, you know, what do you actually want in our life? What do you want in your life? And he said, you know, Keira, I want more time, more freedom. And I said, do you really? And I said, I'm not trying to like pick a fight. He was on his way to work, right? You know, when you get into those hot conversations, right before people go to work and like, that was the wrong timing. So it almost was the wrong timing. But I said, do you actually really want that? And he's like, yeah, I do. And I said, well, like what's holding you back from doing that?

 

And I think sometimes a slowdown is stuck in the quote unquote stories we tell ourselves or the limiting beliefs or even just the beliefs, right? It doesn't even have to be a limiting belief, but like, okay, so if I slow down, I'm going to make less money. And I want you to ask with every one of your objections, is that actually true? So my husband was like, well, Kiera, if I stop working, I think it's gonna be that, you know, we're not gonna be able to cover the bills. And I was like, well, that's not true. We definitely can, we're good to go. So what's next?

 

Kiera Dent (04:34.51)

And he said, well, I'm scared that you wouldn't respect me. And I said, well, is that actually true? Like, we don't know until we try. So I don't think it would be. I want you to be fulfilled and whatever fulfills you is what I want. But then like other things are slowing down. Like there's the fear of loss of income. So is that actually true? No. What about other things like, well, if I slow down, my patients will be mad at me.

 

I've seen lots of dentists slow down and their patients aren't mad. And the ones who are, they leave and go find someone else and they're able to actually do higher value procedures. So it's all these limiting beliefs, all these different zones of, and just again, beliefs. And I want you to just ask yourself like, one, why do I want to slow down? Two, are like, what am I actually afraid of to slow down? And then three, are those things actually true? So for me, I think about slowing down. The reason I want to slow down is I honestly want to take care of -

 

Like I feel like I wake up and it's like work, work, work, work, work and that's my only identity versus it being let me go and invest in like my body, take care of it, eat healthy, sleep, workout, then go like be great for my patients, go be great for our clients and then come home and be present with my family. Well, that's kind of why I wanna slow down. I also feel like I'm very unintentional with the people that I'm with a lot of times. Like I feel like I'm constantly trying to run from one project to the next to the next. So with my team, with the patients, with the clients,

 

It's like, all right, great. Finish you up and onto the next one versus like, is that really how I want to live my life? I'm not sure. I want to spend more vacations, but for you, like, how do we actually slow down? One, why do you actually want to do it? And then two, what are the things stopping you from doing it? And are those actually real? Then after that, I was thinking about how do we slow down? Um, like, what am I going to do when I actually do slow down? I want to have a compelling vision. So I was thinking about it and I'm like, okay, great. So I slow down. What am I really going to do with that? And I think that there's, that's the fear.

 

That's the piece of what do we do with our time? Who are we gonna become? Are we gonna become schmucks? Are we gonna become lazy? Like all these things I worry about, but that again, without trying it or doing it, I don't have a compelling why. And so for you, what is it? What do you wanna do? And then I also think that there's an internal judgment that oftentimes I see people face of, well, like if I slow down, will I respect myself?

 

Kiera Dent (06:55.598)

And I also think that this comes back to like, what is your identity built upon? So thinking about, I said this to my marketing team and I wish I had a visual, I don't have a visual today, but just imagine I'm drawing you a chalk outline, okay? So of a human, don't worry, it's not a dead person, but like, just pretend I've drawn you as a chalk outline. And of that, think of like, what makes up this person? So you as a dentist or you as a team member, how much of that? Is that like the foot? Is that the foot, the leg? Is that the foot, the leg, the arm? Is that 50 % of you?

 

Again, like I get that it's a body, but I'm trying to have this be like of you. And then, so for me, like what I would have is I'm a consultant. That's probably like my foot. I don't spend a lot of time there. I don't think it's a huge part of my identity anymore. It used to be like all of my identity, but now as a consultant, it's probably like a foot. Me as a CEO, that's like half my body right now. Like that's a big portion of my identity. Me as a wife, like half my head. Like I'm here, like I'm here for you, but that's not a huge portion of my identity. Me as a sister, it's probably like.

 

little hand. Like I'm there, I'm there for my siblings, but like I don't, I don't put a lot of time there. Um, me with church, it's honestly probably like a little wristband, like a little bracelet. That's not a huge identity of me. And then I feel like I've got, like, I do enjoy going boating. That's like maybe a little bit like my arm to my shoulder. Um, those are kind of like my hobbies. Those are the areas that I feel like I show up. So like I have this half a body almost that doesn't have an identity and I actually feel like work.

 

fills that in. I don't have a lot of hobbies. I don't have a lot of things and it's not bad. I do love work, but I think oftentimes we don't slow down because we have all these pieces. And if you think about it, I've got a foot, a leg, half a body. I've got half of a head. I've got a little bit of a hand, a little bit of a wrist, a little bit of an arm, and then the rest of it's empty. Realistically work fills that in. I think I just maybe wasn't as honest as I was saying this literally live doing this with you. So, okay, great. If 75 % of my identity makeup is work,

 

Well, that's really hard to think to slow down because I'm going to lose 75 % of my identity. What do I do next? And so I think that then that becomes a process of like, let's develop hobbies. Let's develop, like, let's go to pickleball. Let's go hang out with friends. Let's plan some more vacations in there. Like what truly makes you up today versus what makes you up in the future? Like if we were, and so like, if you could slow down, let's draw that chalk outline. Okay. So here we are today. So fill that little body in. You guys can draw this like,

 

Kiera Dent (09:22.99)

If you're driving, don't. Um, but if you're there, just draw like a little outline of a person, or you could even do a circle and just put those things of what makes up your identity and what portion of it is making it up even like a pie graph. Then let's have next to it. You could do a pie graph or another body. I like thinking of my soul of like, how much of it is this in my perfect world? If I was to slow down, what percentage would be work and like a CEO, a dentist, a boss, um, church politics, hobbies that you're a part of.

 

a spouse, a parent, how much of it fills in there. And then, like, what would we want that to actually look like for me? I want that extra, like, 25 % to be filled with hobbies. And I don't even know what those hobbies are. In my mind, I think I would love to get into cooking again. I also think I'd really enjoy gardening. I think I would enjoy some other things I've just wanted to go try. I would really, truly love to read more.

 

I feel like I read a lot of self -help, but I don't feel like I read as much. So like having some time there. And then I genuinely just, I love to craft. I used to craft all the time. I used to make things. I was very creative. And now I just don't feel like I have time for that. Cause it doesn't feel like it equates to business. And so I think so many people feel like, well, it's not making money. It's not progressing me forward. It just feels fluff, but we have to realize that fluff makes us up. That's what fuels our, that's the juice, the squeeze in life.

 

that actually makes us feel alive, friends, family, those things. And so have your current and have your, if you slowed down, what would you actually have this look like? Because if we don't know where we're going, change feels very scary. If we don't even know what we wanna move into, it can feel very terrifying. And then once we figured that out, it's really asking yourself what's holding us back and is that actually true? So let's pull out the, I would make less money. Is that true? Do you know dentists?

 

who work three days a week and actually make more than you do? The answer is probably yes. I know several and they're very successful. They take month -long vacations at least three times a year, super successful. And they honestly are just doing it for fulfillment to do dentistry right now. So the answer is yes, you could actually make more. Now don't get into the how, we're not like, well, how could I do that? I don't know yet. But the answer is no, it's not true that if you slowed down, you would actually make less money. I'm gonna have upset patients. Again, not true. Could you not bring on an associate? Could you not bring on other team members?

 

Kiera Dent (11:40.302)

Could we not do things that are different that way? The answer is yes, we could. So that's also not true. I might, like, I might get really bored. I might get depressed. All right. Is that actually true? It might be. So how can we prevent that or mitigate that? And then we actually have a plan because I really do believe the plan, not the how, but the plan and breaking those limiting beliefs or those things that are holding us stuck. Oftentimes we stay where we are because we know no other way.

 

And then, and it's like, they think about health and they say, you're either going to get healthy or you're going to be forced to get healthy. Which do you prefer? I think I'd rather choose than be forced. And so for that, I just think we often think we want to slow down, but if we don't even know what that's going to look like on the other side, it feels so scary. So we're just going to keep doing what we're doing. Then once we get that plan, we've got to start intentionally making, making steps towards it. So maybe it's all right, once a month, I'm going to take a Friday off and I'm going to do a hobby. Perfect. Easy.

 

That's one step or I'm gonna take a half day once a month and I'm gonna go to the spa. I just need to like Zen out, rejuvenate. Once a month, I'm going to add in a hobby and I'm gonna just have the space for it. Whatever it is, but we start to slowly scale into that to where we feel like we're more on that balance because oftentimes I think people slow down because they're on the verge of burnout and burnout comes when we don't fill our souls, when we feel like we're constantly giving to everybody else and no way to fuel our souls. So what fuels you?

 

Is it time hiking? Is it in nature? Is it on trips? Is it like hunker down? Right now I'm at the spot of like, I just want to watch TV and talk to nobody. Like I want like a mind numbing gel, like no more, I'm done. And that's like where I'm at, but that's, that's on the verge of burnout. And so doing the pieces of how do we actually slow down, figure out where we are today, where do we want to go? And then do one thing this next month that's going to help you, that's going to create the balance for you.

 

just a little bit more. It's not fully going to be there, but we start to slow down. Or you can just radically rip the bandaid. Some people are like, all right, I'm going down to three days. I know I can do it. I trust the process. I would definitely say like, plan for it a little bit more because there's lots of ways that we can prevent that. But that's how we start to slow down. Also putting our phones away when we get home, being intentional with the time, being present when we're in places will already like immediately help you feel like you're slowing down. I used to take pictures all the time for the gram and I had someone tell me they're like,

 

Kiera Dent (14:04.942)

You know, I stopped doing that because I felt like I was always focusing on what the picture was rather than being present. And so I stopped taking photos. I have not posted it. So I'm not saying it's wrong, but it just helped me realize I want to be here and I want to be present and I want to be living fully. And so sometimes like putting off of our devices, turning things off, turning down the noise, sitting in stillness. Honestly, I try to meditate and I just feel like my mind goes a million miles a minute because we have so much stimulation now that sometimes even just having some.

 

quiet. I call it like my, my recharging time where I'm shut off from everything. I'm disconnected and I just sit in stillness for 10 to 15 minutes. That's hard. Go sit on the couch and try to sit there for 10 minutes. No phone, no book, no TV, no food. Just sit there. And can you sit there for 10 minutes? Set a five minute timer, then set a 10 minute timer, then set a 15 minute timer. And this sounds so ridiculous, but what it's doing is it's teaching you and it's reprogramming you that you can slow down.

 

Your body's not used to it. So it's like, no, no, no, no, no. Like we're on high alert versus like, no, slowing down is being present, slowing down is living. And so having that and experiencing that is such a beautiful pace. So hopefully I gave you guys some tips on how you can slow down, how you can find that space, figure out where you are today. What is your identity made up of? How can we change and shift that identity? And then what's one or two things that you could do this month to start to slow down. And this is something I'm super passionate about within our consulting. I have a doctor who,

 

is living their dream life right now. She didn't think she could slow down and we realized, but your kiddos only have so much time left. And so we prioritize, we made a plan for her Fridays. We figured out what she needs to do with her associate doctor. We figured out her numbers. We showed if we cut down three days, this is the income we'd need to shift. And so she has a plan and it's just step by step. And she came to a call the other day and said, Kiera, like, I am just so happy with who I've become. And it doesn't mean that there aren't hard days, but...

 

She's more of where she wants to be. And sometimes I think we just need someone to hold our hand and help us and remind us that it's going to be okay. But I think hopefully that gave you guys some tips to slow down, to enjoy, to put the phones away, to be present with those that we love, and to truly just enjoy this beautiful thing we get to call life. So if I can help you in any way, reach out. Like I said, we have that virtual or we have in -person consulting. You guys can always come to that one on Friday at 830 Pacific.

 

Kiera Dent (16:29.752)

on Fridays, 11 .30 Eastern. Come find out, it's quick, it's easy, 10, 15 minutes, come find out what Dental A Team is about, if consulting feels right for you, or book a call. I'd love to chat with you. Hello at TheDentalATeam .com, and as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team podcast.