The Danger of Playing It Safe: Unleashing Your True Potential in Dentistry

Shawn Zajas 0:00

But somehow we think that if we do this thing or if we do that thing or if we separate ourselves from the crowd, that it’s so dangerous. And I would rather you think the opposite. If you do nothing, if you don’t show up as your authentic self, if you don’t show up as the original that you are, if you don’t bring your perspective, your mindset, your personal brand, your beliefs, your perspective, if you don’t end up living fully aligned with that, then you are completely at risk. You are not safe because the safest place for you to be.

Shawn Zajas 0:30

The future of dentistry belongs to the innovators. Welcome to Innovation in Dentistry. I’m your host, Shawn Zajas, and I believe that the future of dentistry is going to be unbelievably great over the next decade and two decades. But the question isn’t that. The question is, are you going to be part of what makes dentistry great?

Shawn Zajas 1:00

Hey, this is Shawn Zajas with Innovations in Dentistry. And man, this is just so much fun for me because I love dentistry. And I know 100% that right now there are so many changes that are taking place. So the last episode, I shared about belief, right? Because at the end of the day, if we’re not able to challenge our own beliefs about whether we’re worthy, whether we can actually be a leader, whether we can actually be part of change, whether we can actually be a visionary entrepreneur as a dentist, then it really doesn’t like nothing else. Think of belief as it happens in your heart, right? Now, we don’t really physically mean your heart. It happens in your mind. But think of in your heart like a seedbed, right? There’s soil. And it’s either really, really fertile soil. And it has been tilled. It has been tended to. It’s nutrient rich. And you can plant pretty much anything in it. And it’s going to bear fruit. It’s going to come forth. It’s going to be alive. The problem is so much of our belief centers don’t look like that. There’s thorns. There’s rocks. There’s a lot of rocks. And how do the rocks and thorns show up? They show up because we misinterpret some trauma, some tragedy, maybe even a triumph in our life. We just misinterpret it. We misinterpret what it means about us, about who we are, what we’re capable of.

Shawn Zajas 2:16

So again, I’m just going to remind you, you are capable. You are competent. You’re an overcomer. You’re resilient. And you’re stronger than you know. I guarantee that. You are stronger than you know. You’re smarter than you know. You’re more capable. You can actually run a faster pace than you think. You can live a more disciplined life than you think. It’s there. It’s all there.

Shawn Zajas 2:35

So today, I want to talk about the illusion of safety. Now, this is not an enjoyable topic because it kind of shatters this illusion that we feel safe. We feel safe right now. We feel safe in what it is that we’ve created. If you have a thriving practice, you probably feel some measure of safety in that. Maybe your habits give you some sense of safety and security. Maybe your network gives you some sense of safety and security. Maybe it’s your bank account. Maybe it’s your stature. Maybe it’s your looks. Maybe it’s your ability to communicate. I don’t know if it’s a skill, if it’s an ability, if it’s a thing. But I guess the main thing here isn’t that life isn’t safe. That’s really not the point, actually. That is a valid point in itself.

Shawn Zajas 3:14

But the main point here is anything that actually gets you to feel safe, I want you to divorce that. Not the actual thing. Don’t divorce your spouse. Divorce that feeling of comfort and safety you get from that thing, from the money in your bank, from the successful practice you have, from the network. Because what happens when we’re thinking of creating, what happens when we’re thinking of pioneering something that matters, something that can be disruptive, something that can change an industry, is that often we think about all that we can lose. And somehow we think if only we protect what we have, we’re going to be okay. But that’s bad thinking. That’s not how the wealthy think. That’s not how those true pioneers think. The mindset is not, how do I protect what I have?

Shawn Zajas 3:59

You see, all of that’s behind you. And in this moment, if you’re walking forward, if you’re actually in motion, if you’re active, all that has been is behind you. It’s yesterday. It is behind you in this very moment. And all that can be is in front of you. And staying at this place of, oh man, there’s a lot of different phrases for this. In the church, it could be viewed as almost brokenness, a good sort of brokenness. If you’re not churched, then you might think that that means damaged. It doesn’t. It’s more of a place of an identity of almost acknowledging need.

Shawn Zajas 4:29

So when it comes to investments, when it comes to like an entrepreneur, it’s thinking of it in terms of almost like, uh, when you’re bankrupt from, um, assets, you are so motivated to create, to amass, to fix that problem. But then we get comfortable and we kind of start thinking we reached the promised land, right? We kind of start thinking that, yeah, I’m doing pretty good. We get, we get lax. And when we feel that sense of safety, oh man, it’s so hard to get out of the boat. It’s so hard to get out of the harbor. It’s so hard to raise that anchor. It’s so difficult to take that cold shower when you just love that comfort of the warm shower. It’s so difficult to start incorporating fasting into your lifestyle when you just love the comfort of food.

Shawn Zajas 5:09

And some of the greatest men and women that I admire willingly subject themselves to discomfort simply so they don’t, they don’t, it’s almost like saying F you to, to this illusion of safety as if we know, and as if we can predict what the marketplace is going to bring tomorrow, as if we know, did we know that the pandemic was going to happen? Did we know that all of a sudden there’d be world forces that would bring us into some sort of a, I mean, there’s kind of a war happening and that would bring our country into a recession. Did we know that? Of course we didn’t. So the sooner we develop this relationship with being okay with the unknown, with being okay with a sense of risk, uncertainty, that is going to set you up for success because safety is not your friend. Okay. We’re not talking about your, uh, in the Yukon wilderness, um, exploring and you come across some grizzly bears and you don’t happen to have any sort of defense mechanisms on your, your body, right? We’re not talking about that sort of safety.

Shawn Zajas 6:05

I am not wanting you to put yourself in peril, but somehow we think that if we do this thing or if we do that thing, or if we separate ourselves from the crowd, that it’s so dangerous. And I would rather you think the opposite. If you do nothing, if you don’t show up as your authentic self, if you don’t show up as the original that you are, if you don’t bring your perspective, your mindset, your personal brand, your beliefs, your perspective. If you don’t end up living fully aligned with that, then you’re, you are completely at risk. You, you are not safe because the safest place for you to be is that blue ocean.

Shawn Zajas 6:42

The safest place for you to be is in the center of one identity. And that identity is singularly you. You’re not trying to be Bill Gates. You’re not trying to be Gordon Christensen. You’re not trying to be Elon Musk. I don’t know who your heroes are. And it’s not bad to have heroes. I love having heroes. I love having mentors, people that inspire you, but you can never become them. So the sooner you get good at becoming you and questioning every single thing about the way you do things that aren’t really authentic to who you are. Well, I, I did this because it, it, um, doesn’t offend people. Okay. I did, I did this because I, I didn’t want to make waves. I really like peace with people. Those are all noble things, but it doesn’t mean it’s right.

Shawn Zajas 7:22

So I’d like to say safety is just an illusion. It is scary to be complacent. You know what’s scary? It’s scary to settle. It’s scary to just accept the status quo. It’s really scary to have wondered what if, oh my God, that is so scary.

Shawn Zajas 7:37

Let’s fast forward. That is 2030. What would have happened? What, what if you, I’m talking to you right now. What if you back in 2022 at the very end of the year, remember, remember that thought, remember that dream, remember that like really bold, audacious, like crazy thing that entered your mind. What if you’d done something about that? What if you’d structured 2023 to be a year so that everything you did was in alignment with achieving that mission, your mindsets, you’re elevating them. Your routines are getting elevated. Your disciplines are getting elevated. Your habits, you’re saying no to things that limit you and you are embracing the crazy. You’re embracing the wild. It’s just, I like that. Let’s call it that. You’re embracing the wild.

Shawn Zajas 8:20

And my challenge to you is please stop playing. It’s safe. Stop playing in that world of those thought patterns, those behavioral patterns of conformity and safety. Stop it. I gave you permission. Pioneer. Enter into the wild.

Shawn Zajas 8:38

But don’t, again, don’t do this as if you’re trying to figure out and become somebody else. Be you. I guarantee you the roadmap to where you need to go is not outside of you. You know your parents. You know, again, the tragedies and triumphs. They carry the map. What is it that drives you crazy? What is it? What pain? What is it the pain that moves you? If you could wave your wand and all of a sudden fix that for somebody else, would that be worth it?

Shawn Zajas 9:06

I 100% believe that the second you start believing and the second you own this identity and the second you look out that window and go, oh, wait, it’s actually not dangerous out there. It’s dangerous. If I stay put, things begin to orchestrate themselves. Yeah, that call, that text from a friend that you haven’t heard of in a while, that LinkedIn friend request, that next conference you go to, the person that you end up having drinks with, all of a sudden movement starts happening. Shifts start taking place. Just step out. Safety is an illusion. Yeah, step out. You got this. This is your time. This is your year. 2023 is your sandbox. It’s your playground of discovery so you can begin.

Shawn Zajas 9:49

And if you’re super far out and you’re like, Shawn, come on, this is who I am. I think differently. I’m innovative. I’m going to lead. But maybe you just don’t know some of the practicals. Maybe you don’t know how to start a business. Maybe you don’t know how to start a podcast. Maybe you don’t know how to structure terms for a partnership. Maybe you don’t know how to source products.

Shawn Zajas 10:11

Reach out to me. Any way I can help you, I am here. So until next time, step up, step out. And I don’t know, just give it big F you to safety. Enter the wild and just know that that’s where you belong. And that’s where all the fulfillment in your life is going to come.

Shawn Zajas 10:31

Thanks for listening. And be sure to follow so you never miss an episode. To learn more about what’s going on in dentistry, check out innovationindentistry.com.