How To PERK Up in a Down Economy

by Ronald F. Arndt, DDS, MBA, MAGD

Over the past 36 years of my career, I’ve heard the phrase often. No matter what era or decade, or what is happening in the economy, many weighty proclamations have been preceded by this phrase: “In these tough economic times…” The fact is every time is a tough economic time. Every period is challenging. Life was never set up to be easy. It is, however, set up to be fabulous. Life is about creating opportunities for every one of us to work through some really tough issues. Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful!

As a professional dental coach, no matter what dental office I visit, the issues are the same. I know, every dentist thinks he or she is different than all the others. However, when I ask about the state of their business and how are they doing, I hear the same comments: “My business is down,” or “my business is up,” or “things are different,” or “challenging.” I then ask them, from their perspective, what is the etiology of the sluggishness of their business? “What’s the cause? What’s going on? What’s the challenge? What kind of problems are you having?” The answer I usually get from the doctor or CEO, as well as the team, is “It’s the economy.” Don’t feel bad. I hear the same thing when I ask friends or business acquaintances how they’re doing.

I hear this excuse, no matter what the season, year, or crisis. It’s always, “It’s the economy.” When I was a young entrepreneur, I thought this way as well. As I have matured, I have come to the conclusion that the economy is not wholly to blame. The fact is, people are afraid to assume responsibility for their own behaviors. I know this is tough to read, it’s unconventional, and many will shut down right now. For those willing to acknowledge the truth, I would enjoy your company. It’s so much easier to simply pass off onto some mystical third party, in this case “the economy,” the responsibility that we need to take for our own behaviors. I know, there are always those extenuating circumstances where folks have terrible things happen to them and they need help and support. I’m not heartless.

For many, however, it’s not the economy that creates our biggest challenges. It’s us. It’s our behaviors. It’s our belief systems. It’s the attitudes that we develop towards our lives, work, and circumstances, that create the challenges or difficulties we face every day.

Aldus Huxley famously wrote, “Experience is not what happens to a man. It's what a man does with what happens to him.” I believe the same principle applies here. It’s with that backdrop I’d like to offer the idea that we do have control over our own lives. Both individually and collectively, we can decide to make our lives be the way that we choose. One of the ways to do that is to take ownership, to assume responsibility for the behaviors and actions over which we have direct control. We must positively shift our thinking.

PERK Up!
I’d like to share an acronym I heard some time ago, and apply it to our quest to take control of what happens in our businesses and lives. (I wish I could identify the author, but whoever developed this idea was brilliant.)

Think of the word P-E-R-K. What comes to mind? If you’re like most people, P-E-R-K brings up thoughts like perky, at attention, bright, active, energized, paying attention, fresh, crisp, and new. I believe this acronym offers possible solutions to our current economic morass that will enable us to take control of our lives and businesses.

Let’s break down P-E-R-K:

Now, let’s dissect each one. As I share some of these ideas, the concept isn’t to debate the specific actions as much as to get you to think and take action. What could you do? What fits for you in your life? I’m merely offering some thoughts or suggestions. Make them fit for you. P is for PostponeRather than say, “It’s the economy,” consider the concept postpone. For instance, at home my wife and I were contemplating replacing all of our kitchen cabinets. The corners are tattered and worn, and they look old and aged. They’ve had more than 10 years of very active use, and they weren’t the highest quality when we built our house. We anticipated replacing our kitchen cabinets this year. Instead, we’ve decided to postpone the project and learn to live with them a bit longer. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to do it — it’s still on the agenda — we’ve simply moved it down our priority list. What could you postpone? We all have something. C’mon, think. Discuss it with your spouse, and discuss it with your team.E is for EliminateWhat do you have in your life that you don’t really need or use? I had four internal phone lines into my house: a fax line, a business line, and two personal lines (we had a younger daughter living with us). It became very clear that having all these phone lines was excessive. We really didn’t need four lines and we are now empty nesters. So I eliminated three of my internal phone and simply upgraded my cell phone service, leaving me with one landline into the house, expanded cell service, and a lot of saved money. What excess can you find in your home or business to eliminate?R is for Reduce What could you reduce in your life that would really have no appreciable difference on your lifestyle, and might even save you money? Personally, when I travel on the highway and the speed limit is 65, typically I travel 70, or if I push it, 75 (hopefully no policemen are reading this). But I’ve discovered that if I reduce my speed down to 65, I get 20% better gas mileage. So by reducing I make a positive difference that has no negative influence on my outcomes. What are some of the things that you might be able to reduce at home or work that won’t negatively impact you, and may even have a positive effect?K is for what you KeepThe last letter of our acronym perk is K. K represents what you keep. I’ve declared that regardless of the environment, the stress, or what the economic conditions are, I’ll keep my personal business coach. She’s way too valuable. I’ll keep my virtual assistant. I couldn’t operate without her. I’d like to keep my early morning exercise routine — it keeps me healthy. And I’m going to keep reminding my family and friends just how important they are to me. I’m certainly going to keep telling my wife how much I love her. What would you decide you must keep?What I hope to do is simply raise the level of awareness of the concept, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” And that means you. Rather than looking to outside sources for the cause of your difficulties and challenges, and instead of blaming others for the negative things happening to you, why not take control! You’re in charge! You’re smarter than that!When you hear yourself say, “Oh, it’s the economy,” revisit P-E-R-K. Take whatever time is necessary. It’s not very long, and it’s a fun exercise, to go through P-E-R-K. Declare what you can postpone, eliminate, reduce, and keep. Think it through, because you have control.Take this action. Take this step. Remember, it’s the start that stops most of us!Ronald F. Arndt, DDS, MBA, MAGD, MCC, THE DENTAL COACH© of www.DrArndt.com, professionally coaches successful dentists who would rather be in control of their practice rather than their practice controlling them. Visit http://www.drarndt.com/full-contact-coaching-candidate.html to discover the value of coaching to you. Dr. Arndt can be reached at [email protected].