As a dentist and an entrepreneur, I am often asked to speak on my entrepreneurial pursuits. “What does a dentist know about being an entrepreneur?” you might ask. I am not surprised by the question — after all, everyone has teeth and as a dentist you just need to hang up a sign and wait for the patients to come pouring in. NOT!!

Let me tell you about my first day in practice: After I had passed my dental exams, I bought an existing, small dental practice. But I have to explain: when you buy a dental practice, you are essentially buying a patient list and the equipment. What I bought was a very modest patient list, of which probably only half could reasonably be expected to remain as my patients. I laugh when I remember that first day at the new practice — two patients had agreed to come and see me, but in the morning, when I arrived at the clinic, the dentist from whom I had bought the practice was already there wearing a long face.

“I’ve got really bad news,” he said. “The first patient died last night, he was 86, and the second patient got in a car accident on the way here and broke his arm. He’s not coming in!”

I was shattered to say the least! And in the weeks that followed, although nobody else died, and the other patient, the one that was still living, eventually came in with his arm in a sling, business was not much better.

I always tell people it’s wise to keep a sense of humor, and everyone I tell this story to gets a laugh, but I knew right then that I had to get out there and start to build my list of patients by every means I could think of. 

That’s when this dentist became an entrepreneur.

I am going to tell you ten things that helped me turn the little practice I purchased into a thriving enterprise with thirteen staff including seven dentists. A lot of what I’m going to tell you is just common sense but at the same time, a lot of what I have to say is about trusting your instincts; looking and listening for the answers that are all around you; and acting on them. I am a great believer in synchronicity, which Dr. Deepak Chopra defines as: the coming together of seemingly unrelated events.

Have you ever picked up a telephone to make a call and found that the person you were going to call was already on the line? Or have you ever been thinking of a song and then turned on a radio and heard it playing? That’s synchronicity, and there’s more to it than mere coincidence.

Synchronicity is my first subject point. Synchronicities are the clues that help us answer the questions that we are asking in our minds — or even out loud. If you are aware of what you are asking for and keep yourself open to the clues that are all around, making decisions will become much easier.

Now if that sounds mysterious, let me try to complicate it some more! Some years back, I was studying the Kabbalah, which is the Jewish mysticism. At the time I was experiencing a lot of coincidences and I was wondering what was going on. When I told the Rabbi what had been happening to me, he said, “Your guides in the spirit realm want to talk to you. They want to help. You probably have some purpose and goals that you are working on and they are just trying to get your attention. Start connecting and talking to them.”

The Rabbi explained that humans have choices that these “guides” in the spirit realm cannot just interfere with. So unless we ask, our personal guides cannot provide help. It’s like a phone call — you either make the call or choose not to. But unless you call, you will not connect. You have to ask the questions you want to know the answers to and look for the answers coming back to you as seeming coincidences. This is the power of synchronicity.

“What should I be asking?” you might ask. In business, there are always questions and many decisions to make. This leads me to my next point: Picturing your success. After all, if you don’t know where you want to go, how on earth will you ever get there?

In business, and in life, in order to set a direction and achieve goals, people have to have some idea of what they want. I call this manifesting. Simply put, manifesting is picturing what it is you want and keeping that thought foremost in all that you do. When I started out in business, I pictured myself in a successful practice with a nice office, an excellent staff, and lots of good patients. I always kept this image in my mind and everything I did for my business fit that picture. Eventually I made it a reality. But it took time.

It is important to note that while you can manifest your goals, you cannot force them to become reality. You need to focus on your goal but at the same time relax and release any control of the process. You need to trust that whatever happens is in your best interest. When you need an answer to a question that will help you with your goal, put the question out to the universe and watch for the answer. Often, you’ll be surprised at what turns up!

Once, I consulted a hypnotist and after we talked about the goals that I wished to create in my life, he hypnotized me. He suggested scenarios that were the optimal situations I wanted in my life. Afterwards, he helped me to create a written page of goals to copy out each night, for thirty nights before going to sleep. This was an effective device to keep my focus on the manifesting.

I did exactly as he suggested. Each night I copied out my page of goals and in a month I was much more sure of my goals, having done all that copying! I had been focusing on them 24/7, and I saw things start to come together. For instance, I had wanted a new relationship in my life, and I met someone. I had wanted to take my business in a new direction, and I was able to hire some key staff.

I’m not saying that all my goals magically started to be realized, but my mind was clearer as to what I wanted and manifesting was now easier — and that made the possibility of reaching my goals much more certain. When you can see clearly what it is you want, your chances of getting it multiply.

Now lets talk about your thinking, because you are what you think. Many people think they just don’t have time to do the things they have to do. Thinking that way causes them to be stressed.

When you are stressed, things do not flow. You may forget details because your mind is crowded, and the decisions you make in such a state may not be the best ones. You create more and more blocks, and then you fight against the blocks that you have created. You become entangled in a web of thinking, “nothing is going my way.” And your thinking makes it so.

This is the energy of thought. Keep it positive. Think, “I have enough time, I have everything I need, I remember everything I need at the right time.” and so on. This thinking brings a shift of consciousness because the way you think and the words you use help to determine the outcome.

Surprisingly, to be successful, it is not necessary to work hard. More precisely, it is not necessary to find the work hard — you should enjoy what you do. When you do work that you think is hard, and you keep thinking, “This is hard!” it will probably be so. If you do the same work, but you think how much you love doing it — you enjoy it, put your heart in it, and smile — then the work actually is not hard. Work becomes hard when you fight against it, when you do not want to do it, and when you resent it. Your negativity makes things difficult.

Keeping a positive attitude will help you far more than worrying ever will.

Going back to my stressful first day in practice, I realized I had to get out there and find some patients — I knew there were lots out there and they were not just going to show up!

Still, there were only a few patients coming in every week. I had loans to pay, plus office expenses, and I was losing sleep. I decided that I must start to do everything possible to build my list of patients and grow my business. This is when I discovered the power of referrals.

I began to really focus on getting more patients. I made a picture in my mind of a successful practice with lots of patients coming and going. I saw my staff as cheerful and skilled, working in a nice office environment. I kept that picture firmly entrenched in my mind at all times and I put my request out to my spirit guides in the universe so they might help in any way they could. I joined every club and organization that I could find, and I went out every night for networking meetings. I met lots of people and gave each of them my business card. In fact, I gave away over a thousand business cards in my first year!

Before the year was out, I saw a dramatic increase in my patient list. The key is to join associations and business networking groups. Be active in those organizations and get known. Make sure everyone you meet knows what you do for a living. When they become clients, ask them to refer their friends. Just keep on building your client base. It will pay dividends.

My client base is now very large and it still surprises me when coincidences happen. Just the other day, one of my patients told me that he had taken a training course and during a break, they had been talking about dentistry and he had mentioned me. It happened that out of the fourteen people in his class, several were already my patients. He was astonished, to say the least! It’s truly the power of word-of-mouth, with an added dose of synchronicity.

I mentioned my thirteen associates. Staffing is an important part of any business. The people that surround and support you are essential to your success so choose wisely. When I need staff, I find that referrals from people you trust are always the best, but there are other ways.

As I have said before, we all have our agents here and in the universe. It is just a matter of tapping into the advice they offer. When I needed to hire a chair side assistant, it was surprisingly easy. I trusted my instincts and it couldn’t have worked out better.

I had advertised the position in the newspaper, and over twenty resumes arrived for me to look at. The first one I interviewed, I employed on the spot. She had fifteen years of excellent experience and she just felt right. She came to work the next day and has now been with me for over two years and I find that I feel very good working with her. I trusted my instincts and found the right person. I didn’t even need to read the rest of the resumes; I knew I’d found the right fit.

My staff demonstrates a great diversity—it is like the United Nations. We all come from different countries and backgrounds, and together we speak eighteen languages including sign language! It is truly amazing that we blend so well together with all of our different continents, customs, and religions. It just goes to show that an efficient staff does not have to be comprised of people who are just like you. There are immeasurable benefits in being diverse! Be on the lookout for good people wherever you go and trust your instincts.

You may call that luck, but it has happened to me time and time again, I always find the best people.

And just what is “luck” anyway? We all know people who others call “lucky”. We use the word luck to describe the circumstance of something good happening in a sudden way. I believe we make our own luck and that no one is just naturally lucky or unlucky without the vibrations they send out having some influence.

Your vibrations are the energy of your thoughts and intensions and they create an atmosphere around you. This explains why some people are easier to be with than others — why some people are more likable than others. The way you think determines the energy that you give off. You attract things to you in this way. If you think good thoughts, then you are likely to attract good things. If you think negatively… well, you get the idea!

The key to success is keeping good thoughts and intensions flowing. Negative thoughts create chaos — worrying creates blockages that hinder positive outcomes. If I had sat and worried when business was so slow after I bought my practice, what might have happened? It is hard to say, but I doubt that business would have improved any faster. Instead of worrying, I started learning and studying my different interests. I kept a picture in my mind of a successful practice and I looked forward to that success. My thinking was upbeat at all times — even when times were difficult. Good thoughts were always with me. Occasionally, if I felt low after a heavy day, I would count my blessings and be thankful. This would raise my energy tremendously, shifting my consciousness into a space of joy and causing me to smile and laugh because I felt so good! People generally do not realize how much they have to be thankful for until they take the time to examine all the good aspects of their lives.

How does this apply to you in business? As I keep repeating, it is all about the way that you think. When making business deals, think, “win-win”. If you have an aura that commands trust, you have a better chance of success. You will attract people that are like you, people who trust you and whom you can trust in return. It is easier to strike a deal this way than in a situation where there is distrust and non-compatibility.

Many people tell me they are afraid to make decisions. They are afraid that they might make a mistake or they might look silly. When I was younger, I was very shy. I was petrified by fear even when talking in a group of three people. It was almost impossible for me to open my mouth. It is hard to imagine that now, because of my involvement with associations; I am often a public speaker! But I have a passion for getting my message across and this has meant overcoming the fear of public speaking.

The key to overcoming your fear is inside the fear itself. Acknowledge that you are fearful and try to understand why. The solution is in that understanding. It is interesting how it all can change. It often seems like where fear is strongest; there is the most powerful attraction to do that very thing that scares you! After a while you will probably wonder what it was you were afraid of! Fear will always crop up, but do not let it hold you back — you can gain new advantages by turning your fears into new skills. I learned to speak to groups. Where there is the strongest fear, there is the greatest potential for growth.

All that you find negative is really based on fear — a fear of being able to trust or fear of losing what you have: your life, your reputation, your money, your possessions, etc. If your first priority is the accumulation of stuff, you will be bound to your possessions and you will fear losing them. Fear and freedom are opposites. Create a state of mind where your first priority is not to accumulate things. Rather than hold onto things, you want to circulate what you have, what you are. When you circulate and give, good fortune comes back many fold. Once you shed the fears that affect your environment you will attract others — business partners and employees — that are like you. They will have different skills, obviously, but they are to be trusted and they will do their darndest to serve the organization or the company just like you do.

You must always strive to be fearless. If you are not, act as though you are and eventually it will become second nature. You will get to a stage where you are less afraid of making mistakes. Successful people learn from their mistakes and take defeat as a challenge and an opportunity.

Allow yourself to overcome your fears by recognizing them and facing up to them. Remember that fear of losing holds you hostage from taking the steps than can lead to success. Channel your positive energy into overcoming your fears and move ahead. The benefits are enormous.

That said, however, perhaps as a business person, there is one thing to be afraid of. One of the dangers business owners face is becoming totally immersed in work at the expense of everything else: family, friends, and other interests. You get sucked into being busy and this hurts your personal life. It can destroy your relationships before you are even aware that it is happening.

There are other tools and means to gain success in your business that are easier than working yourself silly! There is a way of less effort where you can achieve the same success — maybe greater — and experience more joy because you have more time for your family.

Balancing business and family is important, especially for women. I always say women face a more difficult time than men in starting a business because they are more immersed in the day-to-day running and maintaining of the family home. One of the ways I balanced family life with building my practice was by bringing my daughters into the business. One of my daughters did the bookkeeping and another helped me on technical issues. My third and youngest daughter, Tamar, was just there for the joy of it!

It was beneficial for my kids to see and share the experience of what I do. I am sure it motivated them and gave them the confidence and understanding that they can be successful too. And this makes it easier for me. My family knows my business and they understand what I do. I got the pleasure and benefits of having them near me, and they gained useful insight and practice to assist them in their future endeavors.

When people say that life is hard and you have to earn your bread with the sweat of your brow, they are helping to make that situation a reality. If you believe you have to work hard, then you will have to. But if you implement the way of least effort towards your goal, and it becomes part of what you are, you will have a mental state of relaxation. And you will manifest your goal with the least effort. 

Balance in life is important. Be sure to take the time for the things that are dear to you — your health, your hobbies, your friends, and your family. Follow your own path to explore and realize your ultimate potential. When you do what’s right for yourself it is also beneficial to those around you. Your fulfillment gets passed on.

By bringing my daughters into my business, I had made them part of my office “team”. Everyone has teams. There can be a team of your friends, a team of your family, a team of your employees. They are all your teams and each team helps you in a specific endeavor.

Well, you have another team too — your team in the universe. I’ve mentioned the spirit guides before. It is just a matter of tapping into the advice they offer.

Here is a way that helps me to do just that. About a year ago, I organized a small group of people for meditation on a Saturday. Everybody had individual goals, but as we meditated together the group energy combined and became stronger. The results were so positive that we became a regular group, usually seven to ten people, that met weekly for over a year, mostly at my place. We became the advisory team for each other. As well as the power of the meditation, there was networking. In any group, each person will know another person, who will know others, and so on. So when you put out a need in a group, one of the people there is bound to know a person who can help.

But more than that, each person has their own team of spiritual advisors in the universe, which they bring into play when they join up with an earthly team. And because all the members of every team bring their teams of spiritual advisors into play for their earthly teams, it means each team has its own combined advisory team in the universe! The power of this is staggering! When my friends and I get together for those Saturday sessions, it is not just the earthly group of us working together — each of us is calling into play our own team of personal spiritual advisors in the universe. The number of advisors grows exponentially!

You are probably thinking, “How do I recognize good members for my team?” For me, it is a matter of intuition — I just know, when I meet someone, whether or not they can help me or whether I can help them. I trust my instincts and I trust that when I need help, something will present itself. I am sure you must have experienced this too. Have you ever noticed that when you’re around a certain person your energy is high? This could be your spouse, a friend, or a co-worker. When you are together, everything flows and good things happen! These are the people you want on your team!

Good teams can help you in all that you do. But you have to let your teams know what it is you are looking for and, similarly, you must ask what your team members are looking for so you can help them. That way, everyone is connected and working for each other and ultimately finding the connections they need.

Believe in “Givers’ Gain” — when you give, there is a strong probability that you will get something in return. When you are looking out for your team members’ wants, they are looking out for you as well. Be sure you have lots of good teams to work with. Trust your instincts.

 

And trusting your instincts is the tenth point. In my life and career, I have had to make many decisions and at times it was not easy. To me, it is a matter of trusting my instincts and that my team of advisors will come through with the right guidance. It has taken me a long time to become comfortable with trusting, but once I was at ease, many aspects of my life began to flow. One was delegating. When you can trust those around you, the people you have personally selected for your team, delegating is easy. And there are other benefits that trusting your instincts can bring.

         For instance, I carry a set of six keys. They are for the office building, the elevator, the stairwell, the suite, the washroom, and so on, but they all look exactly the same. Sure, I could mark them differently or apply color-coded tags, but that would be too easy! What I do is trust my instincts. When I need a key, I grab the one I think will work and surprisingly, nine times out of ten, I get the right one! I’m confident in my instinct to choose the right key and seldom fail. That said, however, when I am stressed, and therefore not focused, I seldom choose the right one. And at these times, even if I do choose the right one, it will not seem to fit.

I’ve spoken about the benefits of positive thinking — what some call “luck,” but it is really positive attitude. If you think of good things, you will attract good things. If you think negatively, that is the way things will tend to go. Positive thinking is the power of attraction, of giving off “good vibrations” and this is the key to making better choices. My advice is to trust your intuition when you make a decision. If you are feeling good about your choice, it probably is the right one. Any decision can be good. There are no bad decisions; it is up to you to make your choice turn out right through effort and creativity. You actually make your own luck.

I have also mentioned that sometimes synchronicities are the clues that have helped me make decisions. When I have been putting my questions out to the universe, and getting the clues back via synchronicities, the clues are like road signs. There are ways to invite them into your consciousness. Some people get help from the use of Tarot cards, others use astrology, still others can just open a book and spot a word on a page and take this as a clue.

Trusting your instincts and spotting the clues works for decisions of any size. One time, after I had met someone who I was considering for appointment to a committee I was on, I was wondering whether that person would make a good addition to our women’s group and while I was thinking about it, I happened to glance at a newspaper and on the front page I saw the same last name as hers. I accepted that as a clue and a confirmation about the choice I was making. And it was right! She has since made an excellent contribution to the group.

Trusting your instincts when making decisions can pay dividends! Just have faith that you are making the right choice and when it works out, you can reap unexpected rewards.

I have discussed manifesting success; how to find staff, positive vibrations, and many other things that helped me build my practice, but there is something else vital to success, perhaps the most important ingredient of all — YOU.

I believe we all arrive in the world with a pre-determined plan of which we are not aware. In other words, everyone has a purpose in life that they must fulfill to keep life in balance. It may be to correct something done before, somewhat like repaying a debt. Or it may be to achieve something new, in effect, adding a “credit” to your account. But the hard part is that we arrive at the outset with no knowledge of what it is we have to do. We must figure it out along the way.

Everyone needs to find out what they came for and get on with the job. You do not need to sit on a mountain in Katmandu to discover your purpose — the answer is in you, and you must watch for the clues. Pay attention. Ask yourself, what are my interests? What intrigues me? What lifts my spirit? The answers to these questions are the beginning to knowing yourself and discovering your purpose in life.

I have said before that in order to be successful, you must clear the blockages that keep you from moving ahead. Everyone has potential, but I would guess that the average person uses about ten percent of it. You know that there are spiritual guides in the universe, part of your team, who want to help you, but you must ask them for help — they will not just step in uninvited — so open up for communicating with your guides. Stop being negative and switch to being positive in all that you do and think. Have the confidence of knowing what is right for you and do not be afraid to make mistakes — it is all a part of the learning process!

Always remember that compassion is empowering. When you do good for others, the blessings will come back to you. If you want to be successful, help others to achieve success and you’ll experience it also. It’s all up to YOU.

 

Dr. Pirjo Friedman, D.D.S., was born in Finland and now practices dentistry in Toronto, Canada. She is a believer in natural therapies and the most modern dental techniques—used in her practice every day. She believes a patient should be able to relax during dental work. She is a past President of the Women Entrepreneurs of Canada.

The author of: Awakening the Entrepreneurial Spirit in You — Embracing Synchronicity and Pushing Your Boundaries —The Feminine Principle in Business, she can be contacted at friedman@motivationalnetworks.com

For more information on Dr. Friedman, see: www.motivationalnetworks.com