Dental Practice Heroes
Where dentists learn how to cut clinical days while increasing profits - without sacrificing patient care, cutting corners, or cranking volume. We teach you how to grow a scalable practice through communication, leadership, and effective management.
Hosted by Dr. Paul Etchison, author of two books on dental practice management, dental coach, and owner of a $6M collections group practice in the south suburbs of Chicago, we provide actionable advice for practice owners who want to intentionally create more time to enjoy their families, wealth, and deep personal fulfillment.
If you want to build a scalable practice framework that no longer stresses, drains, or relies on you for every little thing, we will teach you how and share stories of other dentists who have done it!
Dental Practice Heroes
Managing Stress and Finding Fulfillment in Dental Practice with Chelsea Myers
Ever feel like the stress of dental practice is overwhelming? Join us on Dental Practice Heroes as we sit down with the insightful dental life coach Chelsea Myers to explore how dentists can manage stress and avoid feeling trapped in their profession. Chelsea offers practical advice on setting boundaries between work and home life and emphasizes the importance of personal and professional growth. Discover how taking control of your own happiness, instead of relying on external factors, can lead to a more fulfilling career and personal life.
In our deep-dive discussion, Chelsea also sheds light on achieving flow and authenticity in dentistry. She explains how practices like writing, meditation, and structured routines can uncover personal insights and alleviate stress. Learn how traits that contribute to professional excellence, like perfectionism, can be managed to improve personal relationships. Chelsea also shares about her one-on-one and group coaching, her foundation supporting families in need, and how you can connect with her for further guidance. Tune in for an episode packed with valuable tips and heartfelt advice for every dentist seeking balance and fulfillment.
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The 2025-2026 DPH Mastermind is now taking applications! Make this the year you decided to create the practice you've always dreamed about!
Take Control of Your Practice and Your Life
We help dentists take more time off while making more money through systematization, team empowerment, and creating leadership teams.
Ready to build a practice that works for you? Visit www.DentalPracticeHeroes.com to learn more.
You are listening to Dental Practice Heroes, where we teach you how to build a scalable practice, make more money and take more time off. I'm Dr Paul Edgison, author of two books on dental practice management, dental coach and owner of a group practice collecting over $6 million in the south suburbs of Chicago. I want to teach you how to grow and systematize your dental practice so you can spend less time practicing and more time doing whatever it is that you love. Let's get started. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Dental Practice Heroes podcast. I am joined by my guest dental life coach, podcaster, entrepreneur, investor and all sorts of help for people in the dental industry. Please welcome back Chelsea Myers. Welcome back Chelsea.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks for having me. Paul Glad to be here.
Speaker 1:So our last episode we did, we talked very much about leadership and how to get influence on the team and what makes a good leader. You, being somebody who works with dentists not only on a professional, operational level, but also in a deep, emotional, inward looking level. What are some common issues that you think a lot of dentists are going through? And I'll just say like for me, looking on the forums and Facebook, I think there's a lot of almost disappointment. There's a lot of feelings, disappointment, there's a lot of feelings of being trapped in the industry that they don't love, and I think there's a lot of stress that is unresolved and we've kind of just accepted it as this is how it is and I believe we take that home to our families. So what do you see with people that you work with?
Speaker 2:All of the above for sure, a lot of my clients are dealing with a lot of stress, and some of it is, I would suggest, self-inflicted I've been guilty of that myself and some of it is really dynamic things that are requiring a high level of thought to go into them, that are heavy, that are complicated, and you're right, turning that switch off in the drive home, whether that's 10 minutes or an hour, and walking in the door and being completely free of that is a real challenge for people, and so I do see a lot of what you're talking about, where people are like. You know, this isn't what I thought I was signing up for. I actually chose dentistry to have a flexible family work-life balance, and it's a lot of things that I didn't know was going to be. So, yeah, I definitely hear you on that.
Speaker 1:How do we turn it off? Is the answer to try to develop boundaries around work and home? Or is the answer to become more accepting of? This? Is what we signed up for and give ourselves agency, and that we put ourselves in this situation?
Speaker 2:Here's what's so interesting, and I'm going to speak from personal terms here. I think what we can do as humans is decide that something outside of us our job, our spouse, our neighborhood, our car, whatever is responsible for how we feel, and when we do that, it's completely disempowering, especially when it's related to other people, because other people are like moving targets they change with the wind right. When it's something a little broader, like my career is supposed to provide me fulfillment, my job is supposed to make me happy, well, you're putting everything outside of you. You're putting that expectation out there and expecting that the universe just knows how to do that for you. When we bring it back home, we have a lot more control now.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I think is really important to recognize is that while we chose these careers and we chose these paths and we chose these neighborhoods and we chose these spouses whatever the things are we chose them thinking that this was a means to an end, like I wanted to be married, so I chose a spouse. I wanted a job, so I chose dentistry. Actually, the way I like to frame it up that I find really beneficial is that we chose a curriculum. You're not done as a matter of fact, your license actually was the entry point for you, for your life curriculum. When we can look at it that way, we're not expecting it to be perfect or give anything to us. We're expecting to grow and learn from it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, like I see with a lot of dentists, is we're trying to get to a level, we're trying to get to a box that we have to check off, and I'm so guilty of this and the listeners will know I talked about this. A lot is getting to check all the boxes and then getting there and saying, wow, that didn't do what I thought it was going to do for me and it's because I was using it as a means to end. It was like I need to do this so that I can have this. How can a dental practice owner feel more comfortable with the process and embrace that process more, versus always trying to fix themselves or their lives?
Speaker 2:Falling in love with the process of development is so important, and I'm with you a hundred percent. Back when I was partnering in practices I don't know if it was like our third or fourth and I was on a phone call with my mom and she was like oh my gosh, you're living the life of your dreams. And I wanted to crawl through the phone and like this is the life of my dreams.
Speaker 2:Like, my marriage is on the rocks and this is more stress than I could have ever imagined and living in a state I can barely stand. This is not the life of my dreams. So I know what you're saying. When you check all the boxes and other people are going, wow, isn't that what you meant to create? But the important component that we're often missing in that creation process is how do we want to feel being really intentional, how do we want to feel as we're building it, as we're growing and developing it? Because what I've seen so often, Paul, is that the momentum that we travel the path with is exactly how we show up when we get there. So if you're miserable and stressed out and you're kind of a jerk the whole way there, when you get there, there's not that much of a difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's nothing on the other side, so true. So when you work with dental clients and they come to you and they say, hey, I'm stressed out, I'm not happy, things aren't working, my relationships are not that great, what are some things that you explore with them to try to help you understand them on a deeper level so that you can help them?
Speaker 2:Some things that I like to explore with others that are also really useful for me are just what would be better If there was one area that would make a big dent in how I feel about things. What is that area? Because I think what we can do, particularly with high achievers, is we tend to think a lot and we poke holes in everything and then, before you know it, we have this big overwhelming. Well, I actually need an entire life reform to feel better. That's not usually accurate, but it can feel that way when you've put that level of analysis into everything. And so I like to start with like one thing what is one thing that we could do, or one area that, if improved, would be likely to create some relief for you, and then really explore it from there. So sometimes that's going to be my self-confidence and we can figure out what's underneath that.
Speaker 2:Is that something from childhood. I have a friend and she's a therapist and she says you know, I've never worked with anybody over the age of seven because they're all of these early childhood really formative experiences that we have. So it could be something there, it could be a relationship that we're in, it could be something a little more functional, like my practice or my finances or there are just lots of things that impact our day-to-day experiences from an inner peace and connection area. But when we can narrow it down and now have a focus that helps us direct our energy in a productive manner, because now we've identified the focus area and we can start to make that plan for what to do next.
Speaker 1:Typically everybody wants to work on everything at once. I mean, these things take time. Once you find the focus area, how can we be if, like a dentist is listening, they're like, okay, I know what my area is. What are the next steps of looking inward, or what are the next steps of exploration to make progress in this area?
Speaker 2:Once we know what we want to focus on, what I recommend is start doing some writing, start doing some reflecting. Not writing like you need to write a book about this area, but actually a little more free form, like when you think about your life right now, just kind of let the pen flow and see what comes out. And when you think about what would be better, what comes out, just really start to uncover. Sometimes I find writing to be really therapeutic in the sense that once those words are written, I can look at them and be like even I can see this is not reasonable, even though it's coming from me, and so there's stress alleviation right there. And then other times I can look at that list or that paragraph and say, okay, you know what. These are some legitimate concerns and I'm going to put some thought into what I can do to start making some improvement in that area.
Speaker 2:But I do think that writing is just so powerful and then some form of meditation. So whether that's doing breath work in the morning or having a really intentional morning and evening routine is what I have and I find that to be just incredible. But some people like to work out. I was talking to a client earlier today, and she's like running is my therapy and so great. Find your thing, though, where you can kind of get out of the paralysis by analysis mode and more into the flow, where the ideas are flowing through you. You're not grabbing for them and creating them. There really is a distinct difference. I can tell when my mind is doing the thinking or when my heart is doing the thinking or something outside of me is inspiring the thoughts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it expands a little bit more on flow for the listeners.
Speaker 2:For someone who might not know that term or what it means, so for me when I'm in a state of flow, it is very easy. Like I just got done writing a course, for example. I think it's like 17 units and it just literally flowed through me. I think it was done in under a week and it's very comprehensive. It's got a lot involved in that course.
Speaker 2:But because I wasn't overthinking it and because I got into that flow state when I'd sit down to type, phone is off, distractions are blocked and it was able to just come right out of me when flip that to something like me doing my own social media is kind of a train wreck. I don't like doing it. Because I don't like doing it, it can cause some hangups where, like, I get on there and I'm like, okay, what do I write. It's like this imaginary audience of like 5 million people who are scrutinizing everything I say. I'm sure that's what the paralysis is coming from, but that would be where my mind gets really involved and thinking it needs to sound perfect and I need to make sure that I'm thinking through the lens of those 5 million people and how they might view me so they all will like it, and it's just counterproductive. It's very counterproductive to any forward movement.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love the idea of flow and almost authenticity and just who you are and just being in the moment, and I think we could all achieve. Dentists can relate to this when they're doing procedures, when it becomes like riding a bike and they're not thinking about it. They're not thinking about every step, it's just a very normal thing. And then sometimes when they get out of the operatory, I think they struggle to find flow in conversation, struggle to find flow in relationships because of this overarching, just constant thinking and second guessing. So I'd like to hear what you have to think about this is that a lot of dentists can find the flow in the operatory but could benefit from finding flow outside of the operatory with relationships. What kind of recommendations would you have for somebody who could relate to that?
Speaker 2:I'll just say this I've had the opportunity to work with some of the most beautiful, kindhearted individuals I've ever met in this industry and, dealing with some of those same struggles that you just mentioned, I've come to the conclusion that sometimes the very traits that make us really outstanding in one area of our life, like in the operatory, can be ones that cause hangups in other areas if we're not aware of them and how they show up. So where we need to be, I'll use perfectionism as a big one. I hope that somebody working on my teeth is. They don't have to be absolutely perfect, but pretty close. I hope they're doing that job really, really well, when, if I'm just sitting across from you shooting a podcast video, I don't need you to say things perfectly. I'm not even thinking about whether or not you're saying it perfectly, but if we're not careful, we can use that same level of scrutiny that we have on ourselves when performing in a patient's mouth to how we interact with people, and it can become just really heavy when you start thinking about having those interactions and if you're thinking about it from the perspective of I've got to say it right, or they're not going to like me, or they're going to judge me, or they're going to think I'm not worthy or I'm not capable. These are all underlying belief systems that we have.
Speaker 2:I think uncovering our beliefs is just so critical to understand what's really driving that behavior. So if it's a problem in relationships, what's driving that? What's that underlying belief? And sometimes it takes a little bit of work to ask yourself and figure out. Okay, I just noticed myself not speak up when I would have liked to. Or I just noticed myself say something so stupid. Why did I say that? And really understand where that's coming from? Oh, something about this is related to me believing that I'm not likable, I'm not enough. I need to prove myself. Whatever those beliefs are, and then you can just decide do I want to believe that anymore? Is that useful to me? Those thoughts have no utility in my life. I suspect they have no utility in anybody's lives. But when we can identify them, we can move forward.
Speaker 1:I'm still thinking about things I said like 15 years ago, sometimes when I'm laying in bed and I'm just cringing and going, oh why did I say that? And then I have to remind myself that was 15 years ago. How's that still coming up? But I think at the source of that. For me it's a deep worthiness wound of trying to prove myself through my actions and being so concerned over what everybody thinks about me. But I think that's a certain personality type that comes from an overactive mind, which is a blessing in so many regards but then a curse at the same time. And I think a lot of dentists have that. We very fast minds, very fast thinkers. What would you say to if somebody is overthinking everything? Is the answer to tame down the thoughts or is the answer to look deeper and figure out where the thoughts are coming from?
Speaker 2:I like option B figure out where those thoughts are coming from, because your heart's not going to mislead you. I think that we don't talk about it enough, about going to our heart and figuring out what is right and true for you, what is aligned with what you want to create in your life from a heart perspective. But when we stay up there in our head, your head's going to offer you all kinds of thoughts, like you said, like hey, that thing you said 15 years ago still valid. Nobody even remembers. Probably it's not even real until you think about it. But the thing about our brains is that whether we are replaying it in our mind and making that really real for us in that moment, or whether we're actually in the situation, the brain just can't tell the difference. Both scenarios are registered. As this is happening now, what does that mean? That means that we are reliving trauma, we're reliving rejection, we're reliving fear and frustration about things that are in the past. And so, if at all possible, allowing those things to be there and, if you have an emotion about it, recognizing the emotion, I find it really useful to find, like, where's this emotion living? You know, certain emotions I find like make my heartbeat really fast. Certain emotions I find live in my shoulder, like I get tense, identifying where's that emotion showing up for you and how are you feeling right now, and then just kind of breathing into it and letting it process through.
Speaker 2:I have this theory, paul, that we have lots of opportunities to relieve ourself of any past discomfort, whatever the feeling may be, and what happens is we kind of push it down. It's our coping mechanism. Usually we were taught that or we learned that it was more beneficial that way. We push it down and then something happens and it kind of rises to our vision and then we have this option we can either process it, like I said, breathe into it, identify the limiting beliefs, figure out how we want to think about it going forward, or we can push it back down again. The problem with pushing it back down again is that it's going to show back up until we allow it a channel outside of ourselves. And so really long answer to your question, but I do think identifying where is this coming from. Is this just my head being overactive and wanting to solve everything, or is it in my heart? Do I actually feel like this is the thing that's true in this situation. I think that's a really valuable approach.
Speaker 1:What you just said reminds me of and I don't know where I got this, but I didn't invent this but the analogy of that. The emotions are. It's like standing in the ocean and watching waves come at you and trying to resist the wave and trying to keep the wave from hitting the beach. And it's just not possible. The only way you can do is just to lean into it and let it pass you and know that another wave is going to come. The waves will come and you just lean into them, feel them and let them pass.
Speaker 2:I love that and I think that about the people in our lives too, whether it's personal or professional. Those people are actually curriculum for us too. If something that they say stirs up an emotion in us, that's a really good time to be like okay, what am I uncomfortable? Am I uncomfortable correcting my team member? Am I uncomfortable standing up for myself? Am I uncomfortable? Because actually I kind of agree what you just said about me. I think is true too. I just didn't like that you said it. Sometimes just by admitting that it is so freeing, it's like I can be that thing or I can have that trait and still be a pretty incredible person that I'm still growing into.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it reminds me of a recent one-star review we got from somebody and it was just thing after thing after thing. I didn't see this patient, I don't even know who they are, but the first part was the hygienist got me so wet during the cleaning, I don't know what. She didn't know what she was doing and like it was like six other things. But when I responded to this I always wait a day because I know the day of is not, but I was going away for the weekend and I wanted to respond to it and I ended up going back in there like three hours later and changing my response. But my original response, like it, led off with I'm sorry you got wet, I hope you dried. You know it was just like I was, but it was just like.
Speaker 1:What I think hurts about it is that somebody, when they're telling you what your intentions are and, like you mentioned, I feel that about myself too, but I don't like when you say it and everything that was in this review. I see it as being a possibility in my practice, but I don't like when it's explicitly said. So it hurts on a deep level. But yeah, I responded with a lot of emotion and I went back later, I sent it to my office manager and she's like yeah, I know, that's what we want to say, but is that really what we want people to read? And I'm just like damn it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're totally right. So, it sounds like you have a good office manager.
Speaker 1:We help each other out in that regard. So talk about the work that you do with dentists and talk about where listeners can find out more about you and your services.
Speaker 2:I do lots of work one-on-one, one-on-group. I have the podcast, the foundation to support families in need who are unable to access our services. You can go to find me on LinkedIn Chelsea Myers, m Y E R S or dental lifecoach trying to think. Or info at dental lifecoach. We also have. Or info at dentallifecoach. We also have a talent acquisition arm and we can support those needs as well finding good coachable talent for you, but same places.
Speaker 1:Well, I'll have that in the show notes for the listeners. And I will say I love your website, I love the black and red.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1:That is my jam and I don't know if it's like a Chicago Bulls thing.
Speaker 2:I see it. I see it looks beautiful on you too. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think it's like the Chicago Bulls, like growing up in like the nineties, you know, but yeah, I love that black and red jam. So, chelsea, thanks so much for spending time with us today and coming on with the listeners. I think you've got so many great ideas and so much to share with the industry and a part of, I think.
