D. Scott Trettenero, DDS
The longer I practice dentistry, the more I realize how fortunate I am to be a dentist. I attribute much of who I am as a person to the life lessons I’ve learned through being a dentist. Dentistry is so multidimensional that it has forced me to learn and grow outside my comfort zone. I know in my heart that I’m a much better person because of the challenges that are inherent in this profession.
Unfortunately, stress goes hand-in-hand with the challenges as we push ourselves beyond our boundaries and learn from new perspectives. We can manage our stress if we’re centered enough to seek effective solutions. Personally, I’ve found that there must be a proper balance in life in order to be centered.
Much has been written and discussed about how life balance will help us become healthier and happier. It’s easy to notice your life is out of balance when you develop feelings of distress, anxiety, and uneasiness. Being in perfect balance is a goal that may never be obtainable as life is always changing and full of surprises. Life is a balancing act of many various aspects, and dentistry demands us to be proficient jugglers to be successful. Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with an instruction book on how to live effectively and efficiently.
To strive for the best balance, it’s important to know what to balance. Life is full of contradictions and we’re sometimes forced to manage uncomfortable situations. This world was created with opposite and equal forces in place. It is imperative to understand why this is and how our lives are affected by those forces.
Dr. Robert Quinn of the University of Michigan Business School describes these contradictions through his “competing values model” that he applies to business and leadership.1 He says that we must be able to handle certain conflicting aspects of life to be successful. If we apply his model to everyday life, we can better understand what the important core areas are to create our balance. Following are the basic and opposing elements that make up our personal model of balance.
Healthy relationships
We all have a need for healthy and respectful relationships. Relationships are our connection to others and help to create feelings of belonging, camaraderie, and ultimately, love. Giving of ourselves creates a goodwill that attracts others to us. At the office and home, solid relationships are a key marker on our path of personal development. Our patients may not be able to understand or appreciate our technical prowess, but they can always tell how much we care about them. From their perspective, this is their highest value.2
Meaningful work
Work is where we use our talents in a way that creates value for services needed or wanted by others. If people are passionate about their work, it can become a part of their identity. The more value we can create through our work, the more rewards we can earn. Dentists are fortunate that our profession can be highly rewarding in so many ways other than just monetary.
Adequate recreation
Recreation is a time to relax, recuperate, and enjoy yourself. You can recharge your batteries and let go of your burdens. All work and no play can make people one dimensional. Recreation can broaden your interests and capabilities. It means different things for different temperaments. Do what works for you.
Time for yourself
This is something that is much needed for a multitude of reasons. We all need time for introspection, reflection, and the space to create new perceptions about how we are living. This is also a time for exercise, reading, learning, and meditation. We need some time for working on our body, mind, and spirit. Dentistry is a very demanding profession that requires us to take care of ourselves so that we maintain the ability to take care of others.
If you become unbalanced in any of these areas, you’ll want to devote more time and energy to those areas to regain your balance. One thing to notice about these various aspects of life is that they are in opposition to each other. Work is the opposite of play and relationships are the opposite of time for yourself. These values are opposites, yet at the same time complementary of each other.3 In other words, we can’t appreciate one without the other. If we work hard, play becomes more valued. If we spend time cultivating and servicing our relationships, we need time to regenerate with some quality time for ourselves.
We all have areas of life in which we are stronger than others. We may be prone to concentrate on these areas because they are comfortable. The areas in which we’re weakest are usually opposing in nature to our strengths and we might neglect our weaknesses as they can be uncomfortable for us. Working toward balance by expanding into our weaker areas will help us not only to be more centered and grounded, but it will help us to become better rounded. This will then help us to become better at everything we do.
D. Scott Trettenero, DDS, has maintained a solo dental practice in Fort Myers, Florida, since 1982. He is the author of Master the mystery of human nature–resolving the conflict of opposing values, and Unlocking the t-code. He can be contacted at [email protected].
References
1. Cameron KS, Quinn RE. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. 3rd ed. San Francisco CA: Jossey-Bass; 1999.
2. Martin GD, Trettenero DS. The customer is always right. Dental Economics.1998; 88(2):51-52.
3. Trettenero DS. Master the mystery of human nature: Resolving the conflict of opposing values. Bloomington, IN: IUniverse; 2015.
