The Happier Dentist Podcast

Whats up Happier Dentist fam! This month flew by quick! In no time we'll literally be flying somewhere just to hug our friends and eat a meal with turkey in it, but not until we mob all the candy in the closeout aisle the day after Halloween.  Alright so lets get into it. Today, we are talking with Dr. Diana Liu. Her story involves feeling burnt out since high school and adding to that ALL the stresses of dentistry life on top of it - to finding something that could bring her levels of burnout down to zero and she noticed it first-hand from her own mom who was dealing with her own levels of burnout. It's a conversation about finding that the yogi lifestlye in your dental world and including it for just 30 mins a day 1) doesn't prevent us from doing anything else and 2) it augments how we feel and move and ultimately, how we make money... so why not do it? And then, why retreats are a transformational experience due to the immersion of positivity and support paired with learning. Jump into the episode for the full clip.See you next month! We'll be talking about BURNOUT of course, and how a TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT plays a role in all of this. Be well,The Happier DentistFind out more about Dr. Diana LiuInstagram

Whats good Happier Dentist fam! Having a great week so far? Today, we discuss burnout and how it affects our state of mind and the way we show up as a dentist. This leads to other areas of our lives, whether that means as a mother or father, a team leader, a partner, you name it.  Our guest Dr. Jessica Metcalfe (@alchemistdentist) shares her journey of someone who has gone through the multiple stages of burnout that dentists often endure and gives us permission to just take a pause when stress begins to creep up, and also to have some humor in our lives so we can be true to ourselves while at work. Dr. Metcalfe understands "Imposter Phenomenon" and even Perfectionism is a common experience for dentists to have and has been helping dentists through a variety of platforms with easy and actionable advice on how to prevent or counteract what this can do to our mental health. Jump into the episode and lets begin! :)Find more about our guest here:- Dr. Jessica E Metcalfe - Dental Avengers Mental Wellness Summit 2021- Linkedin 

Hows it going Happier Dentist fam! Today's episode is all about the magic and benefits of including fitness into your daily routine. In this episode, our guest, Nick Kapande tells his story of finding and seeking mentorship and how fitness ultimately changed his life. I think his story imparts a lot of pearls of wisdom here. I look to him and his students (that are of all ages and successful in many areas of life), for mentorship and inspiration when it comes to showing up with a great attitude and staying committed to being healthy.  It is clear why having self-discipline will allow you to feel good about yourself in a meaningful way and be able to use that to enable us as doctors and healers, to be able to perform better at work. Dive into the episode for some guidance on how fitness relates to mental health, as well as hear about helpful stretches we as dentists can use to keep us feeling loose.  Reach out for more info: Nick@nicksprofitness.comFind out about his mentor, Mack Newton, hereBook: Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

Happier Dentist fam! How are you? So.. have you had a patient just sit there in the dental chair looking nervous and anxious and possibly in tears, and you didn't really know how to respond in a way that would ease their mind? This episode may interest you. Here, we talk about how breathwork is the foundation to good health. Cristians story of his personal journey and inner work led to discovering the beautiful magic of yoga. Through the practice of yoga, it then made an awareness of breathing that elevated his mindfulness practice to eventually beginning his own dental mission trip and breathwork accountability group with his fiance Danielle, and is positively impacting many other once stressed-out dentists. Cristian also talks about the key to happiness, which is having true presence. Having true presence on your yoga mat is one thing, but how about in the noisy and busy dental office setting? I How do you get that? By concentrating on your breath. Also in this episode, how we are basically just a bunch of emotional children just running around. How does this fit into dentistry? By allowing ourselves to explore this side of our beings every now and then to remember that we need to serve ourselves sometimes. Little bit of rest and play never hurt anybody, but sometimes we can forget to schedule it in. So, lets dive into the episode!Find out more about Dr. Cristian Pavel and the Dental Yogi's here: Breathwork Club / Accountability Group here: 

Whats up Happier Dentist family, today, I think its important to touch on the ever so important topic of our emotional, social and psychological wellbeing - which in a nutshell is our mental health. It's been a "hot topic" as of late, but doesn't mean this is a new thing for dentists to experience. We've all heard the statistic about dentists having a high rate of suicide. Today we talk with a licensed therapist who deals with mental health scenarios in the work place. Addressing the stigma of talking about it in our communities can be an important step before seeking the appropriate person that will really help us navigate through a potentially difficult time. For the Asian doctors out there like me, we add another complex element of factors that can drastically affect our mental health, which is racism. That definitely deserves a listen as it seems to be a very relevant issue for many of us and can affect our day-to-day. Our mental health affects us as a leader in the office or as an employee and can bleed into other areas of our lives. We can and should include more discussions in the office surrounding mental health and be more proactive to remind our team that resources and support exist. Navigating COVID in the dental environment in 2021 and beyond can be more manageable simply by staying a bit more connected to the pulse of your team members and Jeanie talks about  how building rapport with your team can help them feel more comfortable to talk with you about certain things, strengthening the bond you have with them.  Disclaimer - we are talking about mental health, including the reference to suicide, anxiety and depression.  Find out more about our guest, Jeanie Chang!Jeanie's LinkedinJeanie's Website: Resources concerning mental health in the Asian CommunityAsian Mental Health Collective (AMHC)NAAAP Self-Care & Wellness (National Association of Asian American Professionals)Stop AAPI HateOther resources via Very Well Mind

Thanks for tuning in! Today, I wanted to introduce a new friend, Dr. Shivani Kamodia Barto.  We connected over a fun conversation on Health, wellness and mindfulness through meditative and yoga practices. This will be an interesting peek seen through the eyes of a yoga instructor who began her study of it even before she started dental school and has been observing how yoga can be beneficial. She's also someone who is ever evolving her practice to include more ways to help heal the healer. As dentists, we are often giving a good deal of our time and energy in more ways than just in our dental practice. This can be draining and isn't a great sustainable plan to continue burning the candle from both ends. Often, the way to mitigate this is if we include self-care in a way that feeds the body and the soul through movement and breath work.  What I think is an interesting perspective to have for those go-getters out there is Why burnout will actually COST you and is a reminder to seek balance in our practice as soon as we can! Yoga is not just a way to strengthen our bodies, it can strengthen our mind and be seen as a type of moving meditation. In this episode we get into how the world of dentistry, breath work and yoga collide and how it benefits both patient and provider. We also dive in to her wonderful retreat for dentists who need to find a way to refill their cup, so-to-speak, and be pampered and taken care of because we often forget how to do this.  Alright, lets get into the episode! Find more about Shivani:- Shivani's Linktree- Shivani's Podcast "My Loupes Are Up Here" Other links to people discussed in the episode:Dr. Manuela Rodriguez- https://www.mindfuldentistrytraining.com/Dr. Diana Liu Dr. Cristian Pavel (The Dental Yogis)

Whats up Happier Dentist fam! Have you ever felt frustrated about losing partners, team members, and associate doctors - causing you to need to be perpetually looking to hire on new people that require more of your much-needed time, energy and resources? Sometimes, it's simply in the way we communicate or the potential lack of compassion, that we can create an environment of distrust and disloyalty.  And sometimes, it takes a bit of a leap of faith to seek out someone to help you point some of these things out. Only then can progress and improvement can be found. Our guest Kathleen Murphy is a speaker on big business stages that talks about the importance of culture and how to develop it using assessments such as Gallup Strengths Finder. I personally find great value in knowing a little bit about yourself and others. Find out more in the episode. To get more info about Kathy, check out the links below!Kathleen's Blog, "Market Me Too"Kathleen's Linkedin PageKathleen's Book! "Wisdom Whisperer" 

Happy Wednesday, Happier Dentist fam! Today, I'm speaking with none other than the "Student Loan Planner", Travis Hornsby. He's been in the financial space helping dentists for as long as I can remember.  In this episode, we dig into a few topics that might be helpful for you. Student loans can be a huge drag on our ability to save, invest or simply allow for more freedom in the things we can do.  In this episode, Travis explains why Student loans are like having a tax and why we should work to optimize them as part of our overall strategy in reducing our debt an increasing our wealth. Optimizing your student loans is just a piece of the puzzle when tweaking your overall financial plans. Other interesting topicsDifferences in debt when comparing debt in relation to medical school and dental school tuition.How practice ownership vs. being an employee can work in your favor The financial “team” behind you that every dentist should have and how to find them, also - how to ensure you find someone who's working with your money for the right reasons, and how much $$$ you should expect to pay. A really helpful tip on how to find a CPA that will save you the most amount of money. Things to think about when approaching retirement. Find out more about our guest Travis Hornsby via his LinkedinStudent Loan Planner WebsiteStudent Loan Planner PodcastSome resources discussed in the episode:Book: Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazi

Whats up Happier Dentist family! Today, we are going deep on some spiritual stuff.  Huh? How does that relate to dentistry you might ask? Way more than you think, but it might take an open mind to consider it because lets be real, these are some areas that totally feel esoteric and completely foreign because most likely, we weren't taught these things growing up.  No, not that "woo woo" stuff. That stuff is for weird people, right? Well.. check it out for a second. Is it really that bad, scary or weird? Being spiritual at its core just means being ultra respectful to everyone and everything. Can you imagine the world we could live in? Also in the episode, Dr. Gilbert gets to talk about some new and exciting stuff happening within the American Dental Association and their stance on mental well-being in the dental community.  He's also part of a few other amazing organizations that are about spreading self-love and care through wellness practices like breathwork and meditation.  This episode is all about having a powerful mindset that powers you through the great ups and downs we experience as a dentist and we touch on that, too. There are countless of name drops for some phenomenal people doing great things (see below) also, some are dentists that you definitely need to check out. Please be sure to click on some links below to expand your curiosity, wisdom and perspective by checking these organizations, people, books, podcasts, etc. out! Thanks guys, I hope you enjoy the episode! Find out more about Dr. Brett Gilbert! ---------------------------------------------------Click here to find out about Dr. Gilbert's very own, in-depth and comprehensive training on ROOT CANALS!And other mentions in the episode:Dental Mental NetworkAmerican Dental AssociationFrank King / Mental Health ComedianWayne DyerRam DassLewis Howes - School of Greatness PodcastDavid AttenboroughJay Shetty - ON Purpose PodcastEd Mylett - The Ed Mylett ShowJesse ItzlerBrené BrownDr. Chris Hahn / The Freedom Coach Dr. Marcus JohnsonDental Yogis Robin SharmaVishen Lakhiani / MindvalleyDean Graziosi Brendon BurchardDavid Gikandi's book: A Happy Pocket Full of MoneyOne Strange RockNext Level Trainings Emotional Intelligence Training

What's up Happier Dentist family! Today, we talk about hearing loss and some very simple yet effective ways of protecting our hearing as we age in our careers. The constant, day to day barrage of sounds our ears take by being in the dental office can have damaging and permanent effects that can make communication harder and increase our overall levels of stress if not protected. Tune in and have a listen! Find more about Natalie Phillips here!Natalie's Audiology PracticeNatalie's Book, ACT Now!Natalie's Podcast, Connecting a Better WorldNatalie's Linkedin ProfileNatalie's Connect 4 Excellence PageAnd other mentions:Dangerous Decibels 

Whats up Happier Dentist Family! Have you been feeling tired and mentally drained due to a lack of sleep? Today, we talk with Pediatric Sleep Expert Kaela Kajiyama about the benefits of sleep in our busy lives as dentists and how making a few simple tweaks in our environment and daily routine can improve so many aspects of our lives. Dive in to the episode to find out more about: Journaling to understand what areas we need to focus on Finding ways of outsourcing tasks to leverage your precious time so you can spend it with your loved onesUnderstanding the stimulus in our environments such as colors, lights and sound that affect our sleep Low tech and high tech gadgets that we can useEasy and practical tips that we can implementBONUS - how meditation and mindfulness for ourselves and our childrenFind out about Kaela here!Book a call with Kaela!InstagramLinkedinWebsite

Today, my interviews got wiped out in a hardware failure of my laptop so I apologize for the late post as I scramble to get something up. So, today, I take this opportunity to discuss what I believe it means to be happier as a dentist. I believe there is a balance we all need to have and sometimes, that means adding a different hobby or skill to what we do outside of the dental office. What are some of your favorite hobbies or skills you have that make you more "well-rounded"? We hope to be back on track with my recordings by next week! Take care, see you in the next episode!

Hey happier dentist family. Today, I'm privileged to be having a great conversation with a new friend about what I thought was going to be mainly about yoga- but I believe went a bit deeper than that. Even though yoga was how we ended the conversation, it started with discussing mission trips and how practicing yoga was a way to counteract all of the heavy stresses we put our bodies through each and every day as dentists and as humans and ultimately, showing that yoga can be a cure for many of the ailments we have in dentistry and in life. I'm honored also knowing that Josie has her very own podcast and Yoga for Dentists group who are wellness-minded. I absolutely love what she is doing and she is promoting in our dental world. Josie has been in the dental world since she was very young and has a very unique way of looking at how we can identify whispers of burnout in your body that will progress into shouts if left ignored.Dive in and we can talk about the ways to slow down and enjoy our careers longer. Find Josie here:https://yogafordentists.net/Facebookhttps://bit.ly/3vi4o0QInstagram https://bit.ly/3bSsl7kYoga for Dentists Podcasthttps://spoti.fi/3vgETNvYouTube Channelhttps://bit.ly/2So7f9K

Today, with my guest Dr. Caroline Iscovitz, we talk about setting boundaries even when you are just beginning your career as a dentist, so as not to reach the levels of burnout that can really affect our mental health and set us down the wrong path so early on. Dr. Iscovitz is not a dentist, but works with many high-stress and high-performance career professionals like dentists who's #1 problem is finding the time in their day to focus on themselves. We get so busy with life both professionally and personally, so we dive into a wide range of topics centered around 4 Pillars of our life that are not as out-of-reach as you might think - and these things can greatly improve our relationships and our levels of happiness. The 4 pillars that Dr. Caroline will discuss are:Work/life integrationSelf-loveSetting boundariesEmotional balance w/in our relationshipsTo find out more about Dr. Caroline Iscovitz, Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarolineiscovitzInstagram: @drcarolineiscovitzWebsite: https://www.drcarolineiscovitz.com/Clubhouse: @drcaroline

My apologies for the poor audio quality! Today with my guest Dr. Peter Vanicek, we jump into topics that discuss stories of life-changing moments within a dental mission trip at any stage of your career as a dentist, whether it be a student or seasoned veteran.Dr. Peter Vanicek is a volunteer dentist and trip leader in the Global Dental Relief Organization based in Colorado, USA.  They run dental mission trips to countries like Nepal, Kenya and Guatemala, just to name a few. They have a primary focus on restorative care and open the applications to anyone outside of dentistry and of all age ranges. This episode had me thinking about dental mission trips in a whole new way and I'm excited to share it with you. If you want a sneak peek, we are discussing: How dentistry is uniquely positioned to give you the opportunity to serve as a volunteer. The roles we can play in a trip and how we can prepare for it. Why a dental mission trip may not be for you, yet!What kind of transformation you will achieve just by serving in a volunteer group no matter what age group and stage of your career as a dentist you are in. What I heard: Curiosity give you the Courage which then led to Confidence as a Dentist, as a leader in your organization, and as a member of your family. Creative ways of getting your mission trip sponsoredWhat GDR is doing for COVID concernsYou can find more about Dr. Peter Vanicek on his Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-vanicek-a6280718/To find Global Dental Relief:https://www.globaldentalrelief.org/https://www.instagram.com/globaldentalrelief/https://www.youtube.com/user/GlobalDentalRelief

Today with my guest James Zheng, we jump into topics such as how to mentally prepare for stress in your workplace and then be ready to handle it with ease. James is the host of The Morning MindSET Podcast where he helps his listeners develop the “warrior” mindset. Something I liken to what we need to have in a dental office environment. He describes himself as a man of faith, a student of life, a thoughtful husband and a nerd at heart. I know him as an amazing person that looks at challenges in a special way and he is here to share his perspectives with us. James starts by describing the mindset of the dentists he's observed that tend to be happier in their careersWhy having empathy in your office will change your office dynamic whether you describe yourself as being empathetic or not. We talk about ways of communicating a stressful day with your partner that actually helps build understanding and trust with one another. Introversion and extroversion and it's relationship with how we receive energy. Finally, we close by offering simple systems to include in our life that help us feel refreshed each and every week. You can find James Zheng here:https://anchor.fm/jamesczheng/episodes/Welcome-to-The-Morning-MindSET-Podcast-by-James-Zheng-eoat6ghttps://www.instagram.com/tv/CJ6VS_En_Zh/