Episode 458: Have Yourself a Miracle Morning!

 Kiera is inviting you to have the best morning ever … every single day. How could this be possible? By setting up a miracle morning, or a set structure, for yourself! Kiera shares how having a routine each morning has helped set a positive vibe for her days, and gives ideas to you to cater your morning tasks to your personality.

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Transcript:

0:00:05.8 Kiera Dent: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I had this crazy idea that maybe I could combine a doctor and a team member's perspective. Because let's face it, dentistry can be a challenging profession with those two perspectives. I've been a dental assistant, treatment coordinator, scheduler, filler, office manager, regional manager, practice owner, and I have a team of traveling consultants where we have traveled to over 165 different offices coaching teams. Yeah, we don't just understand you, we are you. Our mission is to positively impact the world of dental, and I believe that this podcast is the greatest way I can help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress, and create A Teams. Welcome to the Dental A Team podcast.

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0:00:52.2 KD: Good morning, guys. I hope today is going insanely well, or good evening, whatever time of day you're choosing to listen to this. I hope you are having a fantastic day. Also guys, if you're loving this podcast, please be sure to rate and review. I was talking to some people yesterday, they're signing up as new Platinum client, shout out to them, and they said, "Kiera, I'm a huge raving fan of your podcast," and I said, "Gosh, thank you so much." And I asked, "Have you left us a review by chance?" And she's like, "I haven't." So guys, it's super, super easy. Depending upon which podcast app you're listening, Apple is usually, I think, the most preferred app; if not, there's other ways to do it, but the way you do it is you just will scroll. I usually go to my library, I'll find Dental A Team with Kiera Dent, and then you just scroll down to the bottom where it says ratings and review.

0:01:41.5 KD: And right there, you can just click on the stars and once you do that, you can either do stars or at the bottom, there's a little tab that says Write A Review. So guys, that would be insanely helpful, if you guys could help us out. We're on track for our goal this year of the number of downloads, so guys, you're helping us. Our goal is to have over 600,000 downloads this year, which is insane. So please help us out, we love you guys and are super, super appreciate of you. Also, if you guys are wanting information, be sure to join our Facebook group. Dana, one of our newest consultants is incredible, and she does donuts with Dana every Friday. So there are tips in there, you guys know on our social I'm doing Tip Tuesday since he's awesome and post those up for you guys. So, be in the know. We try really hard to give you guys a lot of free content in different means, great easy ones for your team.

0:02:28.2 KD: But Dana is there, she is a live consultant. Every Friday you can ask questions and get ready, stay in that Facebook group. We're having some surprises come to you guys in 2022. Alright guys, today I wanted to dive right into a fun topic, and it's called Miracle Morning. So I don't know if you guys have ever read the book by Hal Elrod, this is one of my top books in my life that was definitely a monumental book for me, it's called Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod.

0:02:57.0 KD: I've talked about this a couple of times before, especially in our earlier podcast and miracle morning... So just so you guys know my timeline of my life a little bit, I think it's important to realize when I implemented this, and I wish I would have done it sooner 'cause I think it could have helped me sooner. So when I was in, let's just say at 29, when I was 29, I'm now 35. When I was 29, my husband was in pharmacy school, I was working out in Arizona at the dental college, and one of the students asked me to go help her start up her dental practice. And you guys, it was a blast. It was my dream job. I remember feeling like I was playing house and it was pretty incredible. I also learned a lot about what you should and should not do with contracts and with friends as partners, and I learned more in that relationship than I think any other experience has taught me in my life. Well, let's just fast forward. I kind of gave you a snippet of... I foreshadowed it, and I ended up leaving those practices. We grew our first practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in nine months, and then we started our second location, and then we had lots of other locations added on. And what I will say is my identity, definitely became those dental practices.

0:04:14.3 KD: So when me and that partner decided to split, I will say that my identity was crushed. I definitely felt like I didn't know who I was, I didn't know where I was headed, I didn't know if I even had value in this world, and I think a lot of our doctors are office managers. You guys, I was an office manager and a practice owner and a regional manager, and that was my life. I was up at 2:00 AM and going to bed at 10:00 PM, and I loved what I did because passion for dentistry bleeds from my soul. I love it. I say I'm exploding with passion for dentistry and helping people. And so when I left, I remember I experienced my first waves of depression. You guys, I'm a very happy person. [chuckle] In college, I was going to write a book on how to always be happy, and I realized that that's a facade. I love the book 10% happier. Instead, I think that that's more attainable. But I remember I was in a really dark place. I'm 5'8 guys, and when I left that job in Colorado, I was coming in on the scale at 95 pounds.

0:05:22.0 KD: My husband and I were not doing well, we were separated and had divorce papers out in the line. I had moved back in with my parents, and I was at the lowest spot I've ever been in my life. I'm this high achiever, I'd grown these dental practices, that's who I was, and all of that was stripped away, it crumbled. I did not believe in my faith anymore, my relationship with God. Who was I? I had no idea who I was. And I have a dear friend. Shout out to him. He was that friend who was there for me, who actually is the reason Dental A Team exists, he's a dentist, and he really took me under his wing. And he is the one who shot me Miracle Morning from Hal Elrod and he shot me a couple other books and I remember him calling me every day for a lot of weeks, and he'd say, Kiera, get up and run. I don't care how far you run, I don't care where you go, I don't care if it's for one minute, but get up out of bed and go run." And I started reading Miracle Morning. It's a very short book, guys. And I will say that book is what pulled me through a lot of my darkest days, it gave me structure, it gave me something to do. I'm a very structured person.

0:06:34.8 KD: That's why I think we do well with offices, with systems. And so reading Miracle Morning just gave me structure. And the idea behind this was that it helps create and paint the type of life you want every single morning, and so I started doing it. And some of the things that I was really struggling with was self-worth and self-love. So I fine-tuned or changed if you will, Miracle Morning. And the way I do it is, the idea behind it is that you have a set structure and routine that you do each morning that puts you into I guess optimization mode, if you will. So for me, again, he has, I think it's called the SAVERS is his acronym. And honestly, I should re-read it 'cause it's been a couple of years since I've read it, but I literally created this structure. They have Miracle Morning journals that you can do. For me, I have my own style, but the reality is it's the structure and it really helped me get into that zone and that flow. So for me, my mornings typically go meditation. You guys, I have a very busy mind. So meditation for me was working out, but for my mind. So strengthening those muscles.

0:07:41.3 KD: After I left my practices, I had a lot of terrifying dreams, I had a lot of experiences beyond just leaving that were really impacting my psyche, and I really needed to control that. So that's why I started meditating, that was honestly my motivation. Now, I would say I would meditate for clarity and peace of mind, and for just, I would say grounding is probably more of how I view meditation. I have a lot of inspiration that comes through meditation. It's a quiet clearing of my busy mind and guys, I'm not great at it, it doesn't mean that it's all Zen. You guys, sometimes my mind will not shut up and that's okay. But again, it's just because I go and work out and do sit-ups one day does not mean I have a six pack, it means it's the consistent effort to grow those muscles. So for me, it's meditation. Then writing in my journal. In my journal, I write my things that I'm grateful for, then I write my accomplishments from the day before, areas that I wish to improve, I write self-love. Yeah, I literally write something I love about myself every single day. [chuckle] And then I write Joy. Joy is something awesome that happened from the day before, then I write my results that I wanna achieve for the day, I put three results on there and I'm very specific.

0:08:54.0 KD: So it's not I want to write part of my book, it's I write three pages of my book today, or I will talk to four different clients today, or I will have my new sales commission rolled out by the end of the day. So they're very, very specific results that are going to move me forward. And what's great is when it's early, fresh in the morning, our minds can really be clear and centered and focused on where we actually wanna go. And for me, I found that it's a good basically setting, intention setting the vibe for my day. Sometimes I'll put my intention for the day of a word that I choose for the day or a phrase, sometimes that's a money magnet, sometimes it's a passion making machine, sometimes it's a accelerating value. Sometimes it's productive. So if you want, you don't have to. Some days I feel it. Some days I don't. As you guys look back on 2021, how was it? Was it your best year? Was it a year you could have done a little better? And as you're looking forward to 2022, what type of a practice and a person do you wanna be? Well, guys, now is the time to take massive action and to have the life and the practice you've always wanted.

0:10:06.8 KD: Dental A Team Platinum is where it's at guys. We focus on system development, that's right, top to bottom. Team development, growing leaders, growing you as a person, making sure your balanced, that we have happier teams. And we also ensure that your practice is profitable, teaching you how to be business-savvy. So if you're looking to enhance your practice, take it to the next level, you yourself wanna grow, now is the time. Dental A Team Platinum, we fly to your practice. Most of our offices see a 10 to 30% increase in revenue, reduction of stress, happier teams, better patient experiences. So if you know you wanna rocket launch yourself into 2022, don't wait guys. We are only taking on so many platinum practices because we physically fly to you. So email us today, [email protected]. And you better believe we have something special for you end of year offices. So be sure to reach out, [email protected]. Remember you're only one decision away from a completely different life. And then I also put on there my goals. I write my annual goals every single day, so that way it's very much imprinted on my mind, it's guiding me through, and that's my journaling that I do.

0:11:11.3 KD: It can be very quick. It can be longer. Some days I'll write more if I want to. At night, I also started, there's a really cool app, shout out to Ryan Isaac with Dentist advisors, he is one of my best friends. And he told me about this app called day one. Day one, make sure you have the reminder on. I kept forgetting to do it. But it's just a really cool app on your phone, it's completely free, and what it allows you to do is actually take a picture from that day and journal about it. So that's my end of day journaling. You guys, I added that many, many years after I started Miracle Morning. So I started small, but also part of Miracle Morning is to work out each day, to do some type of physical exercise. And then also when I was doing full Miracle Morning, I'm not doing it now, I really should get back into it 'cause I miss it. There's also a part about reading and feeding your mind. It is such a beautiful thing in the morning to read for 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes, and just get your mind activated and moving and being inspired. So that to me is my Miracle Morning, that is how I structured my life.

0:12:12.3 KD: I will say it's my grounding zone, especially when I'm on the road. You better believe I do a very short meditation. When I've flown from West Coast to East Coast, and I've gotta be up at 7:00 AM Eastern time, which is 4:00 AM Pacific, which means I've gotta get up at 3:00 AM Pacific. I do a very, very short, it's usually a one-minute meditation, it is a quick let's do 10 jumping jacks and my journaling is very quick. And I definitely do not read. Sometimes I'll pop in a podcast or something on my way to the office, but you can simplify this, you can expand it based on where you're at. But I think the main point of it is, one, for me, it gave me clarity, it gave me a structure, it gave me something to focus on and to move forward with it. Also, for me now, is the way I set my day. I will promise you, if I do my morning routine in the morning, my days always flow so much better. Even if things go right, my days are much smoother. If I just happen, stands it and go with the flow, I feel very scattered.

0:13:10.4 KD: This week, I have been very scattered, I have not been doing them. And I also usually journal out, I planner on Sunday nights my whole week. Yes, I physically write in a planner, guys, I have it on my phone as well. But I like to see my white space and I like to add in personal things for myself and also different areas that I can add without cramping and over-filling my life. So hopefully, that gave you guys some ideas. I would just suggest that if you haven't set a solid morning routine, some of you... I know my excuse. You guys, I am an old lady at heart. [chuckle] I love to sleep. If I could, I'd be in bed at 7:30 and I probably could sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. So it's not about being a morning person, it's not about doing this to get your blood pumping. For me, it's a matter of discipline, of knowing that when I put my mind to something, I don't question it, I move forward, that when I say I'm going to do something, I have trained myself that I will act and I will execute. And it is a muscle that I build consistently.

0:14:10.3 KD: So for me, morning routines are a way for me to prove to myself that Kiera, when you have a standard, you will continue to uphold that standard. And then that translates into other parts of my life. My husband told me the other day, he said, "Kiera, I wish I could be as disciplined as you are." And I'm not OJ. You have no idea the work and the effort that I have put in to become this type of a person. I wasn't always this way. I used to be very, very sporadic, I still am highly emotional, and I think it's more... I have trained myself, I've gone through a lot of coaching, a lot of training, a lot of podcasts, a lot of events. I've spent a lot, we're talking six figures on coaching that I have spent, plus it's about to be probably more than that this year. But it's because I want to be continually reminded. I wanna surround myself with people that are better than me. I wanna elevate myself to a higher level, I want to be coached by people that know how to do it better than me, that have become successful personally, professionally, balanced with their wealth with their families, with their personal internal dialogues.

0:15:17.0 KD: And so for me, morning routines are a set of discipline. Discipline, in my opinion, equals freedom. Knowing that when I say Kiera, let's go, I go and I don't question. When I'm terrified to talk to a client or I had a client who just signed up as platinum believe it or not, they called in and they emailed and said, "Kiera, we didn't have the best experience with your team." You better believe that was one of the first phone calls I made. I said, "Hey, thank you so much for being willing to give me that feedback, I'd love to hear more." Guys, it terrifies me. I like to be liked. But that was somebody who was actually willing to give me loving, constructive criticism on how we could make our company better. Because of that, that client became a platinum client, shout out to them, and gratitude to them for giving me a second chance. But that was a moment where normally, I'd be a chicken and be like, "Maybe I'll call. Maybe I won't call." No, this was a I don't question, I act. And I will say because of my morning routine and the discipline that I've taught myself over time, I'm not perfect, guys. You better believe I am not working out every day, and that's something that today I was asking myself why.

0:16:24.8 KD: I've had a lot of pain this last year, my knee, my hip, my shoulder, my joints, or trying to get pregnant, I feel old. [laughter] And I questioned myself this morning as I was getting ready to podcast, Kiera, why are you not working out? And I had two answers. One, because I have lost confidence that I'm actually going to get better, which I gotta change that, that's just a story, that's not a fact. And two, I haven't stuck it into my day, I have not made it a priority. I'm really good with star charts. So I think what I'm going to do is give myself a 30-day challenge and have stars on my phone or something that I can celebrate. I'm a big personal satisfaction, maybe it's even in my journal, just putting it up there and saying what my day streak is of how many days to work out. But guys, we all go through lulls, we'll all go through times where we're super on it and super not.

0:17:14.9 KD: And what I'd say today is, just get back on track, get back on track of whatever that means for you, that way you can be directing your life versus managing your life. Be the creator of your life, not the manager of your life, and see what it does for you. This applies to all team members, this applies to every person out there. And I'm super, super thankful for a dear friend who saw a need in me, loved me enough to help me get this into a habit. So guys, if you need an accountability partner, if you need somebody to help you personally, professionally, that's all we do at the Dental A Team.

0:17:46.7 KD: So reach out if your 2021 wasn't the way you wanted it to be, if you wanna have a better 2022, please reach out. I'd love to help you, I'd love to welcome you in as a silver, gold or platinum client. Silver is one on one coaching calls for that accountability. Gold is team immersion, where we have Zoom calls and our Virtual Academy and our coaching calls for you and Platinum is, of course, the full immersion, the one that's our most popular by far, where we physically fly to your practice, engage with your team and help you guys out. So I'd love to help you guys, I'd love to be in your court, I'd love to have our team be the people who are your cheerleaders.

0:18:22.1 KD: I've had clients where I have a reminder on my phone to text them every day of how their morning went and how their Miracle Morning was going. So we go above and beyond. It's not something that is cookie cutter by any stretch, it's very customizable to our clients. And if you were to ask any of our clients, I know they'd tell you that the Dental A Team is customizable, that they go above and beyond, and that they're committed to your success and you see results. So guys, if that sounds like you, if that's who you are, reach out. I'd love to chat with you, no commitment at all, just find out and explore if this is even the right fit for you and for us. [email protected]. Alright, guys, go do your Miracle Morning. Have a fantastic day. And as always, thanks for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

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0:19:05.1 Speaker 2: And that wraps it up for another episode of The Dental A Team podcast. Thank you so much for listening and we'll talk to you next time.