Episode 666: 19,000 Days Left

Kiera starts off this episode with a little equation which leads to contemplating what each of us wants to do with our time left. It’s an opportunity to be intentional with each and every day, and apply what we ultimately want to do and become to our actions.

Episode resources:

Attend the 2023 DAT Summit

Reach out to Kiera 

Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast

Become Dental A-Team Platinum!

Review the podcast

Transcript:

0:00:05.8 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast. I'm your host, Kiera Dent, and I have 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 over 165 different offices coaching teams.

0:00:30.9 S1: Yep, 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 could help elevate teams, grow VIP experiences, reduce stress and create a team. Welcome to the Dental A Team Podcast. Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera and you guys, good morning. It's early for me, maybe it's not early for you, but wherever you are, good morning, good afternoon, good night. If it's in the middle of the night, I hope you doing alright, sorry, you can't sleep, or maybe you'd just like to be up late, I don't know, but it's super fun and super exciting to think that you and I can have a conversation. You and I can hang out wherever you are, I heard people take us to the gym and you're working out or you are on road trips or you're driving to and from work, and I just wanna say thank you, thank you for being here. I do believe that the greatest compliment is not a referral, guys, I know you thought I was gonna go there, it's not. I actually think the greatest compliment is sharing your time.

0:01:32.4 S1: I think time is one of our... It's our only asset that we don't have enough of. I'm turning 37, guys, in a couple of months. And I know some of you might think I'm a young buck. And some of you might think I'm an old buck, which is weird, I never thought I'd actually hit 37. I didn't think I would die. I just, I don't know, I never get to see past my 30s, 33 was as far as I think I ever thought I'd get, 'cause three's my favorite number. And once you pass double of that, I don't know what else is left, but it's interesting and I'm starting to realize that time is something you really want.

0:02:08.7 S1: And I remember I was once at a conference and maybe this will be inspiring for you guys, maybe it's not. And I remember in the room they asked, "Okay, if you could have the rest of your life... " So let's say you're gonna live to 90, and I think that that's where they put. "So from here until 90, or you can have $5 million, which would you take?" And it was really interesting, and I want you guys to think right now, if you're gonna have from where you are right now to the age 90, all those years left of your life or $5 million, what would you take?

0:02:42.3 S1: And I remember in that room, most people said, "There's no way I'd give up my time." And I know for me, I was like, "Yeah, where I am, even for $5 million, you go get it today and you can use it for the rest of your life." Tax-free, don't worry guys, we're not paying government tax money for you, so it's not like you're only getting half of that. For those of you who understand, you understand. [chuckle] But I remember that, and it was just interesting, because I have more time left. But if you really calculate, so okay, we're gonna do some fun math, you guys do the same math.

0:03:11.3 S1: So let's pretend we're all gonna live to 90, which is pretty generous, and then take your age and subtract it. Alright, so for me, that means I have 53 years left. Alright, now I'm gonna times that by 365, it's gonna give me how many days? So figure out your number... My number is 19,345 days. Guys, when I think about how many days I have left on this Earth, that's if I make it to 90, which again, that's pretty generous, maybe some of us will only make it to 85 or 75 and maybe it'll even get cut short.

0:03:42.2 S1: Alright, so I've got 19,345 days. Now, that's not that many days, now if I wanna... Let's times that by 60, okay? 'Cause that's gonna give me how many hours... Excuse me, let's times that by 24, 'cause that's gonna give us how many hours? About 19,000 days times by 24. I have 464,280 hours left. That's kind of... Did you hear me swallow? What about you take it? Okay so the way you do it, is let's go 90 or if you think you'll only live to 75 or 85, subtract it by the age you are right now, that's gonna be how many years you have left. Well, 53 years, felt pretty good, then we're gonna times that by 365 to see how many days we have left in those years.

0:04:31.4 S1: There's only 19,000 years for me. Then you can times it by 24, 'cause there's 24 hours in every single day. That's how many hours you have left. For me, it's 464,000, yeah, that feels like a lot, but when I looked at that... How many days? 19,000. Now I get it, 19,000, that feels like a lot 'cause 53 years... When I look, 19,000 days. Now if you guys really, really wanna get into some math equations with me, okay, so I'm gonna divide mine by 24 to get me back to my days, 19,345 days.

0:05:05.0 S1: Alright, I typically work... I'm typically home though... So let me divide that by 365 to get me back up to my 53 years. Of those, how many days of 365 days are you actually at the practice? Okay, so of 365, I know I usually work five days at Dental A Team and I'm gonna times that by 52 weeks, so in a year I have 260 days typically at work, alright, of a year; 260 minus 365, I know the math is wrong, I only do 105 days at home on my weekends, so now if I know I've got 53 years left, times 105 days, 'cause that's not working days, I only have 5565 left. Now, of course, I'm probably not gonna be working five days up to 90, I get it, guys, there's some holes in this.

0:06:03.3 S1: But that's where I feel like time is our most valuable and most precious commodity. Would you take the $5 million? Would you take the years left in your life? Break it down, I'm still stuck on 19,000 guys, 19,000 days left. I'm really getting into a mid-life crisis, what's your number? How many days do you have left? And my question is right now, how are you living those days? How are you spending those?

0:06:35.6 S1: If you love your job... When I just looked at that, guy's, non-working days are 5565 between now and 90? I do love Dental A Team, and I do love podcasting, and I do love being with offices, I'm not going to deny that for any stretch of the imagination. I thoroughly love my time, I thoroughly love the things I get to do. I also need to be realistic. So I just wanna say thank you for sharing your time and we're gonna keep going in on this, "Where are we spending our time, and how can we maximize, amplify?" And it doesn't mean for me at least cutting sleep. 'Cause you could get a few more hours in there, you could get a few more magic moments as I like to call them, but what are we doing? Are we being intentional with our time with our loved ones, this is where it really dials down, and I remember doing these exercises and I'm having you guys do it, and it's been a while, 19,000, guys. What's your number? Some of you might be, "Kiera, enjoy that 19,000, I've got 10,000. Woohoo." That made my throat swallow a little bit more.

0:07:37.7 S1: What are we doing with that time? So today, I really wanna dive into it. I believe that serving and contribution and giving back and being with our clients is truly one of the greatest and happiest things you can ever do. It's fulfilling. For me, providing a company where I have an awesome freaking culture and team members love working here. Yeah, it's hard, I had a team member yesterday say, "Kiera this is really, really hard." And I said, "Yeah, it's hard, it's hard to be a coach. It's hard to be... " Mental stamina and serving and giving back, it's so fulfilling and so exhausting, all mixed into the exact same token.

0:08:07.9 S1: New dentist, I know you feel the same way. Existing dentist, it's a little bit easier, you've found your stride, you've found your rhythm, you've found a way to make it easier. What are you doing with that time though? And what do you want to do with that time? For me, at least once a year, usually every quarter, I assess my time. Where am I spending it? What's sucking my time? How could I outsource some of this? How could I give myself more time? Because at the end of the day, guys, we only have so many hours, and that's again, being generous, if I make it to 90. What if I were to only have one year left? And I know we always talk about this and we always think that death is so far away from us.

0:08:46.8 S1: But I also wanna make sure you're living. There's a book called "Die With Zero", and I'm not 100% sure what side of this coin I sit on, 'cause it's a very interesting thing of like... And I watched a friend and he literally was saving... He was a CPA, a very, very, very successful CPA, and had so much freaking money, guys, I'm talking bajillionaire status. I don't actually know his exact number, but I do know his number, and net worth was exceptionally high. And he was so scared to spend money, he was not living, and I don't know what clicked, he read this book, he's living it, and I'm not saying to be frivolous. But it's been interesting, this year he and I check in almost every single week, and he started living.

0:09:29.2 S1: He took his dad to the Super Bowl, his dad had always wanted to go, and he bought... It was really interesting, and I'm not saying be frivolous like this, this is just how this guy wanted to live. Because he realized he hadn't been living, and when you look at that number, it's like, "What am I gonna do differently?" He surprised his dad.

0:09:50.7 S1: It makes me like... Gosh, guys, I'm getting old. I'm getting so emotional over here. He surprised his dad with Super Bowl tickets and his dad was beyond excited. And then he had one more surprise up his sleeves, he told his dad that the tickets were pretty high up, and they went and they sat, way high up there before the Super Bowl started this year. And then he said, "Actually dad I have got one more surprise" and they walked clear down to the fourth row. His dad was stunned. His dad, I don't think has 19,000 days left in his world, his dad has a lot less. But guess what? That was a moment that literally filled my friend's heart and soul.

0:10:28.0 S1: He also... His wife has been begging and asking to remodel his kitchen, they're doing it. He's taking his family on a trip this year, and I'm not saying again to be lavish, but I'm gonna say those magic moments, again, they don't need to be that costly, they don't need to be that exact exuberant. But what are we doing with those days we do have left. How are we spending that time? Are we maybe putting in more time in than is necessary? I don't know, you only can make that decision, I'm not here to tell you.

0:10:56.4 S1: Sometimes I'm like, "Kiera, you do not need to work as much as you want to, as much as you do." And I'm like, "Yeah, but I actually really love it." Guys, I don't have kids, my kid is Dental A Team, we've tried... We've gone through IVF. Adoption, maybe I'm not sure, guys, I'm very anxious about it. It gives me a lot of anxiety for my own personal reasons, which I do not need any... It's fine, everything's fine, guys. That's my own personal journey, I'm not ready to be open about it quite yet.

0:11:22.5 S1: But for me, I get so much satisfaction of serving offices and serving clients and getting on the podcast and talking to you guys, and knowing that someone out there today, I just inspired cause they looked at their number and they're like, "That's it, I'm gonna go freaking live right now. I'm going to do things differently." I feel like it's like in "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, where Scrooge has that moment, an epiphany, an awakening. And I remember doing another exercise, which you guys can do, where I started thinking about, "If I didn't live like what would that cost actually be?"

0:11:57.3 S1: And I went deep, guys, this is a terrifying exercise, don't do it while you're driving. But I started thinking, "Alright, Kiera, what if you just constantly do X, Y or Z? How far does that take you? What things am I missing out on?" And again, you don't need to have FOMO or LOMO, Love of Missing Out or Fear of Missing Out, whoever you are. But I just really want you to think about that time, time at work. And so, therefore, make it more intentional, make sure when you are at work that it's fulfilling and that... For me, if I'm gonna be at work and I'm giving up that time away from Jason, I'm gonna make sure it counts, I'm gonna make sure I'm positively impacting people every single freaking day. I'm gonna make sure I'm delivering more and more and more, and that doesn't mean more time, it just means I'm gonna deliver more value than those people ever expected.

0:12:42.5 S1: I'm gonna show up again and again and again. I'm gonna make it better, because I'm gonna work, I'm gonna run hard. Because if I'm giving up that time, I'm gonna make it worthwhile and fulfill my bucket, because I was able to serve somebody else. Whatever fills your bucket, guys, do that. But make sure we're intentional with our time, make sure you look at that number and see how many more days, and who do you ultimately wanna become. What do you want it to be? What do you want in those last... Shoot, 464 hours... 464,000, guys I'm not being dramatic, hours.

0:13:17.0 S1: And are we actually using... I look at it, and I'm going to lovingly say, "Is social media getting you further? Is checking... Is being comparing to other people, really how you wanna spend the rest of those hours?" I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying utilize it for what it's worth. Are you getting outside, are you exercising your body, are you fueling your mind with things that are actually going to drive you forward and in a way you want to? Or are you allowing life to dictate your inner thoughts and actions? I'm not here to judge, I'm here to ask questions. That's one of my favorite things about consulting, not here to judge, not here to condone or to condemn, I'm here to love, I'm here to challenge, I'm here to inspire and I'm here to be a resource. Because that's my favorite thing about consulting, it's helping people figure out their dream life that they wanna have, and then building a road map of exactly how we're gonna do it.

0:14:08.2 S1: If you said, "Kiera, I wanna work one day a week, and I wanna make X amount. Boo-yah, baby, let's do it." If you said, "I wanna work five days a week, and I wanna have this kind of a practice, and I wanna employ this people. Fantastic, let's do it." If you said, "Hey, I wanna get systematized, so I don't feel like I've got to take work home with me every day. Let's do it." Whatever your dream is, whatever your desire is, there's a map and a way to do it, and that's literally what I'm obsessed about, that's why I'm still consulting, six years in guys.

0:14:37.9 S1: Consulting is a lot. It's amazing, but you are literally taking on people's problems and challenges and figuring it out and thinking about them, and it does not shut off at night. It goes on, because you're like, "Oh, my gosh." It's a mind game constantly, where you're trying to figure out the puzzle pieces, to help and serve, and I love it. I'm addicted to it, and it's freaking so much fun, and I'm really, really good at it, and our team is freaking amazing at it. So if you wanna have help building that map and figuring it out, putting systems into play that will actually make it a reality, let's do it.

0:15:07.7 S1: Email me or go on our website and schedule a call, thedentalateam.com, I would love to help you with it. I just want you to know that number. What's that number, and what are you doing with it? And I hope it doesn't terrify you, I hope it inspires you. Because at the end of the day, guys, the only thing we have truly is this moment, right here, right now. It's the only guarantee you've got. So I hope you're living it, I hope you're enjoying it, I hope you're making these as magic moments and collecting magic moments, as you go along, and remembering those magic moments because to me, that's what living is, and I hope you guys are doing it. And as always, guys, thanks so much for listening, and I'll catch you next time on The Dental A Team Podcast.

0:15:52.3 S1: 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.

[music]