"TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING EXCEPT SOMETHING WITHIN US WHICH IS ALWAYS SURPRISED BY CHANGE". THOMAS HARDY
"Time changes everything except that part of us that is always surprised by change." But why are we surprised by the changes? Why do we raise defensive walls every time something radically changes in our lives? Why do we resent them even though they are inevitable and many of them do not depend on us like for example the pandemic we are all experiencing? What is it in us that keeps us back on the well-known and well-trodden paths even when they have already taken us nowhere?
We fear change usually because it takes us out of our comfort zone. And it makes sense as they require more skills from us to cope and balance in the new situations. But most of the time we don't believe enough in ourselves, that we will succeed or that we have the strength to overcome obstacles as we have done many times in the past. The mind usually gets stuck on our failures. Because with this programming we grew almost the entirety of our adult lives. And for a lifetime we fight hard, working countless hours in our clinics to prove that we are worthy, to get a "thumbs up" from someone!
But this mindset, the very fear of change is a huge drag. It keeps us stuck in the past. And no man, if he looks back in his life, will find heaps of mistakes! tragic mistakes! But if we enter into our mistakes and with a masochistic and sadistic mood we recall them, then we cannot move forward. We are a present personality that dies. Yesterday, today and tomorrow are all in the present only to learn the valuable lessons. That is, to see what took place and what I had to learn. Otherwise the events are considered expired! We don't need to pop them up thick often and have them block us. If I've failed at a career goal in the past, don't I deserve to be freed from the guilt of failure so that I'm ready to pursue clearer choices? Don't I deserve to follow cleaner paths free from guilt and the burdens of repeated mistakes? Do I want to be the burdened donkey with the burdens of the past or the carefree horse galloping free in a new field?
Maybe the opinion of others still matters a lot to us (what will people say?) and we freeze at the thought of being exposed. It is very difficult for most people to introduce themselves and to re-introduce themselves to their social environment. However, introducing ourselves at regular intervals is an act that helps in our evolution. That is, I realize where I am, I state what I want to change in my current situation and in myself, I plan my change strategy, I get feedback from the developments and re-plan if necessary, I implement and congratulate myself for every small change step I adopted! This is a process that unfortunately we don't learn in any school except maybe in the school of our life with a lot of personal pain. But not everything needs to be done with pain and effort! This is also a negative belief that many of us in the dental field carry, which is why we self-masochistically spend countless hours within the four walls of our dental office!
But life is out there and the quality many of us give it is not what it deserves. That's why the discomfort often returns, like the little child who hasn't had enough of the game and is desperately asking to go to the playground! But we haven't thought that these changes that make us uncomfortable enrich at the same time that part of the little child inside us that is curious and wants to explore new games, new paths. With this sense of exploration any change should be welcome! Einstein said that you cannot get different results if you do the same things. In the light of his view, every change is an invitation to a new reality. How magical can this be!..
Lot's wife became a pillar of salt because she turned to look back at the burning city, Orpheus lost his Eurydice forever to the underworld when he turned back to look at her.. We don't need to reinvent the wheel when we have the knowledge to move forward one a step beyond those who preceded them. We can train ourselves to see with a new dynamic this difficult period that we are all experiencing so that we do not become immobilized as a pillar of salt and do not lose our own Eurydice, our soul in the midst of phobias and insecurity,
In these times when something new is trying to be born from the ashes and often the stench of the past, all the marketing masters worldwide call us to be more active, more effective and I would say perhaps more direct in redefining ourselves and manifesting of our professional identity. And luckily this is a tactic that is entirely trainable.
In the last few years I have been involved as a university student in research and study around dental marketing, health unit management and dental service quality assurance, I have discovered a wonderful world of opportunities that we unfortunately did not learn about in our student years. Thus, for the first time in the Dental School of Athens, the course "Application of the humanities and basic principles of Coaching in Dentistry" will run. I feel very grateful that the administration of the school accepted my proposal and the young dentists of the country will for the first time have the opportunity to work on the part of dental branding, i.e. their professional image from a new perspective alongside the other related courses of curriculum.
In order to go ahead and attempt this, I needed to see what skills I would need to increase; Yes, I did though. Did I have to break some glass ceilings and reverse some limiting beliefs that kept me stuck in my familiar but ultimately boring everyday life? Yes, but I did that too. Was I required to present myself differently than the dental world knew me to be? Yes, I did, but I pushed my limits one step further. These changes have only nice surprises for me. Why not for you?
Dr. Maria Antoniadou (republishable by Omni Press March 2021)
Founder of Coaching Spirit Gallery_Timebooster online time management training.
The next TIMEBOOSTER will run right after Easter (10/5-6/6/2021)
