Recently while wandering through a busy shopping mall and passing by a variety type store that sold stationary, cards and office supplies my eye caught a plaque-like sign displaying sage advice: You can’t change your past, but you can change your future. As the wise words kind of bounced around in my mind, and gave thought to some of the things that happened down through the years, the truth was very evident, “You bet: you can’t change the past but you can change the future”.
Coming home from shopping with thoughts of the past and future still in mind I turned to the faithful computer to find the saying’s origin. And there it was – Reggie Dabbs of Ft. Myer’s, Florida. Reggie was born in Tennessee to an unwed teenager who turned to her former teacher Mrs. Dabbs whom she recalled saying, “If you ever need anything call me.” Mrs. Dabbs and her husband took the teenager under their care until Reggie was born and ultimately adopted him and gave him the Dabbs name. After graduating from college Reggie began public speaking and since 1987 has been a very popular in-demand public school speaker helping teenagers meet their problems head-on and overcome them.
Just stop for a moment and think about what our lives are like right now. Isn’t it the truth: You can’t change your past, but you can change your future. And isn’t that what The Professional Advisory is trying to do – help dentists change their future so that they themselves, their patients and their families have lives that are even more fulfilling and more rewarding. Consider Colin Ross’ article regarding Staging a Dental Practice where in selling a practice staging can result in prices as much as 20 per cent higher than un-staged properties. Whatever your tax experience has been in the past, David Chong Yen and Louise Wong’s article, Tax Traps When Selling Your Dental Practice To Your Children, certainly shows more profitable changes for the future.
Whatever a dentist’s working arrangement has been in the past, David Rosenthal’s article, Associate Agreements From the Principal’s Perspective, considers the numerous issues to consider when hiring an associate dentist. And certainly these issues can change any dentist’s future. Ron Weintraub makes it clear that whatever the past may be you can’t change it but The Morning Huddle is a win-win exercise that can certainly help change the future of any practice. Rent Rip-Offs of the past, there’s not much you can do about them. However, Ian Tom’s advice on retaining a highly qualified and experienced lease expert can do a great deal to change your future – save stress, time and money. We are aware that there are dentists whose financial planning in the past has not been much of a success. However, in reading Mark McNulty’s Legends of the Great Succession it is evident from the interviews with two of his clients that indeed, you can change your financial future.
We are told that Reggie Dabbs is fast becoming one of most in-demand speakers to help teenagers meet their problems head-on and shares with them frequently: You can’t change your past, but you can change your future. And for all of us within the dental community, we too are thankful for the advice. PA
