This isn’t an easy place to be. I had a rude awakening in my first year in business during which I metamorphosed from a confident, knowledgeable, skilful optometrist into wet-behind the ears, inexperienced business owner who finds out daily something else he doesn’t know how to do. It’s hard going back to square one and learning a whole new skill set and mindset. Especially when you must do it by yourself. No tutors. No lectures every week. No exams. No one pushing you. And ultimately no-one caring whether you figure this out or not. But that is what it takes.
The most successful practice owners become students of business and students of success and achievement. They study it. They work at it. They do it and build their experience and confidence. And ultimately, they grow to love it. Today I love running my businesses more than I love optometry because of the journey it has been and continues to be. It is so much more complex and difficult than just being an optometrist but that is what makes it so rewarding. It forces me to keep growing every year and that feels good. But if you’re just getting started, or just awakening to your necessary journey as a business owner, it can be a daunting prospect. Keep telling yourself the future is bright, and then make it so.
It will always be challenging. It will often be daunting. Believe me, the conversations I have with my mastermind members, who are running extremely successful practices, are not all sunshine and peaches. There are big, daunting problems to be dealt with. The same goes for me. I don’t spend my days smelling the roses and whistling while I work. I spend my days fixing problems. That’s the price of success. It’s painful, but that’s the reason you are supposed to be making more money than being just an optometrist.
The most successful people make more money because they have a much higher tolerance for pain. They can handle bigger problems. They can shoulder more responsibility. They can get more done and know how to create value for others. And they are rewarded for that.
So, as I said it’s not easy being you. And that’s the purpose of Optical Success Academy. To provide a place where you are encouraged to think like an entrepreneur and learn how to do it more successfully.
One of the things I am proudest of in the nine years of OSA is the sense of ‘place’ we have created. Our conferences and mastermind meetings are unlike any other optical conferences because this is a different kind of place. And that’s immediately obvious to anyone coming into our environment. I’m told it over and over again. There is a different quality of conversation. There is an openness. There is a sense of belonging and camaraderie and like-mindedness. And I think we’re collectively doing good work here, you and I, moving our industry forward, specifically independents, in a better direction.
More than anything, Optical Success Academy is a community. You are the sum of the people you hang around with. Your attitude becomes the attitude of the people around you. And in OSA I’m happy to say you’re surrounded by people who take you up several notch in terms of being positive, humble, ambitious, generous, courageous, resilient and more. Thanks for being part of this community!