There are a lot of theories floating around about success. Literally thousands of books have been written on the subject, each with their own insights or approach on what creates and drives success.

You could spend a lifetime studying everything, digesting all the advice and terminology. Most people don’t have the time or interest in doing that. So, when faced with success limitations, they often attribute the cause of their limitations to certain popular myths about what it takes to be successful.

The myths of success

Myths are driven by highly publicized stories or examples in our news or culture. Think about everything you have heard or read about the success of tech billionaires, blockbuster movies or shows, superstar musical artists, etc.

The myths behind these stories often emphasize that their success has been driven by one of the following:

• Luck – They were in the right place at the right time when external circumstances coincided to vault them into success. It could have been anyone in a similar position, and it just happened that they were chosen.
• Talent – They have some uncommon innate quality that makes them uniquely eligible for success. Without that talent, they would be just as invisible and limited as everyone else.
• Skill – They have learned, practiced and honed their abilities to an exceptional level. Their success is a recognition of the excellence they consistently deliver in their selected profession.
• Perseverance – They have “put in their dues” day after day, month after month, and year after year until it finally paid off. “Believe in yourself and never give up!” is the mantra of this myth.

Certainly luck, talent, skill and perseverance can all be great contributors to any success story. It’s a romantic story where the underdog succeeds against all odds. But it’s equally true that lucky breaks can be squandered, talent can be undiscovered, skill can be unrewarded, and perseverance can be a no-win scenario.

The truth of success

Taylor Swift is arguably the most popular and successful musical artist in the world right now. Her Eras Tour generated over $2 billion in ticket sales, the highest of any artist tour ever. If you look at her rise to stardom, you can find elements of luck, talent, skill and perseverance throughout. There’s no arguing that she is gifted.

But the truth of success, behind that fairytale story, is that there is a highly efficient and effective business “machine” driving her success. And that machine is driven by systems and people.

No business can succeed without systems that structure and focus energy and actions to achieve goals and results. It doesn’t matter if you have some of the success myths supporting you. There are lots of clinically excellent endodontists who are in practices that are vastly underperforming their potential for growth and success.

Systems and practice success

Endodontics is a relatively simple business model. The doctor’s time utilization is key, and the financial success of the business is straightforward. Because most cases are of similar value, practice success fundamentally depends on the number of cases that a doctor completes in a day, month and year.

If you know what your overheads are, and you know what level of success and profitability you want to achieve, then it is relatively simple to calculate what your revenues need to be. Then it’s all about your systems:

• What scheduling system allows the doctor to complete the number of cases needed to bring in the goal revenues?
• What team system (both administrative and clinical) supports the doctor at the right level so they can complete the scheduled cases?
• What marketing system builds referral dynamics so that the right number of cases are being referred and scheduled?

Most doctors have the clinical ability to complete enough cases to achieve their highest goals. However, they haven’t built out the practice systems to make that level of productivity easy and stress-free. If you are feeling limits around growth and financial success, the solution is focusing on your systems.