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941: How to Find Fulfillment & Happiness When You Can't – Dr. Kevin Groth

Are you feeling exhausted, unfulfilled, and unhappy? It doesn't have to stay that way! In this episode, Kirk Behrendt brings back Dr. Kevin Groth, a long-time ACT client, to share his journey from rock-bottom to success and the steps you can take to find fulfillment and happiness. To learn how to reframe adversity and make your life better, listen to Episode 941 of The Best Practices Show!

 

Learn More About Dr. Groth:

Learn More About ACT Dental:

More Helpful Links for a Better Practice & a Better Life:

Episode Resources:

Main Takeaways:

  • Out of every adversity comes opportunities.
  • Don't try to hide and solve problems on your own.
  • Stop trying to do it all. Delegate to protect your time.
  • Learn how to take care of your physical and mental health.
  • Identify the things that will simplify your life. Simplicity leads to joy.
  • Start saying no more often — especially to things you don't want to do.

Quotes:

“I looked at all different options for careers, and the thing that I came to realize is that dentistry is the most amazing profession out there for me. It's not for some people. But for me, it gives me the freedom to choose my schedule, it gives me the time with my wife and kids, it gives me the opportunity to work with people, it gives me the opportunity to work with my hands and problem solve, and it gives me an income that supports a lifestyle that I would like to have. And while it may not be the most glamorous, or it may not be the most aligned with what I would truly find fulfilling, necessarily, I have found fulfillment within the career and joy within the career now — and it started with that moment at rock-bottom when I was crying in my new custom home and all the things that were collapsing on me at the time.” (5:02—5:51) -Dr. Groth

“You can't solve these problems by yourself. I think dentists, especially, are very good at hiding their problems — very, very good at not acknowledging that something is not okay.” (7:29—7:43) -Dr. Groth

“One of my heroes once said, ‘The happiest people I know are the ones that have the simplest lives.’” (9:10—9:15) -Dr. Groth

“The definition of simplicity, to me, is having the freedom to do what you want to do when you want to do it. For me, my definition of that is having the time and the energy to devote to my family. That's my priority right now. That's the decision-making premise of how I go about my day when I choose to take on obligations or not is, how is this going to affect that? If it robs my time with them, it better be worth it.” (11:11—11:44) -Dr. Groth

“I simplified my week to Monday through Thursday. I work 174 days a year, and cutting that less, and less, and less. Our hours had already been shortened. So, for me, I get out at 2:00 or 3:00 every day, and I go pick up my kids every single day of the week. That's a great thing for me because it gets me out of the office and gets me home. For me, it's restructuring those times and making sure that I have a consistency and simplicity to my day that allows for fulfillment within my dream, which is time with my wife and kids.” (12:22—12:59) -Dr. Groth

“I started really committing my energy to the people. I've been very open that I don't wake up in the morning excited to prep number 19. That doesn't get me out of bed in the morning. So, I think that was where I started really questioning my role in dentistry, in general, because I'm not the technical type of obsessive guy. That's not my nature. There are a lot of people out there that are. I love that, and I think that's a cool way of finding joy and fulfillment in your career. But, for me, I had to almost reinvent my idea of how I do dentistry to reinvest in the relationship side of patient care. That's my jam. I love people. I love connecting with people. It's deeply connected to my interest in other people's interests. So, the more I've doubled down and tripled down on the people and what they're about, the day became lighter and more fun.” (14:50—15:47) -Dr. Groth

“People are not going to remember that you did a great job on that crown. They don't care about the margins. They care about how you made them feel in that appointment, and they care about the person you are.” (16:36—16:49) -Dr. Groth

“I will never forget the time when [my team] said, ‘Hey, we canceled your afternoon. We're taking you out to lunch. You need a break. We’re here for you.’ It was awesome. That was the best . . . It kind of was [an intervention], and it was almost like a wake-up for me, being like, ‘Okay. My energy is not right, and they can see it. They're here to protect me, and they're here to lend a hand in any capacity.’ I believe in humans. Humans have the innate ability to want to help other people. If you don't give someone the right or the opportunity to help them, you're robbing them of something that will bring purpose and joy. It's a great feeling for someone to come to you and say, ‘I need your help.’ I think the majority of people would openly volunteer, ‘What can I do for you?’” (18:09—18:58) -Dr. Groth

“You really, really, really, really need to take care of yourself. I think one clear observation of that is that sometimes, let's say you have a week of patients, and everything goes well. Like, you can't go wrong. You're in this flow state and all the patients are awesome. You're vibing with them, and the dentistry is great, and their experience is really good. Then, there are other weeks where it seems like, ‘My God, I feel like I got stacked on a schedule with terrible patient, after terrible patient, after terrible patient. It's just a drag.’ That's not your front desk scheduling you — it's your energy that is. Your energy is what you bring to the week. So, if you're not taking care of yourself with your health from a sleep aspect, or how you eat, or how you physically move, or your stress levels are out of control, that's going to carry forward into your practice. I can promise you that. So, I've really heavily invested in taking care of my energy so that I can bring my best self to my patients and my team, and vice versa to my home.” (20:19—21:23) -Dr. Groth

“In dentistry, we try and do it all. So, you're going to try and make the temporaries, write the notes, send the lab scripts, send the photos, take the photos — you're doing basically everything in your office. What I've come to realize is the importance of delegating. A lot of dentists don't want to take away that control. But when you take it on yourself, it doesn't get done. It's just this constant to-do list that's either in your head or next to your office that you need to get all this stuff done, and you're not leaving your office till several hours after the office closes because you have so much work to do.” (26:27—27:05) -Dr. Groth

“It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when we have a hard time. What that's going to be and how it's going to be is going to unfold as it needs to. But you can really value and appreciate times for what they are. When they're good, ‘I'm in a good place.’ But also, when you're in a bad place, understand that's also part of life too, because you can't get better without the bad. You need to be roughened up a little bit in order to be polished. To me, I see the value in the bad. Know like, ‘Okay, I'm in a hard time.’ But that's going to pass, and you're going to learn something from that moment, and you're going to become a better version of yourself through that hardship.” (32:05—32:51) -Dr. Groth

“Life is a constant battle of saying no to a lot of decisions. That's a big thing too, is the complexities add when you say yes to everything.” (36:58—37:07) -Dr. Groth

“Only three years later, I'm on a podcast talking about how much better life can be. I think in the thick of it, you always feel like your problems are deeper than what they actually are. So, having people to go to, having people to reflect and understand you for who you are and what you're going through is an important component. You're not alone, and the struggles are real. The depth you're in will always be something you can climb out of. It's just a matter of how and who is going to help support you on the way up.” (38:38—39:20) -Dr. Groth

“We should celebrate when people are in their low points because you know that, ‘I know something great is going to come out of this.’ You don't see that sign because you're in the thick of it, but I know that the person who is going to come from this is going to be an amazing evolution, and I can't wait to meet that man or woman and the lessons that you can share from your struggles and the perspective that comes from it.” (39:26—39:48) -Dr. Groth

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

1:34 Hitting rock-bottom.

5:52 The evolution of Dr. Groth’s practice style.

8:47 Reframing adversity.

10:16 Simplicity, defined.

12:59 Deciding to drop insurance.

17:21 The importance of having a great team.

20:09 Learn to take care of yourself.

26:20 Don't try to do it all.

28:44 Protect your time.

31:30 Hardship brings opportunities.

33:09 Find ways to simplify your life.

36:12 Say no more often.

38:26 Final thoughts.

40:04 How to get in touch with Dr. Groth.

Dr. Kevin Groth Bio:

Dr. Kevin Groth’s primary goal is for every person to walk out of his office knowing that they received the highest-quality, most personalized care possible. Dentistry is more than just a profession for Dr. Groth. He sees every patient as an extension of his own family. When you are in his chair, you’ll always be treated well. His favorite part of being a dentist is that every day and every patient is different. He loves the variety of people he gets to meet and procedures he performs to help patients maintain their smiles. 

Since graduating from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Dr. Groth has been recognized locally by Hour Detroit Magazine as a Top Dentist, and nationally as a Top Doc. As a passionate dentist who wants to provide the best care for his patients, he pursues continuing education through The Dawson Academy, serves on the executive board of the Periodontal Bunting Society, and is the Assistant Clinical Director of the Society of Comprehensive Dentists. He has also served as an adjunct clinical faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. 
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