Episode #492: How to Rethink Your Thinking with Kirk Behrendt & Heather Crockett

Whether you realize it or not, you talk to yourself throughout your day. And 80% of that self-talk is negative! So, to help you put a stop to the negative thinking, Kirk Behrendt brings back Heather Crockett, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, with tips on how to retrain your brain with positivity. Get rid of the stinkin’ thinkin’ for a better practice and better life! To learn how, listen to Episode 492 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Heather’s email: [email protected] 
• Heather’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.r.crockett  
• Heather’s social media: @actdental 
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Previous Best Practices episodes with Heather: https://www.youtube.com/user/actdental/search?query=heather%20crockett

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Sean Covey and Stephen R. Covey: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people-30th-anniversary-edition-sean-covey/12583202?ean=9781982137274

Main Takeaways:

• Positivity is always possible.
• Make a habit of practicing gratitude.
• Be mindful of who you surround yourself with.
• You have a choice in how you respond to stress.
• Don't try to figure out your business on your own.

Quotes:

• “You, as a dentist or a dental professional, your hands can only go so far, and that's it. Your back can only go so far. But your brain has infinite potential. And what you want to do is make better choices over time.” (2:26—2:40) -Kirk
• “[This mindset is] not just important for dentists, it’s important for everyone. You've got to keep that positive outlook. You've got to keep a mindset that is happy and not depressed all the time.” (3:01—3:15)
• “It’s really not a good idea to try to figure out a business on your own.” (7:12—7:16) -Kirk
• “80% of your own self-talk is negative. You need someone else to come in and point out all of the great things that you're doing. I do that all the time [as a coach] with my clients and say, ‘You've got to stop being so hard on yourself. Look at all these amazing things that you've accomplished. And we’ve come so far.’ We need to give space to the things that we need to celebrate.” (7:53—8:13)
• “One of my own personal core values is contagious enthusiasm. I really don't like grumpy attitude. Guess what? I'll get a text message, I'll get an email, I'll get a phone call with bad news. What am I going to do with this bad news? Right? I can really complain about it, or I can reflect on it and, ‘Okay. Let's think of what we can do now to be positive moving forward.’ And I oftentimes will help my clients move into that positive direction.” (8:26—8:57)
• “[Stephen] Covey said this, which I love. This is so important to think about. He said between stimulus and response, there's a space. And in that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. And in our response lies our growth and our happiness.” (9:18—9:36) -Kirk
• “People say garbage in, garbage out. That is not true. Garbage in, garbage stays.” . . . If you're not feeling good, you're feeling a little negative, what's going on in your brain? What are you feeding your brain? Because what you're feeding it, it’s staying.” (11:26—11:43) -Kirk
• “Who you surround yourself with will either fill you with that garbage — because misery loves company — or you can surround yourself with people that are there to help buoy you up, because they know that you guys all need that positive energy and you guys will feed off of each other when you come together.” (13:14—13:34)
• “When you start to think bad, it affects how you parent. It affects how you live with somebody else. It affects how you lead other people.” (14:31—14:40) -Kirk
• “Your problems are how you think about your problems. So, you might think, ‘Well, people in my town don't really like fee-for-service,’ or, ‘I have too much PPO.’ That is not the real problem. The real problem is how you think about your business.” (15:16—15:27) -Kirk
• “One of the other thoughts you might have is, ‘Well, there are no great people out there.’ That is not true. There are a lot of great people out there. They're just not working in your office yet. So, that's a stinkin’ thinkin’ deal. You've got to be around the right type of people that are helping you think better.” (15:28—15:44) -Kirk
• “If your story isn't a great one, the cool thing about stories is you could start telling yourself a better story. And stories change. Some stories, chapter after chapter, get better and better and better. And then, they have big challenges that come, and they overcome those challenges. And sometimes, they lose them. But the fact is, they're telling themselves a better story, retraining their brain, and they're becoming better writers of their own story.” (21:04—21:28) -Kirk
• “Even in the worst situations, you can find good.” (21:57—22:01) -Kirk
• “[Is] positivity always possible? Yes. Even in the most difficult circumstances. And if you're finding it hard to do that, I think gratitude is a great place to start. When you really experience gratitude, it cuts off the air supply to all other emotions. If you ever know anybody that's lived through cancer and made it to the other side, or survived something incredibly difficult, their hearts are filled with gratitude, which makes it very hard for them to be angry and frustrated. And so, even if you feel like, ‘Gosh, I'm a little frustrated,’ try to practice some gratitude.” (22:39—23:15) -Kirk
• “Understand and know that challenges and issues are going to come your way. That's life. We’re going to have those obstacles. How we think about that, how we approach it — the glass is half full, not half empty. Having that positive mindset, reflecting for a moment — be in that space in how you behave rather than the knee-jerk reaction. Give your brain some space.” (23:45—24:13)
• “We [as adults] have the choice to have that positivity because it is always, always possible.” (24:37—24:44)
• “Hang around with people that go, ‘No problem.’ It’s a good thing to hang around with people who say, ‘No problem. Oh, that's a problem, but no problem.’ You'll find that they naturally take these obstacles, and they make them the path, and they succeed through them.” (25:32—25:49) -Kirk

Snippets:

• 0:00 Introduction.
• 2:52 Why this is an important topic.
• 6:15 Set a communication rhythm.
• 7:03 Give space to be positive and celebrate.
• 8:57 Choose how to respond to stress and circumstances.
• 11:20 What are you feeding your brain?
• 13:05 Be aware of the people you surround yourself with.
• 15:04 Your problems are how you think about your problems.
• 16:25 Teaching kids how to think better.
• 19:02 The obstacle is the solution.
• 21:32 Find the silver lining in any situation.
• 23:38 Last thoughts.

Heather Crockett Bio:

Heather Crockett is a Lead Practice Coach who finds joy in not only improving practices but improving the lives of those she coaches as well. With over 20 years of combined experience in assisting, office management, and clinical dental hygiene, her awareness supports many aspects of the practice setting.

Heather received her dental hygiene degree from the Utah College of Dental Hygiene in 2008. Networking in the dental community comes easy to her, and she loves to connect with like-minded colleagues on social media. Heather enjoys both attending and presenting continuing education to expand her knowledge and learn from her friends and colleagues.

She enjoys hanging out with her husband, three sons, and their dog, Moki, scrolling through social media, watching football, and traveling.