Performance Smiles Est. 18 Sept 2017

Someone once told me that in life you should aim to stay happy – Smiling is a good start – so why not make the most of it?

Performance Smiles is a lifestyle. We practice dentistry but smiling day to day helps point the moral compass of the rest of life in the right direction. Some say life is about striving for happiness…and why not! Sitting down and contemplating life and assessing my own ethical values and approach to family, friends and community, it was apparent being happy is one very important aspiration but in isolation fails to really move the needle intrinsically. So what is my take on the ultimate goal?

Answer: ‘To live a good life.’

Everyone wants a good life. We don’t wish a bad life upon ourselves or others intentionally.

What contributes to a good life can be discussed until the cows come home and will be different for everyone. Having pondered on it for a while  I found it useful to reverse engineer my ideal values and agreed upon the 4L’s:

to: Love:Learn:Lead and Leave a Legacy.

How one goes about attaining these things is up to the individual but to provide a mental framework I offer the 3H’s to stay:

Hungry:Happy and Humble

Hungry: set goals – something that gets you out of bed early – keeps you sharp and motivates you. That flux between periods of aniexty and boredom – the sweet spot invetween called flo. You’ll be set to learn and you’ll likely lead on your journey. Most people can be excellent at one thing, very good at two things and good at three. Set your goals carefully. Family, mental well-being, physical well-being.  Anyone of them can slip away if neglected for too long.

Be Humble – always learn from those around you. Listen. Take criticism. Heed  to the naysayers – you’ll learn, you’ll adapt and likely be seen as a leader for doing it. Endeavour to be gracious and absorbing. Try not to criticise.

Stay Happy- build deep and meaningful relationships. You’ll experience love. Most people can extrapolate this to no more than 6 people. Chose wisely where you truely devote your emotional energy so as not to squander it. Give back – Not money. Don’t get me wrong Philanthropy is a great thing but the best currency is your time. When you spend that on others it is truely a gift. Finally, have a ‘get to’ not ‘have to’ approach to life. You get to go to work, you get to work out, you get to go to the supermarket to buy food and you get to change your daughters dirty nappy. It’s all amazing. When all is said and done, without doubt you’ll have impacted people and your legacy will be indelible however big or small.