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What’s Your Excuse? by Jay Geier

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What’s Your Excuse? 

Reframe your mindset and practice good mental posture

by Jay Geier

In the field of science and healing, the term “mental posture” has a complicated explanation related to moving energy in the brain. I apply the concept more simplistically when coaching clients to illustrate that good mental posture generates the positive mental energy needed to be a successful independent practice owner.

Good mental posture keeps you focused on core priorities such as new patient growth, team development, patient experience, referrals and marketing. Poor mental posture, meanwhile, leads to many excuses—seven per day by the average adult, according to one study—to rationalize not doing what you know you should, not following through on what you said you would, and deflecting blame for things that went wrong, didn’t happen or didn’t go your way. Excuses might make you feel absolved of responsibility, as if you don’t have control over the why or why not.

It’s human nature to use excuses to help alleviate blame, guilt or shame (self-imposed or perceived to be imposed by others). Over time, though, all those daily excuses you make become your reason for why life isn’t shaping up the way you want and why you’re not getting what you want out of your practice, your team and your relationships. But what are the real reasons?

The following are the excuses I hear most often from practice owners, compared to the typical facts of the situation.

The excuse: Don’t have time
The facts: Like everyone else on the planet, you have 24 hours in a day. How you spend that time is a choice you make. Put an effective time management system in place that keeps you focused on high-priority tasks and activities and prevents others from derailing your time and attention.

The excuse: Too tired
The facts: Lack of energy stems from physical, mental or emotional fatigue. Take greater control by establishing routines that help generate energy and motivation and renew enthusiasm in your work and personal life—things like exercising, eating a healthy diet, devoting time to recreation, joining social clubs or business communities, taking up spiritual reading and implementing a more exciting vision for your practice. Unfortunately, no one can take control for you.

The excuse: Can’t afford it
The facts: You can’t know that to be true if you haven’t yet determined how to afford something or accurately analyzed the true cost and return on investment. As the CEO of your business, you must wear the finance hat at times. If finance is not your strong suit, ask for help evaluating payment plans and payback periods for things proven to build private dental businesses so you can make an informed decision instead of an uninformed excuse.

The excuse: Can’t find people; bad location or demographic; too much competition
The facts: For decades, we’ve been working with practices of every size and specialty, in every type of small town and big city, in the best and worst of economic times, and in every U.S. state and abroad. Any independent practice can succeed and grow profitably when the business owner is committed to learning what it takes and following through on execution.

The excuse: Won’t work for us; we’re different
The facts: There is no problem or challenge in dental practice management that hasn’t already been solved. You just haven’t connected with the right people and community of successful colleagues who can prove to you that the challenges in your practice and circumstances aren’t unique.

The excuse: Not talented enough
The facts: The sports world is full of examples of underdogs who outperform more talented teams because they bring greater determination, perseverance and heart. Small upstart businesses steal market share from big competitors with allegedly more talented, experienced executives because the small business owner is more committed and cares about their customers. Take steps to boost your confidence by studying the subject or skill that scares you.

The excuse: From a poor or unsuccessful background
The facts: The world is filled with success stories of people who overcame their backgrounds, upbringings and life’s hard knocks. Instead of allowing themselves to stagnate in the same environment and be advised by people who perpetuate the cycle of nonsuccess because they don’t know any better, determined people intentionally change their trajectory; they put themselves with other like-minded individuals and into groups and situations through which they can learn.

The excuse: Too old
The facts: Extreme sports notwithstanding, perhaps, you’re never too old to do what you want to do, and this is especially true in business. Don’t let these words come out of your mouth, or your brain will begin to believe them and put you mentally six feet under prematurely.

The excuse: Lack of support
The facts: At the end of the day, you control the reins of your business—most likely your primary source of income and the largest component of your overall net worth. Surround yourself with people who will support you and who serve as examples of success that can be used to garner support from unknowledgeable naysayers.


Separate fact from fiction
Eliminating excuses entirely is unrealistic because, let’s face it, sometimes stuff happens— life can get messy, draining and unpredictable, and circumstances occur that are beyond your control. But never forget that the vast majority of excuses aren’t facts. Excuses are the fiction we tell ourselves and others to rationalize undesirable outcomes, decisions and actions and absolve ourselves from fault or blame—as if we were victims and not in control of our lives.

One of my favorite sayings is, “You get what you deserve.” Most people jump right to the negative connotation, but there’s an equally positive one: The students who study the most diligently deserve A’s, the athletes who train the hardest deserve to win, the business owners who put in the most intentional and focused effort deserve to be successful. Conversely, students who slack off typically deserve lesser grades, athletes who can’t be bothered to get up for early practice or bring their hustle don’t deserve to win, and business owners who make excuses for not doing what’s necessary to grow the business deserve the stagnant results they’ve been getting.

The more excuses you make, the less likely you are to achieve what you want in your business, your team, your relationships and your life. But you’ll be getting exactly what you deserve. Extrapolate that concept to your team; when you model that making excuses is acceptable, they follow suit. Your business is negatively affected not just by your seven excuses per day but also by each team member’s seven excuses.

Be more thoughtful about what you say—out loud or in your mind—and catch yourself before making an excuse. The more you say and think those words, the more they’ll begin to sound like fact to you instead of fiction. Eliminating excuses will help adjust your mental posture and reenergize your commitment and capacity for taking responsibility for desired outcomes as a successful independent practice owner and in all aspects of your life.

Author Bio
Author Jay Geier is a world authority on growing independent practices to keep for a lifetime of revenue or sell for maximum value. He is the founder and CEO of Scheduling Institute, a firm that specializes in team training and doctor coaching to help people live up to their full potential by uncovering blind spots that are holding them back and hindering growth and profitability. To subscribe to his Private Practice Playbook podcast, go to podcastfordoctors.com/dtown.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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