Burn the boats

Supposedly, when the Vikings arrived in a country the first thing they did was to burn the boats in which they'd arrived.

The reason was that it meant no going back. Once they burnt the boats it was death or victory – that has a magical way of focusing the mind. It profoundly alters how you behave.

Some years ago I set up a brand new practice in a highly competitive suburb. At the time, I had four children in private schools and no other source of income. I needed to make the practice work or I would crash and burn financially.

At the same time another practice set up about 150 meters down the road. The dentist who set that up had another practice so this one was a lower priority. He could survive without it.

Consequently, he understaffed it and only turned up when he had a patient booked in. Most of the time his phone was answered by a message machine.

You can tell how this is going to turn out.

I had my back to the wall and made it work. We made a profit in the first month and every subsequent month. My practice had the largest turnover of any practice in my suburb within 12 months.

The "hobby" practice down the road closed 3 years later and is now a chiropractor's office.

The point of this story is to commit 100% to what you are doing. Don't do things as a hobby, do them flat out and the results will amaze you.