Just Two Minutes: Betting on Yourself

Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about:

Sometimes the boldest move you can make…
is pressing pause on the thing that’s already working.

A few years ago, I stepped away from clinical dentistry.

Not because I hated it.
Not because I was burnt out.
And not because I’ll never go back.

But because I saw an opportunity - and I couldn’t do both.

Dentistry is one of the few careers where, if you’ve done the work, you can always go back.
And that’s not failure. That’s optionality.

But when you’re trying to build something new, something big, something that might change the trajectory of your life… you don’t have the luxury of one foot in, one foot out.

You have to go all in.
Even if it’s temporary.
Even if it’s uncomfortable.
Even if it makes people wonder what the hell you’re doing.

Because momentum doesn’t come from dabbling.
It comes from commitment.

And here’s what I’ve learned:

Saying “no” to something good is the only way to say “yes” to something great.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy.
It’s not.

I still have moments where I wonder, “Should I have stayed?”
Because dentistry is safe.
It’s predictable.
It’s profitable.

But it’s not always where the magic happens.

The magic happens when you bet on yourself - fully.
When you trade certainty for possibility.
When you give the new thing a real shot, not just your leftover energy at 10pm.

It doesn’t mean you have to set fire to your old life.
It just means you stop holding onto it like a security blanket.

So if you’ve been thinking about a pivot, or a pause, or just putting your name on something you’ve been dreaming about…

Here’s your sign.

No one builds something meaningful by staying in the middle.

-Dr. Alex

P.S. You don’t need a perfect hand. You just need the guts to play it.