Bite-sized dental wisdom in under 2 minutes.

Everyone always says “follow your passion,” which honestly has never felt that helpful to me. Joseph Campbell is the one who made “follow your bliss” famous, and later he’s often quoted as saying he wished he’d said “follow your blisters” instead. And that’s probably the better advice.

Because when people make big decisions, they usually get completely distracted by the upside. Should I buy a practice? Start a business? Take the job? Build the thing? Then they make this nice little list of all the benefits and get all excited about the good parts. More money, more freedom, more control, more ownership, more upside. Which is fine. I love a pros and cons list. It is basically my emotional support system anytime I have to make a hard decision.

But I think most people stare at the wrong side of the list.

The pros are obvious. Of course they look good. That’s why you’re even considering the thing. The side that actually matters is the cons, because that’s where you find out what the decision is really going to cost you. Stress, sacrifice, inconvenience, responsibility, risk, time, energy, all of it. That’s the stuff people like to gloss over while they’re busy fantasizing about the reward.

And really, that’s the question. It’s not just, “Do I want the good parts?” Obviously you do. The better question is, “Am I okay with the problems that come with it?”

That’s what I think “follow your blisters” means. Pick the set of problems you’re willing to have.

For me, working constantly is fine. Being the one who has to make a hard decision that no one else wants to make is also fine. Having to learn a new skill and be embarrassingly bad at it before I finally figure it out? Fine.

Those things are annoying, but they’re a price I’m willing to pay. Someone else might look at that exact same list and think, absolutely not. And that’s the whole point.

I think this matters a lot in dentistry, especially when someone is trying to decide whether ownership is actually for them or not. Because if you only look at the pros, of course owning a practice sounds amazing. You get control. You get to build something that’s yours. You can make more money. You get to create the kind of office you actually want. Great. Now go look at the other list.

You may not be able to take time off when you want. You’re the person everyone looks at when things go sideways. You have to fire people. You have to make hard decisions when your office manager leaves, payroll is due, the schedule is a disaster, and suddenly your autoclave dies just days after the warranty expires.

Some people look at that and think, yep, still worth it. Other people look at that and think, no thanks. Both are fine. But that’s the part you need to know before you make the decision.

Because someone else’s dream job might come with a cons list that would make you miserable. And your cons list might sound completely reasonable to someone else. That’s why I don’t think you should just follow the part that looks exciting. Look hard at the part that’s going to hurt. That’s where you find out whether the blisters are worth it.

-Dr. Alex

P.S. To quote Monica: “Too bad… I’m keeping the boots.” Sometimes the thing you want still hurts. You just decide it’s worth it.