The Power of Inner Transformation: Elevate Your Life and Practice with Dr. Jeff Buske

Jeff Buske 00:00

Do I really do think that that struggling is a choice? Because, look, if we want to change our behaviors, you can have people tell you all day long, just do this, this and this, but our behaviors aren’t going to change in line up until our mindset is different.

 

Shawn Zajas 00:19

The future of dentistry belongs to the innovators. Welcome to innovation in dentistry. I’m your host, Shawn Zajas. And I believe that the future of dentistry is going to be unbelievably great over the next decade in two decades. But the question isn’t that the question is, are you going to be part of what makes dentistry great? Okay, so I could not be more excited today to be with Dr. Jeff Burske. Before I set you up, Jeff, let me just say thank you so much for letting me interview you today.

 

Jeff Buske 01:01

Oh, sure, man, my pleasure. I’m so happy to be here. I’m excited to share some today with your audience and hopefully give them some good nuggets to take home and just maybe create some clarity in their life. And I couldn’t be more excited to be interviewed brother.

 

Shawn Zajas 01:16

Okay, so innovation in dentistry could mean so many different things primarily. The way it shows up, Jeff, is that either there’s some clinical innovation or there’s some technological innovation that typically is some breakthrough in dentistry. But I’m fascinated with what was the precursor to that I’m fascinated by the heart belief, or by the mindset that actually drives that innovation. And here I am talking to you, and you are clearly innovating so much positive change right now in dentistry. First off, just tell me how did you even end up in dentistry? What What’s your story there?

 

Jeff Buske 01:52

Yeah, that’s a good story. Man. I grew up Shawn. I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, so very cold place on the planet a long time ago. And it was interesting. My mother was always in dentistry. She was actually a dental assistant for over 25 years. And so the dentist that she got to work with were just super cool people, I really enjoyed getting to meet him and hang out with them. But when I was 17 years old man, I was playing in this afternoon hockey game. And I remember I was bringing the puck up, the ice had a full head of steam. And I put a move on the first guy put move on the second guy. And then the third guy just caught me just right with his elbow and just took me out my skates. You know, in high school, you got a mask on helmet on mouthguard. I just remember laying there looking up at the ceiling of the ice rink and I thought, oh my god, what happened? I could taste the blood on my lip. And I gathered up my stuff. And I got back to the bench. And I remember I told my buddy, I said, Hey, I said How bad is my lip split? And his eyes just got really big. And he was like, forget about your lip, man, where’s half of your tooth? Oh, my gosh, I reached my tongue up there. And I could just feel oh my gosh, I only have half a tooth. And I thought oh, and that wasn’t the worst of it. That was just the start because it was an afternoon game. And I had a date that night mind you was a first day with a beautiful girl from a whole another school. And so then I’m thinking do I go do I not go, you know, and all these things are running through my mind. I was like, You know what I’m going because I may never get to take her out again. So, of course, you know, a 17 year old kid shows up at the door, you’re already self conscious the way it is open the door and smile. She’s like, Oh my God, what happened to you? And so I was like hockey? And she said, do you still want to go out I was like, of course. So she was a great girl. I was surprised she still went out and we had a great time. But I remember sitting there thinking the exact same thing that many of our patients, you know, focus on like, oh my gosh, I hope they can put my smile back together. And at that time, I hope my parents have enough money to fix it, you know that it can work out that way. And once I saw the artistry that had to go into that to recreate in that I was I was hooked and like I knew then at 17 I want to go into dentistry because I knew that I wasn’t gonna go pro in hockey. You know, at that time I was I’m six foot tall. I was in high school as 187 pounds. So you know wasn’t big enough to go pro from that perspective. And it was just such a love but I just realized man, I want to have a place where I can make people feel like that and express my passion and really enjoy dentistry. And it’s been that way now for gosh 26 years I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to work in this profession.

 

Shawn Zajas 04:41

That’s crazy. I had no idea that it was hockey player. Turn dentists. Now the second you started sharing the story. I’m sure everyone’s thinking oh my gosh, a hockey story. He’s there was a talk something happened to his mouth. Yes, yeah. Uh, so even like in that story, though, you know, you’re 17? Was it clear after that experience with the dentist that like, Okay, I’m literally gonna go to school for this? Or was it? Like, did you already know that they make good money? Was that a factor at all? Like, how did that play in,

 

Jeff Buske 05:20

you know what, I guess it was a factor I remember, you know, having an opportunity to go to some of the dentist houses that my mom worked for and everything, and they were just such awesome, cool people. And I was like, you know, if these guys are like this cool, I could enjoy this. And I mean, I could see that they had some nice things. I didn’t know the true opportunities in front of me for the amount of value in the money that we can create. But I guess it was really more so revolving around the feeling that I had, and just the knowledge that man, if I could really give that back, that would be really fulfilling for me. And I thought, you know, I knew at that time, at least, I knew at that time well enough that I want to do something that I love, and I enjoy. Because, you know, I’ve had a job ever since, Gosh, 14/15 years old, I would walk to the pizza place and walk back in. And when I was 16, I started working in road construction all summer long. And I worked my ass off, you know, and it was great. And we’d work 4 ten hour days, work hard. And I learned a lot, you know, and and I learned enough to also know that that wasn’t what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. And so it gave me some leverage on myself to go, man, if I can learn some skill sets that I actually really love, then I don’t have to sit here and do necessarily hard labor on my own. I’ve got choices, you know, and that was what was really pretty cool. And I’m thankful that, you know, my parents just they made me work. You know, it was just like, it wasn’t a choice. It was like, Yeah, you’re gonna have a job during the summer if you want to go and do things. And it allowed me to also learn how to budget and finance I had take the monies that I earned and stretch out throughout the year. And, you know, it was it was just some really awesome lessons along the way.

 

Shawn Zajas 07:09

Well, it sounds like you got some of the small business slash, like entrepreneurial lessons early on. And I feel like that’s probably one of the biggest shockers that that young dentists encounter of like, okay, I was picturing clinical dentistry. This is what I’ve been trained in. And now all of a sudden, I find myself as a small business owner wondering, what the heck am I supposed to do as an owner, not as a clinician? So you graduate dental school? What do you do? Do you end up going and trying to start your own practice? Are you an associate for a little while? What’s going on in the first beginning years of dentistry for you?

 

Jeff Buske 07:49

Oh, man, great question. You know, and you couldn’t be more, right, you know, you get out of school and you think, Man, I should be able to hang the moon, I should just be able to say, put my name out there, hang up my shingle, and everybody’s gonna come in and see me. And it’s just not the case, man. And I found a great doc to work with. And what I ended up doing is I poured into my continuing education for really like the first five, almost six years. But here was the issue, the practice that I was in, we didn’t do a whole lot of marketing. And so man, I had maybe seven eight new patients a month that I had to like, make my whole living on. And, you know, after a little while, I was just like, Man, I’m eating ramen noodles. I’m hoping that I can make you know, my car payment, my at that time, my apartment payment, you know, and I’m just like, Whoa, I went to school for all these years. And I’m really kind of struggling. I was like, Man, this is really tough. And believe it or not, Shawn, I thought about actually walking away from dentistry I was I just started to really get disheartened with it. Because here’s the deal, man. I felt like I felt like I was the guy that was all dressed up for prom. I was like ready to go like, at all these things on board, like I could do cosmetic dentistry, I could do full mouth rehabilitation. All these things that I took amazing courses with Dawson and Eubanks, Morley, Mapa, all these guys cosmetic continuums you name it, I could almost really do it. And the fact is, I didn’t have the patient flow to do it on. So it got really disheartening. And I remember sitting there, I got to tell a story. I remember sitting there one night, and I was back on on dental town and I remember seeing a post that Bruce Barrett did. And he was writing something about productivity and it was just so far out of the concept of what my mind even thought was possible. And I was like, there is no way and so I private messaged him and excuse my language here for a second but I private messaged him and I said there’s no fucking way you’re doing what you’re doing. It can be legal, you know, and he he didn’t know me from anybody. He could go out and told me to go jump in the lake. I don’t know you. He was kind enough to write me back and say, No, we do this routinely month after month, we’ve got amazing systems and processes. And I literally was just like, wow. And then he just asked, Where do you practice? I told him, he’s like, Man, I’m gonna be over there next weekend, in that area at a sleep conference. And this is so long ago, I was like, wow. And he said, Why don’t we get together and have a drink? So we did. And he’s just like, just a simple innocuous question, where are you at, man? And at that time, I just laid it all out there because I was so frustrated. I’m like, I think I’m really ready to walk away from dentistry. I’ll take my biology degree, maybe I’ll go back and, and do some underwater biology. I don’t even know man, or maybe I’ll just go into pharmaceutical sales. I don’t know. I was like, just, I was really like, get me out of this. You know, I was just that frustrated. And after he, he talked to me about like, what I’ll be studying learn. And he’s like, man, it would just be he said, I remember it. He said, It would really be a shame for you to walk away from the profession. He said, do like dentistry, I said, I love it. I just can’t do enough of it to really make a living lesson. And that’s the frustrating part. He said, Well, maybe consider just that you need a different change of atmosphere and a different change of environment. And so he got me thinking, and we were actually going to go in and do a practice together. And for one thing or another, that practice got sold out. And I was like, okay, and then he had an opportunity that just by the Grace, God showed up, and he said, Hey, I don’t know if you’re interested. But if you want to come down to Granberry, and work with me, I’d love to have you now meaning. Meanwhile, that was an hour and about 20 to 25 minutes from where I lived in, in, in Dallas, Texas, right. I said, You know what? This feels right. And I had to follow my gut on that one. And so I would drive that in the morning and then at night. But you know what, I started to practice dentistry, the way that I was designed to practice dentistry. I was like, so excited. You know, everything was lining up. And our philosophies were right on point and right on par. It was just amazing. I was like, I had awesome, all this joy and happiness, my life. I’m driving back and forth. So I was doing this four days a week. And I’m friends like, Jeff, that’s crazy that you’re driving that far. And I’m like, No, it’s not. I said, Do you know why? I said, Because I’m happy. And I said, and I now understand the passion about what I get to do. And it was a get to, and I still feel that way. Today, it’s a get to and a not a have to. And I think that’s so such an important distinction. Because when you feel like you have to, then it’s not a lot of fun. But when you get to, that’s when I get to have passionate about what I have the opportunity to provide and the value that I can create.

 

Shawn Zajas 12:56

Okay, so you just shared a ton there, that is crazy. It’s crazy, A, that the fortuitous pneus, of running into Dr. Bruce Baird, on social media, of anybody, the the most entrepreneurial, innovative dentist that I know, to be able to be some sort of beacon of light to be able to provide guidance and help at a crossroads moment for you,

 

Jeff Buske 13:26

too. It was like,

 

Shawn Zajas 13:28

I mean,

 

Jeff Buske 13:28

he saw something in me and you know, I saw something in him. And it was one of those things, too, when we sat down and had our conversation. You know, I said, Listen, I know that he had had a number of associates before and I said, Listen, Bruce, I said, I so appreciate the opportunity. But I said I have zero interest in coming in and just being another associate. I said, if I want to come in here and you want to have me here, then my target within really the next six to eight months is for us to become partners. He’s like, Okay, let’s see what we got. Let’s make it happen. And we did. And so we got a chance to practice together for almost close to 18 years. And what was amazing about that is the really one great thing that I can say about Bruce, I mean, he’s just an incredible practitioner. I missed him in the office, it’s you know, but he’s, he’s enjoying his life. And he’s definitely earned it. But his integrity was impeccable, because there was nothing that he promised me that he didn’t deliver on. There’s nothing that he said that he didn’t do. You know. And so when you look back on that type of partnership, it’s really pretty amazing. And that’s one of the things one of the key things that is part of the foundation of everything that I look at is having to build it off the basis of integrity. Because when you have that, you know, it just opens the doors for so much more. And it doesn’t mean that you’re not going to have collisions, it doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be crucial conversations that have to be made, but it ain’t type of partnership, it’s like a marriage, there has to be given there has to be take. But most importantly, there has to be amazing opportunities to create conversations that can be open and honest, that have the opportunity to move the ball forward. And with the focus of something bigger than yourself, really with the focus of the vision.

 

Shawn Zajas 15:21

So I’m just curious, how did you, you know, this opportunity shows up here your your meeting with him? How do you even have the experience to know like, this is what I’m wanting, like, I don’t mind going to bat for myself and saying, Look, I’m not going to be happy, I’m not going to be fulfilled, if I’m just another associate. You don’t necessarily have the track record at this point in time to say, this is what I know I can do. But it sounds like you just bet on yourself and said, look like I can provide value. I know, I’m a great dentist, and I’m going to make a great partner. I mean, walk me through some of that. Did you have any amount of imposter syndrome?

 

Jeff Buske 15:59

No. Yeah, that’s such a good question. I, you know, I guess over the years before, I had done enough bigger cases, even in that small amount, you know, of new patients that I saw. And so I knew that I could do it, I knew that I had it within my wheelhouse to be able to provide, and I knew that I could execute at a high level. So I guess with that confidence, and that, that mindset that I was just like, Yeah, I know what I can bring to the table, I just need the right environment to be in, and then I can flourish. And of course, you know what the great thing was, is like when I joined that practice, Bruce is probably one of the best communicators on the planet as far as it was to patients. And every time that I had an opportunity, if I wasn’t seeing somebody, I would literally just sit outside the operatory. And I would listen, I would listen to how he would explain something, I would listen to how he helped move patients forward and care. And then I would take that, and I would not copy it, but I would adapt it into my own words until what felt right for me. So it was authentic. And that helps so much. So I didn’t feel like I had impostor syndrome. I wasn’t trying to be a mini Bruce, I was just being me, but taking the frameworks that I learned, and putting them in my own words, my own verbiage, but still following through, so the patient experience was the same. And that was so important to me and to Bruce. And then we just had a cultivated environment of a culture that just worked.

 

Shawn Zajas 17:31

Okay, so you’re, you’re saying it’s so matter of fact. But, Jeff, I have to say that is, next level, high performing that mindset, that ability to say, You know what, I’m not going to copy, I’m just going to authentically integrate it into me, I tell people all the time, if you want, like the greatest single chance for you to differentiate yourself, as a dentist is to find out what is unique about the way that you do dentistry, your perspective that we’re back to taking taking the best practices of what you’ve what you’ve learned, and integrating that into some authentic version of yourself in practice, is what makes you different. And that that creates a moat around you that other people can’t compete with. So for you to have that maturity already. Man, I just want to say like, that’s so uncommon. Where did where did you? Where did you develop that sense of? I’m not trying to become Bruce, I’m just going to become the best version of me. Yeah, you know,

 

Jeff Buske 18:41

here’s the way that I kind of think of that, too. Look, there is no shortage of information out there, right. And there’s nothing really new under the sun. Obviously, we’re creating new technology, and new things of innovation come about that way. But a lot of the ideas and everything, look, the information, the way that we compile information, and once we put information together, the way I look at that is the now that becomes knowledge. But now when I take and I apply that knowledge in my life, that becomes my experience. And through my experience, and that is my wisdom that I have the opportunity to work with, because nobody on this planet ever before me or ever after me will have my same thoughts, my same feelings, or all of my same experiences. There can be a lot of similarities and there can be a lot of, you know, Oh man, that almost that that really happened to me too, but it’s not quite the same. So when you can look at it from that perspective, I think that really helps eliminate a lot of this imposter syndrome. But it’s the imposter syndrome comes about when you feel like you’re not being authentically yourself and you’re trying to be somebody else. Instead take what somebody else is doing that’s created amazing things and learn from that. Use that. Absolutely. It’s like taking the Tollway man, you want to get somewhere faster, you take and learn from the people that have already been there that paved the way before you, you’re not copying them. But what you’re doing is learning from them and taking the shortcuts and learning from the mistakes. And I still make plenty of mistakes, man, I’ve made mistakes all my life. But the point is, is that now I have an opportunity. Like I said, I’d rather take the expressway and I will pay for speed and efficiency every time. So I will pay to invest in my education, I will pay to invest in coaches, I will pay to invest in mentors, I still pay for coaches, because here’s the thing that I do know, I know that there’s always going to be people to my left that I’m ahead of that I can support and that I can help that I can give them guidance to reach where they want to go. And there’s always going to be people to my right that are ahead of me that I will gladly pay to get their support and their guidance to show me different venues and open up new pathways so I can get to where I want to be at a faster pace. Does that make sense?

 

Shawn Zajas 21:22

This is your house. That’s beautiful.

 

Jeff Buske 21:25

Oh, thanks, brother. Man, we just we got in here in the beginning of February. So we’ve spent a long time creating this place we bought a lot here like four years ago, started the design process, then during COVID came back in redesign and changed up the whole layout of the house. And so took a little over a year plus to build in man we’re finally in and we’re just loving being in here.

 

Shawn Zajas 21:53

And this is this is in the Dallas area.

 

Jeff Buske 21:57

This is in Granberry. So we’re west and south of Fort Worth, by about 40 minutes. So we live on a lake. It’s just it’s a nice little slice of heaven, it’s beautiful.

 

Shawn Zajas 22:11

Are you going to be at the PTA event?

 

Jeff Buske 22:14

I probably won’t be there at this next one. Unless they need me to come do anything. We just been so busy with all our stuff to with getting everything going from my coaching and everything there. But I love

 

Shawn Zajas 22:28

I’m not going to be able to go to the September one because I’m doing a lentil event but I’m trying to go I think in March.

 

Jeff Buske 22:34

I might go to that if you know Bruce, he’s always he’s sort of great about calling and saying hey, we got this going on Victoria too. So they’re always good with that. I’ve gotten Okay, so with them a couple of times. It’s been good.

 

Shawn Zajas 22:48

I was gonna say, Jeff week, let’s just let’s just try again. I I’m so sorry. Like this has never happened before. And like that the strength of me as a host is simply the ability to hear what you’re saying. Yes and play, like, take interest in you’re so fascinating. And I’m so missing so much of it, that I’m just like mad. Like,

 

Jeff Buske 23:13

it’s no problem. It’s not a problem at all. We’ll do, we can just reset, I have no problem resetting. We can make whatever

 

Shawn Zajas 23:24

we can, we can just edit it. And even if it’s just two locations, I don’t care what people think about it. But let’s just let’s just keep going. And then if somehow I see the end result, and it shows that like you stopped talking or I’m glazing or I miss so much of it.

 

Jeff Buske 23:42

Yeah, then we can reshoot. No problem.

 

Shawn Zajas 23:44

Yeah. I’m just sorry. I need to get over the fact that I’m like so mad because, like, I’ve been looking forward to this interview.

 

Jeff Buske 23:55

Don’t worry about it, man. We’re good. I promise you. It’s going well. Great, too. You’re great. You’re a great interviewer. So we’re arriving right on point.

 

Shawn Zajas 24:04

Okay, so here’s, here’s my question for you, Jeff. When is it that you realize I’m not just the dentist? I’m I’m also very entrepreneurial. I’m a natural born leader. Because seriously when I see you, I just see so much. I see so much passion. I see so much strength. I see so much humility, and I can tell dentistry needs what you have. But when was it clear to you? Hey, yes, I love dentistry. Yes, I love being a dentist. But there’s more. There’s more for me.

 

Jeff Buske 24:37

That’s such a great question. twofold. I’ll answer that with twofold because one, you know coming into the fold with with Bruce and everything. He was just really starting with productive dentist Academy at that time. And I got to go and be a part of that and I would help facilitate some of the docs and going through Gosh, picture this at that time, we would actually have a film crew there. So they were learning how to do the new patient experience. And you talked about like the feeling of pressure, because we were role playing, you got three cameras on you from different views. And like, you know, but it was so great because these Doc’s would then get that version sent to them. But it was their first opportunity to really practice what that new patient experience would be. So they got their trial run and their jitters out of the way there. And so what I saw in that was a, I really enjoyed it, I had so much fun being a part of something like that, where I knew whatever portion that I had to play in that it was like such a great emotional paycheck, knowing that I had a little part in in the transformation of somebody’s career, or you know, that it could make a difference in what I had to say, or just the feedback that I could give or answering the questions there. And so that was like one of the first sparks. The second spark was knowing when I went through a really bad time in my life, and 2016. And we can get into any and all of that. I knew that I had to make some tremendous changes in my life. And when I took and applied everything and shifted my life like 180 degrees, I realized, man, if I can do that, our practice and our profession needs this type of knowledge. They need to have the ability to at least take the knowledge and apply it because in our profession. And here’s the thing, even like I was in a great group practice, but there was still such a component that I felt alone. And there’s I think there’s a lot of dentists that really feel like that. And, you know, social media doesn’t help you get to see everybody living their best life on there and everything. And you know, it is kind of interesting, like one week, Oh, I love my wife so much. And then like three weeks later, oh, we’re getting a divorce. I’m like, Well, wait, what, what happened here, hold on, you know, and, but you only see the good. And so it left me, you know, having a lot of questions about myself. I’m like, why am I the only guy who can’t feel like I figured this out. And even though I was doing well, financially, the rest of my life was just crumbling down. And it was playing into the finances too. But to answer your question very specifically, I knew that once I dug myself out of that pit, that I had really had an opportunity to help and shape others in transforming their lives, in our profession. And that just, you know, that was something that just stuck with me. And I don’t think I don’t think leaders are necessarily born, I think that they’re made. That’s just I feel like that for me, because I didn’t feel like I was born a leader at all. I feel like it was a lot of blood, sweat, tears, tons of mistakes, doing things wrong and learning. What do I need to do to to shift things and all that didn’t work, man, because none of us get leadership skills. None of us get management skills. None of us get business skills in dental school, none of those things happen. You’re just lucky that you didn’t kill somebody in dental school, and you’re just dangerous enough not to hope to do that when you first get out in practice. You know, I remember first being in practice, you’re like, what is the instructor coming by to check me off, you know, you’re like, I really get to do this all by myself, you know, just those thoughts. But, you know, being a great leader, is really knowing your strengths, and knowing your limitations, and then being able to surround yourself with incredible people that can support you where you do lack those strengths. And where you feel comfortable and confident enough to be able to delegate and you have the ability to enroll others into the vision and a vision that’s bigger than yourself. Because I just truly feel like if you don’t have something that’s outside of yourself, that’s bigger one, for me, I’ve got to believe in a bigger source like God for me, that’s a big that’s a big belief for me, I’ve got to believe in that. That whatever it is, for you, God light source universe, something bigger than you is required. For me to have purpose in this life. To I’ve got to have a vision for my my life and my business practice to two separate things. They can both intertwine and work with each other. But I’ve got to be responsible for casting that vision as well as having the opportunity to enroll others in that and getting them on board with something that’s bigger than themselves. I think that’s why teams I don’t love staff. You know, my dental team, a staff I think staff is An infection. But you know, a team is somebody that is a group of individuals that are united together, that can create an outcome that you’re looking at. And you’re wanting to, to, not necessarily force but that you’re driven towards that. And you’re you’re called to, there’s a big difference between force and being called to. And it’s what allows us to have the success and the ability to collapse time because when everybody’s unified, now, you’re not wasting all this energy and time recreating, and you’re not having to come back and motivate. You know, motivation is good to get started. But it doesn’t last it peters out. Inspiration, on the other hand, totally different dynamic inspiration, people get inspired, they have the energy to pull themselves up and take their own responsibility to get there. There’s a huge difference between that.

 

Shawn Zajas 30:59

Okay, so again, I I’m like so fascinated, because I think so many of the ails in dentistry that people struggle with, would be solved if they just were better leaders. And that is no small thing. Being a leader is no small thing. I love what you said about leaders not being born then being formed. And I tell people this all the time, often it’s those seasons, are those moments that we like to erase if we could, yeah, that’s where we can actually find the gold, especially if we yield to it. Okay, we just went through this crazy rock bottom experience, what did I discover? What did I discover about myself? And I feel like the resilience that you have Jeff knowing it is, it’s like the phoenix rising out of the ashes, the struggle, the darkness, the challenge, and then rising, triumphant, and now, it’s like you’re qualified to lead, you’re qualified. It’s almost like your struggle, your humanity qualified you to now be able to shed light so that other people don’t have to stumble and fall, or other people at least, can yoke themselves to the hope that when they’re in their darkest hour, it’s going to be okay, because you and I both know, dentistry. It’s taking some great people. Yes. And that’s not okay. Can you tell me a little bit more about that, that dark time in your life?

 

Jeff Buske 32:23

Absolutely, man. Because, you know, people would look at me now. And on the outside, they’d be like, well, he has it all going together. And and that’s easy to see from, you know, what you would see on the outside with, you know, where I get to live and what I get to do. But let me back up back to it wasn’t that long ago, 2016. And I got divorced in 2012. And that was a state of depression that I had for a little bit, and then got myself back together, got married, and then in at the end of 2013, excuse me, yes. And then 2014, I decided to build a second practice from scratch 52 miles away, not a really great idea. And I was working in my main practice here in Granberry, four days a week. And I would go over there one day a week, and I was trying to manage all that. And it felt like a little bit of Doctor daycare. And I was trying to create a culture over there. And what I ended up doing was just giving myself a huge second job. And so all this extra time just got gobbled up. And what I didn’t have is I didn’t have any of the tools to manage any of the stress at that time. And so growing up as a, as a young man, I wasn’t taught to really express my feelings I was taught, like, if you cried, you’re a pussy, you know, and it’s you shouldn’t have feelings and you’re weak. So I would just take and stuff things down. And, to me, the, the visual that I like to give, it’s kind of like taking a big beach ball and just pushing it further and further and further under the water. And the further you go. Finally, when you let go of that beach ball, it’s gonna come up and erupt with such force and magnitude, that it can be hyper destructive. And in my case, when that typically happens, it’s usually with the people that you love the most, and it’s at the worst and most inopportune times. And so I would tell you, what would happen with me is I would come and bring that stress home I was an emotional terrorist with my family. I’m not proud of that, but that was the truth and the reality and I would come home and just blow on them. And then I didn’t want to feel this pain so I would drink every night. My I got my wife drinking every night we would drink at least a bottle or two of wine a night. And that was just during the week, that’s not even the weekend, I’d be willing down my recycling bin at like 435 o’clock in the morning because I didn’t want my neighbors here and all the clanging of the bottles in there. And it was that bad. But that was the way that I could just numb out for a little bit and not feel the pain for just a little while of all the stress and just not knowing like, oh, my gosh, what did I do? What did I create? The further that that went, the further I lost intimacy with my wife connection with her, I had no connection with the kids, I had zero connection with God. And I was destroying my body. And I didn’t feel like I had purpose. So if you really look at it, I was in a pretty bad place. I mean, that is a pretty decent pit. And it all came to head one night when my wife and I had finally had enough to drink. We just really started saying what was on our mind shouting, yelling. And she said, Jeff, I didn’t sign up for this shit. The kids and I walk around here every day on eggshells, and all’s we want to do is love you. And you come home and blow up on us. I just sat there. And I didn’t have a whole lot to say because it was the truth. What could I say? I just remember laying there. I didn’t say anything. That night, I lay there in bed. I just prayed, I said, God, please help me find a way out. I know I created this mess, but helped me and helped my family. And I just remember I didn’t know what to do. But then I did find some amazing coaches. And things showed up just even next week in my life, the coach just came into my life that I would never have expected. And I went and I started to take the processes that I was learning, I started to apply them radically and rapidly and started to shift my life like that. Now, it’s one thing to talk about it but it’s a whole another thing to do it. And I know that I put my family through enough to where they weren’t going to listen to talk, because at that time talk was cheap, I’d set a lot. So it had to show up and how I was occurring my way of being. And it had to take place for a while for them to truly believe that transformation was happening. And it also was one of the things that you know, for me, I just knew, I have to continue to pour in and pour in and pour in because I know how rough it had been, and what I created. And so I knew that I had to take full responsibility for what I created. And I had to take responsibility for that. And I had also worked through the consequences of that in order to shift and alter the reality that I had created. And I think that’s that radical self responsibility is something that is so key. And that is missing in a lot of life. Because until you can do that, and you can get real and honest with the facts of where you’re at. There’s no way to really determine where you’re going to go without getting there without living in fiction and fantasy and never having it happen. But when you can get real and honest with yourself. Now you can start. And even if you don’t like what you see, or don’t like what you hear when you’re honest with yourself, there’s no better person on the planet than you to create the change and the transformation in order to move away from that.

 

Shawn Zajas 38:40

I was literally just gonna say, early on in this story. I heard you say, like, look, look, I’m not proud of it. But that’s what I did. And it’s almost like in good to great. There’s this part in there where Jim Collins talks about a level five leader has the courage to be able to look at the cold, hard facts of the situation and still have some sense of strength, resilience and optimism to confront them. And I just want to honor you, Jeff because that takes so much gonads like so much courage, so much boldness because I know as a man, our self worth is so tied to the condition around us of the people we’re taking care of, of the success that we’re attaining. And when all of a sudden you have to come square in the face like look and confront the fact that you’ve contributed to the deterioration of all of that. And you can’t blame them. You can’t blame that circumstance or that situation. Wow. I mean, that takes massive courage, and it is a very difficult place and I feel like that’s why sir and people get tempted to escape. Oh, you know, there’s an easier way I wrote a story that I can’t, I can’t acknowledge I can’t live up to I can’t own it, there’s got to be a different way. And instead, you just, I don’t know, like manned up. And and I just want to honor you for that. That is thank you crazy. And I admire that so much.

 

Jeff Buske 40:24

Well, the thing that I know is, is that man, if I can do that, it is available for anybody that that chooses to, I really do think that that struggling is a choice. Because, look, if we want to change our behaviors, you can have people tell you all day long, just do this, this and this, but our behaviors aren’t going to change in line up until our mindset is different. We have to have a different story that we tell ourselves in order to create a new result. Otherwise, it’s just a repetitive process, like, you’ll go along in life, and then you’ll hit this event that’s like a trigger, it could be a negative trigger, like you’re upset about something. And typically, for a man, you go through the series of emotions, like typically you go through anger, then blame, and then you go down, you feel guilty. And then finally you feel shame. And then you’re sitting down here, that’s where I was, I was sitting down there in that pit. And over time, if nothing happens, you start to get this false lift of starting to feel better. And then you’re like, Okay, life’s feeling better. And you’re going along until the next trigger event, and then you’re right back down in there. And it becomes this karmic cul de sac. And it’s just this repetitive loop. And that’s where I feel like people get incarcerated to where they’re like, and their thought process is, if I could just get back to where I was, if I could just get back to where I was with my wife, if I could just get back to where I was in my relationship with my kids, if I could just get back to where I wasn’t overweight, by 30 pounds, if I could just get back to my connection that I had with God, then things would be all better. But what if we could stop that and actually change the mindset and say, let’s not worry about getting back to, let’s actually put a time out there and change the trajectory. So we have a different opportunity to now take that energy and shift it. And now we can take and create something new. Because it’s the comes down to the power of the stories. If you were to follow me around with a camera all day, or I was to follow you around with the camera all day. What we would see in the results of that is the results of the stories and the behaviors that we tell ourselves. That said, it’s very simple and very plain. And those stories and everything are made up of the laws and the rules and the regulations that we’ve created for ourselves all along the way. Now, they’ve been created by our parents, they’ve been created by coaches, by teachers by church, all these things that have had an impact on our life all the way through. And that shapes the way that we have our worldview, how we view the world and our self view of how we view ourselves operate in this world. What’s right, what’s wrong to us. That’s why we are very judgmental. All of us are, you know, and, and we’re the only creature that creates judgment, which is really interesting. You don’t see like a lion kill a gazelle and be like, Oh, I feel bad that I killed this gazelle. You know, it’s what happened. It’s the facts. But we tie all these crazy emotions into it and make up all these stories that control and contrive us when the reality is, is we’ve got an opportunity to tell a new story all the time. You know, I look at things a lot differently now. Like, do I want to be right? Or do I want to get to where I want to go? And it’s not that I’m gonna be fake, or I’m gonna lie, or I’m gonna be deceptive. It’s more so inner inner dialogue with myself. And now I can make a new choice on how I’m going to show up. Do I show up perfectly? Hell no. Do I make mistakes all the time. But I’ve got an opportunity to course correct and to pivot and to take responsibility for things to my wife and I have collisions. Absolutely. But we have more what we call compassionate collisions, where it’s not an attack on an individual, and it’s more along the lines of, hey, this is an issue. I love you. And I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with you. And let’s look at what the issue is and let’s attack the issue together. Can we do that? Sometimes we’re going to agree or disagree, but it takes so much out of that. And if you operate that way in your marriage, and if you operate that way, in your practice, it’s a different thought pattern, a different mindset. And you’ll take away a lot of stress, you’ll take away a lot of the emotion that’s there, because now it’s not necessarily about the other person, it’s about the issue.

 

Shawn Zajas 45:17

So I mean, it seems like you could be a coaching consultant simply on the practice side of how to grow a practice how to lead your team. But it sounds like the real gold is this inner transformation, for those that are stuck for those that are not in alignment and not living a fulfilled life. When did you realize like, Okay, I have a message, I have this impact. Even from early on, you were saying, this smile transformation, this way that that dentist transformed your life, and then all of a sudden you’re talking about with Bruce, I love the fact that we can make an impact and transform, it seems like you’ve always been about making a difference. Very human centered about how you can transform people’s lives. When did that all of a sudden, all connect, and you started your coaching. And

 

Jeff Buske 46:09

I would say a couple of years ago, when I really sat down and took a very deep introspective look. And I started really, back in 2016, I really started to look at meditating and connecting and really connecting again with God in my life. And, and it was one of those things that I realized, you know, what my soul’s purpose on this planet is to literally liberate others and to transform lives, whether that be in my dentistry, or whether that be in my coaching, it’s that simple of a message. And that’s what I feel my soul is called to do. And so I also know that there’s only so much dentistry that I can do with my hands. And I love dentistry. And I love being able to provide that service for individuals. And I know though, with my voice and my ability to transcend generations in dentistry, and speak to the people that are have been in the pit, or people that just want to level up, it’s like the difference between, hey, somebody’s just got a flat tire, and they needed a little air up somebody’s cars up on blocks, you know, and they’re missing all four tires, it’s about meeting an individual where they’re at. And knowing that there’s not a lot that can shock me anymore. I’ve been down a really dark road. And there’s not usually a better person to lead you from that place unless they’ve experienced it. Because now I can come from an authentic place, and I can support you, I’m not going to save you. I’m not here to save anybody. But I’m here to ride with you. And to look at saying how can we co create something to where now I empower you to create your own vision that pulls you forward, and lets you step into your unique gift and what your soul was called here to do. See, I truly feel like all of us are called to do something on this planet. We all are, there’s no mistake why you’re here at all, we’re all uniquely here. But the question becomes, will you listen? Will you listen to what you’ve been called to do? And I think that’s why there’s all will be called or many will be called, but few will answer. And so if we can look at that, and just really take the time, I think life gets so busy. That when we don’t take the time to ourselves. It’s very difficult to create and to create that space that allows that to come in. And so when you’re just constantly going, going going, you feel like you’re on the hamster wheel. It kind of feels like you’re just trying to survive the day. But when you back up and you realize, man, I mean, I think about this, I laugh because I was like, man, that’d be like, what if you jumped on the treadmill and somebody’s like, okay, run. I’m gonna put you at level eight or nine on the treadmill run. And you’re like, okay, and you’re cruising along. You’re like, When am I going to be done coach? Never. What and you just keep on running and you’re like, you just you get so burnt out. Yeah, and there’s such an importance in actually taking time out for yourself to not only look forward, you have to as a leader, you have to look forward and cast the vision. But at the same time, you’ve got to actually look back and recognize what you’ve done and what you’ve created. And take time to acknowledge that because you’re acknowledging the growth, you’re acknowledging the expansion, you’re acknowledging the transformation that’s occurring. Now, I never sit there and try to hit homeruns I used to in the past I try to do that. Now I am. So content hitting sweet singles, smaller percentages, little wins every single day, that over time, by the end of the year, I become unrecognizable to who I was the year before. And when you can do that, it takes away all the bigness in like, oh my gosh, if I don’t do this, if I don’t land this deal, if I don’t do that, if I don’t do that one big case, then my whole month is gone. But when you do the things right, great, you know what great producers know, great producers know, I’m going to find simple things. And I’m going to do them over and over and over and over and over again, I’m going to consistently show up and produce. And that’s one of the beautiful things when you can look at that. I don’t need to make it over complex, I don’t need to the 67 steps to success. I want to look at what are the things that I can choose to do that I can win the day, every morning, I make myself eight simple promises that I keep to myself. That’s it. But that starts my day on fire when I go in. I don’t need coffee, because I am energized baby, I go in lit on fire and I’m able to handle the day I’m ready because we’re gonna have fires that come at us all day. We’re like firefighters, ah, you know, we are there in the Battle of it. When we go into the practice, you might have team members coming at you that are upset with one another, you might have patients that cancel or patients upset with you, whatever it is. But if you’re not on point, and you go in relying on your lucky underwear and your Starbucks to get you through the day, well my friend, it’s gonna be a problem. Because that can’t be repeatable every day. But when you go in on fire, and you’ve lit yourself on fire, instead of waiting to spontaneously combust. Now you can make a choice on how you show up. And that’s when you can show up as a leader. Because now you can show up because you’ve already chosen to lead lead yourself. Now you can show up and lead your family powerfully now you can show up and lead your teams powerfully. Now you can show up and lead your patients powerfully. But it all starts in one place. And that’s with you.

 

Shawn Zajas 52:08

Okay, so I didn’t realize a how much gold nuggets you’d be dropping like I almost feel like we have to charge for this. Be I don’t think I understood like I knew just that you had this intensity. But I didn’t realize you had this intensity coupled with this generosity, because you just have this generous spirit that just pours out just this wealth of information to help edify encourage, and level up individuals. So if I’m a listener right now, and I’m like, Okay, I love what Dr. Jeff Buske is talking about. Where do you want their eyeballs to go so that they can they can contact you a

 

Jeff Buske 52:50

couple easy places you can find me you can find me on Instagram with dr.jeffbuske, Dr. Jeff Buske, you can find me on Instagram that way. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Jeffrey T Buske. And so those are the two best places to find me. And you know, I’ll always tell you to if you ever in the neighborhood and you get to Fort Worth, and you want to come down to Granberry you come visit us in Granberry dental center we have Doc’s sometimes that come through and just hang out for the day just because they want to see how the process works. And I love that I love having Doc’s in the office too. And it’s just it’s fun. We’ve always got some great things going on. There’s three of us doctors there. And so I’ll put that invitation out there too. And so it’s just it’s one of those things that I’ve realized, look, I’m 52 right now and I, I am determined to look at being a change of force and transformation in our profession. I really want to make a dent in in the divorce rate and depression rate in the sedation rate and in the suicide rate in our profession. And I feel like when we have enough like minded individuals, and we create a movement around there that we can be a force of transformation in our profession. We just have to choose it. And we have to choose just like you said, to be open to be giving. I learned a long time ago now that unfortunately many dentists have a scarcity mindset but when we have an abundance mindset, now we can actually share what’s working well for us. What are our trials? What are our tribulations? What are we doing that is supporting where we want to go? And now we got the opportunity to learn from one another and again, we’re here for such a short time on this planet. So why not learn from others that you know that you align with that makes sense for you? I know I’m not everybody’s cup of tea, but the ones that I am, you know my my target is to get you results, you know And that’s how I get measured. I look at it from that point simple. And that’s how you actually valuate me, you know, you cannot, are you the fruit that gets produced? You might not agree with everything that someone has to say. But when you look at the results in the fruit that they produce, that’s in arguable, that’s just the results. That’s what’s obtained. And so when you look at your own fruit, and you say, Yeah, I’m happy with it, or No, I would like something different. Now, you got to ask yourself, Okay, what’s the behavior that’s driving them, and comes back to that behavior in those patterns a lot. But we’ve got ways to start to separate all that out. So we can start to really work with that. But going back to the beginning, and one of the first things that I learned that’s been so powerful for me, it all comes back to integrity. And so my definition of integrity is this. It’s not about being your word. Because if you’re up to big things, we’re going to break our word, it’s just going to happen, we’re gonna have circumstances that that are going to create a problem that allows you or that doesn’t allow you to keep your word. To me, integrity is actually about honoring your word. And so when you honor your word, now, you’re not sitting there hiding anything in the darkness, you’re standing in the light, bringing everything to the light, not hiding anything in the shadows of the darkness, being whole and complete, and lacking nothing. And when you can do that you’re in integrity. Now, when I don’t honor my word, if I know that I’m going to break it, then it’s up to me to restore it as soon as possible. Now, I have to understand there’s going to be consequences with that. Let’s say I told my wife, I was gonna be home at 615. The minute that I know, oh, man, I’m not going to make that. I’m going to call and say, Sweetheart, it’s not gonna be till 636 45. I know, I acknowledge that I said, I was gonna be home here. I know that you’re going to have dinner ready at that time, I’m going to miss dinner with you and the kids. Guess what, and I commit to being on time next time. So I’m getting myself back in integrity. But I also realized there’s consequences that are going to be like that my dinner might be cold. That night, I might not have as much connection with my wife. But those are the consequences that I have to face. But at least I can look at how do I restore and honor my word. And that comes a lot by just acknowledging it. I have so much respect when a team member comes to me and it’s like, man, guess what, I’ve got egg on my face. I messed this up. I’d much rather you come and tell me that and say, okay, all right. Thank you so much for being honest with me. What are we going to do now to focus on this and to fix it. And then now we can create a solution. Because now, that’s already out of the way. And now we can learn from it. And now that that’s another thing, you know, those become training opportunities, where we can now learn from something and create something new going forward. It’s not I don’t need to belittle you, because you already feel bad about it, right? Do something here so we can grow together. And let’s shape some of the thinking. And man, you know, I think this world needs a little more Grace to You know, there’s there’s so much, there’s so much pain, and there’s so much divide in the world right now. I mean, politically, there’s so much divide religiously, there’s so much divide. And then to I mean, even even gender wise, there’s so much divide. Now. I mean, there’s just everything is getting pulled apart. And we just need to be unified, and come together. But that only starts in one place that starts with one person. Like I said, that’s you. If you want to change your country, it starts with one person you get, I just choose to look at saying, I’m going to commit to seeing and making my life work differently. And doesn’t have to be that you’re in the pit of your life. You just might say, Man, I’m ready to upgrade my life. I’m ready to transform. I want to level up in these areas. I’ve got this area in my life that’s working great. But man, these other areas kind of lacking. What can I do to pull that forward? I kind of think of it we talked a little bit about scarcity. I look at having four areas in my life work, my body, my being my balance my business, right? So a body, my fitness, my health, my being my spirituality, my purpose, a balance a wife, my kids and people in my life that I love my team members, clients, patients, and then my business, my practice and my bank accounts, getting all those to work synergistically in harmony. What I know is this, we’ve all heard, you know, only as strong as the weakest link. And a lot of times that’s referred to as teams. But I want you to back up for a second and just look at yourself and look at those for areas that I just threw out there and ask yourself, Am I in abundance in all four of those areas? And if not, if you’re in scarcity in one of those areas, my experience has been for me, that has a tendency to want to pull the others back into scarcity as well, or it serves like an anchor that’s holding you back. So my suggestion would be, if you’ve got one area, or two areas, or even three areas that are operating that way, if you can just take the rest of this year and hyper focus on getting those areas into abundance, your life will dramatically look different, it will transform.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:00:43

Okay, so is, is there an event? Or is there something you’d like people to know about? That’s coming up?

 

Jeff Buske 1:00:49

Dude, yeah, absolutely. appreciate you asking, too. We’ve got an event coming up this November, November 10 11th, and 12th. And it’s, this one is for male dentists, and, and it’s called Be The Man. And we are going to take a deep dive into all four of those areas across our body or being our balance in our business. And we’re going to actually have a real great opportunity to get real about where you are and every single one of those areas. And then looking at creating future. Okay, what do I want. And by the time we’re done with that event, you will leave, knowing the exact morning ritual that I have, you’ll be able to put that in play in your life instantaneously. And you will leave with a 30 day plan that’s trackable in software that you’ll be able to utilize and put into play. If we don’t track it, things tend to get put by the wayside. And just so the beautiful ladies out there that may be listening to this, no, I’m not leaving you out. And what is underway right now with it, I am so excited about, by the end of this year, we’ll have a women’s arm in the limitless tennis academy completely built out. Because it’s not the fact that these domains are just representative for men. They operate the same way in women and in their lives, too, just as equally as important. But what I do know is this, I’m not, at least for me, authentically designed to coach women, I love women, I love my wife, I love women that are powerful. I love women that really want to make their life work and work well for themselves and their family. And I want to look at how can I empower them. But what I know is this is that at this event, this is for men only. And what’s been my experience in training and coaching, and leading also mixed events, men have a better tendency when it is just men to open up more and be more vulnerable. And that’s what I want to seek for these men so they can create the transformation. So this event is going to be very unique and special. Because I’m holding it to only 16 spots to come and be with me live for those three days from the poor more than 25 plus hours into you. I you know, hopefully you can get a tell from the way that we’ve had great conversation here with Shawn today is that I will absolutely pour everything into that I can I want you to win, and the 16 spots those will go. But I will also have it be a hybrid event to where you can also choose to attend virtually, I’m gonna make that happen too. So I don’t want there to be a shortage of man, I can’t get there. And it to be a problem. And the cost is going to be so little that it’s a no brainer to really invest in, I really want to make this an opportunity for you to be able to say that’s a no brainer, I can just jump in and do that. And so again, like I said, I want to create transformation in our profession. And that starts with what can I do for myself? And how can I do that to then as a leader, then pass that along and give what I’ve learned and they’ll allow that to be transferred on to you guys.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:04:21

So do you want them to go to a specific URL or possibly just email you to get information about the event?

 

Jeff Buske 1:04:27

Yeah, I will. The it is my is www.my Freedom protocol.com forward slash B as in boy t is in Thomas M is and marry my freedom protocol.com forward slash BTM. And I’ll give you guys if you guys want to put a little drop in the show notes then I’ll we’ll put it in there too.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:04:52

Oh, that sounds awesome. Okay, so Jeff, do you know what’s coming? There’s one question for you. Yes, I’m ready for it.

 

Jeff Buske 1:04:57

I love it. That’s okay with me. Yeah.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:05:01

So, Jeff up today is walking down the street. And off in the distance, you see the 18 year old version of yourself. And you know, you only have one brief moment to communicate one sentiment to him, What do you share?

 

Jeff Buske 1:05:18

Man, that’s easy. Have fun in life and don’t take it too seriously. Because, you know, along the way of everything I remember, man, I lost my fun. And I lost a big part of who I was when I lost that. And now, you know, having that back, life is just so much more enjoyable. And, and to me, that’s one of the other key components is, if you can’t have fun along the way, it’s not really a fun journey to be on. And as part of the growth of it, and loving the seasons that you’re in all the different seasons that you get to be able to experience. But it would be that simple message of just have fun. And don’t forget to do that along the way. And take the time out. You know, just take the time out to enjoy yourself. guilt-free fun. And that’s one thing. I’ll leave you with that thought

 

Shawn Zajas 1:06:18

so I love that. Dr. Jeff Buske, thank you so much. It has been so easy to honor you, as an innovator. Like I love your message. I love the movement that you’re creating. I love that you’re absolutely pioneering positive change. And at the same exact time, you have this this character, like this humility, this passion, I love it. And yet at the center of it all, I feel like you just have this uncommon heart. And that’s what’s powering everything that you’re doing. And that is just a heart to make such a difference, and really help elevate the people in dentistry and elevate the profession. Thank you so much for letting me interview you today. Man.

 

Jeff Buske 1:07:04

My pleasure. Thank you so much. You’re I appreciate having the opportunity to be here with you and share with your audience. And like I said, if there’s something that I said that can support you, then, man, my job here today is complete. And I’d love to do this again. You know, I think you’re right. There’s tons more that we could talk about. And I could talk all day about things with you. And I’m happy to do do it some more. Because, again, if there’s little things that we can do to shift some of our profession, then that’s what that’s what I’m here for.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:07:36

Hey, man, well, hey, thank you so much, Doctor.

 

Jeff Buske 1:07:38

Thanks, John. Appreciate it.

 

Shawn Zajas 1:07:41

Thanks for listening, and be sure to follow so you never miss an episode. To learn more about what’s going on in dentistry. Check out innovation in dentistry.com