I must admit, as much as I travel, I had never been to the state of Montana.

Until last week.

Now, why would any east coast sane person want to travel to the middle of Montana in January? For work of course!

You see, Rich and I were invited to present our one day seminar "How to Love Dentistry, Have Fun and Get Rich" to the Ninth District Dental Society of the Montana Dental Assocation. Since I had never been to the state, I decided to head over a couple of days early and explore the area.

I flew into Billings on Tuesday, which by the way is not simple to get to. There are no direct flights from major east coast airports, so I had to fly through Minneapolis. Once I arrived, I was immediately impressed with the cleanliness as well as the friendliness at the Billings airport. I could just tell this was a cool place.

After gathering up my luggage, I got into my rental car and followed the directions to a place called Red Lodge. No, that was not the name of my hotel, it was the name of a really cool old western town about an hour outside Billings. The ride was beautiful. Great scenery, no traffic jams, no schmohawks and best yet, no road rage. Didn't see anyone being carjacked either.

Upon arrival at my hotel in Red Lodge, I threw my stuff down and went out to explore the area. It mainly consisted of a few blocks of cool stores, restaurants... all of the stuff typical of a small mining town.

After getting my bearings, I got back into my car and took the six mile drive up the mountain to the Red Lodge Ski Resort. Now this was a scary drive. The road started as any normal road would, but after a couple of miles, it turned into what was a narrow dirt road with sheer cliffs and no guardrails. I was OK, but if there had been any snow or ice, I would have been a basket case driving on this road.

The ski area looked pretty cool, however, the locals admitted that they needed snow badly and therefore some of the really good slopes were not opened. I rented a pair of skis for two days and told them I'd be back the next morning to give it a try.

The next day I got up bright and early, went into town for a very cool breakfast, then headed up the mountain for some skiing. I skied pretty much non-stop for the day and had fun, although it would have been better if there had been more snow. Instead of skiing Red Lodge, occasionally I felt as if I had been skiing "Rock Dodge!"

On Thursday, Rich came into town and the two of us skied for the day. I think Rich really enjoyed it, especially after his little ski injury last year at Park City. He looked strong and even though he threatened to retire from skiing last year, I think he's now back and better than ever!

After skiing, Rich and I drove to Billings to prepare for our seminar on Friday. What a great little city Billings was. It seemed to have everything we needed and we just couldn't get over how nice and friendly everyone was. Believe it or not, we found a great little sushi restaurant where we had dinner and even met and had pictures taken with Max Baucus, the US Senator!

Friday, we presented our seminar to the Ninth District and it went great. They had about THREE HUNDRED people in the room and the vibe was just great. We did our thing and we seemed to be very well received. I hope the attendees not only got a lot of great information, but had a fun day that will never be forgotten. I certainly know that Rich and I will never forget our experience there!

I am sorry that it has taken me 52 years to get to Montana. It was my first time but it certainly will not be my last. Next time I want to explore much more of the area. Big Sky and Yellowstone are waiting!!! Missoula and Whitefish need to be discovered. And I can't forget Bozeman.

Let's go back soon to America's best kept secret. Thanks for having us, Montana!!!!

While waiting at the airport for a plane recently, I had some time to kill so I decided to check out the magazines at the bookstore. Glancing at the titles, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Take a look:

"The Top 50 Places to Put Your Money in 2008"

"The Best Places to Live in 2008"

"Music You Have to Listen to in 2008"

"The Greatest Sex Positions That You’ll Want to Try in 2008"

"Newest Gadgets for 2008"

"How to Apply for College in 2008"

"How to Get a Loan in 2008"

"How to Drop Your 'Lover' in 2008"

"Best Golf Courses to Play in 2008"

"Lose Weight in 2008"

"Abs 2008 Style"

"Go Green in 2008"

"Prep More Veneers in 2008"

Every single one of these headlines was seen on some of the most popular newsstand magazine covers in the U.S.A! All right, you got me … the last one about the veneers was totally made up. But I’ll bet you anything it will show up in a future issue of The Nonprofitable Dentist or some other schmohawk publication.

Will someone please tell me what it is about January 1st that is so sacred? Why do we always have to plan our lives in yearly time increments? And what is so special about this time of the year?

We love talking about time. Did you know that “time” is one of the most popular subjects that songwriters write about? Yes, it’s true that once we get past “love,” it’s “time” that we hear about the most in music. Think about all of the songs you know that mention time. In 1968, the Chambers Brothers told us that the “time has come today,” and a few years later, David Bowie equated time to “Quaaludes and red wine.” But the scariest was when Pink Floyd warned us that if we don’t pay attention, “then one day you find ten years have got behind you.” The reason that’s the scariest to me is because once that happens about eight times (plus or minus) in our lives, we die. Case closed.

The Moody Blues sing of being “lost in the desert of time,” Joni Mitchell tells us we’re “captive on a carousel of time,” the Rolling Stones claim that “time is on my side,” and Al Stewart’s mind drifts into “time passages.” I could go on and on but I’m running out of time.

Time is important in our offices as well. We expect patients to arrive on time. Our patients want to pay us over time. We schedule our appointments in units of time. When your hygienist calls you in for a patient check, you’d better arrive in a timely manner or she will give you a hard time. We try not to run over time because we want to get out of the office on time.

We measure our lives by time. But we can also measure our lives by accomplishments, and since there’s no time like the present, why not take stock right now of what you have accomplished so far and what you plan on accomplishing in 2008?

So what are YOU planning for 2008? Will you be expanding and increasing your practice income? Starting that pension plan that your financial advisor has been bugging you to do for some time now? Getting rid of that gut? Finally marrying the hygienist that you have been schtupping after hours for two and a half years now?

Hey, listen, my friend. Time definitely has a way of passing us by too quickly. Unfortunately, we can’t “save time in a bottle.” Many of the things we want to do never get done simply because life gets in the way. And oftentimes, before we know it, it’s too late.

Look … I hate the New Year’s thing as much as the next guy or gal. I am serious. I can’t stand it. But since just about every publication is making such a damn big deal about what we should be doing in 2008, I certainly don’t want you to think that I am cheating you.

But the advice that you will be getting here will be guaranteed to be much more helpful to you than those cheesy magazine headlines. Because you’re actually going to learn something that is going to work for you.

Here’s what I would like you to do. Think of one thing that you would really like to accomplish in 2008. OK, forget the 2008 part … just think of one thing that you really want to do in your life. Now get an index card and write your “wish,” “goal,” “dream” or “resolution” down in very clear words. I don’t care what you call it, just write it down. Make sure it is very clearly stated and write down a date that this will become reality. The writing of the date is crucial.

Here is an example of what you may have written:

“I will have a white Porsche Cayman in my driveway by August 15, 2008.”

Don’t worry about this example … I just made it up. But the format of it is important. You know exactly what you want and when you will have it. Please make it fairly reasonable. If you say, “I want to be a billionaire by May 1, 2008,” and all you have is $12,000 in your savings account right now, and your ex-wife is an alimony junkie, sucking money out of your wallet … well, it’s probably not going to happen.

Now, here comes the most important part of this exercise. Carry your index card with you wherever you go and make sure you read it EVERY DAY without fail. Don’t miss a day. If you do this, I will practically guarantee that you will have what you wrote on your card by the desired time.

How do I know this will work? It has to do with quantum physics. It has been documented over and over again that when your brain receives information, it figures out a way to make it happen. All you need to do is keep reading your card and your brain will take over. Don’t believe me? Well, I dare you to try it! But let me warn you. Please be very careful what you ask for. Because you just might get it!

This has worked for me over and over again. I’m not kidding. The concept is more powerful than you could ever imagine. I teach this during a segment of our full-day seminar called “How to Love Dentistry, Have Fun, and Get Rich.” Attendees tell me how it works for them.

So please get your card, write down your dream, and be sure to read it every day without fail. Then feel free to send me an e-mail (dave@madow.com) telling me how this worked for you. I would love to hear your success story!

And sorry, I am NOT going to tell you to “Have a Happy New Year!” Every day should be your best day!