What happens when a Vietnamese-American dentist, raised by immigrant parents with the stereotypical “become a doctor or engineer” expectation, follows a path laid out by others (not by choice but by cultural programming), builds a successful multi-dentist practice in McKinney, Texas over 12 years, achieves every goal society tells him to achieve—profitability, growth, expansion, multiple associates, beautiful family, strong marriage—and then suddenly realizes he’s on an endless hamster wheel of achievement that leaves him completely empty inside? Dr. Anthony Do does exactly that, and at his lowest point, lying in bed alone in the dark with his own thoughts, he experiences intrusive thoughts about not living anymore—not because his life is objectively bad (it’s objectively good by every metric), but because he’s been chasing happiness through achievement his entire life, and the moment he achieves something, the dopamine dumps and he’s left searching for the next mountain to summit. In this incredibly vulnerable and profound conversation, Dr. Do reveals why the dental industry’s obsession with growth, production, and achievement is creating a silent epidemic of burnout and mental health crises that nobody wants to talk about, why happiness is a fleeting emotion (not an identity), why the highest dopamine hit isn’t at the achievement point but in the anticipation leading up to it (which means you’re chasing a drug, not fulfillment), and why peace is not the absence of problems but the certainty that you will be victorious regardless of what problems come. 

Dr. Anthony Do grew up the son of Vietnamese immigrant parents who came to America to create a new life for their children. With that came the immigrant parent mindset: “I’m going to tell you what should happen for you.” The expectation was stereotypical but powerful—be a doctor, be an engineer, achieve, succeed. As a child and teenager, Dr. Do had no concept of anything else. He didn’t choose dentistry; he was told to pursue it. But as he reflects today, he realizes that’s the story of his entire life: he was told to do something, so he did it. He became a dentist, then someone opened a practice and he thought “maybe I should do that.” Someone said “you should talk to this guy about opening a practice,” so he did. He opened his practice in McKinney, Texas, and over 12 years, he grew it into a multi-dentist operation with associates, expansion, and profitability. By every external metric, he succeeded. He had a beautiful marriage (to his high school sweetheart), two children, a thriving practice generating significant income. Everything looked perfect from the outside.

But internally, Dr. Do was dying. He reached a point where he asked himself a haunting question: “When do I stop?” Do I keep growing? Keep bringing on associates? Keep opening practices? Is there another mountain after this one? He felt trapped on an endless hamster wheel, jumping from one achievement to the next, always searching for the next goal to chase. This left him with an empty feeling inside. He started seeking answers in books—leadership books, psychology books, neurobiology of happiness, even religiosity of happiness. What he discovered through his reading was profound: happiness is not a state of being; it’s a fleeting emotion or event. It’s circumstantial. You’re not “happy” as an identity; you experience happiness as a feeling that comes and goes. More importantly, he learned through neurobiology that the highest dopamine spike isn’t at the moment of achievement but in the anticipation leading up to it. This is why a vacation is most exciting while you’re planning it—once you’re on it, the dopamine dumps and you’re searching for the next experience. The same pattern applied to his achievements: open practice (dopamine spike in anticipation), open it (dopamine dump), what’s next? He wasn’t chasing fulfillment; he was chasing a drug.

The turning point came through faith. Dr. Do grew up Catholic but went through the motions—pews on Sunday, confirmation, the whole thing—without it ever really applying to his life. But when he hit rock bottom and was crying out for relief from these intrusive thoughts, he returned to faith. He started wearing a rosary and praying. The rosary is called a “rosarian” (rose garden), and as you hold each bead, you say a prayer, walking through the rose garden. As Dr. Do prayed, he found peace—not because the problems went away, but because his mind focused on something other than the intrusive thoughts. He then started reading the Bible himself (instead of having others read it to him), and it began to speak to him. One passage that became central to his transformation was “we walk by faith, not by sight.” For his entire life, he had been operating by sight—judging employees and situations based on what he observed, making snap judgments that felt like truth. But walking by faith meant believing in people and outcomes even before he had evidence, operating from hope rather than certainty. This shift changed everything about how he led and how he thought about others. Another passage that resonated: “Blessed are those who believe but do not see”—believing without needing to see the proof first.

This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32—the only dental marketing team with a performance guarantee where if you’re not growing, you don’t pay. Marketing 32 is truly invested in adding value to your practice and working with doctors they know they can over-deliver for. Marketing 32 helps you build the patient acquisition piece of that vision through strategic online presence, content creation, and growth campaigns. If you need help with marketing and growth, reach out at marketing32.com for a quick 15-minute discovery call to see if it’s a good fit.