Transcript – Dentology Podcast with Shiraz Khan
Episode Release Date – Monday 5 June 2023
Andy & Chris:
So here we are again, and this time we have a guest returning to talk about a slightly different topic this time. Double guest. You can tell by the way he’s dressed as a clue. He is, he
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
is,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
there’s
Andy & Chris:
he
Dr Shiraz Khan:
a
Andy & Chris:
is.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
little bit of something going on, isn’t it?
Andy & Chris:
There he is. So today we have a dentist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and now a racing driver, Dr Shiraz Khan. Welcome Shiraz, how are you?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m very well, how are you boys doing? It’s great to be back,
Andy & Chris:
We’re
Dr Shiraz Khan:
how are things?
Andy & Chris:
very good, very good. Very good indeed, very good indeed. You’re looking good, you’re looking good. You got a smile on
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Oh,
Andy & Chris:
your
Dr Shiraz Khan:
wait,
Andy & Chris:
face, look like you’re having a good time.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
feel great, feel great. And look, do you know what? Look how far this has come.
Andy & Chris:
Oh, amazing.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I was on
Andy & Chris:
Yes.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
one of the first ones. You’re on like what? Like 600 podcasts or something, aren’t you?
Andy & Chris:
It was. Well, as we record this, we’re heading towards our 100th. So
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Oh, amazing, amazing.
Andy & Chris:
we’re up in the 90s. And people are still listening. They are, in increasing numbers. We are very
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
grateful and more people listening, more people subscribing. So, yeah, it seems to be hitting the mark and it’s thanks to you and all the other guests that have come on. All to do with the guests. Well, honestly, I guess a podcast without guests is just Chris and I chatting, which honestly
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Well,
Andy & Chris:
isn’t
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
as
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but
Andy & Chris:
much fun.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I think truthfully though, you know, and I’m a very avid listener. And sometimes it’s quite difficult for me to tune into other things. I’m so busy with life, but I think what’s really nice about this podcast in particular, it gives this very open slant of other skills and non-clinical aspects of dentistry, right? So for me, I’ve really very much enjoyed people, live stories, people’s you know, aspirations for business. Uh, one that sticks to mind is Ken Finlayson’s, which was really lovely to hear, you
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
know,
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
going across
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to the other side of the water, being a trail blazer for that, that really, that really sung to me. So yeah, great job guys. Great job.
Andy & Chris:
Thank you, thank you. Well, as you know, we’re not clinical at all. So for us to kind of cross into that field will be ludicrous. You know, there’s enough people who are so highly experienced in that, in that world. But whether you’re a practice owner or not. Everybody’s in business. You need good communication skills You need to understand how to lead people and if we can share that through through, you know This is a channel then then that’s good news And as you say people’s life stores are fascinating, you know There’s some of the
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
things that you
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
hear from people just your jaw just drops and you think my goodness you have had to overcome so much to have the success you’ve had. Really inspiring
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
stuff. One of the things we didn’t have on there for you, Shiraz, is dancer. And
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
I
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
would
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
say to anybody, follow Shiraz, because he does do some little dance moves. I quite like them when they pop up on my Instagram
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
and there you are, I don’t know, wherever you’re doing your moves. And I’m thinking, flip, that’s quite impressive.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, I think it’s really funny is I don’t often listen to my stuff ever again. But I did listen to our first one together, which is quite some time ago, at which point we were in the flat and I think we made a joke about, Oh, bloody hell, it’s that guy that just dances in the hallway again. He doesn’t even live
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
here. You know, it’s just some of these things are great. So, yeah, yeah, love doing it. Love doing it.
Andy & Chris:
No, it’s good. It’s good. So the last time we talked, we focused primarily on your, your dental career, um, how you’ve got yourself to the heights that you are in dentistry. Um, but you’ve now, uh, new and growing passion for motorsport and you’re driving in the Porsche club championship. So just tell us about how you got into it, your progress so far, just give some context in terms of kind
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
of where you’re at. Perhaps start off with what is it? Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool. So, um, um, you say, I think the introduction is quite sound that you say that this new passion and, and, and love for, but actually this stems back to a seven year old boy in school and, you know, they asked for a dream job and the hand goes up without any external influence, hand goes up, Formula One racing driver. Like it was just like
Andy & Chris:
I will.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
completely, you know, like a knee jerk response. And
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
ultimately I was sitting there like, well, yeah. I’d love to do that. And there’s this fantastic meme on their social media, which is when you’re a young kid, you wanna be a racing driver. And then as you realize what it costs to own a car and what it costs to become a racing driver and how it’s completely inaccessible, which might be a bigger mission in life in the future, actually, weirdly, but how it’s completely inaccessible for certainly the working class or those that may not have the finances to do it. So it’s a passion that’s existed for a long, long time. Um, but I have to owe huge thanks to my career in dentistry. My parents must support my wife for, for, for really allowing me to push myself forward in this, because if it wasn’t for my career, this doorway would never open ultimately
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
if it wasn’t for the sport. And as you can see, I very proudly wear my sponsors on, on, on, on my chest, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to be here. So motor sport has been a passion of mine for ages. What is a Porsche car championship? Openly for me. It’s. the hallmark for competitive racing in a club series. There’s lots of, I think, you know, when you get your motorsport license, which we can talk about in a minute, they give you a piece of paper that says, oh, there are 30,000 different categories within motorsport in this country or something like that. There’s a figure of some nature.
Andy & Chris:
Bye.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there’s loads. I mean, from trucks to three wheels to two wheels to four, I mean, it goes on. Like there’s so many categories. Um, but the Porsche club I’ve been a part of, because obviously I’ve had quite a few road cars in the past and I’ve been doing their track days for a long time. But the thing I can say to you is that the team are so well organized. They’re so encouraging of new people. Um, we’ll get into my first race later, but I had a massive mechanical failure and there were other people going around like, listen, I’ve got this part spare available, do you want it for your car? I’ve got this part. Rather than being
Andy & Chris:
That’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
competitive,
Andy & Chris:
nice.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
trying to push you out, they’re trying to get you in the race. Um. So the Porsche club championship really is, is for me the gold standard on how collaboration should be managed. But also the great thing about it is it’s really the bottom of the pyramid in terms of where you can go in terms of Porsche motorsport.
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So, which is ultimately a goal in the future. So yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Hmm. Yeah. And I’ve been a dullard. What Porsches do you drive?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So I’ve had loads of Porsche. So our family cars are McCann. We’ve got McCann
Andy & Chris:
Ah yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
turbo, which is like the family wagon.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
But I’ve had various Caymans in the past and various 911s.
Andy & Chris:
Right. And what’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Currently
Andy & Chris:
the…
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I drive a Cayman.
Andy & Chris:
Does the Porsche Club all have the same car? Do you all race the same car? I assume so.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Okay, okay. So I understand what your question was about. What is it? Ultimately, there are levels and classes within that.
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
My analogy is like football divisions, there’s Premier League, ultimately, and then there’s Division One, Division Two, in essence. And the categories are split as such. So Class Three, which is known as the Boxster Cup, ultimately
Andy & Chris:
Uhhh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
is
Andy & Chris:
okay.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
a really nice place for newcomers. It’s boxters. They’re completely race prepared. So it’s not your road car. It’s in fact, it’s completely transformed as a road car. Um, but it is on treaded tires. Class
Andy & Chris:
Right?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
two is the same with the gearbox difference, same power, same weight, but on slick tires, which is what I’m in now. And then
Andy & Chris:
Okay.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
class one goes to nine 11s and Caymans, which are more powered, but also on slick tires.
Andy & Chris:
Okay,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So there’s like a progression
Andy & Chris:
right
Dr Shiraz Khan:
through the
Andy & Chris:
right
Dr Shiraz Khan:
different
Andy & Chris:
right
Dr Shiraz Khan:
classes. Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
and and
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So why
Andy & Chris:
and she
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m in
Andy & Chris:
was Right,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
now is the same car.
Andy & Chris:
right and and for you, you know, you’ve you’ve got to dizzy heights in dentistry You know the the work you’ve done the people that you’re working with your your lecturing you’re incredibly well respected in the profession How did it feel?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Thank you.
Andy & Chris:
basically going into a Field where you’re a relative beginner where you didn’t have the experience you didn’t have all the things and I guess it did it feel a little bit like going back to your early days of dentistry?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah. I mean, you know, I was kindly invited to another podcast, quite recently about performance and performance driven individuals and how you try to push yourself. And I think ultimately, as we advance in age, our ability to take on new tasks slowly diminishes, doesn’t it? Because if you think about experience, what that means is, you know, more and more about less and less, weirdly, right? So
Andy & Chris:
Yep.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you become quite well versed in what you do every day because you’re doing it every day. But as you know, through dance, as you know, through all my other side events and things that I’ve done in the past, I’ve always had this underlying, I like pushing myself
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in realms that aren’t related to what I do day to day. And it was a challenge. I mean, you go from, I’ve got a formula that I’ll end on at the end of this podcast because I think it’s a really sound one for everyone who’s listening. But ultimately you go from doing what you do to a relatively good standard or really comfortable standard to turning up. Uh, you know, people say stuff like you need to go to park firm. A you’re like, is that French? What, like, what does that mean? Like I’ve, I’ve got, I mean, despite being in, I’ve heard it on Formula One all the time,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
park, firm, a condition, what does it
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean though? Like, where do I go? Like, am I allowed to do it? Like, so you go back to being right at the beginning in the pyramid and, um, Ultimately, I think that’s really healthy. I think
Andy & Chris:
Mm-mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
all of us as individuals don’t put ourselves back into a situation. So I use this analogy. We write with our right hand all the time. We don’t even write anymore, don’t we? We type, but we
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
use something called a pen, obviously, to write and we’ve got a favored hand that we use. I’m smiling because that’s probably going to be fading as time goes on, isn’t it, really?
Andy & Chris:
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
But how many of us pick up the pen with the left hand and just start trying to write with that? just to test our skills, our motor skills, our body, it feels really abnormal, doesn’t it, when you try and do it
Andy & Chris:
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
with your hand? And it’s kind of that. It’s, I try and get the pen in my left hand in life as much as I can, weirdly,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but you know.
Andy & Chris:
And were you able to employ some of the things you had to learn and use in the early days of dentistry to get you on the right path in motorsport? Were there any kind of parallels between how you kind of prepared yourself for this new world? Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
No, no, right, right at the beginning, there was there was enough. I mean, you’re so overwhelmed by this sensory like complex and an aura that surrounds you that everything is, is completely blocking out any kind of logic because you kind of take it back. Like, you know, I’m about to go race. Like,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m like, I’ve done qualifying. The lights are out. I mean, and I dread to know what the BPM was. in that one that first, I’ll dread to know that. You know, probably clinically it’s heart attack level, isn’t it? So,
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in the immediate beginning, I mean, you just, you’re back into being in kindergarten again, really.
Andy & Chris:
I sort of make an assumption, but I assume because I know some of the cars you’ve had, you would have done track days in your own cars or other people’s cars. And then I’m assuming that sort of gives you a little bit of a flavor, but I can imagine racing must be a totally different sort of experience environment as such.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and, you know, I suppose the best way to try and draw some form of analogy, if I was going to retrospectively at the time, it didn’t make sense at all, is that your track days is kind of dental school. You know, you kind of,
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you’re protected, you’re not allowed to overtake in certain areas. Um,
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you know, you get instruction a lot of the time. Well, ultimately, it’s your choice if you pay for additional instruction, but probably, uh, you know, talking about the analogies. That was the thing that I did every track day I ever went on because of my thirst for growth and ability to learn from
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
someone more experienced. Um, I kept doing that, kept doing that, kept getting feedback, kept growing, growing, growing, and slowly I was getting to a point where my, my, my pace was starting to become, it was starting to look like it could be competitive. And
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
my coach, my race coach, and I’ll give a big shout out to Dino Zamparelli, who’s a previous Carrera Cup winner. Um, he’s a champion in his own right. He’s a fantastic instructor, but ultimately he’s got incredible race pedigree. He turned around and said, look, won’t we get you a test day in a race car? Won’t we get a test
Andy & Chris:
Ah, well.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
day in a race car? Won’t we start putting in reference laps and see how far you go and see if we can refine your driving. So the track days were like I suppose dental school, these test days were kind of like your FD training, if you want to call it that. And then
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
racing was like dentistry. You’re in the big bad world at that point, you know, so
Andy & Chris:
Are there any transferable skills? I’m thinking that obviously in dentistry, the fine motor skills that you need to achieve what you do for your patients are incredible. When you’re steering the car on the balance and the feel of the car, is there a crossover between that side of things?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Incidentally, absolutely. I’ll tell you more than fine motor. I mean, there is fine motor because
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
as you get into a racing car, it’s literally a 0.1 degree steering angle
Andy & Chris:
Mm. Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
can set the car into a different balance. So there’s
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that. I think hand or hand-eye coordination is a really big thing. So
Andy & Chris:
But
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you know where you need to go and
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that, you know, you’re giving the input to get to that point. So that’s completely cross transferable because when I’m doing a cavity preparation or if I’m doing a filling preparation, I know where I need to, I need to cut it. And there’s a hand-eye coordination feedback group, isn’t there? That’s telling me I’m
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in the right place, I’m in the wrong
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
place.
Andy & Chris:
yeah, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So that is completely transferable.
Andy & Chris:
Wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, it is. Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. If you had a I’m just always intrigued on this. So what’s your sort of scariest moment so far? Because I know you’ve done a fair few races now. So what’s what’s the one that made you think? Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Uh, I mean, there’s been loads really. I mean, it’s like every race is scary,
Andy & Chris:
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but there’s, there’s w in, in, in, in the paddock, we call it the Brown trouser moment for appropriate reasons. Um,
Andy & Chris:
Excellent. Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but, um, one, so this scariest moment without question was my first race. The lights, the lights. So it’s not like full normal. It’s like one, two, three, four, five gone.
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Um, it’s literally lights go on. Lights go off and you go.
Andy & Chris:
Right,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Um,
Andy & Chris:
okay.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And the thing is, is you don’t really truly know what’s going to happen. Like you don’t know, is it going to be a multi-countdown? Is it going to be good? So actually
Andy & Chris:
Right,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
on the
Andy & Chris:
okay,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
first
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
race, I’m not even looking at the lights. I’m looking at other people. So I’m judging my reaction on their reaction,
Andy & Chris:
But with their
Dr Shiraz Khan:
if you know
Andy & Chris:
reaction,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
what I
Andy & Chris:
yeah yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean. Yeah. And I think there’s the reason that was a scary moment was because, um, I, I, this is the first time I thought I’d been close to, to, to heart attack or something like that, right? Because I’m. I’m re I am looking at the light and I’m focusing in and this part of my vision starts going completely black. And I’m like,
Andy & Chris:
Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and all
Andy & Chris:
wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m doing is where the not the weather license plate for the, for the car is it’s got a Pirelli, um, sponsored license. I’m just focusing on one cause license plate. I’ve lost all the vision of everything else.
Andy & Chris:
Wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And, and then you go and then. And then auction comes and then you, you, you go and commit. So that was one of the biggest, scariest moments. The second biggest one was, um, I got, I got hit in, um, in a pretty high speed, uh, high speed, uh, crash in Brands hatch. Um, uh, actually it was high speed coming into, but I’d break really hard and then got knocked into the car was sliding all over the place because the coolant had leaked onto the tires. So I’d be driving straight and the car was like just on itself.
Andy & Chris:
Wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That was pretty frightening. That was pretty frightening. And it doesn’t sound too much, but when you’re doing that at 100 miles an hour plus,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it’s
Andy & Chris:
yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
significantly worrying actually. But I’ll tell you, they’re the biggest two scariest moments
Andy & Chris:
I think
Dr Shiraz Khan:
really.
Andy & Chris:
you lose the perception of speed, don’t you? Oh yeah. The only time I can ever remember is once when I was doing some speed that was on a… anyway, and
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
someone pulled out, I think I was doing about 100 and something, and someone pulled out on a motorway at about 70, and that was the first time really I sort of appreciated how quick you are going.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
income
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
because
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
you sort of forget about it don’t you i mean as you say you’re probably so intent on your your racing and your positioning and changing
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean…
Andy & Chris:
gear and what else is going you’re not even thinking about the speed are you i imagine
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I don’t even think I’ve ever looked at the speedometer.
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean, it’s just, it’s not in your immediate
Andy & Chris:
No. Yeah, I say you imagine
Dr Shiraz Khan:
line
Andy & Chris:
you must
Dr Shiraz Khan:
of sight.
Andy & Chris:
just forget about it. You just drive. It’s extreme, but it’s like watching
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That
Andy & Chris:
Formula One on television and
Dr Shiraz Khan:
was.
Andy & Chris:
being at the circuit, isn’t it?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
what’s
Andy & Chris:
If you
Dr Shiraz Khan:
interesting
Andy & Chris:
watch Formula
Dr Shiraz Khan:
about.
Andy & Chris:
One on television, it just doesn’t look that quick.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
No, no, no, it just looks… And when you watch it live, all of a sudden they look like robots in the car, because
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
their head doesn’t even move.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
What’s interesting about your point, Chris, is actually, this is probably why I do this, actually, because the issue with public roads and all of this is the closing speeds. There’s such a disparity.
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
There’s such a disparity that anyone can pull out at any moment. Like, you have no idea of what’s going on. And look, we’ve all… We’ve all been there. I mean, I’ve been there where,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you know, I’ve actually not realized how fast you go. Like you said, you’re not doing it with the male, you know, the maleficence
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
of, of trying to be a hero. You’re doing it just because
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you’re trying to get to a destination incident. You’re probably
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
running late, whatever the case. Um,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm. Oh
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but
Andy & Chris:
circuits
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it’s, it’s
Andy & Chris:
is a controlled
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that
Andy & Chris:
environment,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
danger.
Andy & Chris:
isn’t it? Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah. And, and, and what’s completely underestimated is the surface, the surface continuity aids grip.
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Whereas the road surface. Well, I mean, German roads are fantastic, but British roads, the average British B road has probably got more potholes and it has flat surfaces in it.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah. So you’re in the second tier now, and you were very modest, but I know when you were in the first tier, you podiumed a number of times, which is amazing for your first season.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
I
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
know you’re
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
finding this season more challenging. How do you measure success? I know we met at the Dentistry Show, we were talking to Bertie, Bertie Napier was there, and there was a great conversation between him being a, you know. very into his golf and how he kind of measures his success in golf. And you were talking about how you’re finding it, but it can’t just be about podiums, can it? So how do you kind of measure success beyond that?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean, you know, it’s so funny when we do these podcasts and things, you know, you always say, you’re, I mean, I’m pretty sure out of the nightly podcasts you’ve done, you’ll, they’ll always say, oh yeah, it’s not about, it’s not about the destination. It’s about the journey. And I’ve said it myself in so many occasions, but ultimately when you’re at the destination, if it’s what you intended, you feel bloody good about yourself, don’t you? Sorry for the language, but you
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
ultimately
Andy & Chris:
I
Dr Shiraz Khan:
feel,
Andy & Chris:
was going to say, if you’ve got the little shiny thing in your hands, the destination
Dr Shiraz Khan:
oh my
Andy & Chris:
matters.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
God,
Andy & Chris:
Especially
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it is,
Andy & Chris:
if you’re first.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
oh my
Andy & Chris:
Exactly,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Andy & Chris:
yeah. I think, was it Diego Maradona said that if you’re second, you’re the first of the losers?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah, wait, ultimately, and imagine a world in motorsport. Do you think they care about second?
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean,
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that’s it. That’s quite a begrudging result for many people. It’s unreal, right?
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
But you know, I think going back to this discussion, the first season, I went there with no expectation, no anticipation. And ultimately, I’ve got two seconds, a third place out of seven races. And the last race, I was 0.028 seconds, which is… 28 hundredths of a second away from my first win. We crossed the line at the same time practically. And I was pushed onto the grass because he was just an awful driver frankly.
Andy & Chris:
I think it’s interesting that you remember that down to four decimal places. That hurts,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
doesn’t
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
it? Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean, no question, no question. So, so I had all of this really like, I would, I would say, and my coach definitely says it, the trajectory of progression in my first season was probably quite unheard of in terms of the club and, and, and what other people have done in the past, he’s coached and things like
Andy & Chris:
Mm-hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that. So that made me, that gave me an anticipation for myself. I come into the second season where you’ve got, I think one of the drivers on the grid has been driving for 20 years.
Andy & Chris:
Wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in this category, you’re in a completely different level in terms of performance. The performance envelope is much higher, but also the, I don’t know how to put this in technical, but the sketchiness of the car has gone up. So if this is probably quite hard to explain, but a treaded tire has the grooves and those grooves flex, which give grip. And they also
Andy & Chris:
Mm-hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
give you the indication when grips being lost. A slick tire has no tread. So when the grip’s lost, it’s lost. There’s no, oh,
Andy & Chris:
That’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
we’re kind
Andy & Chris:
interesting.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
of on the limit. We’re on the limit. It’s just gone.
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So, and that’s been the hardest thing for me as well as the fact that the competition’s gone up. So, when I was in my first season, I had no anticipation, but hoped for some form of success. The second season I was like, right, I’m gonna punch really hard here and I’m gonna
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
give it my all. And then I’ve been, you know, the bottom for the first race and a half, I was practically, you know, bottom three, bottom four of the races. And it’s been, again, gone back to kindergarten, it’s been a wake up call.
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And at the time, it’s quite stressful, but ultimately, it’s hugely rewarding because now the now the mountains to climb again, you know.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So yeah.
Andy & Chris:
yeah. What’s your relationship like with, failure is a hard word, I don’t mean failure in the sense that you’re failing, but when things don’t go well, how do you cope with that? What’s your relationship with that like?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Um, I, okay. So in the general scheme of life, um, I welcome failure. So failure is a really good thing. Failure is a thing that allows you to grow. Failure is a thing that allows you to reflect. Failure is a thing that allows you to just stop the rat race and look inside and try and work out what’s going on. Um, I, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get frustrated by failure. It doesn’t
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that I don’t expect more of us. I mean, if we’re talking about high performance and high performing individuals that you reflect on in the rest of the world, Michael Jordan, like it’s not good enough and that’s the end of story. Like,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you know, if you’ve seen the fantastic documentary, The Last Dance, which I probably watch once every six months to reignite the energy and the passion, you know. Ultimately, you know, when it’s not good enough, it’s not good enough. And some people respond well to that, some don’t. And for me, I respond
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to… Okay, it’s not good enough, I need to push on.
Andy & Chris:
But ironically, with Michael Jordan across his career, he lost more games than he won.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
So he’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
held it as being the greatest of all time, but across his career, he failed, to use that word, more times than he won.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and
Andy & Chris:
And it’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
out.
Andy & Chris:
funny because, like you say, you need to get used to it.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And ultimately failing more times than you win makes you the greatest of all time. You,
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
because if you, even if you do win lots of things, you won’t achieve all of those goals and the amazing thing about Mark Trout, I mean, he had every record under the sun, but he didn’t catch, you know, people like Larry Bird because they had taken their team to success. And that is the real moment that made you the greatest, not
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
as an individual. Like the Lionel Messines and the Cristiano Ronaldo’s, Michael Jordan, you know, all of these individuals, they hold success because of their own accolades, but because they’ve driven their teams to success too.
Andy & Chris:
On the team point Shiraz, as a dentist working in a dental practice, you work in a team. So if the receptionist don’t do their job well, then you’re not going to get a well-prepared patient come to your surgery. If your nurse isn’t an extension of you, it’s clunky when you’re in a clinical environment, blah, blah, blah. So you’ve got a team environment that’s quite well known. When you’re racing, when you’re driving, you’re alone in the car. But how important is the team that’s not in the car with you to make sure that you feel good and they’re supporting you? Is there a real team dynamic in motorsport?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean, absolutely. If it wasn’t for my team, you know, and a bit of a shout out to them. So Supertune Motorsport, Colin Tester, who ran my car last year, along with Race Drive and Dino Zamperelli and Eden, who were involved this year. Ultimately, if they don’t do their prep work, if they don’t do their homework, if they don’t go over the car with a fine tooth comb, if they’re not running the car in their own time, if they’re not checking all changes, if they’re not doing all of these things, I might get machinery on the day that’s not good enough, frankly. Um,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
ultimately, so, so you’re ultimately in a position where, um, you’re then stuck because of the machinery. And is that any different to how you doing chap? You are. It’s good to see you, Robbie. Um, another one of the drivers, it’s just turned out to sorry about it.
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Um, but you’re, you’re in a situation where everyone has a moving part that
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
contributes to the overall success of that team. And if one part doesn’t do their job, I
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
ultimately,
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you won’t have the machinery to do what you need to do. Um
Andy & Chris:
And not being super dramatic, I suppose the answer is you truly do have your life in someone else’s hands, don’t you? Because
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, of
Andy & Chris:
if they haven’t
Dr Shiraz Khan:
course you
Andy & Chris:
done
Dr Shiraz Khan:
do.
Andy & Chris:
what they should do with a car and it
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Hoshinei.
Andy & Chris:
locks up or whatever it is, then you could be ex-Shiroz. I mean,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
it
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
really
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
is, truthfully, isn’t it, that you are trusting someone to deliver your safety?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s exactly what it is. And, you know, I mean, ultimately, that principle exists in life, right? Like, when someone gives you way on the road, we have an inherent, I mean, society is built on trust, right? You have trust that they’re not going to run you down. Ultimately,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
hopefully, it wouldn’t happen very regularly, but you put faith in
Andy & Chris:
Haha.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
someone else’s hands on a day
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to day. It’s kind of the same.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Has this experience, has your motorsport experience reversed back into dentistry? Have you learned things for motorsport that you’ve been using dentistry? There’s lots of people that have different dynamics to them. So, you know, you work with Kari, Kari Faran, who came on and joined us. And obviously he loves music, loves guitar. And he says how he finds that very relaxing, but he believes there’s been an influence back in. Doug, what a similar experience. Are you starting to see anything that feeds back into your clinical work?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, in terms of the motor skills and whatever, I think we’ve done our bit within our clinical training to understand that to the best degree.
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I think one thing that if I was going to talk negatively about my career, perhaps I suffer with lack of patience. Sometimes I’m a high performance driven individual. And when I quite don’t get something, I wouldn’t say I get frustrated, but it’s like, you can feel the tension building up and what motorsport has taught me, particularly this season, because it’s not really been successful or whatever that outline is, it’s taught me about patience. But going back to the point,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it is absolutely, absolutely relevant for being a performing individual. And I’d say any dentist in the world is a high performing individual because you are being trusted with an instrument that can be harmful to provide care. Ultimately, and I think that risk is overlooked all the time, isn’t it? So you’re
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
being trusted on a regular basis that you’re going to do the best that you can for that patient. And, you know, if you do not have sufficient downtime, if you do not have the opportunity to spread your wings a little bit and, and let yourself just the shoulders fall down a bit, you know, if you don’t have that, your ability to remain oxygenated in times of pressure, your ability to cope with those moments, because baseline stress is increased, body inflammation, I mean, it all starts becoming the same thing. So yeah, ultimately, it’s a combination of those factors really.
Andy & Chris:
Brilliant, brilliant. So tell us what’s happening this weekend. You’re saying you’re up in North West
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So…
Andy & Chris:
Wales in Anglesey
Dr Shiraz Khan:
We are in Anglesey, which is, uh, north, it’s literally the coast of, of, of North Wales,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
um, and we’re at race weekend, number three for, for the season. So that’s race five and six. Um, and what we’ve got is we’ve got, uh, uh, this first time of the season, actually, we’ve got a bit of a rigorous program where there’s, there’s, uh, light testing and track day today. There’s testing tomorrow where we’re trying to get timings and, and really start pushing on. So on, on, on track sort of days. You have to really respect the other people that are maybe here for their first time. There’s a differing level of understanding. So you have to really be considerate to where other people are in their driving journey. Testing is all racing drivers, all racing cars. You don’t even show your driving license. You have to show your racing license, ultimately. And then Saturday and Sunday is qualifying race one and Sunday race two. So yeah, I
Andy & Chris:
Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
thought
Andy & Chris:
right,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it was…
Andy & Chris:
okay.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
When you guys sent me the date for the link, I was like, we couldn’t think of a more perfect setting really for, for the,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
uh, for the podcast.
Andy & Chris:
no, wow for the topic the topic which
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
is
Dr Shiraz Khan:
exactly.
Andy & Chris:
really good this motorsport license. You’ve mentioned it a car I didn’t know i’m being a dullard. I didn’t know what’s that then tell me
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yes.
Andy & Chris:
about that
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yes. So as you take your driving license to be able to be a competitive racer, you need to take a odds license, which is the association of something like a sport or whatever it is. Obviously I don’t, I don’t know enough about it ultimately, but there is a, there’s a governing body that you need
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to register with, which are called motorsport UK, and
Andy & Chris:
Right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you have to do a test to prove that you’re proficient to be on track and
Andy & Chris:
Wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
there’s a written part and there’s a, and there’s a physical driving
Andy & Chris:
Does
Dr Shiraz Khan:
demonstration.
Andy & Chris:
someone go with you? Or I mean,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah. Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
is
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
it like, it really
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
is like a normal
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
driver’s.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
absolutely.
Andy & Chris:
Oh, wow, wow.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
There’s like a, except you’re going around a place called Paddock Hill Bend, which is a really frightening corner at Brian’s Hatch, which I had to do in the wet as well. Oh my God, it was so stressful. I don’t really drive in the wet that often, but if you’re entering the world in the UK, in Wales at best of times, it’s probably raining,
Andy & Chris:
To get
Dr Shiraz Khan:
isn’t
Andy & Chris:
used
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it?
Andy & Chris:
to
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So
Andy & Chris:
it, yeah, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you’ve got to get used to arriving in the wet a little bit.
Andy & Chris:
You better get used to it. Wow, can you imagine that? Imagine that as a job, what do you do? I’m a, what is it, a racing car instructor, licensed tester, I mean, flipping
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
it.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah. I mean, I’ll tell you what, it’s funny that you said tester. So, um, this is not an exaggerate or a joke. My, uh, my, uh, team that last year, super tune motorsport, it’s run by a chap called Colin tester, who is a tester or a grade eight odds instructor for race school. I mean, you couldn’t think if I was to go branding, that is like a branding opportunity, isn’t it?
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Colin tester odds instructor.
Andy & Chris:
he’s a tester.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean, that.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, exactly. Like you could beat that would be, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that’d be a successful
Andy & Chris:
come
Dr Shiraz Khan:
business.
Andy & Chris:
to
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Whatever
Andy & Chris:
the
Dr Shiraz Khan:
happened, wouldn’t
Andy & Chris:
inverted
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it?
Andy & Chris:
commas
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Tester.
Andy & Chris:
tester.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Andy & Chris:
I love it when you get people that their job suits them. So we have a cleaning company that look after our office and the woman that calls it’s called Velina. So she’s Velina the cleaner. And and
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s amazing,
Andy & Chris:
my
Dr Shiraz Khan:
innit?
Andy & Chris:
my my my Turkish barber is Ali. So he’s Ali Baba. I mean,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
there’s there’s lots
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and I
Andy & Chris:
of
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean,
Andy & Chris:
them out there.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
awful one. Sorry for the dull tone of the podcast. I’m going to drop it a notch here, but who invented the flush?
Andy & Chris:
Oh yeah, it’s a Thomas Crapper. Thomas Crapper. It is the best, isn’t it?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Sensational! Sensational! I mean, not only did boys find totally humor hilarious anyway, but that!
Andy & Chris:
Hahahaha
Dr Shiraz Khan:
God almighty! I mean, what a first time I had that! I was in stitches for weeks, like weeks, absolutely weeks. Blood, yeah. Crikey. Oh,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah. Brilliant.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
dude.
Andy & Chris:
What’s the big hairy goal? Where do you hope to see your motorsport career rolling in the next three, five, seven years? Where’s it going?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
There’s the hairy
Andy & Chris:
That’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
goat. No,
Andy & Chris:
a big hairy, hairy, hairy beard.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
where’s the goat? Okay, so I think I absolutely want to enjoy. I think as we advance in age, ultimately, I have to stop being like, consistently obsessed with goals. And you know, I think this goes into a higher topic where Goal setting is, is, is equally good by measure as it is bad, uh, because you create
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
a ceiling for yourself, you create an expectation, whatever. But, um, I think so the first goal of mine through however long I do this for, and I do have a 10 year motorsport pyramid plan ultimately. Um, but the, the goal is, is really stop obsessing about results and really just take yourself back to what a privilege,
Andy & Chris:
Let’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
um,
Andy & Chris:
enjoy
Dr Shiraz Khan:
what
Andy & Chris:
the
Dr Shiraz Khan:
a
Andy & Chris:
moment.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
privilege. What a privilege. This is a life. How many people can say they get to do their absolute bucket list life goal type things in their life? You know,
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
this is this is the pinnacle of life goals for me. So I think I really need to enjoy the journey. But ultimately, I think what I need to do is two to three years within this club series at the moment to really understand racecraft to really do my apprenticeship years, if you want to put it that way. to become competitive. And then ultimately
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I want to start entering, you know, Porsche GB and Porsche AG races, which are like things like Carrera Cup. They’ve got something called the GT4 Sprint Race. And that’s on the, well, this is showing my age, but do you remember Toka Touring Cars? They’re just called touring cars now,
Andy & Chris:
Yes.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
ultimately,
Andy & Chris:
Oh, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
but
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that follows the touring car package. They do things like British GT, which is quite heavily
Andy & Chris:
I dunno, okay.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
publicized. So that’s the aspiration for the trajectory of where I want to be. Um,
Andy & Chris:
No.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
if it was a hard goal, I can be very, very open about this. So I’ve got no insistent need of wanting to be a champion of any nature. I think like with most things in life, if you work hard enough at the graph, those results will come. Uh, I’m not,
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m not, I wouldn’t say that’s a goal and they’ll quit. That’s, that’s not where I’m at.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
It’s
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
about maximizing my performance as always. I mean, that’s an ongoing
Andy & Chris:
And enjoying
Dr Shiraz Khan:
comment,
Andy & Chris:
it, I
Dr Shiraz Khan:
isn’t
Andy & Chris:
suppose.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it?
Andy & Chris:
That’s the other thing, isn’t it? Enjoyment
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
has got to be one of the things. The goal is to still enjoy it. Yeah. So it doesn’t become a chore.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
It’s that’s a, that’s a really hard one. Um, because I mean, I was trying to work out when you enjoy these things, because you’re so pressured in like qualifying and then, uh, 45 minutes later, there’s a race and then, you know, I’m looking after sponsors or I’m talking with the Porsche, uh, club, uh, people or my team, like you’ll be, it’s unreal how quick a weekend goes. And yeah, there is a, probably a moment where you get to that. sit back and watch it again. And as you know, we’ve been documenting a series really well with Oliver and the FTA
Andy & Chris:
Mm-hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
media team, which is really, really lovely. With the aspiration of trying to capture those moments and show people what it is like. And someone asked me yesterday over dinner, what’s your goal for that? And I was like, there isn’t a goal other than to document what it is like an absolute amateur to get into something
Andy & Chris:
Mm-hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
competitive
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and quite scary,
Andy & Chris:
I think
Dr Shiraz Khan:
really.
Andy & Chris:
what’s really nice for people as well is that I think there’s a message in there about everything we do doesn’t have to be Goal focus it doesn’t have to be you know about the outcome There’s some stuff you should just do nice because you enjoy it and it’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
a release Yeah, it’s fun and it doesn’t have to necessarily have some overarching driving purpose. Yeah to where it ends up It doesn’t have to
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it.
Andy & Chris:
be I do it because I enjoy it
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And, and, and, you know, I wonder if that’s the, you know, every yin has its yang, doesn’t it? I wonder
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
if that’s the overarching, um, uh, deficiency of all of these things like performance podcasts or goals or all of this information where you’re talking about people that are inspirational, that all of a sudden we all feel like we have to do that, but actually, no, we don’t have to achieve
Andy & Chris:
No.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
something certain. We just have to go on the journey that we are destined to or whatever we believe is. is our journey and let’s
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
be very, very open. We’re talking about motorsport. I can tell you my life goal. It’s to create more time to be with my family. End of.
Andy & Chris:
Mmm. Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s like, I want to be able to be there for all the things they are. Uh, I know that sounds quite contraindicatory to being at a race circuit this weekend, but ultimately it’s to generate freedom in what I do day to day so that I can spend more
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
time with them. And
Andy & Chris:
But
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I
Andy & Chris:
I
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mean,
Andy & Chris:
think you’re right. I think there’s so much stuff out there where people are Directly or indirectly pressuring or putting pressure on themselves Yeah
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
to kind of you know achieve and I think people should give themselves permission just to enjoy stuff And it’s okay just to have a hobby with no purpose. It’s just for
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
fun
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah, yeah. And have I inadvertently contributed to that because I’m quite expert on socials, I’ve obviously done lots with, you know, in the dental press and publications, and have I inadvertently contributed to that? Not knowingly so, but I can openly say that obviously
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
people that follow you will be like, oh, I must, to be a success, and I hate that word in general, success, I have to do what so-and-so
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
is
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
doing, rather than just being able to say, look, do you know what? I feel like watching Netflix for eight hours today,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and that’s fine.
Andy & Chris:
I’d be sitting in my pants. I’d say
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
if that’s what you want to do, that’s equally fine. But I think there’s so much out there that kind of says, you know, to be successful, you know, to
Dr Shiraz Khan:
You
Andy & Chris:
have this,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
must
Andy & Chris:
to have
Dr Shiraz Khan:
have
Andy & Chris:
that.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
an outlet or yeah exactly yeah
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah
Andy & Chris:
And the
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah
Andy & Chris:
problem is, by virtue of that, all you’re ever doing is looking at the 1%. And feeling dissatisfied. Yeah. Your whole life is one that you haven’t achieved. And the brutal reality is most people either aren’t prepared to give what it takes or just don’t want to. And that’s OK. That’s perfectly
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
alright, just to kind of live your life and enjoy yourself.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And I think, I didn’t mean to interrupt at all, I think that exact point that you’ve just said, like, you know, we started this whole discussion about how to still throw yourself into something where you’re basically learning how to walk again.
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
If one of the salient points that I want everyone to take away really is the fact that life is in balance with situations where you are as good as you can be at something and situations where you are completely challenging yourself. And you’re absolutely right, Chris, if you’re challenging yourself, 98% of the time, you just become depressed. You just feel like you’re never achieving, you’re never
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
getting to your goals. So it’s about striking a balance between things that you’re good at, things that you know, things that you do well, and giving yourself, taking yourself out of that comfort zone, as we know is a great battle for Alzheimer’s and
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
other sort of mental conditions that can affect us later in life. So being able to stress the other parts of the system or the brain
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
or the function is important. But if you get that balance
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
wrong, you are just totally you’re just always underwhelmed by your achievement
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in life. And
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, that’s right.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I think that has that has been a summary a bit of my life as well, actually,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah
Dr Shiraz Khan:
if I look internally.
Andy & Chris:
I 100 agree sure as and we could talk all day, but i um box set on netflix to go and watch now So, um, we’re just gonna put i’m just gonna order i’m gonna order the pizza
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’ve got eight hours of just sitting there smudging out, but that’s great, isn’t it? If
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you get
Andy & Chris:
he
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to
Andy & Chris:
should
Dr Shiraz Khan:
do that,
Andy & Chris:
die. He should
Dr Shiraz Khan:
is
Andy & Chris:
die.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that more successful than someone who is in the press and blah, blah, blah, because they get to do what they want when they want? Is that the true meaning of success?
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, there we go. Yeah. And join us for another podcast
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah, yeah!
Andy & Chris:
when we discuss the definition of success.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
We’re going to turn up the bass and it’s going to be called Deep and Meaningful.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah, exactly.
Andy & Chris:
Now what we
Dr Shiraz Khan:
You’ve
Andy & Chris:
do is
Dr Shiraz Khan:
been
Andy & Chris:
just
Dr Shiraz Khan:
working
Andy & Chris:
sit
Dr Shiraz Khan:
on that.
Andy & Chris:
around
Dr Shiraz Khan:
You’ve
Andy & Chris:
in
Dr Shiraz Khan:
been working on that radio
Andy & Chris:
a big
Dr Shiraz Khan:
voice.
Andy & Chris:
armchair doing nothing.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Cheer us, we know you’ve got a busy weekend ahead, but we can’t let you go because we always finish in the same way. We always ask our guests the same questions. I can’t remember what these other two were. And you’ve answered these before, but in the context
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So.
Andy & Chris:
of the conversation we’ve had today, you might answer them in a different way. So the first one is if you could be the fly on the wall. So go on, go on.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Can I just, can I end on one thing? I said, there was one
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
like
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
conclusion statement that I wanted,
Andy & Chris:
Yes.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m really sorry.
Andy & Chris:
Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I’m
Andy & Chris:
yes.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
going away
Andy & Chris:
You
Dr Shiraz Khan:
with your
Andy & Chris:
did
Dr Shiraz Khan:
flimps.
Andy & Chris:
say, yeah. This is your big moment.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
Don’t
Dr Shiraz Khan:
this
Andy & Chris:
let
Dr Shiraz Khan:
is
Andy & Chris:
us down.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
well, yeah,
Andy & Chris:
Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah.
Andy & Chris:
and we’ve lost the signal.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s it, he’s gone, he’s gone. You know, just to take away for everyone, the motorsport thing was absolutely a live dream, but to achieve any goal or, and I think it’s totally synonymous with life, it’s the following applies really, and this is dentistry to a T. You, As soon as you start a new skill, you remove first things first, you remove all your ego. How good you are at something. Do you think anyone at this race circuit gives two monkeys that I’ve got the prestigious aesthetic denture? No one cares. No one cares. No one knows. Your CV is not on the table. Take all of your ego out of the situation. Surround yourself by mentors that ultimately are going to be the people that you aspire to be or grow with. And then put in that hard graft work ethic. Push. Push your level, push your boundaries, remain disciplined and do things even when you don’t wanna do them, really push towards that goal. And then when it comes to do the performance or the competition or that filling or that restoration or whatever it is, do so humbly without any anticipation of success. And if you do that, the outcome will pay for itself because ultimately luck, the letter word luck, yeah, I do believe that luck is when hard work meets an opportunity, but ultimately, whatever you believe when that situation comes, it will either happen or it won’t. The hard work you’ve done already is in the path now. You’ve just got to go and perform. So I think if I was going to, and going through this motor sport journey has really been able to solidify that notion to me, remove ego, learn from the best. Smash it, smash your work ethic, do hours and hours a day that you have to. Then when it comes to perform, do so. And really importantly, without anticipation of success and ultimately
Andy & Chris:
That’s cool.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you’ll then get the best out of yourself.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, that’s really good. Really good. Now I think that’s a great, great tip for people. And like you say, that applies across the board. Yeah, it applies for you in motorsport, but I think that’s a great principle for…
Dr Shiraz Khan:
in dentistry, owning a
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
practice,
Andy & Chris:
yeah, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
entering for awards, it’s all the same, it’s all the
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
same.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah. I love that. Love that. So you were flying the wall. Where would you like to be? This time.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Um, this time, yeah, ultimately it was a different situation last time, wasn’t it? I think this, uh, okay. So this, I’m really hard not to be awkward in these ones, because you want to be in the most awkward place at the right time, don’t you? But,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
um,
Andy & Chris:
yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I, you know, what is going on with this? Let’s stick on the motorsport thing. It’s a good one. What is going on with this electric car thing? I mean,
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it’s 2030. It was agreed somewhere. that there’s nothing else going to exist. And we all know that’s absolutely tough, but
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
how can you pretend that you’re going to change and then you get things like biofuels, synthetic fuel production. There’s a good trading tip there for a couple of people who want to find out more about that. But ultimately that whole, oh, we get, this is what we’re going to do and that’s the end of that. I don’t really agree
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
with that.
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And there’s how many notions of that? Brexit, I’d like to know. What person,
Andy & Chris:
Thought
Dr Shiraz Khan:
what
Andy & Chris:
that
Dr Shiraz Khan:
was,
Andy & Chris:
was a great idea.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah, yeah. And like, now we get like, I mean, I’m talking on a very selfish level, but going through the other countries, um, um, Q is a little depressing when you, when you’ve just flown 34, 34 minutes down the road
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and you just sort of sitting
Andy & Chris:
Mm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
there like, blimey. Um, uh, and, and maybe it’s the lack of understanding of the greater goals. So probably, probably the Brexit negotiation thing, um,
Andy & Chris:
Cool.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to know what they really wanted, what’s the
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
real reason. You didn’t
Andy & Chris:
Well,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
want
Andy & Chris:
it’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to
Andy & Chris:
a… Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
provide money for the NHS. Let’s be real about it. Right.
Andy & Chris:
yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
What did
Andy & Chris:
yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you want?
Andy & Chris:
yeah, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
What was the bigger
Dr Shiraz Khan:
So that’d
Andy & Chris:
thing?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
be quite, Brexit negotiations, quite an interesting one. Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah, definitely. Cool. And if you can meet somebody, you’re sitting there, you turn around, you’ve got your espresso and that person sitting opposite you. Who would you like that to be?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I think having mentioned him today, because I remembered I mentioned Ertin Senna last time, which I think was quite a
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
fitting thing for this. But I think I’ll change it because for variability. I think it’s all about performance driven individuals to me and Michael Jordan, having
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
mentioned him in
Andy & Chris:
Ahhhh.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
this podcast. I think he’s, you know, like if you can just distill that drive for success
Andy & Chris:
Mmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
with despite in the face of failure and taking the team like. the selflessness of wanting to take the team along with you, which ultimately was selfish too, which is okay.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Just being able to distill the essence of, I’m gonna do whatever it takes. I got beaten up when we played in the
Andy & Chris:
Hmm.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
92 game. I got beaten up by Rodman, who ended up being a teammate at one point. Like going through those trials and tribulations, I’m not strong enough, driving your team. And also, you know, in press, he’s sometimes made out to be a little bit of a tyrant, but I don’t think he was. He just asked everything of others that he would ask of himself. And that’s
Andy & Chris:
Hmm
Dr Shiraz Khan:
not tyranny. That’s goal setting. That’s
Andy & Chris:
He
Dr Shiraz Khan:
the
Andy & Chris:
was
Dr Shiraz Khan:
future.
Andy & Chris:
relentless.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s… Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
He
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah,
Andy & Chris:
was
Dr Shiraz Khan:
yeah, yeah.
Andy & Chris:
relentless. He would not back off. And like you say, to his credit, he didn’t ask anything of anybody else that he was prepared to do. And
Dr Shiraz Khan:
to
Andy & Chris:
he
Dr Shiraz Khan:
himself.
Andy & Chris:
did himself as well. But his standards were just ridiculous. Essence of Jordan. Yeah. Sounds like an
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I mean,
Andy & Chris:
aftershave,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
is it,
Andy & Chris:
doesn’t it?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
are they, yeah, exactly. Are they, are they ridiculous by, is it ridiculous by the notion of current population, current standards, or did he just completely isolate and know what he wanted
Andy & Chris:
Oh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
and didn’t
Andy & Chris:
it
Dr Shiraz Khan:
deviate?
Andy & Chris:
is. I think it’s ridiculous by the judgment of others. He was happy and prepared to do it because he just wanted to be the best. I think it’s a generational thing as well. It’s quite interesting. We could
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I
Andy & Chris:
go
Dr Shiraz Khan:
do, you
Andy & Chris:
on
Dr Shiraz Khan:
know,
Andy & Chris:
because
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you.
Andy & Chris:
I read something about Oxford’s Student Union yesterday, but I won’t even go down that route.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Well, you got to now. You said it now.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
You got to now.
Andy & Chris:
okay, it was a very quick one. There was an article, Oxford students, you know, they have the debating society where it’s made to look like the House of Commons and that was like training, blah, blah, blah, blah. The academics have just yesterday, I think it was yesterday, they released and said, look, we have to live in a society where it’s okay to take an opposing view and because what happened was that in the Oxford debating society, because some people didn’t agree with one of the debaters, they left the society, and the guys were saying, the whole point of debating, and the whole point of debate, is the fact of you allow opposing views to have conversation rather than just polarised views. And for me, it really resonated, because I thought, flip, that’s
Dr Shiraz Khan:
That’s
Andy & Chris:
the danger,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
generation,
Andy & Chris:
isn’t it?
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that’s the world right
Andy & Chris:
It was
Dr Shiraz Khan:
now.
Andy & Chris:
your Michael Jordan thing about the fact that there seems to be, sometimes, isn’t there, where he was driven and purposeful and we are sitting there going, he was driven and purposeful. Whereas some people now say, oh no, he was
Dr Shiraz Khan:
He’s
Andy & Chris:
a bully
Dr Shiraz Khan:
crazy.
Andy & Chris:
and he was, do
Dr Shiraz Khan:
He was
Andy & Chris:
you
Dr Shiraz Khan:
crazy.
Andy & Chris:
know what I mean? Anyway, sorry, I took us on a bit of a
Dr Shiraz Khan:
No, but that’s
Andy & Chris:
sideways
Dr Shiraz Khan:
amazing though.
Andy & Chris:
move there.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
No, no, I like that. Isn’t that the world today?
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
If you
Andy & Chris:
Oh, yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
have an opposing view to what is the current trend or notion,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you’re
Andy & Chris:
you’re
Dr Shiraz Khan:
now
Andy & Chris:
vilified.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
being, absolutely, absolutely incorrect. That’s
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
really interesting thought. Very interesting
Andy & Chris:
Yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
thought.
Andy & Chris:
sorry. Sorry for jumping on that, Shares, but it sort of struck me
Dr Shiraz Khan:
I
Andy & Chris:
with
Dr Shiraz Khan:
loved
Andy & Chris:
the essence
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it.
Andy & Chris:
of Jordan. But I do quite
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Love
Andy & Chris:
like
Dr Shiraz Khan:
it.
Andy & Chris:
the idea of that being an aftershave. It might smell of sweat though.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah.
Andy & Chris:
Yeah.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Yeah. Or sweaty shoes even worse. Yeah,
Andy & Chris:
Yeah
Dr Shiraz Khan:
that’d be awful. I don’t know, that’s it.
Andy & Chris:
I’ll tell you what. I bet we all wish we’d had a pair of michael’s shoes, don’t we? Because they didn’t
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Oh.
Andy & Chris:
know why i’m going for a couple of million pattern cut a million dollars
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Mental.
Andy & Chris:
Anyway, right here as we leave you to enjoy your weekend have a very very successful weekend stay safe
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Thank
Andy & Chris:
Uh,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you, Chet.
Andy & Chris:
yeah, yeah,
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Thank
Andy & Chris:
and
Dr Shiraz Khan:
you all.
Andy & Chris:
uh, we’ll look
Dr Shiraz Khan:
And
Andy & Chris:
forward to catch up with you really soon
Dr Shiraz Khan:
thanks for all of your experts. You guys are top boys and you’re really contributing to the dental profession in such a positive light. I said it at the beginning and I’m saying it at the end because
Andy & Chris:
Thank
Dr Shiraz Khan:
we
Andy & Chris:
you.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
as dentists really sometimes become so focused on our bread and butter clinical, these skills are in very, I mean, they’re unsurmountably important for our careers. So thank you so much as always.
Andy & Chris:
I appreciate that. Oh, thanks, Shirz. Appreciate that. Excellent, keep well, stay safe. Cheers, mate.
Dr Shiraz Khan:
Cheers, boys.
Andy & Chris:
Cheers, Shirz, drive safe. Cheers, see you later.
