We are on the quest to uncover your personalized way to best enjoy the journey of medicine. Last week, I introduced the concept of a multi-pronged approach and covered the initial step – awareness. That leaves expectations, intentionality, maintenance, perspective, and language. Today, we start with expectations. 

Expectations can be tricky.

I used to joke as my husband completely renovated two houses over 8-11 years each: "low expectations equal high...

For my new blog series, I thought I would tackle how to enjoy the journey of medicine.  Many greater philosophers, leaders, and authors than myself have taken on the expansive subject. So, I find myself questioning my ambitious quest to assist readers in this manner, especially divorced from coaching. However, the one thing I have learned after almost 2 years of weekly blogs is I do my best writing whatever is on my mind. And currently, that’s learning to take pleasure in the steps...

This week, we are continuing to focus on common tendencies that hinder our ability to best navigate the demands on our time, energy, and attention. Last week we covered people-pleasing and exaggerated reputation management. This week we will unpack self-judgment and the procrastination habit.

Most of us have such unrealistic expectations for ourselves, that we regularly subconsciously wallow in self-judgment. When asked to take on a project or task we’d prefer to decline, some of...

This week, we are focusing on a spin-off issue around navigating the demands on your time, energy, and attention. Four common issues arise that side-track us. 1. People-Pleasing. 2. Reputation Management. 3. Self-Judgment 4. The Procrastination Habit. Let’s start with the first two.

People-pleasing for physicians sounds so nice, doesn’t it? What could possibly be wrong with it? I think the answer lies within the definition. If you love to serve and make others’ lives...

Week 4 Navigating Demands.

We each have people or tasks that demand our time, energy, and attention – usually many more than one human can tackle.  This week we will discuss how we can optimally manage the requests. Hopefully, you crafted your own purpose-in-career statement from last week’s exercise.  You will use that and your core values as part of the process. If you haven’t done it yet, take the time to work through it, as it will be valuable for...

We are continuing our Purpose-in-Career Series. This week I offer you a working blog. Go ahead and get out something to write with and on (or, if you prefer, something to type into). I combined a few methods I’ve experienced and added my own takes. (I don’t have the original attributions as they were either not given to me, or I don’t recall.)  You get to design your own purpose as it plays out in the professional realm. You don’t have to wait for an epiphany.

...

We started our Purpose-in-Career series last week by addressing an emerging theme among some early-career physicians - “I’m not wanting professional fulfillment.” Hopefully, I created enough wiggle room to consider the middle ground for those individuals. This week we will review the benefits of revisiting or redefining your “why” behind your career choice.

Crafting and reflecting on your motivation for being a physician is quite empowering. As usual, I...

Getting back in touch with your previous reasons for choosing medicine and/or discovering new motivations can be a powerful tool to improve your professional fulfillment. Before I unpack all the amazingness that can come from crafting an individual purpose statement for your career, I want to take this week to relay a side-note observation.

I’ve noticed an emerging trend involving a small percentage of early-career physicians having an adverse reaction to phrases such as...

This week, we conclude our series of the three foundational ingredients that support physicians’ psychological health. We camped out on Autonomy for five weeks, then covered Relatedness last week. This week we focus on Competence.

(I hope no one is disappointed that I will NOT be taking on the demonstration of competencies to specialty boards, governmental stakeholders, hospital organizations, patients, and other external entities. That controversial topic is beyond the...

This week, we are finally moving on in our series to the second key component for physicians' psychological health. Relatedness - a sense of belonging and connection - is critical, not only in team relations but in your personal mental fitness. Brené Brown has described belonging as the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity. It is connected to positive, lasting, and significant interpersonal relationships.

Relatedness...