Last week, I introduced the most common thought error patterns in physicians. This week we will look at two prevalent distortions.

I'll start with one of the most easily recognizable cognitive distortions. 

The should (not) statement. "Shoulds" pretend to be motivating, but in reality, they add more burden to our mental load. 

They can be self-directed such as, "I should call that patient." Self-directed should-statements often lead to guilt, defeat,...

Piggybacking on the Optimizing Our Mindset as Physicians series, I’d like to bring to light some common thought distortions to which we are not immune. Dr. Ali Novitsky, my original and ongoing physician coach, and her husband, Dr. Mark Novitsky, a psychiatrist, were the first to introduce this concept at a conference I attended a few years back. 

I was aware that there were times I and those I worked with were wrong in our assumptions, but I didn’t have the framework...

This week we conclude the guide to optimizing our mindsets as physicians by discussing three common roadblocks and how to work through them. But first, I’d like to review the steps briefly:

1. Brain Dump - We must be aware of what is happening in our minds.
2. Thought vs. Fact - Boil situations down to bare facts (by removing adjectives, loaded words, assumptions, and judgments) and the story we have about them.
3. Automatic Thought Model - Use the framework to see what your...

We are closing out the details of optimizing your mindset as physicians over the next two weeks. This week we will unpack 2 critical caveats to up-level to quality thoughts and enhance your experience. 

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you how to move into an intentional thought model. Remember, it was a way to leave a thought behind that was adding unnecessary suffering and replace it with something that both A. was believable and B. that served you better.

...

Over the past month, we went through some foundational steps to optimize your experience even when you couldn’t control the situation by up-leveling our mindset. We then looked at a couple of advanced options to grow our perspective in a way that serves us better.  This week, I want to give you a couple of helpful hints. 

Improving your mindset is a skill set. And, like any skill, it takes practice, patience, and continued learning.

It’s common to get to...

This week we continue the series for optimizing our mindsets as physicians. Last week, I introduced a framework for those of us not trained as behavioral scientists to use called the Thought Model developed by Brooke Castillo, Master Certified Coach.  In it, we put our automatic thoughts that we just accept as true.

This week we are looking at another advanced option that involves intentional thoughts.  Before I get there, I want to clarify that you do NOT have to move on to...

Over the last two weeks, I’ve laid out two fundamental steps to optimize your frame of mind. If you do nothing else, that alone is beneficial.  This week, I’m ratcheting it up a notch to a more advanced step. This is the Thought Model Framework, developed from positive cognitive psychology by Brooke Castillo, master certified coach.

It’s essentially a framework for those of us who are not behavioral science experts to up-level our mindset.

The model is...

A powerful tool to use in improving your day-to-day experience is your own mind. Last week we discussed the first step of optimization - writing and reflecting on your thoughts. This week we will use that download to move on to step 2.

By default, we believe our thoughts to be true. However, physicians, like most humans, have imperfect brains. Our thoughts, the sentences in our heads that our minds automatically produce, are colored by our experiences, the beliefs we grew up with, our...