We are in a series on finding joy in the journey of medicine and avoiding the arrival fallacy. This week are on to the next approach: Perspective. I lump several strategies under this category - gratefulness, practical positive cognitive psychology, growth mindset, and self-compassion. 

I, along with many others, have written, taught, and coached on all these topics, so I suspect they are not new to you.  However, let’s harness these approaches to find joy now rather...

Our brains naturally focus on the negatives and when we are stressed, that is even more true.  Gratefulness practices help us right-size it. 

Have a joy-filled week! Tonya

Now is a great time to see how I partner with family medicine residency programs to help physicians enjoy their chosen careers. Learn more here. 

Christmas 2020

Christmas 2020 was back to the basics in the Alaska Caylor home. A few of the tools I learned from coaching served me well — Permission, Perspective, Engagement.

We normally love to travel and see friends and family during the holidays.  However, with COVID19 numbers peaking around the country, we decided to stay home for the holidays. And, while we normally have an annual get-together at our home for friends and/or family, this year we did not.

Looking back at the people who taught me throughout residency, a multitude of nurses, residents, faculty, ward clerks, and various techs all taught valuable lessons. I’m not forgetting how integral patients were to my education, but I’ll save them for a future blog.

My very first code was as the medicine intern on night call. When the code pager went off, I ran a short distance to the MICU and entered a room as the only physician.  The nurses looked at me and gave me a...