As a physician, I have one clear mission: to help my patients.
But I now have another mission that inspires me just as much as helping my patients and that mission is to help other doctors live happier lives.
Let’s realize something together.
Everything you and I have done up to this point has been a choice. And you have many more choices and control than you think.
During medical training, we are locked in a system where we learn to play a game which we’ve succeeded and excelled at for a long time.
But once training ends, all of the sudden we find ourselves in a different game.
A new game
In this new game, we have more choices and can have more control.
We have choices and make decisions of whether to continue in academia, pursue a position in a private practice, take a job in a health system or start our own practice.
Every day we make a choice to stay where we are and continue to be who we have been. Or to make a change.
We can change our location, our practice type, our job or even work in medicine. We have so many more decisions than we often give ourselves credit for.
And one of those decisions you need to make is
if you want to continue the same game, the same schedule
or if you want to create a different game for yourself?
Are you enjoying the game you are playing?
Do you need a change?
This different game encompasses so many new questions which can be overwhelming or exciting.
Where do you live? What job do you take? Who do you marry? Do you want children? These are the same questions that everyone asks themselves but many docs place on hold during their intense focus on education and training in medicine.
Another question we often don’t even think about is whether we continue to learn and grow after completing training. Inside or outside of medicine.
Do you choose to do the same thing or do you yearn for something different?
It is certainly easy and safe to continue practicing medicine and living life the same way with the immense foundation you’ve invested through 15 years of education and training for the next 30 or 40 years. It is your choice.
Your choice
For me, I came to a point where I realized my choice.
I can stay the same which is easy, comfortable and known. Or I can make a change.
What changes have you made to improve your happiness and life?
I discovered happiness again when I moved back to California where I wanted to live. Then when I started my own private practice and could make my own decisions, I became happier.
But the ultimate choice was when I took uncomfortable steps to change. Not my home. Not my job. But myself.
Because when you change yourself, you change your entire life.
Life in medicine can be intense, all encompassing and draining, but what I’ve discovered is that if we are fulfilled outside of medicine, we are better able to handle the ebbs and flows that come with healing others.
We practice medicine because we care about people, helping them, changing their lives, and, making them feel better.
But we all know as fulfilling as it can be, medicine is a tidal wave that can take over your life.
The strategies we share with you in BOOMM are here to save you from drowning in the pressure and responsibilities. Instead, we want to throw you a life preserver.
We want to help you swim in different waters where the waves are smaller and the game is a different game. And most importantly, you won’t drown.
You might even float with the current and enjoy the ride!
BOOMM!
Are you enjoying the game you are playing?
Do you need a change?
Do you choose to do the same thing or do you yearn for something different?
What changes have you made to improve your happiness and life?
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