Have you ever been guilty of just getting through your day, your shift, or your patient panel doing what’s necessary to deliver optimal patient care while feeling your energy drain with each encounter?
Have you ever scanned your schedule looking for your days off and using it as a way to survive?
And when your day off came, did you feel yourself going through the motions with your family and friends not feeling fully engaged?
I know firsthand what it’s like to be physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted striving hard to be the best physician in your power, yet feeling unappreciated, discounted, and de-valued.
The current Coronavirus pandemic highlights many of the challenges that physicians and other medical professionals have been facing for decades.
As we look towards a resolution of the present crisis, believe it or not, there is an opportunity here.
A new normal is waiting to be born. And physicians are uniquely positioned to realize it. To give birth to this new way, we must shift the way we are thinking and being in medicine. A new energy is available that focuses forward on bringing solutions to the people of medicine- patients and professionals.
There are practical steps that physicians can put in place to position themselves to shift from the current mode of survival and support their new decision to thrive through change. These practical steps provide a solid foundation to thrive through the change…
- Transitioning from medical school to residency training to attending physician.
- Geographic Relocation
- Personal and family life additions or loss
- A new direction in life
- Changing face of medicine
Practical Steps To Move Forward In Medicine
- Set personal and professional goals. You might think I already have a goal, being a physician. You’re learning the routine of seeing patients, checking labs and test results, adjusting the treatment plan and following up. Isn’t that enough? The personal and professional goals you set do not have to be big goals. They are goals that infuse you with the energy of inspiration and motivation. They pull you forward and help you maintain momentum when the challenges show up. And the challenges will show up. These goals become your navigation system steering you away from the people, places, and opportunities that are not for you right now, while guiding you towards the people, places, and opportunities that are your YES.
- Have a tracking system to stay focused and ensure that you are making steady progress on your goals on most days. The tracking system may be as simple as a checklist of the steps needed to take, where you check off each step as you achieve it. You can expand the checklist to include insights that lead to a deeper understanding of who you are and how you operate. With each new action, consider the qualities and strengths you use in order to move ahead. On days when you don’t take action, what keeps you from moving forward? The right tracking system becomes a success system that stimulates your learning.
- Invest in feedback. Your success demands that. Feedback in medicine is a sticky situation. Early on the career path, physicians learn that feedback can be negative and chip away at their confidence or it can have a positive impact and build their confidence and well-being. Feedback is a proven valuable tool. When it is combined with focus and attention to your goals, it makes success predictable. Feedback is the opportunity to ask the right questions so that your course corrections get you back on the path to your desires. Instead of letting the negative impact of feedback set you back, tap into the energy of the desired outcome to dig deeper into the lesson in feedback.
Putting these pieces together to create a new success system can be overwhelming. That’s when having a coach on your side is valuable.
A coach:
- Holds the client’s agenda.
- Creates space for self-discovery.
- Helps the client get to the essence of their goals.
- Contributes the layer of accountability.
- Brainstorms with the client the shifts needed to thrive through change.
Consider coaching? Schedule a free Thrive Now Discovery Session by sending an email to Stephanie@NurturingMDs.com.
About Dr. Stephanie
Dr. Stephanie Wellington is a physician, international speaker, coach, and founder of Nurturing MDs where she helps physicians infuse new energy into the practical steps of building a life and medical career so they own their value, recognize their strengths, balance their life. She trained at New York University in Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine and continues to live in New York with her 2 children. Get access to Define It To Find It: 5 Pillars For Physician Well-being at www.NurturingMDs.com.
