If you don’t have a mentor or you’re not sure you’ve got the right mentor, read on . . . (and listen to the expanded podcast above). The right mentor will help you manifest your goals in record time. The wrong mentor may undermine your best laid plans. An anti-mentor is a person you’d never want to become. Beware of anti-mentors and wrong mentors disguised as the right mentors. The right mentor is a trusted adviser who has actually done what it is you want to do. Read blog & comment . . .
***
Dear Pamela, Today I realized that if I become a dog walker and charge $25/hour and walk 5 dogs per day I would make my equivalent salary with a lot less hassles. I’m seriously considering this as a career move. I could be the most over-qualified dog walker out there with a bachelors, masters, doctorate and specialty certification! Sometimes I also dream about becoming a Yogi and Herbalist, maybe a part-time Barista? Maybe that would be more helpful to society than the assembly-line medicine I currently participate in and I would likely be happier and healthier. What do you think? Read blog & comment . . .
***
Wellness is defined as the state of being in good health, especially as an actively pursued goal. Here’s the problem: actively pursued sounds like work. Wellness is too controlled, measured, and almost forced upon us. Who’s really excited to join a “wellness committee” this week? Or start a “wellness program” at work? Any volunteers? If you’re not that eager, here’s why: the word wellness is boring, overused, and totally uninspiring. Tack on another uninspiring word like committee or program after wellness and you’ve just killed the last drop of enthusiasm in the room. Weirdly, just saying “wellness program” makes us feel less well. Read blog & comment . . .
***
I asked a group of docs I’m coaching how much they’re worth per hour. Interesting question given docs have 11+ years of specialized training beyond high school. Surgeons spend most of their 20s and 30s in school. By the time these folks graduate, they’ve got 200K+ med school debt—before kids, spouse or house. Many docs just don’t have time to develop a social life, fall in love, have children—until their 30s or later! What’s it worth to have all that training? Where does all that delayed gratification and self-sacrifice lead? Some urgent care jobs pay docs $75/hour. Of course, patients want to see doctors for a $20 copay. Is that all we’re worth? Read blog & comment . . .
***
How long could you drive without dozing off? Maybe 8 hours? Possibly 10? How many hours do you think a long-haul trucker could drive without swerving into your lane? Would you ever want an 80,0000 pound rig coming at you with a guy behind the wheel who hadn’t slept in a day? Want to buckle yourself into your seat on a plane with a pilot cat napping on the control panel? How about a sleepy surgeon coming toward you with a scalpel? Does that seem like a good idea? Sleep deprivation is more dangerous than working under the influence of alcohol. Fatigue leads to car wrecks, plane crashes, and fatal medical mistakes. Thankfully, most employers have excellent safeguards so workers are well rested to prevent these catastrophes. Except for hospitals. Read blog & comment . . .
***
Most physicians appear self-assured. Yet even doctors have self-doubts. But who wants an insecure physician? A confident doctor inspires confidence in patients. So how do physicians cope with their hidden insecurities? I actually had no idea that doctors lacked self-confidence until twelve years ago when I began teaching physician business strategies to succeed in independent practice. When I ask physicians what they need most, self-confidence always ranks near the top. One doc told me, “I want my confidence back. Right now I don’t know what to think. I feel like I’ve been second guessed at every turn by administrators, ‘evidence-based medicine,’ peer reviews, and patients. I’m beaten down.” Physicians are highly intelligent. We enter med school as high achievers, top of our class—even valedictorians. We’ve got confidence. So where did it go? Read blog & comment . . .
***
Last week I spoke at a residency retreat. A surgery resident asked for my big take-home message. Here it is (and this applies to everyone on the planet not just medical students and physicians). Remember the dreams you had as a young adult. If you’re a medical student or physician, please dig out your personal statement that you wrote on the way into medical school. Read it again. Remember why it is that you’re doing all of this. They say that if you know the why you can survive almost any how (meaning you can survive almost any terrible day in the hospital or clinic if you’re fueled by your passion). Read blog & comment . . .
***
