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🔸Several times in the last 20 years, I have felt stuck in my medical career. 🔸I felt stuck after finishing my pre-registration year as I didn't feel ready to take the next step in training and wanted to explore other environments to work in. 🔸I felt stuck during my adult medicine training as I had to re-sit exams and couldn't see how I was able to move forward without them. 🔸I felt stuck when the government changed the regulations for how medical training worked, and I didn't meet the criteria. 🔸I felt stuck when I was mid-training in Public Health and realized I didn't want the job I was training for. Yes - we all feel stuck, sometimes due to things that change in our lives, and sometimes circumstances that change around us. For me, it felt confusing and lonely, but I knew I wanted to keep moving forward and create the career of my dreams. A flexible career outside full-time clinical medicine where I could also have the work-life balance that was important to me. At all these points, I needed to feel more positive, have more clarity and feel more confident with my decisions.
I realized that I could use what had already happened to help me plan my next steps.
Here's how I managed to look back at what I had done and use it to help me move forward...
💛1. Celebrate your achievements
Being surrounded by many other amazingly successful doctors can make it easy to undersell our achievements. The first time someone asked me about my career achievements, I really struggled to highlight anything...despite all the numerous things I had done. I just saw them as 'expected' and 'bog standard’. Try to imagine your list of achievements as if you know nothing about medicine...and I guarantee they will soon add up! Remember, even getting to the finish line of med school is a huge achievement to be proud of.
💛2. Look back at what lit you up
Reflecting back on what made me intrigued and interested in the human body in the first place has helped me to build confidence in my passions. For instance, in my final biology assignment, aged 17, I chose to look at the impact of listening to meditation music on blood pressure (and now I love listening and creating these tracks!). As a child, we often express our passions and interests more freely....of course these can change over time but remembering what started your path in the first place can be very grounding.
💛3. Practice gratitude
Regular gratitude practice is an easy and effective way to bring more positivity into your day. Feeling thankful and grateful is proven to make you feel healthier and happier. Looking at what you feel grateful for in your career - current and past can help you to focus on the positive so you can keep moving forward. I find that writing is a great way to reinforce this practice -even writing in a letter to say thank you for what has been part of your career and got you to where you are today can help you to move on to where you want to be.
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I help doctors create a purposeful, flexible career outside full-time clinical medicine so they can control their time and have more balance in their lives. To find out more book a FREE 60-minute discovery call. https://calendly.com/resilienceyoga/60min
Image by Aleksandr Ledogorov on Unsplash