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Welcome to the med Ed well podcast, where physicians get empowered to take the next step in their wellness, personally, professionally, and financially. I’m your host, Dr. Ryan Stegink, a practicing general pediatrician, and online entrepreneur. Hello, everyone. And welcome to another episode of the MedEdWell podcast, using education about wellness, to help those in medicine to be able to take their next step. Whether it’s physicians, nurse practitioners, pas, I’ve even had some other professionals reach out and let me know how this podcast has really impacted them. And help them work through a stressful work situation.
I’m just excited to be able to be here with you. And to help you take that next step. So whether you’ve been listening for a while, or you just found me, welcome. Thanks for being here. If you can go ahead and subscribe. And if this is helpful, share this episode or leave a review, it really helps get the word out there.
Today, we’re going to be talking about goals and outcomes how how you got to where you are, where you want to go, how to set goals and how to move forward.
So as we look at things, you got to look at where you currently are. That’s the now there’s what was in the past, we can’t change that. I like to ask my patients, do you have a time machine? They’re like, No, I’m like, Yeah, me neither. So can’t change the past. But then what will be in the future. And so from where you are now, you can take a moment and to look back to see what was and how you got here, where you were. And then you can look back and see that journey.
Those steps that you took, that you got here. And those things that that impacted you that may have held you back from where you had hoped you’d be. But this is all part of your journey, then there’s the looking forward to where you want to be. And that path forward may not be clear.
So I want to go over a few things today about how we can move from where we are to where we want to go.
First need to choose where do I even want to go?
So you have to look at where you’re where you are, where you’ve been. But then you have to look into the future and say where? Where do I want to be going?
What what comes up for you? And when I say that? Where do you want to be in three years and five years and six months?
There might be a whole lot of thoughts, or maybe feelings about well, this is where I want to be but I haven’t been able to get here and maybe some frustration, maybe some anxiety about something’s coming up, graduating from residency, a new job change, the family situation changing.
And so that’s can lead us to take certain actions as we have these thoughts about situation generates a feeling we do certain things and generates a result for us.
So how’s that working out for you?
Maybe those goals, those future things are about wanting to become a doctor. Maybe you’re still in training or considering what I want to do.
Maybe it’s to match in a particular specialty. As of the time of this recording. We’re coming up on Match Coming up in next month, where medical students will be hearing, if they matched and where, where they’ll be going.
Maybe you’re already out in your attending career, and you’re working in the practice, to make partner or maybe to make Associate Professor, full professor, maybe you’re looking to find a life partner, or to have a successful business.
Maybe you want to learn a new skill, or a new language.
So as you think about where you are, and where you want to go in the future, first, you have to decide where do you want to go? What does that future state look like?
And in order to get there, you’re going to have to set some smart goals, may have heard of this in the context of quality improvement, those specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound goals, so that you actually know if you’re meeting them.
Part of this is going to involve breaking down a big goal into manageable chunks. Because as even as I think about big things, it’s sometimes gets overwhelming thinking, Well, I don’t know where, what what to do next. So this big goal that I think is going to take me so long, maybe I just won’t even start, as opposed to saying, Well, I can do this. Well, I can do this next thing. In this next timeframe.
For me, one of the things that I had put off as far as a home improvement project was painting, our bathroom is little, had a lot of little sides. And I thought it is going to take me a while. So I just kind of put it off. My wife said last weekend. I want to get this done this weekend. And so I figured out okay, what do I need, paint, brushes, rollers, drop costs. And then I went to work on different things, I knew that I’d have to take off the light fixture in order to paint around the edges in a way that didn’t get paint on the light fixture itself. And to all of that involved making a specific goal of I’m gonna figure out how to do this this weekend. And so on Saturday, I went for it. I broke it down, I taped it, I got the paint, I got the brushes. And ultimately, I was able to get it done by the end of the day. Now, while this sometimes seems like a silly example, it’s an example of how when we face these things that our mind makes us think that it’s really big. And I don’t know how I’m going to do this. And so it’s easy to push off. I certainly do this in other areas of my life to but it’s not just a thing for me, I know that it’s an naturally human thing to say.
This is what my mind is thinking. And if we don’t look at how that’s affecting us, and how that’s causing us to show up, how that’s actually generating results for us, as we say, maybe I don’t think I can improve my charting. It’s too big
. This pile of charts, this backlog, I can’t get there. As opposed to saying, How am I going to say, I’m going to take my backlog of charts from 50 to 10. In the next three days. Okay, we got very specific, you can measure it. It’s achievable. It’s not saying I’m gonna go from 500 charts, to 10 charts overnight. So it’s achievable. It’s realistic, and it’s time bound. So you say in the next three days, so whatever that is for you right now.
It’s about taking that step of figuring out where you want to go.
But then number two, what’s holding you back from taking that first step?
I kind of alluded to this already. But sometimes our minds get in the way of us being able to make progress on our goals. And it’s not just that it’s so big, or that we’ve never done it before. It might be something that we’ve done before, or that we’ve done something similar but maybe just not in the same area. But we’re holding ourselves back our mind. Those natural thoughts that come up, are holding us back.
You don’t need to know all the steps
But maybe you can break it down to say, I know, I’m going to need to do this first, I’m gonna need to do this type of thing next. And ultimately, that’ll lead me on that path.
And really, you don’t necessarily need to know those steps. At the end, you just need to know, what do I need to get started? What do I need to get started, it’s taking that first step, like I’ve been talking about taking that first step, and then with a commitment to getting it done with that determination, that self confidence to say, I can do this, I’m going to do this, and I’m going to figure it out.
Because then those are thoughts that really allow you to generate that self confidence, to feel calm.
To say, I can do this,
I am going to be a doctor,
I am going to figure out how to get my charting done,
I am going to be a good friend.
And those are really what allow you to then move forward to say, I can move forward no matter what.
And I can deal with whatever comes up because it’s just a feeling.
Some feelings are positive and some are negative. And some of those can be painful feelings.
But sitting with those and learning from them,
each of us can then have the opportunity to use that
many of the things that have been painful feelings for me have allowed me to move forward in my life and to be able to help others in a new and deeper way.
So first, we have, where am I? Where do I want to go? What’s holding me back from taking that first step. And thirdly, I want to encourage you to think about who you’re going to need to become to achieve that goal.
We talked about how there’s that first step, sometimes things holding you back, and you’re not necessarily going to know what those final three steps are. Because you’re not the type of person that can take those actions, and can take those steps because you haven’t done it already.
And so by taking those first steps, you’re going to become a new new person as you develop that self confidence as you show that accountability to yourself to get those things done. So that when you get there, then you’re a different person.
You’ve taken those actions, you’ve developed that consistency, that habit.
And then you’ll be experiencing those thoughts and feelings.
You may have to allow the discomfort of charting in the room, you may have to allow that discomfort of working out even when you don’t want to, you may need to have that hard conversation with a friend to say actually, this is what I want for our friendship to look like. And it’s part of your journey.
feeling discomfort may allow you to actually be productive.
And these emotions that help us move forward, even if they are negative can be those productive ones rather than just indulging in some of these other motions, pity,
shame, other things that may hold us back. Because we use confused as a reason to allow ourselves to remain stuck. That’s been me and a lot of these home improvement projects. But I’ve learned that as I continue to go to the store, and they continue to talk to people and learn that actually I can do a lot more than I thought.
And so as I work on a built in Bookshelf project over the next couple of months, I’ll be learning and growing. Because I want to have this finished project. We have a bunch of boxes with the bookshelves themselves but as we think about okay, how am I going to attach that to the wall? Are we going to run some lighting? The lighting may have to be done first because it’s going to go through the wall where the bookshelves going up. These are all things that I’ll have to work on.
and managing my own mind around a goal that I have. But what does that look like for you?
Where are you right now?
Is there something that you want,
there’s something that you want to achieve.
Maybe you want to learn to speak Spanish, or some other language that maybe either you’ve always wanted to, maybe you want to travel, you want to take care of a particular patient population, and not have to use an interpreter.
But what what does that look like? That first step? Is it researching for a reasonable time, limited amount of time, remember those smart goals?
what the options are the different schools or apps that you could pick up or enroll in.
Take a look at the barriers that have been holding you back.
And then make sure that you’re thinking about what are the feelings, maybe even those productive, negative feelings, discomfort,
or otherwise, that you’re going to need to use and to experience in order to help you move forward on the school,
learning language or asking for help getting that input from others. It’s not necessarily easy.
But it’s worth it.
Because you are worth it, to invest in yourself to become that person that’s able to achieve those goals to get you where you want to go.
Thanks so much for joining me today for another episode of the MedEdWell podcast. This has been helpful for you would love if you could share this with a colleague, with another doc in your life with someone else in medicine, who really needs to hear this message about how to manage your mind to achieve your goals and to take your next step. Because whether it’s about your career, or self care, or something else, it’s important that we continue to learn and grow so that we can be the person that our patients need,
that our family and friends need.
That we need as individuals in caring for ourselves.
So I can’t wait for you to come back and join me and to tell me how this has been so impactful for you.
Thank you so much for all that you do. Have a great day.
And now for our important disclaimer.
Dr. Ryan Stegink is a practicing general pediatrician. But the MedEdWell podcast does not reflect the views, opinions or beliefs of his employer, nor is affiliated University.
Additionally, the MedEdWell podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered advice regarding financial, legal student loan,
medical or any other specific topic.
In such a case, you should seek consultation with certified professional in that particular area.
Again, thanks for joining us on the MedEdWell podcast. Have a great day.