The Worthy Physician Podcast
Reigniting your humanity and passion for medicine.
The Worthy Physician Podcast
Embrace Summer: A Time for Self-Reflection and Purposeful Growth
As the days grow longer and the academic year winds to a close, I invite you to embrace the coming summer not just as a season for leisure, but as a pivotal time for introspection and goal-setting. Picture this: a serendipitous breakdown on a New Mexico highway led me to an epiphany about the necessity of creating intentional spaces for self-reflection. That's the kind of transformative journey I share on this episode of The Worthy Physician, where we explore the 'loss of self' that so many of us, especially in high-pressure careers like medicine, often face. It's a call to action—to pause, to reflect, to realign with your core values, and to reignite your passion for both your career and your life as we transition into the year's second act.
Harness the quiet of summer to craft your own narrative. Scribble down your triumphs, your musings, even your fleeting thoughts—it's all part of your evolving story. For those inspired to delve deeper, I hint at an upcoming workbook designed to assist you on this journey of self-improvement, providing the framework for a summer of meaningful growth. And to elevate your motivation, next week's episode will feature Dr. Jillian Rigert, whose inspiring transformation promises to offer invaluable insights for personal and professional rejuvenation. So, listen in and let the season of warmth guide you to a summer of self-discovery and renewed purpose.
Coming May 27, 2024, a workbook, From Loss to Legacy Renewing Your Sense of Self will be available for purchase. Dive deeper into the most important relationship--yourself!
Though I am a physician, this is not medical advice. This is only a tool that physicians can use to get ideas on how to deal with burnout and/or know they are not alone. If you are in need of medical assistance talk to your physician.
Learn more about female physicians' journey through burnout to thriving!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/books
Let's connect for speaking opportunities!
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/dr-shahhaque-md-as-a-speaker
Check out the free resources from The Worthy Physician:
https://www.theworthyphysician.com/freebie-downloads
Battle of the Boxes
21 Day Self Focus Journal
How can summer be a time of renewal and self-discovery for you? Two more days left of school for this year in 2024. Summer's about to begin and with summer, I always think, time with a less hectic schedule, which would open the gate of opportunity to sit down and reflect on self, set goals for the other half of the year. Part of that can also be reflecting on self. Thus the self-discovery. In this episode we're going to explore the journey of focusing on oneself during the summer, a time often associated with relaxation and renewal and potentially getting to know yourself again.
Dr. Shah-Haque:Welcome to another episode of the Worthy Physician. I'm your host, dr Sapna Shah-Haque, reigniting your humanity and passion for medicine. Reigniting your humanity and passion for medicine. With a summer literally two days away, a point of interest is always a good book or a good movie. Time to relax, time to reflect.
Dr. Shah-Haque:How did the first half of the year go? What are my goals for the second half? And last summer really taught me a really good experience when we got stuck in New Mexico unexpectedly from feeling brakes on a vehicle. It really caused me to focus on myself, on my kids, on my goals, what was important, and really forced the white space or quiet space that I really needed and there have been multiple times throughout the year that have forced that. But one of my goals this summer least, is to create that intentionally and not have life create that for me. Part of that self-focus and self-reflection throughout these past few months have been on the loss of self. What does that really mean? Have been on the loss of self. What does that really mean when I see that? I mean that my 42-year-old self doesn't always recognize the reflection in the mirror and I don't mean aging that's not an issue for me but at the core of a person as who and what I am, or of a person as who and what I am, it's much more realistic and recognizable now compared to three years ago. Five years ago it was quite muddled Medicine, when we go into medical school and even when we are working to hit different points of achievement, to get into medical school, during medical school, during residency and this is a message I have shared repeatedly over and over again At each point we have to give something up, because by saying yes to something, we say no to something else.
Dr. Shah-Haque:By saying yes to the long hours of studying, we say no to something else by saying yes to the long hours of studying. We say no to potentially certain events like traveling, relationships, exploring a hobby we might have to let go of a dream that we had at a younger age, which is juxtaposed, which is juxtaposed by the demands of medicine, and each year that we give something up or that we ruminate on what could have happened, what didn't happen, what should have happened. It's a grief. It's loss of an experience, loss of a relationship, loss of part of your identity, and it's okay to change over time. But the question is has your core changed? Have your core values changed? Are you able to actually list what is important to you? What are your core values? What do you wish would have happened? What could have happened? And, if so, fantastic confusion on any of these points. Have you taken the time to define or redefine your core values, the five top things that are important to you? What would be considered your north compass? Have you identified pain, points of loss, for example?
Dr. Shah-Haque:This is very small, but a favorite pastime of mine was reading. I would read about a book every one to two weeks. Somebody might think so what? What does it matter? For me, it was an escape. It was learning new knowledge. It was really something I had that was tangible, really something I had that was tangible.
Dr. Shah-Haque:After medical school I really did not pick up another book to read for pleasure for several years and it wasn't until my son was about a year old and I read him Go, dog, go, or maybe it was Green Eggs and Ham. But the fact that I read a book several pages long that was longer than any children's board book really made me stop and think wow, I enjoyed that. Because of whatever triggered my loss of interest in reading, I lost that part. I lost several years. Because of whatever reason, I didn't pick up a book. It's still hard to pick up a book, especially with small children and multiple responsibilities in daily life and at work. But another way around that is audiobooks. So I've regained that.
Dr. Shah-Haque:So over the next three months, 90 days, I would ask the listener to set intentions.
Dr. Shah-Haque:Set intentions to if you have any confusion or you need clarity. Define your core values. If you have any pain points or losses not necessarily people, but loss of experience, loss of relationships, etc. That still bother you, stop and label them. Write them down. If you have achievements of which you are proud, stop and write them down. Be present in that moment, be present in that exercise.
Dr. Shah-Haque:It does not need to necessarily be a full sentence. It could be a graph, a one word or a list. Put it down on paper, then reflect on how it makes you feel. How has that changed? How have you changed? How have you grown as a person? Where do you wish you could grow more? What area lacks clarity? If you have found this helpful, go to your favorite podcast app and leave a review, share with a friend and, starting May 27th, if this has resonated with you, there will be a workbook available on the Worthy Physician website for purchase to help you work through any of these points and even more for clarity, for purpose, for getting yourself to the next level. Stay tuned for next week's episode where Dr Jillian Riggert andI dive into a pretty darn good and positive conversation about her experience, her transformation and just all the awesome insight that she gives. Thanks for tuning in, share with a friend, because we can all use camaraderie.