2 Hacks to QUICKLY Rise Above Burnout (or ANY Circumstance)

Circumstances are typically beyond our control.

And because of that, many people think their circumstances are controlling the direction and outcome of their life.

Perhaps you think the circumstances at work are to blame for your burnout.

The outdated EMR.
Hospital administration.
Overbooked scheduled.

[But the idea that circumstances are controlling your life could apply to ANY life circumstance you could be facing: financial stress, a marriage in crisis, an illness, etc.]

You didn’t choose any of that and so you naturally assume that those circumstances (and perhaps other circumstances as well) are the cause of your problems and everything that’s happening to you.

But..can you think of a time you rose above your circumstances?
Maybe you’re the first doctor in the family. Or the first one to get a college education. Or perhaps you’re the first woman to hold a leadership position at your institution.

Here's why you were able to do that:

Circumstances don’t matter.

Circumstances don’t create.

Circumstances only provide an opportunity for you to grow--and to choose.

Faith or fear.
Playing big or playing small.
Future gains or running from discomfort.

But if you still find yourself a bit dissatisfied by everything that’s out of your control in your life and career, here are two things you can do that ARE completely within your control:

1. Choose better thoughts about your circumstances.

Your thoughts and beliefs about your circumstances are way more powerful than the actual circumstances themselves. But you have to be willing to spend more time in a future un-created reality than what your eyes currently perceive. That’s called faith and as the old saying goes, it really can move mountains.

2. Choose joy despite your circumstances.

You can choose to see any circumstances through the lens of joy (or hope or love or any other positive emotion). But you have to be willing to stretch your mind to see how the glass is almost full instead of almost empty. You have to be willing to find the nugget of gold that’s in every circumstance–even the tiniest one.

Just doing these 2 things can cause a dramatic shift in how you're feeling but they are not the default response of your nervous system. Your brain is always in survival mode and looking for potential threats so it would rather focus on what it perceives as actual problems today rather than open up to intangible possibilities.

But these are 2 skills you can learn. If you’d like to learn the practical steps to do that, stay tuned.

Next week, I’ll be sharing an opportunity for women in medicine to work with me monthly for FREE, starting in January 2022. Free training. Free coaching. Free CME.