Stress, burnout, and their sequelae are heavy subjects. One of the things I discuss is the “hidden curriculum” doctors are taught during medical school and residency: the one that ingrains in us a culture of self-sacrifice, self-reliance, and busyness as a badge of honor.
And this dysfunctional paradigm doesn’t only apply to medical careers like mine. Christina Maslach, burnout expert and inventor of the widely-used Maslach Burnout Inventory for the assessment of burnout, speaks of high-paced work environments in Silicon Valley startups as “a marathon with a sprint model still being used in terms of self-sacrifice.”
The expectation of invulnerability is always palpable in the audience. Sometimes there are no questions, but afterward, I always have people come up to me to talk one on one:
- A medical student once came up to me at the end of a talk. She confided in me her new diagnosis of MS and asked for guidance on how to navigate this potential disability during her upcoming training. It sparked me to write this classic blog post.
- I had one senior anesthesiologist, a very “guy’s guy” type, sheepishly share with me his regular practice of restorative yoga and how much it has helped him.
- A meeting attendee came up to me privately and told me about how much he appreciated my discussion of self-assessment methods such as learning your Tendencies, Love Languages, and other personality traits… since doing some of these had virtually saved his marriage.
THIS is the stuff. The meat of life. Why I love to do these speaking engagements!
“Thank you so much for sharing your story. This was so helpful and exactly what I needed to hear.”
– Online feedback from Nicole, who attended my talk “Mindfulness Through Self-Knowledge”
With speaking, I aim to raise awareness of the dangers we work against in modern professions, yet I love to empower my audience by focusing on practical solutions to the problems of burout and overwhelm. Things we can all implement TODAY to practice more balance.
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