Am I doing it wrong? For Doctors by Doctors.

For a long time, Becc was afraid that being positive would mean she'd drop the ball. She thought her self-doubt and self-criticism gave her an edge. 

She couldn't imagine success that didn't come with anxiety and stress. 

In this episode, we take a page out of Kristeen's core and characteristic outlook on life: using positive energy. We've both struggled with negativity in the past, and let's be honest, who hasn't? But guess what? We've also discovered the amazing power of positivity and how it can completely transform your life, both inside and outside the hospital.

So, how do we avoid getting stuck in the "worst-case scenario" loop? Well, we've come up with a handy framework to help you flip the negativity switch:

Here are some practical tips Kristeen uses to stay positive:

Remember, everyone, shifting towards a more positive mindset is a journey, not a destination. Don't expect instant change! Experiment, observe the results, and find what works best for YOU on your path to a brighter outlook. As always, you're not doing it wrong!

And don't forget to share your own tips and tricks with us in the comments below! We're all in this together.

This episode will help you break the cycle.

In this episode, we talk about all you need to know about your self-sabotage.

The Nature of Self-Sabotage

How Self-Sabotage Manifests

Counteracting Self-Sabotage

Benefits of Overcoming Self-Sabotage

Additional Tips

Sticks and stones may break my bones but SILENCE… Well, it makes me a wee little bit crazy…

Negative feedback is not the only place that our minds can spin out on us. For many of us, we have a painful reaction to receiving no feedback at all. In that space, our mind fills in the gaps between people's (in)action and their implications.

Specifically, the situation we're talking about is when we're consciously or subconsciously expecting recognition or positive feedback ad we don't get it. We make a simple calculation: if positive feedback means I'm on track, I'm not failing, I'm good enough. 

… Well then, a lack of positive feedback means I'm not on track 

… I'm a failure 

… I'm not enough 

You personally may not recognise such blatant statements filling this space in your mind, but nonetheless, this episode is here to encourage you to notice where you have unmet expectations that a reaping havoc on your happiness and confidence.

This is particularly important for those of us working as doctors or in the healthcare in general as a culture that hasn't got a lot of positive feedback (or feedback of any flavour) built in. This isn't something that is going to rapidly and dramatically change, so let's do what we can to best support ourselves to show up and have the experience we want. 

In what situations do you have quiet expectations of positive feedback? Where do you notice your brain jump in and fill the gaps? We'd love to hear. (TELL ME I'M PRETTY) 

Okay guys, here's a hard truth.

All of your procrastination is ultimately due to you trying to avoid emotions. Your want to avoid the unpalatable or even downright repelling emotion of what every task or activity you planned to be doing may be conscious or, more commonly, subconscious.

When not conscious (aware) of our reasoning, our minds will default to avoiding discomfort. Whenever we're not conscious about our choices during our day, we are likely to subconsciously choose to avoid the discomfort.

When we appreciate that about our human minds, we can start to appreciate how important it is that we prepare ourselves with strategies for following through with things we associate with discomfort - even the SLIGHTEST tinge of discomfort.

In this episode, we zoom in on what things we typically find ourselves procrastinating on and dissect out what discomfort is driving that procrastination.

If you can see yourselves in these examples, you will have a first key piece of awareness that can allow you to break your procrastination Cognitive Programs in the future. Getting conscious of something that is currently subconscious to you is an enormous step towards being able to change it.

Are you ready to change your procrastination habits? Join us in this episode.

Last week we talked about the PROBLEM. This week, let's talk about the SOLUTION. 

Last week's episode, episode 20, was an episode that resonated with a lot of you - we started to dissect why clinical work seems to be especially exhausting cognitively and emotionally… And because of that, also physiologically and physically.

Paradoxically, an important part of finding solutions for ourselves is getting closer to the reality of the problem. When we can see the problem clearly, we are better positioned to choose impactful solutions. So if you haven't listened to our last episode, we'd highly encourage you to start there in favour of 'shortcutting to a solution'. 

In this episode, we introduce the concept of DEPOSITS and WITHDRAWALS on your energy. NOTE: thinking about energy in terms of deposits and withdrawals is not an original concept but it is widely spread and we are unaware of the original creator to give credit to.  

In this episode, we first talk about what it really means when we say we want to rest or we need rest. For most of us, what most of us mean is that we want to feel less tired and we think that being idle and not exerting ourselves is the way to achieve that. Like us, many of you may have found the 'just rest' and 'just do less' advice… essentially useless. It seems that with this model we can never seem to rest enough. 

Luckily, there's a more sophisticated way to think about rest. In this episode, we detangle the result of feeling rested or more energise with being idle or creating ease in the body. 

And, as always, we share our own personal examples of unexpected ways that we create more energy for ourselves so that you can try it on and see if it fits in your life. 

We hope this one deposits some more energy into your life! We'd love it if you'd share some examples of deposits in the comments so that we can invest in them too.

Are you EXHAUSTED or is it just me? 

Clinical work is pretty magical. There is so much to love and enjoy about it. Something that comes with such highs apparently fairly comes with some lows too. 

One of them seems to be that most of us will agree it's EXHASTING. 

You can seemingly come home after a day of simply circling the wards at a pace that would make weekend golfers look athletic… Or sitting in a comfortable chair, chatting away with your patient and tapping away at the computer… YET, come home and be magnetised to the couch. 

All you can think of is being still and doing nothing… Maybe you can tolerate a bit of TV or a book. Your body is heavy, your mind craves to be quiet. You WANT to spend time with your kids and have a laugh with your partner. You WANT to be the kind of person who goes straight on to a nice dinner… Or even just the gym. 

But you hear your body's exhausted desperate whisper… "I can't". 

Okay, that may be a little dramatic. But it feels not too far from reality. Many of you likely notice your non-clinical partners can come home with notably more pep in their step. So it's natural to ask… Is it YOU? Are YOU the problem here?

We've cherry-picked this topic today because clinical work seems to tire the most resilient and enthusiastic of us. In this episode, we talk about what makes clinical work special including what makes it ESPECIALLY tiring. 

Join us in the conversation on the podcast! And let us know if we've missed anything or if you have any hypotheses to throw into our mix. 

TALL POPPY SYNDOME. Be excellent. But be quiet about it.

Australia has a strong preference for or even culture of humility. We don't like it when people think a lot of themselves … Even if they've got a lot of good stuff to think about. Being humble is the expectation. And bragging is perhaps the worst offence. 

We even have a name for the cultural quirk: THE TALL POPPY SYNDROME.

The Tall Poppy Syndrome refers to our tendency to criticise successful people. Knowing this tendency, we form fears of loudly successful or standing out for any good reason because we have the fear that we will be criticised - we'll be cut down. It's not necessarily something we do consciously, but often something we have learned implicitly and we see play out in our decisions and behaviour.  

For some of us, even just THINKING a good thought about yourself can evoke feelings of bragging. Let alone SPEAKING it.  And 'bragging' is certainly a dangerous thing if it makes you stand out as a Tall Poppy.

This actually presents a challenge for people in medicine. Many of us have learned these sentiments on our way to medicine: 

Together: work hard and be quiet about it. 

Don't think positively about yourself.

… And, eventually, if you just work hard enough, you'll be rewarded or anointed. 

Recipe for prosperity and a happy life? Not quite. 

In this episode, we talk about our experiences with Tall Poppy Syndrome, the way that it disadvantages us and how we choose to think about success and humility instead. 

We are so happy that you've tuned into this episode. We think it would be a sad thing for people like you to not recognise the value you have to offer in this lifetime. Not just because the world will miss out on it, but also because of the joy that it will rob you of.

Do you see TALL POPPY SYNDROME in your life? What did you learn about the dangers of bragging or standing out? Tell us your thoughts and experiences. 

Well hello there, welcome back! And into another beautiful week of 2024. This week's episode is a beautiful compliment to our last episode to kick off 2024.

It's all about the impact of our words.

Kristeen and Becc have both personally benefited from this practice of being strategic with the words they use. This is a relatively LOW EFFORT yet HIGH-YIELD change that you can make in your life.

AKA it's a shortcut you want to know about.

This episode starts off with a success story from Kristeen. Her examples are so relatable and applicable to doctor life. You'll instantly recognise how this applies to you and be inspired to make the exact same small tweaks with big payoffs.

Next, we help you tap into your personal experience of how words impact you - for better or for worse. We walk you through an example of recognising if and how a specific word affects you.

And, of course, this episode is full of examples to get your mind open and motivated towards how choosing your words can serve you.

We're so glad you're joining us! Let us know which word(s) you're going to add, delete or change your relationship with in 2024.

Welcome, friends! Welcome back to the poddy and into the NEW YEAR. 

We are so stoked to be able to start this year off with you and, on that note, we are so grateful for your support and connection in 2023. 

New year can come with a lot of expectations and pressure.  New year, new you, right?

In this episode, we're here to take the pressure off WHILE making sure you don't miss out on the magic or sell yourself short in 2024. We've both benefited from some simple practices that have made our years not only more productive - but EASIER. 

Would you like being more productive to be easier? You're in the right place. 

In particular, if are someone who understands that what you give attention to affects how you behave, a vision board or creating some form of daily direction of your attention is a high-yield hack to achieve more with less effort. We talk about how the vision board actually practically affected our behaviour in 2023 to help you understand if it has something to offer you. 

Have you got some magic to add? Different ways? Better ways? Things you'd recommend AGAINST? We'd love to hear about your practices and plans too.

It is extremely inconvenient to be tired right now. Relatable?

We're talking about that kind of tiredness that isn't neutralised by a sleep-in, where you don't get re-booted from a workout or revived when you just work out you were missing some Vitamin Social Life. 

We're talking about the kind of tiredness that won't allow itself to be ignored. The kind of tired where it seems that your body shuts down all non-essential systems to the point that you are able to be still and blank.

Tiredness is not a problem in itself. When paired with being committed to your commitments, however, it does create significant challenges.

On one hand, it's great that you're committed and that you have the discipline to show up regardless of how you feel.

On the other hand, to disregard how you feel is a dangerous line to walk or anything but a short-term emergency. 

Being able to recognise the signals that our bodies send to us is critical for long-term success. Our human bodies have needs that must be met to facilitate health and performance. And how we feel is the mechanism by which our body can communicate this to get our attention. 

Doctors have, unfortunately, been encouraged to practice emotional suppression making it easier to miss or dismiss the messages. This may appear adaptive in the short term but emotional suppression is, however, a blunt tool by which I mean, we cannot suppress selectively just one feeling but instead, it's all or nothing. When we choose to suppress one emotion, we take the others down with it. 

And we lose important information about our life direction and our health in the process. 

In this episode, we are talking through our current real-time experience of managing this tiredness without avoidance, overriding, or denial. And we're meeting our limitations and revealing areas for further work here. We are walking the talk from Episode 1 of Am I Doing it Wrong the podcast!

Episode 1 brought forward the question of whether 'balance' was achievable or even the goal for doctors. Instead of balance, we have landed on contrast - allowing alternating times of being over-subscribed and then more free and light. 

Join us in this episode as we share our struggles, strategies and successes in dealing with our tiredness in a different way.

And tell us, how are you feeling? What side of the contrast coin are you on right now?