How To End Confusion and Gain Clarity As A Woman Doctor

In a coaching session, my client asked me a wonderful question: How did you find clarity?

For us in medicine, we are so used to having a defined, clear cut goal. Get into medical school, pass all the tests, get into residency and then fellowship. It’s a long path that many of us are on for a decade or so.

Then all of a sudden you come out the other end and you are an attending. You make it through the first year of attending life and find your stride. You have arrived and suddenly you are not quite sure what goal to focus on next.  

That’s where the confusion can set in and when you start to wonder: Is this it? Am I meant to stay in this job doing the same exact thing for the next 30-35 years? 

So how did I gain clarity, and how did I answer those questions when they inevitably came up for me?

Step one to gaining clarity: turn inward

First, I got quiet and started to listen to my intuition, which I believe is my soul trying to speak to me and guide me on my hero’s journey.

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You see, the thing about intuition is that it whispers to you, “Start the business. Write that book. Create the community.” And to hear it’s guidance you need to get quiet and create some space for yourself. For me, I did that by establishing a miracle morning routine of meditation, gratitude and journaling. (To create your own routine, check out one of my favorite books, The Miracle Morning.)

Next I asked myself a series of questions:

1. What do I want? 

2. If I was guaranteed success what would I do?

And the flip side of that question too.

3. Even if I didn't succeed right away, what would I love doing so much that I would persevere through the challenges?

As I gave myself time and space to answer those questions, I also went on an advice and opinion detox shutting out the various opinions of others from parents, extended family and friends and also colleagues.

What I started to realize is that while they were all well-meaning, the opinion that mattered most was my own. And that only I knew the vision of where I wanted to go and what I would love to do with my life.  

Second step to gaining clarity: take action 

The second thing I did was I simply decided that I was going to take action on those dreams. I started the business. I coauthored the book. I created the community I so wished had existed earlier in my career.

At some point, once you have that idea of what you want to do, you simply have to decide, commit and DO THE THING. Go all in with conviction! 

Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Just start taking action in the direction you have committed to go. Start small by getting the domain for your company. Sit down and start writing blog articles. Open up a Facebook group and invite people to join in.

As you take steps towards your dreams, the vision becomes clearer and that’s when magic starts to happen. Sometimes it takes doing it and experiencing it to have the clarity that you are living in your purpose.

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