Glitch in the Matrix

A few things I’ve learned or reaffirmed for myself the last few weeks:

·      Habits and routines are the buffer for periods of low willpower

·      Exercise is the best start to the day

·      Tomorrow never comes

·      Medicine is a calling

   Just trying to get back on a steady schedule.  The last few weeks have been fairly unproductive for me.  After being disappointed by my last test score, it led me to reevaluate how I’m spending my time and what I want my schedule to be like in the future.  However, the scheduling part kind of got neglected.  I usually am most productive when I know what I want to accomplish that day.  Beginning the day on a whim more often than not concludes in a mediocre day as I did not have any idea of what I wanted to accomplish that day and therefore no gauge of it the day was successful or not. My best days begin with exercise in the morning.  In the morning, because otherwise I feel like it will take up too much time out of my day at night or afternoon.  In the morning because it leaves me liberated during the afternoon and night to accomplish what I want to without any interruption.

   

I began to stay up really late and wake up when my body felt like it.  In reality, I was afraid to set expectations in fear of not reaching them and thus avoiding the disappointment of setting those goals.  It’s been said that each action is done in an attempt to avoid pain and gain pleasure .  Thus in neglecting my scheduling it was a physiological trick to avoiding dealing with the disappointment of not reaching a set goal.  You can’t fail to reach a goal you never set.

    

One mistake I made was reading part of the four-hour workweek by Tim Ferris.  Not the best book for someone in my position.  It served as a quick reminder of things that I would not have the opportunity to do as a medical student.  It was slightly disheartening hearing about someone talk about designing a lifestyle that allows for 4-hour work weeks and his adventures traveling to various countries and mastering different hobbies all while running a business from his laptop.  And I am looking forward to 80 hour weeks in residency, long nights on call, and days being subjected to rapid-fire questions commonly known in the medical profession as “pimping”  by attendants.  This thought, albeit selfish, lingered for a while.  Would I have time to dabble in writing, travel, try potential business opportunities, piano, learn Spanish?

  

It was then reminded why I got into medicine in the first place.  Learning about fascinating advancements in medicine daily and the complexity of the body. Dedicating my time to helping someone restore their health gives purpose to my time at “work”.  I enjoy what I’m learning in the classroom and during clinical activities and look forward to implementing these teaching on actual patients.   

  

Well, back to studying…