Wise Wednesdays

It was a grey afternoon in 2009, *|FNAME|*. The therapist stared silently across from me as I wriggled awkwardly in the chair. I felt so vulnerable and abnormal for being there. This situation wasn’t part of the plan. How did it come to this? A mentor recommended I go for a consultation after noticing that I hadn’t taken time off for 18 months. She gently convinced me it wasn’t quite right to feel I didn’t deserve a break and couldn’t relax... After a very stilted beginning to the conversation, I told the therapist: I feel like a stone statue under my skin. I was known for being a passionate and determined woman. Energy and enthusiasm were as much of a trademark as my curly hair. But somewhere amid the endless educational achievements, professional successes, and full modern life, I’d lost my connection to something precious. My natural inner-fire was fading, and I was turning into a high performing machine. The truth is I was disconnected from my sweet spot - Ikigai - where these...

When your heart is on fire, FNAME… The historic times we live in have amplified a sense of purpose and inspiration in me and many of my clients. I’m doing work I love, that makes a difference, and on terms that work for me. The Japanese call it Ikigai – the sweet spot between your passion, your strengths, what the world needs, and what the world will support and pay you for. But there have been ups and downs. Back in 2001, I was discovering the sweet spot of my career. I woke up one day and decided I’d go on a mission to Cuba to learn about their health system. I got to work and found an official sponsor to spend two months at the Cuban School of Public Health in Havana. It had never been done before. Soon other medics joined and it became a little expedition! We even got into the national Cuban newspaper. The experience defined my career path and I felt pretty much set. The future was bright. Fast forward ten years and that energy was starting to drain. ...

The spectrum of reactions to lockdown has been wide. From introverted thinkers who’ve relished time away from the office with their creative thoughts to hyperactive extroverts screaming for an outlet to their energy, thoughts and emotions. It’s all an opportunity for a breakthrough in self-awareness. If we heed the lessons… When lockdown started I suggested that we were undergoing a big pivot and that our priorities came under 4 headings : 1)     Survival 2)     Transition to remote work 3)     Redefining purpose/career path 4)     Existential: what does this all mean ultimately? Having worked with high performing clients from all backgrounds (including doctors on the frontlines as well as entrepreneurs and organisational leaders in lockdown) and co-led a series of conversations through the Royal Society of Arts, I’ve become aware of some of the common themes. The top 5 regrets of the dying researc...

Celebration: It’s four years since the first Wise Wednesdays. It was on How to deal with cabin fever, and seems as relevant as ever…Happy Fourth Anniversary Wise Wednesdays community! Thank you for reading and engaging. ------ People ask me: you had such a rewarding job, why did you change? While it’s true that medicine offers deep meaning and satisfaction, it’s also stressful. A cohort study found that 28% of doctors had symptoms of psychological distress (compared with 18% in the general population) and that the fear of making mistakes was a top cause. Suicide rates are also higher among doctors. Sadly, a vicious cycle can arise of more stress occurring due to fear of making mistakes, and more mistakes being made due to stress which costs lives. The study concluded (rightly in my view) that while progress had been made in occupational care for doctors, the culture and work conditions are still suboptimal… In the meantime, do doct...

THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO TIME AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT [WISE WEDNESDAYS] The ultimate solution to time and energy management [Wise Wednesdays] When I was 14, I believed there was an ultimate solution to everything. I chose advanced mathematics for high school and I was going to find that ultimate solution! However, I ended up applying for a university subject that involved a wider range of sciences and people – Medicine - which turned out to be fascinating and also a little imprecise… Medicine was less predictable than maths and that felt uncomfortable to me. A turning point came when my professor of pathology said: Amina, have a little more tolerance for uncertainty. Soon after that, I launched into my real passion which was population health and I eventually found myself playing with probabilities and confidence levels at large scale - as a job. Disempowering questions and hidden assumptions If you’re a high achiever (or a human being who cares about how they...