[Newsletter] Choose Happiness and Make the Best of It
Outdoor Rounds #6
Here’s what we got for you all this week:
Book I am reading: The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
Articles I pondered this week
Fishing Tips and Tricks from around the interwebs
New Year’s Steps to Wellness
What is your Happiness Equation?
Book Review: The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha
I started reading this book when my uncle was first diagnosed with depression 8 years ago. Here was a role model of mine that I had looked up since I was 8 years when my parents got a divorce. He was my mom’s younger brother and he had his own family, but he took it upon himself to be a father figure to me - guiding me along life’s many journeys.
When he started to confide in me about his depression and how long he had been putting on a show for his family and friends, I started to do my own research on the subject of happiness.
Since he was unhappy, I felt like that was the best starting point was to google the keyword happiness to see what was published on the subject. One of the many books that I read was The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha.
In his book, Neil Pasricha lists 9 keys to his happiness equation (Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything), but it is his first key that really hit home with me: Be Happy First!
Mr. Pasricha starts off by discussing a study that was published in 2001 called ‘Positive emotions in Early Life and Longevity: Findings from the Nun Study by Danner et al “ and the results show that the happier you are the longer you will live.
Happy people don’t have the best of everything. They make the best of everything. Be happy first.
That first couple of pages hit me really hard because I had always seen my uncle as a very happy person. We went fishing and hunting together, we went to church together, we went on skiing trips together, and, as a child, I spent every holiday with his family and mine. He was, for lack of a better term, a father to me.
What I came to find out later in talking with him was that he always lived in fear and was always looking at the glass half empty, always looking for the problems and not seeing things for the good that was in them first.
This was so hard for me to understand because I am the complete opposite type of person. I try to look at everything with a glass half full positive attitude. Positive attitudes are: more enjoyable to be around, get more done, and are just plain better for the mind, body, and spirit.
As I continue to research this topic and read more about happiness and wellness, I have come to realize that it is more and more, a choice. Sure there are external and internal events that shape us, but at the end of the day, HAPPINESS (the sense of well-being, joy, or contentment) is a choice.
Choose happiness.
Please Share them on the Thread
Reel Docx FB Posts Coming in Hot
Check out other Reel Docx posts here in the FB group!!
Every week more and more doctors from all different specialties and disciplines are sharing their wins on the water. Join other Reel Docx - and share your wins with the group!!
Here is a list of guides and lodges by state that we were putting together on the Reel Docx FB Page
Dr Mattingly with a big rainbow trout in bear country!
Dr. Chen crushing night time snook with Dr. Jones
Dr. Kitchell doing the northern freshwater thing with a big pike!!
Dr. Babbitt doing a selfie with a striper off the rocks
When you don’t have a scale, grab your kid for comparison (Kevin Ware)
Dr. Weller - proving that you catch bigger fish with Reel Docx Merch!!
There are a lot of articles being published about physician burnout, moral injury, and work-life balance.
The purpose of the Outdoor Rounds Newsletter is to keep that discussion going by focusing on actionable steps that we, as healthcare professionals, can take to maintain a healthy mind, body, and spirit that enables us to show up for our patients, families, and, most importantly, OURSELVES.
Articles:
The Science of Well-Being - This course, which is free on Coursera, is one of the most popular courses at Yale and is taught by Dr. Laurie Santos, a psychologist who has experienced burn out, actually practices what she preaches.
In this article, Dr. Santos discusses what actually makes us happy vs what we think makes us happy. She states that she is guilty of many of life’s traps to unhappiness and that is why she took a sabbatical to regroup and recollect herself in order to promote her own internal happiness. She is also the creator of The Happiness Lab podcast which dives into the research on happiness and how you can use it to lead a more fulfilled life.
A Dermatologist explains how he is pivoting in 2023 to add different income streams while being a role model for his children showing them that it is ‘OK’ to take risks - even if they fail. What side gigs are you involved in - Real estate, stocks, crypto, drop shipping, social media? Share them on the thread.
“Be a role model to my children of financial diversity/independence, thoughtful risk taking, willingness to fail, learn, and fail again, growth mindset, and entrepreneurship.”
Chief Wellness Officer - Does your organization have one? Oak Street health feels that creating a great work environment is key to the happiness of its employees. Per Dr. Edberg:
“Wellness is not a problem to be solved, but rather an ongoing commitment to our teammates at Oak Street Health. It is paramount that our frontline providers find joy and fulfillment in the work that they do.”
Beating Cancer gives this ER Physician a new outlook on life and work
He is working to establish a wellness leader in many of the academic hospitals in Toronto. He believes that each physician should have access to a therapist and he wants to create a culture that encourages mental health discussion not sweep it under the table.
Do You Work to Live or Live to Work? Can We Do Both?
The person who lives to work tends to love their job so much that they cannot find a happy medium between their professional and personal life. Those who work to live focus more on their personal life than their work.
For me personally, I have been trying to change to the person who works to Live, to be the one who, when I leave the ER, leaves all that baggage behind and comes home ready to be present with the family.
Let’s face it though. As doctors, it is hard to leave some of the work at work bc we are constantly thinking about patients - I know I am. I will admit - I struggle with this very problem on a shift by shift basis. I try to focus on leaving the work in the ER, but I admit, even after 10 yrs of practicing medicine, it is still very difficult.
Do you struggle with this? Do you finding yourself living to work and if yes - how do you break that cycle? If you have broken that cycle - share your thoughts?
Fishing Tips and Tricks:
Here are some of the Fishing Shows that I follow on YouTube.
Fly Fishing for Trout on the Nantahala River in North Carolina
Fly Fishing for Redfish in Texas
Here is a list of guides and lodges by state that we were putting together on the Reel Docx FB Page
New Year’s Wellness Steps
What steps are you taking in the New Year to be more fulfilled and balanced both at home and at work, to improving your positive outlook on life and your profession?
Journaling
Do you write out your goals, thoughts, wins, losses, expectations, dreams, vision, emotions?
Here is a picture of a journal that I purchased.
I have never kept a journal. I have been writing this newsletter as a way of expressing and communicating my thoughts. However, I am going to try and be consistent with writing about more personal stuff in here.
Share your thoughts on journaling!!
Wild Med Advetures - Live. Learn. Explore.
Check out New and Upcoming Trips at Wild Med Adventures
Video of the upcoming Alaska fly fishing trip
I have been on the Montana Fly Fishing trip 3 years in a row and I am headed to Brazil to catch peacock bass in Sept 2023.
I have made more connections and had more fun on these trips than I have ever had at large national conference. Check out this article here:
If you want to be more than a number at a large conference; if you want to create life-long relationships; if you enjoy the outdoors; if you need CME - then I encourage you to sign up for a trip.
Connect with Healthcare Professionals who share your same passions
Take your next Wild Med Adventures
Outdoor Rounds Podcast Updates:
We are starting a podcast in 2023 and if you would like to be on the podcast, shoot me an email at reeldocx@gmail.com
We would love to connect with you, learn your story, and share it with other Docx who share your same passions and goals in life’s quest to be the best healthcare professionals, husbands, fathers, wives, mothers etc. that we can be.
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Merch Store:
Check out the Merch - we have new shirts and designs for 2023.
If Anyone is interested in contributing to the Newsletter - please email me at reeldocx@gmail.com. I would love to feature you all in the newsletter and on the blog.
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