practice leadership
Become an Essentialist to Find Happiness in Your Success
by Joel Small , DDS , MBA , ACC , FICD
Let me begin by saying that happiness and success are not mutually exclusive . Does this seem too obvious ? Not worth stating ? Perhaps , however my experience coaching highly motivated professionals has proven otherwise . I can state with confidence that among highly motivated healthcare professionals success / happiness imbalance is approaching epidemic proportions . I find that a significant number of my colleagues are struggling to find happiness in spite of their apparent success . They commonly express a sense of constant stress while trying harder and doing more each year to maintain or improve on their prior achievements . The reason , as it turns out , is as multifaceted as the cure .
What I have found is that doctors who experience a success / happiness imbalance are actually doing too much . Compounding this issue is their failure to identify what they most value , as well as what is essential . Furthermore , they fail to prioritize and delegate the majority of what they do , and finally , they are unaware of the necessity for establishing boundaries . Let ’ s explore each of these topics and how they might contribute to the success / happiness imbalance as well as its cure .
Identify what is most valued .
I am continually amazed at how few doctors have an answer when asked what they value . If I were to choose what I consider as the most essential tool for finding both happiness and success , it would be a profound sense of one ’ s core values and the ability to align one ’ s actions with these values .
I have heard coaching colleagues describe core values as being the guiding principles around which we make all of our personal and professional decisions . To many , core values are what is “ right ” or “ true ”. They are both the sail and rudder that guide our ship to a predetermined destination . When viewing core values from this perspective it seems self-evident that they are critical elements for both success and happiness .
Take the time to define your core values , and then honor them as you follow the path to finding happiness and success .
Determine what is essential .
Greg McKeown in his bestselling book Essentialism : The Disciplined Pursuit of Less ( highly recommended ) states that when we fail to purposefully and deliberately choose where to focus our energy and time , other people ( bosses , family , patients , staff , etc .) will choose for us , and before long we will lose sight of everything that is meaningful and important . I can attest to the truth of this statement . By losing sight of what is important and meaningful we create an imbalance in our success / happiness relationship . One of my clients stated that when she lost sight of what was meaningful , it was as if she were living from a set of values that were not hers . She was financially successful and yet she felt as if she was working to fulfill someone else ’ s dream .
So how do we determine what is essential ? The good news is that essentials are easy to identify . They are those actions and behaviors that only we can complete successfully , and that move us closer to our goal while honoring our values . As an exercise I have my clients keep a journal of their activities throughout the week . At our next coaching session we review this journal of activities and collaborate on determining which activities meet these criteria . The rest of the activities are categorized and left to deal with as non-essentials .
Prioritize and delegate .
John Maxwell once wrote , “ It is hard to overestimate the unimportance of practically everything .” Once we adopt the philosophy of essentialism the truth of this statement becomes very clear . Quite simply , we do too many needless things that fail to advance our cause , honor our values , or serve our purpose .
Prioritizing and delegating are vital skills that free us from tasks that drain our energy and distort our focus . When we lose energy and focus , we are no longer able to utilize our skills and time to their best and highest use .
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