When burnout forces you to reverse the bad habits of our training - normal self-care can seem like an act of courage
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This is Blog Post #288
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Burnout is your destiny trying to get your attention. It's objective - wake you up and knock you onto a path with more purpose.
Most of the time, it must grind you to a state of complete exhaustion, before you will begin to challenge the habits that got you here. Those survival habits were learned in the crucible of your residency. Learning to take better care of yourself won't come easily.
And if you are lucky, burnout finally gets you to look in the mirror and ask, "Is THIS what I really want in my life and my practice?"
If you recover, better self-care will be a significant piece of your strategy. You realize you don't have to live your life like a resident. There are other options.
- You will learn how turn off your "the patient comes first" programming when you are not at work
- You will find new ways to take better care of yourself - to put your mask on first
- Rest - Nutrition - Vacations/Holidays - even a little pampering here and there - will all play a role.
Then you run into the next obstacle.
