Protect your energy

Last night, I spoke with one of my friends who has decided, six weeks into his studies, to either quite medical school or take a leave of absence. Things at his school haven’t been the best and the school is not doing anything to protect their student’s mental health. Despite this, my buddy is doing well and has passed his three exams. Still, he has been very negative since moving from his home state to start school and the last three or four days has seen him at his most negative. By the time I got off the phone with him, I started questioning the wisdom of me being a medical student at almost 49 years old. I started wondering if turning down that $93,450/yearly epidemiology job a few weeks ago was a smart bet. I started asking myself if I should apply to the tenure track assistant professor job that is currently open in my department at ATSU-CGHS where I adjunct in the MPH program. I started questioning the wisdom of delaying making real money for the next seven years to attend medical school.

I didn’t sleep well last night and when I woke up this morning, Eboni could tell that my energy was off. Instead of the guy who wakes up happy to be living his dream as a medical student every day, I was just sort of “blah” through breakfast today. When I got to school today, Eboni and I talked before I went to class, and I told her that I was going to keep my friend/mentee at arm’s length because his energy has gotten too toxic and was infecting me with that negativity. After class this morning, I visited the chapel on campus and spent some time in prayer and asked God to fortify me. I also spent time reflecting on my “Why medicine” so that I do not lose sight of why I am here.

Medical school is going to be incredibly tough so you must protect your energy for the long days and nights that you will have. That may mean cutting some people out of your life, temporarily or permanently. At the least, you may have to take a step back from some people. My buddy is not doing anything to fix his situation, beyond griping to me, Eboni, and another mentee of ours so we must take a step back from hom. Other things that you can do to protect your energy is to not lose sight of your “why.” For whatever it is that you are doing, whether it be medical or graduate school, training for a powerlifting competition, learning to cook a new dish, just remember your “why.” It will keep you going when the days get hard. Practice saying “no.” It’s hard for me to say “no” at times and as a result, I have tended to spend too much time listening to people’s issues or taking on another mentee (I actually had to turn someone down this week; that hurt. BUT I did provide the student with an alternative.) What goes along with this is remove toxicity from your life, Anything that is harmful will take a toll on you and is not worth having in your presence.

These are just a few things you can do to protect your energy. I am sure that you can think of other strategies that you can use to protect your energy. Whatever you do, just make sure that you watch out for negativity and when it finds you, do what you must to protect yourself.