Would you say you work hard? Or that you hardly work? The answer of course is obvious. I know you to be a hard worker, you wouldn\u2019t be here with me if you weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m sure you asked yourself yesterday what all you have to show for that hard work and the answer is once again obvious \u2013 you have so much to be incredibly thankful for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, the irony of it all is that you can\u2019t have one without the other. The first question\u2019s answer leads to the second question\u2019s answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It isn\u2019t just about the \u2018hard work\u2019 though because you won\u2019t find many people that would say they don\u2019t \u2018work hard.\u2019 Yet many people, maybe most, feel like they are under-paid, under-appreciated, under-everything as compared to all that they \u2018put in\u2019 of themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanksgiving, however, is about gratitude, awareness, appreciation, the actual act of giving-thanks. Likely, the things that you are most thankful for aren\u2019t things at all, instead people, freedoms, experiences, choices, and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But do we really live in that way \u2013 in putting the \u2018not-things\u2019 as the highest priority on the list? I\u2019m sure we could always do better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s true that most doctors, maybe you, get caught up in their practice. It seldom leaves them whether on their phone, email, and especially their minds. Sometimes the work actually comes home with them too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, don\u2019t worry, I\u2019m the last one to sit here and preach to you that you need some pristine life balance. I do think you must have the discipline to ensure you manage yourself in a healthy way and that you contain your business and protect your personal life, time, health, relationships, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thing about balance is\u2026 there would have to be some changes that affect the people around if you chose to handle your life differently. To outsiders your schedule may seem selfish, but in reality it\u2019s actually selfless. You work hard to serve others, not yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As with all driven ambitious doctor business owners, changing you changes everything for better and worse. So, embrace yourself and give thanks for what all you\u2019ve made possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I quoted Zig\u2019s famous quote about not \u201cpaying the price\u201d but instead \u201cenjoying it\u201d for what you have as a result your efforts. The point is that you enjoy what it brings and therefore you choose to enjoy what it takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s where this all comes together, it\u2019s when you evolve yourself beyond just working harder and instead create leverage in order to work smarter. As a result, you can afford more autonomy, more freedom, more lifestyle, and more balance because you\u2019ve shifted the formula into your favor (as we\u2019ve been discussing over the past several weeks).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s quite literally the difference between \u2018addition\u2019 (requiring more of everything to get more of anything else) and \u2018multiplication\u2019 (where leverage produces the same results many times over).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s natural, healthy even, to evolve how you prioritize your life and where you allocate your time, energy, and efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, on this Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, when you could literally go out and buy anything you want; instead I hope you focus on something that requires not a single dollar out of your pocket but it does require every ounce of belief\u2026 your potential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might say it \u2018cost\u2019 you everything because you \u2018invested\u2019 everything you have and all of your life to create it, to make it possible, and to arrive at where you are right now in this very moment. Yes, be thankful for the past that brought you to this point \u2013 but don\u2019t forget to be grateful for the future that\u2019s yet to unfold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As long as you have clarity of what you want, the direction you are going, the plan to get there, and the support to bring it to life \u2013 you will accomplish it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see so many doctors afraid of their own potential and waste the opportunities that they have because they are concerned over what others will think or they fear failure or they don\u2019t know what they would do with the success once they experience it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead take this simple approach: be grateful, never take anything for granted, and give everything all you\u2019ve got. That\u2019s the most \u2018thankful\u2019 thing you can do. The least would be to squander away the opportunities you\u2019ve gifted to yourself as a result of your sacrifices and hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose that is where we come full circle, it\u2019s what ultimately brings you here to me. This greatest of gifts is not for everyone. It only belongs to those who are willing to seek it out, to face it, to accept the outcome. You are on this quest, even if you can\u2019t identify it or ever intended to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is your desire to find out what you really are capable of, to make the most of your opportunities ahead, to conquer the unfinished business, to unleash what\u2019s left of your untapped potential, and most of all to savor your life not just work for it\u2026 and for all of this, be thankful!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"