“Successful” or “Worthy”?

You were already successful the moment you were born. You were already successful when your first tooth sprouted or when you took your first step. You were already successful when you learned your ABCs. You were already successful when you started kindergarten. You were already successful when you received the “Great Job” sticker on your spelling test. You were already successful when you tried out for the sports team. You were already successful when you got the A on your final exams. You were already successful when you got into the college of your choice. You were already successful when you took your MCATs and already successful when you were accepted into medical school. How many of you at this point in your life would say you are successful and why or why not?

As physicians, we live in an insular world. A world full of extremely motivated, high achievers. People who test the limits of their mind and body. We keep going, even when it is not healthy for us to keep going. We keep saying yes, even when we have the right to say no. We join practices or work in academic medical centers where the pressure to keep striving and keep publishing and keep producing is constant and pervasive. We’re all complicit. But we don’t look at ourselves from the outside. We don’t recognize our own talent (unless to apply towards our compensation or promotion). We are not celebrated often enough and we definitely don’t celebrate ourselves. Every single win is followed by the thought of “what’s next”. And so I am saying that as physicians, we are out of touch with reality and have an extremely skewed view of what it means to be successful.

We equate success with worth. And when our successes are applied towards promotion or a raise, we believe we are worthy. Unfortunately, for most individuals, this means the opposite must hold true. That if we don’t get promoted or don’t get the increase in our compensation, we must not be worthy.  I am guilty of this thought process as well. But is it really true? If your best friend or child did not get the promotion, what would you tell them? Would you tell them they weren’t worthy? That they must not be good enough? Tying in worth with our ability to accomplish tasks can be quite motivating when it works in your favor..but quite devastating when when it doesn’t.

So take a moment with me to re-read the first paragraph and this time, replace the word “successful” with “worthy”. Feel the impact it has on your being, on your spirit and the essence of who you are. Feel what is possible for you. Feel the pride in who you are. And breathe in the realization that you are already worthy.

—June 5, 2023