Identity crisis: Who are you if you leave the medical profession?
What's new on your horizon of life now?
Presenting symptoms: Lack of clarity about personal identity.
History: Since becoming a doctor you have taken on the identity of that profession 100%.
So much so that you sometimes find yourself wondering who you are without the label, and who you will be if you are made redundant or decide to retire or leave your job.
On examination: You worry and wonder who you would be if this decision was forced on you: for example if you had to take early retirement on the grounds of ill health or decided to leave because you don’t enjoy the medical work you do and would really rather be doing something else.
Because you are so busy with your work related activities you have no time to do anything except, work and study.
This adds to your already stressful life.
Your colleagues are of little help as there is a culture of ‘grin and bear it’ and ‘why worry about things which may never happen’ or ‘you are too old to change’ or ‘you are too young to retire.’
But you DO worry. And a major concern is you wonder what the answer is to the question:
’Who am I?’ and the answer keeps coming back ‘I am a doctor.’
Diagnosis: Lack of Clarity of personal identity
What do you need to do to complete your personal jigsaw?
Treatment: Prescription for Change:
Listen to yourself when you introduce yourself to someone you’ve just met.
What do you tell? What do you not tell? What is the reason for your choice?
Do you tell what you do for a living, where you live, how old you are, your marital status, or not; if you have any children or not.
What else……?
Perhaps you tell someone about your hobbies and perhaps say something like: ‘I’d do that if only I had time….!’ or ‘I’ll do that when I retire’ but isn’t life for living NOW?
What do you not tell? What is it about you that you imagine may affect the way the listener regards you?
Have you ever played the icebreaker game: tell the group ‘a little known fact about yourself’ What do you reveal? What do you not tell?
Does what you say about yourself, give the listener a sense of your values, of what you feel passionately about, what you love to do?
What IS most important in YOUR life?
Next time someone says to you: tell me a bit about yourself…. start with what you value most, what is the most important thing for you.
Let your true self shine.
Let go of what you no longer want in your life
“He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.” -Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
“This above all; to thine own self be true.” -William Shakespeare
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