Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills
to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.
As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.
When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find
that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research
program.
Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.
However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.
For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians
the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.
Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.
Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.
I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene., and it is such a pleasure, such a pleasure to be talking
with you today.
I'm excited to bring you today's episode, where we are talking about the keys to your
success in 2024.
By now, 2024 is a couple of weeks old, but hey, we're still talking about the keys to
your focus in 2024.
They apply in 2024, and they definitely go beyond 2024.
But today we're talking about your thoughts.
We're talking about your thoughts, and the quote I just want to share is, whether you
think you can or you think you can't, you are right.
Okay, so we're talking about the quality of your thoughts, and we recognize that how we
think drives our lives, and we know that intuitively, but we don't necessarily take the time to
guard the thoughts that we have.
And I want to just help you today, and help me too, by really thinking about really focusing
on the quality of our thoughts, and how to create thoughts of high quality.
And it's so important because if we can create high quality thoughts, we can have high quality
experiences, we can have high quality outputs, we can have a high quality life.
But it all comes to, first of all, creating the kind of thoughts that create the high
quality life.
Now, one of the things I struggled with when I first started my faculty career was I thought
I wasn't qualified.
And I heard it enough times, and in retrospect, I see what people were saying.
They were saying, hey, you don't have enough experience doing research.
You don't have enough experience leading a research program.
You don't have enough experience doing research in terms of research methodology.
You haven't really spent as much time as is needed for the stage of your career for someone
who wants to lead a research program, therefore you're not qualified.
I heard that over and over and over again, where I started to internalize my lack of
qualifications.
And whenever I would apply for an award, whenever I would go for a grant, I would write with
a not qualified experience, with a not qualified thought life, right?
Because that's the way I was feeling.
And it wasn't until I would hand my document over to someone else to review for me and
they would say, oh, you're speaking as if you're so unworthy.
You're writing as if you're so unworthy.
And I didn't understand that.
I was like, well, of course I'm not.
But whatever you're thinking is what you're producing because thoughts are the foundation
of all of our actions, the foundations of our, I mean, they're the foundation of our
speech, they're the foundation of our life.
And so even when you don't think, you're projecting a certain thought.
If you're having it, you're projecting it, whether you know it or not.
And some of us have become very skilled at being divided.
You feel one way inside, you express a different thing to the external body.
Some of us have gotten really good at that.
But for the most of us, we struggle to do that.
And most people, even if we've gotten very good at lying, that's what that is, where
you think one thing and you do a different thing.
Some of us have gotten good enough that we can fool most people.
But there are some people who are very savvy and can pick up on the subtle cues of when
how you're feeling inside doesn't line up with what you're expressing on the outside.
And most importantly, we can pick it up too.
So that's important.
But anyway, so there I was feeling unworthy, unqualified because I had accepted the thoughts
that I was and I was producing lack of qualification in my writing.
Wow.
And I couldn't see it until somebody pointed it out to me.
They're like, you don't have to explain away this.
You don't have to say, oh, if only I had because that's what I was doing.
I was saying, well, I didn't have the training.
I didn't have, you know, yeah, it's OK that you didn't have the training.
But what do you think about who you are now?
And so that was definitely showing up.
I was definitely showing up the wrong way inside.
And that was coming out the wrong way on the outside, even when I didn't know it was doing
that.
So that's why I'm talking today about thoughts, because your thoughts are so important.
You know that you know that intuitively.
And here's the challenge with our thoughts.
They're happening all the time.
We're always thinking.
And when we're not thinking intentionally, we're not controlling our thoughts.
They can run wild.
Like you can literally see a black cat.
And the next thing you know, you're imagining yourself six feet under.
And it was just, oh, it was just a cat.
How did you get to that vision of your funeral?
You know, I mean, I'm just giving an example of where your thoughts take you.
And usually, especially when we are not like paying attention to our thoughts, they don't
spiral out of control into a great direction where it's like, wow, I imagine myself as
the king of England.
Most of the time, our thoughts don't take us there.
Where they take us is imagining the worst.
And that's what one of my mentors calls undisciplined thought.
It's like your thought life needs to be disciplined.
And where you don't discipline it, it just runs crazy.
It's like the wild animal or the new puppy that if you don't train this puppy, it just
will embarrass you over and over again.
And so your thought life is so key, it's so critical.
And that's why I'm talking about it today.
And I want to give you five things to think about in mastering your thought life.
So the first thing I want to share is that you've got to be intentional about the thoughts
you create.
That's number one.
Be intentional about the thoughts you create.
And this is very challenging because our thoughts run so wild.
And many times we're not thinking about what we're thinking.
But if we are not intentional about creating thoughts of possibility, we're going to just
create whatever.
Or actually more likely, we're going to create the negative.
Because think about it, funding is hard.
You can't make enough.
You can't get enough.
There's not enough to go around.
Everybody else has a great idea.
Your idea may not be fundable.
There are so many thoughts that limit us, that keep us from moving forward.
And that's the challenge with the thoughts.
The moment you think the thought, accept the thought, begin to imagine the thought and
ruminate on the thought, you begin to produce actions consistent with the thought.
And then you fulfill the prophecy of the thought.
If you think, you know, this idea sucks so bad, no one will ever fund it.
You begin to act like someone whose idea sucks so bad that no one will ever fund it.
You begin to write like that.
You begin to produce like that.
And maybe you don't even finish the grant.
Maybe you don't even submit it.
And it all started with a thought that you couldn't.
And so being intentional about creating the kinds of thoughts that lead us in the direction
that we need is so important.
Be intentional because if you intentionally create a thought of, oh, my idea is fundable.
And it doesn't mean that you don't take feedback seriously.
It means that if somebody says this idea sucks, you don't accept this idea sucks.
You push back.
You say, how can we make this idea not suck?
Or how can we make this idea suck less?
Right?
You start to ask, how do we improve it?
You don't accept it and then like wither away.
That only comes with being intentional.
It only comes with being intentional.
So how can we be intentional about our thought life?
Well, you got to be intentional about the source of your thoughts.
And so what is the source of your thoughts?
Well, the source of your thoughts for those of us who are really visual are the things
we see, for those of us who are really sensitive to what we hear, the things we hear.
And it's also the things we experience.
Right?
And so if we're going to be intentional about our thoughts, going to be intentional about
the source of those thoughts, if you have a superstar mentor who's always yelling at
you and driving fear into your heart, anxiety and worry, guess the kind of thoughts you're
going to produce?
Thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety.
You're going to have a lot of stress, you know, produce in a stressful way.
And here's the challenge with people like you and me, we can produce a lot under a lot
of duress.
And so because we can, we think that our anxiety, our worry is what's really fueling our success.
And we're already getting plenty of success, but we're burning out in the process.
It's like, you know, burning yourself up as fuel.
The challenge is when the fuel burns up.
There is no more source.
And so being intentional about creating the kinds of environments, including your mentoring
team that allows you to think thoughts that move you in the direction you want to go.
It's also about being intentional about what you're reading.
So what's the quality of the thoughts, the ideas that enter your mind?
What's the quality of the entertainment that you watch?
What's the quality of the books that you read?
What's the quality of the audio that you listen to?
So it's being intentional about curating it.
So it's not just, well, most of the stuff around me is good, so I guess I'll be okay.
It's saying, hmm, what is not good?
Or what could be more excellent?
Because you want to create thoughts that transform your life, you pay attention to the thoughts
you want to have, and then you curate a body of work that allows you to have high quality
thoughts.
Now, it doesn't mean that you're in an echo chamber, not not at all.
But it does mean that you are creating thoughts that are high quality thoughts of possibility,
thoughts that you have no limitations because you have none.
And so number one is being intentional about your thoughts.
Number two is removing everything that impacts your thoughts.
And this kind of goes with number one, which is being intentional, because on the one hand,
it's kind of like where you exercise and you're so good about like exercising 30 minutes every
day, you go to the gym, you do all the stuff, and then you come home and you down three
glasses of soda, and you're like, yeah, I worked out of the gym, I can drink whatever
I want, I can eat whatever I want.
And it's like, oh, no, you can't.
There's no amount of exercise that can outrun a bad diet.
You know that, I know that, you advise your patients about that.
And so why do we do it?
Why would we be intentional about curating thoughts of high quality by creating an environment
that encourages high quality thought by allowing things into our system that drain our ability
to think well?
And so what does that mean?
It means not just being intentional about creating the environment, but it means removing
things that affect the quality of our thoughts.
Yeah, I didn't say it earlier, but it means, hey, limiting the amount of access the mentor
who's always yelling at you has to you.
But you're like, oh, no, he's a noble laureate.
What do you mean limiting my access?
If I keep this way, I'm going to become a noble laureate too.
I believe it.
I agree.
You're going to be the most miserable noble laureate ever.
Sure, you'll be a noble laureate.
Is that all you want?
Yes, your mentor is successful.
And in academia, a lot of people can be very bad to the bone and still be considered super
successful.
They can have poor attitudes to life and people and still be considered very successful.
And if that is the path you want to choose for yourself, I am so glad that we have the
power of choice and you do get to choose that if that is what you want.
But for most of us, we want the success without all that other stuff.
Sometimes we think they all have to go together like, well, if I want the stuff that leads
me to win this amazing award that this person already has, then I guess I got to take all
of it.
And you know the answer is that no, you do not have to take all of it.
And so I encourage you to remove all the stuff that impacts upon your high quality thought
life.
Yeah, stop listening to that music that makes you feel sad at the end of the day.
Stop watching those things that make you angry.
Yeah, I'm talking about the news.
Because at the end of watching the news cycle, oh, newsflash, there is no end to the news
cycle.
It's a constant cycle.
At the end of watching that, you're down in the dumps, you're depressed, you're angry.
Actually, the more likely emotion is anger.
Clearly, anger affects the quality of your thoughts.
How much of the manuscript can you produce while you're super angry?
Okay, so I feel like I belabored the newsflash.
Okay, so I feel like I belabored that point a lot.
Number two is to remove the thoughts or remove the source of thoughts that impact your ability
to function well.
The third thing is to focus on thoughts that create possibility.
Focus on thoughts that create possibility.
People will say, oh, are you trying to be idealistic here?
Be realistic.
Yeah, I am talking about being positive.
I'm talking about creating thoughts of possibility because they are the only space from which
real greatness comes.
There's a lot of actions.
There are a lot of actions that are created from negative, self-hating thoughts.
I know that.
I'm an academia, you're an academia, you see it.
People who like, actually, you probably do it.
You yell at yourself, you're like, can't you get it together?
And somehow you produce this amazing manuscript that goes on to be a binary abstract or something
in your journal.
You did it.
You did it by yelling at yourself.
You did it by being mean to yourself.
And so you think that's the way life should be.
And I will tell you that encouragement will always go so much further in motivating people
than being mean to them.
And that goes for you as well.
That goes for you being mean to you.
And so if you would think for a moment with me about where possibility could take you,
where an encouraging kind word could take you, and I'm talking about you speaking these
encouraging kind words to yourself first, but also surrounding yourself with people
who believe in possibility.
I mean, let me ask you, what is the point of submitting for an award that you don't
think it's possible for you to get?
What is the point of that?
Oh, yeah, everybody just submits anyway.
Don't do it.
Don't ever submit for an award that you don't think it's possible for you to get.
Because of the very fact that you don't think it's possible, you are creating a grant that
is probably not going to be funded.
Because people say, well, it's not possible to be funded.
I'm submitting anyway.
Oh, there he goes.
I wasn't funded.
How can you be funded when you created a grant out of your impossibility?
OK, that's me on the soapbox.
I'm getting off right now.
But what I'm asking you to do is to create possibility.
And if you don't think it's possible, wait.
Create possibility, build possibility, and then go for it.
Don't move forward not thinking it's possible.
Instead, build the muscle of possibility.
And how do you do that?
You build the muscle of possibility by talking to people like me who believe all things are
possible.
And if I don't yet believe it's possible, I go work on deciding and figuring out on
intentionally creating the possibility.
And how do I do that?
I go read about people who've done it before me.
I go read about people who've been successful.
I go hang out with them.
And I say, hey, you've succeeded in this impossible environment.
How have you done it?
You don't go to the person who hasn't succeeded and ask for their advice.
You go to the person who's done it.
That's how you create possibility.
Because the moment you are surrounded by people who are doing it, who didn't just do it once,
who didn't just have a lucky moment, who are doing it over and over and over again, it
changes the way you experience that activity, whatever it is.
And so number three is create possibility.
Create possibility.
Number four is have thoughts that are grounded in objective truth.
Oh, I want to say this again, have thoughts that are grounded in objective truth.
And this is the point at which people will say, well, the objective truth is that funding
is impossible.
It's one objective truth.
Why would you stake your life on that one?
Another objective truth is that there are a group of people for whom funding is never
impossible.
Okay, go find out the truth of their lives.
Because I have to tell you, and I think you know this.
All success is intentional success.
Success never happens overnight.
You know that.
People may discover you one day and say, oh, wow, what an overnight success, because yesterday
I didn't know you and today I do.
Therefore you're an overnight success.
But all success takes work.
In the same way, if we think about it, a lack of success also takes work, just a different
kind of work, the anti-work, the negative work, not saying that people who are not successful
don't work hard.
I'm just saying that there are strategies that lead to success.
Nobody is successful by accident.
And so in grounding yourself on the objective reality of truth, you go figure out what do
these people who succeed all the time do?
What do they do?
Because they're doing something different from you.
You want to know what that is.
And that's how you ground yourself in objective truth, objective reality.
Again, there are many objective realities.
That's the objective reality of I can never get funded.
We are surrounded by so many of those people because they're very loud and very vocal.
But the objective reality of the people who get funded is a quiet objective reality.
They're not even where you can find them.
Sometimes you have to dig them out from, I don't know, dig them out from their bunker
where they're holed up doing the things that are making them consistently successful.
But you can find them if you choose.
And then you ask them and they will tell you if you choose to listen.
So ground your thoughts in objective truth, not in the objective truth of the people who
haven't succeeded that surround you, but in the objective truth of the people who succeed
again and again and again.
Because success does not happen in any sphere of life by accident.
I mean, if it happens by accident, it's called the lottery and we know what happens with
people who win the lottery.
Number five is have thoughts that are consistent with your desire.
What do you want?
What do you want to see for yourself?
What do you want to see happen in your life?
Those are the thoughts you entertain.
The things you don't want for yourself.
Those are the thoughts you banish.
Those are the thoughts you starve.
Those are the thoughts you kill.
That sounds great, doesn't it?
But yes, you nurture the thoughts that lead you where you want to go.
The key is first deciding where do you want to go?
Where do you want to go?
That harkens back to number one being intentional about the thoughts you create.
Maybe this should have been number one is deciding first.
What do you want to be?
Where do you want to go?
How do you want to show up?
And that helps you create the umbrella for what you're going to create in your thought
life, for how you're going to support your thought life, for how you're going to weed
out the things that don't belong.
Because they could be good thoughts to someone else, but they're not the right thoughts for
you because they're not your thoughts.
And here we are in academia where the thought of the loudest mentor, the most obnoxious
mentor is a thought that prevails.
Oh, no, no, no.
That's the worst idea ever.
Throw that idea out.
Let's not do that anymore.
And then you're like, OK, I mean, your mentor is correct.
It probably doesn't work as is, but it's what you want to do.
And if it's what you want to do, it's worth fighting for.
And so it's not the answer should not be OK.
The answer should be, well, how?
How can I get to the place I want?
How can I get to the destination I want to?
And so an important key to your thought life is defining who you want to be, where you
want to go, because that defines the kinds of thoughts you need to have so that you can
get there.
So be intentional about your thoughts.
You want to remove thoughts that are not consistent.
You want to have thoughts that are grounded on objective truth.
You want to have thoughts that are based on the reality that you desire.
So those are the things that I am talking about today about your thoughts.
You're going to have the life you want, the life you envy, the life you dreamed of.
You don't want to master your thoughts.
These are some things to think about in enhancing the quality of your thoughts, because you're
curating an environment that leads you to think the way you need to, to get you to the
place that you need to be.
All right.
Somebody else needs to hear this episode and I invite you to share it with them.
I want to thank you so much for being part of this podcast, for letting your ears and
for voting, voting with your ears.
All right.
Thank you for listening.
I look forward to talking with you again the next time.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they
have a mentor.
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