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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills

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to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients.

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When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find

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that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research

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program.

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Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit.

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However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

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For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians

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the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor.

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Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene.

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Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast.

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I'm Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is such a pleasure to be talking with you today.

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Thank you so much for tuning in.

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Today I'm talking about seven things you should never do.

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Seven things you should never do.

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I will say that when I first started my faculty career, I assumed everything was fair game,

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right?

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The end justifies the means.

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You work super hard, you push, push, push hard, and you make sure you do all these things

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so that you can get the prize at the end.

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And one of the things that's challenging is that when you try to define exactly what is

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the prize that you're gunning for, it is so much harder in your faculty role than it was

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really at any point during your career, right?

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And so when you think about your training, medical school, like getting into medical

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school was the goal.

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Very clear goal.

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You're gunning towards it.

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You get in, you know you win.

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And then graduating medical school, that's a goal.

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And getting into residency, that's another goal.

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Getting into a fellowship program, that's another goal.

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Getting a faculty role, that's another goal.

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Well, you have to become a faculty member.

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The goal becomes less and less clear.

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Is it achieve promotion?

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I mean, it's usually not like a clear goal that everyone's gunning for.

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It could be one.

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When you look at it, there's so many things that you could accomplish as a faculty member

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that there are many goals you could set.

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You could set, you know, be the best master clinician, for example.

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Or you could decide that you're going to get, you know, the biggest research grants.

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And one of the challenges with that is that, you know, the goalpost keeps moving.

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Congratulations, you got your K, what about your R?

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Oh, congratulations, you have your R. What about your next R?

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Oh, congratulations, you have only one R. What about, you know, three R's?

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Oh, congratulations, now you've got three R's, what about the U?

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So there's always the next thing and the next thing and the next thing such that there's

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not really one big goal that you're accomplishing where it feels like, okay, you're now done.

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Congratulations, you've accomplished Nirvana as a faculty member.

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And that's why the reason is that the journey is so much more important.

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Actually, the journey has always been important throughout your training.

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But even more so as a faculty member where there's not one big goal, the journey matters

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a lot.

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And so the whole idea of the end justifying the means is a little bit false because it's

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like, so what end exactly are you gunning for?

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And it's important to recognize the journey.

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So in the spirit of that, there are some things that you don't do because you realize that

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you want to live a holistic life.

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When you live a holistic life, you want to have an experience that you can look back

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on and enjoy and appreciate and say, well, you know, this was a life well lived.

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I made good contributions and I, you know, was true to myself and true to my values in

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the process.

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And that's why I think there are some things that we should never do.

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I'm going to talk about seven of them.

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Okay.

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So number one is never, never, never, never worry about the future.

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Okay.

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Now, this is one of those where it's like, what do you mean?

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We're always worrying about the future.

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And I agree, it's a cultural thing.

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If you're an academician, you're always worrying about the future.

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When am I going to get this grant funded?

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When is the money going to come through?

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When are they going to review it?

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Am I ever going to get funded?

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What's going to happen if things don't work out?

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What's going to happen if I can't fund my research?

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How am I going to move forward?

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There's so many things that we could worry about.

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And at the end of the day, we have no control over the future.

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What we do have control over is the way we show up in the present.

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But here's a challenge about worrying about the future is that we go into the future to

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worry and then we become absent from the present in which we can actually make a difference.

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So while I have no control over whether they will fund my grant that I submitted last year,

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what I do have control over is how I prepare to submit the next grant or how I move forward

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in a different way, which continues to increase the chances that I continue to be funded.

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I have control over that.

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But when I'm absent from the present all the way in the future, worrying about something

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over which I have no control, fretting, being anxious, nervous, stressed, and I'm not here

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in the presence, in the present, making the difference that I can make to affect the future.

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And so the end result of that is that the uncertain future I don't want, I'm actually

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creating that by being absent from my present.

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And it's the same with that really in everything in life.

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It's not just about grant funding.

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The more I worry about the future, will funding be cut?

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Will there be any money?

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Will this institute go away?

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Will my research die?

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All those activities that go to the future to worry and then allow you to become absent

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from actually making the difference in the present.

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All of them, all of them.

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Will my child make it to college?

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Will my child be potty trained?

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What will happen when my parents become 80 years old?

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All of those things are in the bucket of things you should never do.

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And I say that recognizing that we're always doing that.

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We're always worrying.

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We're always anxious.

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We're always afraid.

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And to be honest, it's kind of popular to do that.

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You gather in a room and people are talking about what's going to happen tomorrow.

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We don't know.

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And this might happen.

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And I have to say that it is a discipline that I'm working really hard to practice of

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being absent from those scenarios where people focus so much on the future.

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They're so paralyzed and anxious and worried and afraid.

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They cannot be present in the present.

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And so I want to invite you to think about your present and ask yourself, in what ways

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am I moving forward to the future and being absent from the present where I can really

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make a difference?

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In what ways am I allowing my fear of the future to hinder my activity, my action in

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the present?

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I want to invite you to work towards the discipline of not allowing the future to interfere with

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today.

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Okay?

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That's number one.

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Never, never, never, never worry about the future.

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Along the same vein is number two.

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Never worry about the past.

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Okay.

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This one may actually truly be worse than worrying about the future because, you know,

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it's like you're going forward into a future you don't know.

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You're making up disaster that has not yet existed.

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And so doing the work that you need to do to move forward, but in regretting the past,

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wow, that's like a double whammy because you've already lived and maybe you've done something

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wrong or something hasn't worked out.

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You missed the deadline of a really important grant that maybe would have allowed you to

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be funded six months from now.

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And now you're like, I'm scrambling.

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I have no funding.

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And so now you're spending a lot of time in the past, but you already, it's already done.

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You have no control over going and undoing it.

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You can't do that.

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But here you are spending so much time beating yourself up over what you did instead of showing

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yourself compassion, forgiving yourself and moving forward.

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And so I think regretting the past actually is worse than going forward to the future.

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Actually, to be honest, I think they're both equally bad because they rob you of today.

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They rob you of your ability to make an investment in the present right this moment.

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They rob you of your agency to act and make a difference.

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You can't go to the past and undo it.

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You can't change your experience with a mentor.

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You cannot change the way you responded to something.

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You wish you had only written a grant a different way, or maybe you wish you'd never in the

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grant at all.

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None of that helps you in moving forward.

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What does help you is to make a plan and to move forward in the present.

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Similarly to worrying about the future, worrying about the past, regretting the past is a waste

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of time.

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It's a waste of your time and it drains your energy and it keeps you from showing up today

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so that what you're doing when you go back to regret the past so that you're setting

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yourself up for this never ending cycle of regretting the past, right?

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As long as you're regretting the past, you're always going to be in the past, never really

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making progress towards the future so that you'll always have something to regret, right?

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You spend all the time regretting the past.

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What you're doing is you're creating a ladder of regrets that you will never be able to

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fix until you decide that you can let go of the past and you're going to focus on the

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agency that you have and applying that to the present to change the future, to make

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the future different, to make different decisions than decisions that you've made in the past.

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So number two thing to never do is never regret the past.

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Instead acknowledge the past, take a few minutes to mourn the past and the challenges you've

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had or the regrets that you've had and then advance, advance by investing in today.

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All right.

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That's number two, never regret the past.

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Number three is never wonder why, never wonder why.

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What does that mean?

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Hmm.

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I wonder why the reviewer did blah, blah, blah.

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I wonder why they didn't move me to this particular study section.

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I wonder why they didn't fund me.

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I wonder why that manuscript was not accepted.

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Now I'm not saying you shouldn't pay attention to, okay, how do I do things differently?

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It's different from wondering why.

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Wondering why is why you spend so much time reminiscing and trying to put your head in

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somebody else's head to say, okay, this must be why they hated my grant.

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It's because I'm a woman.

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Oh no, it's because disparities are, I mean, this person must, this study section must

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be racist, therefore they don't believe in my work.

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Those are all things that you just don't know.

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You don't know.

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And you know, I have to tell you that I've done this so much.

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This is why I say never do it because now I've done it.

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Now I feel like nobody should do it, right?

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But I spend so much time making up a story as to why something didn't work out.

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And I don't know.

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I really don't know.

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And it really takes grace and humility to come to a point where you're like, wait a

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minute, I don't know why.

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I don't know why they didn't fund me.

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Yes, I know the reviewer listed these five points.

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I don't know.

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And it doesn't help to try to wonder or make up a reason or imagine a big bad reason why

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they couldn't fund me.

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But what I can do is to say, hmm, how can I find out?

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So if you have the review before you, okay, take it at face value.

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Seek solicit help from other people.

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You're soliciting help not to imagine why, but to say, what do I do right now to address

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these comments so that this grant is fundable?

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What do I do right now to strengthen this project?

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What do I do right now to address the issues that make the project seem weak or not effective?

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Right?

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So you have power over the things you know.

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You don't have power over the things you don't know.

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And investing time and wondering why is another thing that steals your time.

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What could you do instead?

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Instead, you could get the information you need.

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If you're like, I wonder why this grant didn't receive a higher priority score.

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Guess who can tell you?

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The program officer who may or may not have attended the study section may be able to

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tell you.

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And maybe they can't tell you.

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They weren't there and they can just read the summary statement with you and say, well,

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this is what typically happens, right?

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But somebody can give you insight.

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Ask that person.

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And if they can't give you insight, sometimes I've been to a meeting with a program officer

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who cannot tell me why nobody decided to move forward to the grant.

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Right?

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They could just read the study summary statement, same as I have.

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Just take whatever information you have and use that and where you have a gap in knowledge,

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seek to expand or seek to fill that gap.

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Fill the gap with knowledge to the best of your ability.

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Don't fill it with conjecture.

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Don't imagine.

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Don't join anybody to imagine things.

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Don't let somebody tell you, yeah, that's what happened.

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Three years ago, they decided that no one was going to get funded from my university.

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00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:47,700
Therefore, don't do that.

239
00:13:47,700 --> 00:13:50,740
Get the information you need and act on the information you need.

240
00:13:50,740 --> 00:13:54,380
If you don't have the information and you can't get it, then you just don't know.

241
00:13:54,380 --> 00:13:58,500
And it takes a lot of humility and grace to say, I don't know.

242
00:13:58,500 --> 00:14:01,860
And it is more powerful to say, I don't know.

243
00:14:01,860 --> 00:14:03,300
And this is what I know.

244
00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:06,980
And this is what I'm going to move forward in because this is what I know.

245
00:14:06,980 --> 00:14:09,620
So don't spend time wondering why.

246
00:14:09,620 --> 00:14:13,660
Get the information you need and move forward.

247
00:14:13,660 --> 00:14:15,820
Number four thing you should never do.

248
00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:19,740
Oh, my goodness.

249
00:14:19,740 --> 00:14:21,580
Never argue.

250
00:14:21,580 --> 00:14:22,580
Never argue.

251
00:14:22,580 --> 00:14:24,620
OK, I just want to put in a plug for arguing right now.

252
00:14:24,620 --> 00:14:25,620
I told you never argue.

253
00:14:25,620 --> 00:14:29,660
And I just want to tell you why it's so sweet to argue from my perspective.

254
00:14:29,660 --> 00:14:31,180
It feels so good to be right.

255
00:14:31,180 --> 00:14:32,380
Oh, my goodness.

256
00:14:32,380 --> 00:14:33,700
It feels so good to be right.

257
00:14:33,700 --> 00:14:40,060
And next to being right, it feels so good to work hard to convince others that you are

258
00:14:40,060 --> 00:14:41,060
right.

259
00:14:41,060 --> 00:14:42,060
Actually, to be honest, it's not even about others.

260
00:14:42,060 --> 00:14:43,220
It's about me.

261
00:14:43,220 --> 00:14:44,380
I want to look good.

262
00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:46,340
I want to be right.

263
00:14:46,340 --> 00:14:48,900
So sometimes it doesn't matter what I'm being right about.

264
00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:51,100
I just want to be right.

265
00:14:51,100 --> 00:14:52,100
And that's the problem with arguments.

266
00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:57,380
The problem with arguments is that there is no real goal that's actually a useful goal

267
00:14:57,380 --> 00:14:58,980
other than winning.

268
00:14:58,980 --> 00:15:03,140
And you might argue that being able to say I told you so is the best.

269
00:15:03,140 --> 00:15:05,740
Yeah, it does feel good, doesn't it?

270
00:15:05,740 --> 00:15:10,660
However, the problem with arguing is that it really wastes time.

271
00:15:10,660 --> 00:15:11,660
It drains you.

272
00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:16,140
At the end, you win, but you don't really win because you feel slimy inside.

273
00:15:16,140 --> 00:15:22,380
You feel dirty, and you know what, it doesn't help whatever relationship you're in.

274
00:15:22,380 --> 00:15:24,460
What does argument give you?

275
00:15:24,460 --> 00:15:34,500
It gives you a self-satisfying, a self-satisfied, smug feeling, but it leaves you feeling empty

276
00:15:34,500 --> 00:15:36,620
and it hurts relationships.

277
00:15:36,620 --> 00:15:37,620
That's what it does.

278
00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:43,940
And at the end of argument or at the bottom of arguing is proving your point.

279
00:15:43,940 --> 00:15:48,260
Then you have to ask yourself what is the point of proving your point other than being

280
00:15:48,260 --> 00:15:49,940
right?

281
00:15:49,940 --> 00:15:52,300
Does it move you forward?

282
00:15:52,300 --> 00:15:54,420
No.

283
00:15:54,420 --> 00:15:57,580
Does it allow you to make a difference?

284
00:15:57,580 --> 00:15:58,580
No.

285
00:15:58,580 --> 00:16:03,060
Does it allow you to move that grant forward towards funding?

286
00:16:03,060 --> 00:16:04,060
No.

287
00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:06,580
What you really want is information.

288
00:16:06,580 --> 00:16:08,300
You want advice.

289
00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:10,060
You want strategy.

290
00:16:10,060 --> 00:16:11,340
You want knowledge.

291
00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:20,100
There are very, very few things that you need that actually move you forward.

292
00:16:20,100 --> 00:16:23,820
And so when you're spending time arguing a point because you want to win, then what you're

293
00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:27,740
not doing is getting the information you need to move forward.

294
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:30,180
It takes a long time to argue.

295
00:16:30,180 --> 00:16:33,500
And if you're arguing with someone else who's good at arguing, and to be honest, most of

296
00:16:33,500 --> 00:16:39,540
us in medicine are excellent at arguing, and you take the same point, the same information,

297
00:16:39,540 --> 00:16:43,180
the same timeframe, and we can argue different points and argue successfully.

298
00:16:43,180 --> 00:16:47,900
It takes a long time to do that, and it takes less time.

299
00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:52,860
And it's a real investment to take the information that that person has, which you don't have

300
00:16:52,860 --> 00:16:57,580
yet, or the perspective that that person has is clearly different from yours, and to see

301
00:16:57,580 --> 00:17:00,340
how can I incorporate it into my project.

302
00:17:00,340 --> 00:17:04,300
And the reality is what I realize now, especially with reviewers, is that no matter how wrong

303
00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:09,020
they are from your perspective, they have information that you need.

304
00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:12,900
When somebody says, I can't believe that this person is applying for a grant.

305
00:17:12,900 --> 00:17:13,900
She doesn't even have a degree.

306
00:17:13,900 --> 00:17:18,660
And you're like, wait a minute, how can this reviewer think I don't have a degree?

307
00:17:18,660 --> 00:17:19,660
And you're angry.

308
00:17:19,660 --> 00:17:24,060
And you're like, this is a ridiculous reviewer, and all of that.

309
00:17:24,060 --> 00:17:27,260
And what they're really telling you is that it wasn't explicit.

310
00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:29,540
It was something they didn't see.

311
00:17:29,540 --> 00:17:31,220
But it's right there in the biosketch.

312
00:17:31,220 --> 00:17:33,660
I have a degree.

313
00:17:33,660 --> 00:17:37,520
And what it helps you do is recognize that, okay, well, this person didn't see it for

314
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:38,860
whatever reason.

315
00:17:38,860 --> 00:17:43,860
How do I highlight the fact that I have a degree in this area so the next reviewer knows

316
00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:45,940
that I do have a degree?

317
00:17:45,940 --> 00:17:50,060
And so there is information in the differing perspective.

318
00:17:50,060 --> 00:17:55,900
And it allows you to pivot and flex and say, okay, well, how can I do this differently?

319
00:17:55,900 --> 00:18:00,420
How can I present this information in such a way that whatever was missed is no longer

320
00:18:00,420 --> 00:18:02,180
missed?

321
00:18:02,180 --> 00:18:06,740
Arguing over the sanity of the reviewer, whether the reviewer can read, whether they had a

322
00:18:06,740 --> 00:18:12,380
third grade education, I mean, it makes you feel good, but it doesn't move your work forward.

323
00:18:12,380 --> 00:18:19,500
And so I want to invite you to think about the discipline of accepting the present as

324
00:18:19,500 --> 00:18:24,180
is, believing people when they present who they are and the information they present

325
00:18:24,180 --> 00:18:28,900
to you and moving forward.

326
00:18:28,900 --> 00:18:32,260
Never argue because it's such a time weaster.

327
00:18:32,260 --> 00:18:34,860
And at the end, the prize is hollow.

328
00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:38,100
Okay, that's number four.

329
00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:41,420
Number five, this one may be controversial.

330
00:18:41,420 --> 00:18:44,260
I'm going to say never work with someone you don't like.

331
00:18:44,260 --> 00:18:45,780
Never work with someone you don't like.

332
00:18:45,780 --> 00:18:52,500
Now, you can argue whether there should be anybody in your life that you don't like.

333
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:55,580
I would say in the perfect world, you like everybody because you're so good at getting

334
00:18:55,580 --> 00:18:56,580
along with everybody.

335
00:18:56,580 --> 00:18:57,580
You're so mature.

336
00:18:57,580 --> 00:18:58,580
You're so good.

337
00:18:58,580 --> 00:19:01,420
And in reality, there's some people you don't get along with.

338
00:19:01,420 --> 00:19:03,180
And it could be a number of reasons.

339
00:19:03,180 --> 00:19:06,260
It could just be that you don't even know why you don't like them.

340
00:19:06,260 --> 00:19:10,020
It could be that whenever they speak, it gets on your nerves.

341
00:19:10,020 --> 00:19:13,540
It could be that you always feel like they're trying to control the outcome.

342
00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:16,180
It could be that you never feel respected by them.

343
00:19:16,180 --> 00:19:22,700
But it's important that no matter what it is, you really consider, do I want to work

344
00:19:22,700 --> 00:19:23,700
with this person?

345
00:19:23,700 --> 00:19:25,240
Not do I have to.

346
00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,200
Do I want to?

347
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:32,740
And if the answer is no, then figure out how you can not work with them.

348
00:19:32,740 --> 00:19:34,820
Better yet, figure out how you can work with someone else.

349
00:19:34,820 --> 00:19:36,820
Why is that important?

350
00:19:36,820 --> 00:19:39,700
It's important because the work we do is so hard.

351
00:19:39,700 --> 00:19:40,700
It is hard.

352
00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:45,780
And what you always want to do is to be pushing in a direction that changes your experience.

353
00:19:45,780 --> 00:19:50,300
You always want to be pushing in a direction that moves you forward.

354
00:19:50,300 --> 00:19:54,740
When you spend a lot of time massaging egos, or you spend a lot of time trying to convince

355
00:19:54,740 --> 00:19:58,860
people who will never be invincible, you spend a lot of time trying to impress people who

356
00:19:58,860 --> 00:20:01,020
can never be impressed.

357
00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:06,380
That's energy that you're not putting into moving your projects forward.

358
00:20:06,380 --> 00:20:10,340
That's energy instead that you're putting into fighting with a person.

359
00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:12,300
And it is not satisfying.

360
00:20:12,300 --> 00:20:16,260
It is a waste, total, total, total waste of time.

361
00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:20,420
And so to the extent to which you can, don't work with people you don't like.

362
00:20:20,420 --> 00:20:23,540
Don't say, oh, this is the only mentor in the whole university.

363
00:20:23,540 --> 00:20:25,060
I have to work with him.

364
00:20:25,060 --> 00:20:29,660
Oh, do not take that energy and try to move any work forward because it does not move

365
00:20:29,660 --> 00:20:30,660
work forward.

366
00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:31,660
It frustrates you.

367
00:20:31,660 --> 00:20:32,660
It makes you mad.

368
00:20:32,660 --> 00:20:33,660
It makes you angry.

369
00:20:33,660 --> 00:20:37,220
Maybe you've been working with this person for a while and now you're like, you know

370
00:20:37,220 --> 00:20:38,220
what?

371
00:20:38,220 --> 00:20:39,980
I really, I really don't like this person.

372
00:20:39,980 --> 00:20:42,660
The more I work with them, the more I don't want to work with them.

373
00:20:42,660 --> 00:20:44,260
It's okay.

374
00:20:44,260 --> 00:20:45,260
Everything is changeable.

375
00:20:45,260 --> 00:20:47,060
They are not the only mentor in the universe.

376
00:20:47,060 --> 00:20:52,780
Yes, they may be the only person in your division who has the three R01s that looks good on

377
00:20:52,780 --> 00:20:53,780
your application.

378
00:20:53,780 --> 00:20:57,580
But who else can help you?

379
00:20:57,580 --> 00:20:59,340
And maybe they're not in your division.

380
00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:04,060
Only your greater health system or your greater academic medical center can help you.

381
00:21:04,060 --> 00:21:08,420
And even looking beyond the academic medical center, I've had people who've been successful

382
00:21:08,420 --> 00:21:11,820
with mentors outside the institution.

383
00:21:11,820 --> 00:21:17,100
How do you create your experience such that you only work with people who will move you

384
00:21:17,100 --> 00:21:18,100
forward?

385
00:21:18,100 --> 00:21:21,260
And again, it's not them, it's you, right?

386
00:21:21,260 --> 00:21:25,220
The challenge is if you don't like someone, it's not because of them, it's because of

387
00:21:25,220 --> 00:21:26,220
you.

388
00:21:26,220 --> 00:21:29,740
It's because there's something inside you that's triggered by them.

389
00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:34,260
And sometimes we think they're the problem, but you actually are.

390
00:21:34,260 --> 00:21:40,980
And so if you don't like someone, you have to decide, do I want to do the work that changes

391
00:21:40,980 --> 00:21:44,660
me so that I can continue to work with this person?

392
00:21:44,660 --> 00:21:49,700
Or do I want to invest the time doing something different that helps my project move forward?

393
00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:52,180
It's a choice that we make.

394
00:21:52,180 --> 00:21:58,140
But you can either decide to change yourself so that you start to work towards liking this

395
00:21:58,140 --> 00:22:04,780
person genuinely, or you don't make that change and you say, I only want to work with people

396
00:22:04,780 --> 00:22:05,780
I actually like.

397
00:22:05,780 --> 00:22:09,700
But at the end of the day, don't lie to yourself.

398
00:22:09,700 --> 00:22:14,300
Don't make yourself do something you don't want to do, not in the way of working with

399
00:22:14,300 --> 00:22:19,860
people, because the energy drain is energy that can be put into your projects.

400
00:22:19,860 --> 00:22:22,300
So don't work with people you don't like.

401
00:22:22,300 --> 00:22:26,120
Yeah, I venture to say never work with people you don't like.

402
00:22:26,120 --> 00:22:32,220
Change how you feel or change your working environment.

403
00:22:32,220 --> 00:22:33,220
Okay?

404
00:22:33,220 --> 00:22:34,220
Okay.

405
00:22:34,220 --> 00:22:37,380
Number six is never leave it up to someone else.

406
00:22:37,380 --> 00:22:38,540
Don't do it.

407
00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:40,420
Don't leave it up to someone else.

408
00:22:40,420 --> 00:22:44,140
Many times I hear faculty say, well, we'll see what they want.

409
00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:45,460
Let's see what they want.

410
00:22:45,460 --> 00:22:48,980
And at the end of the day, please don't let's see what they want, because here's the thing

411
00:22:48,980 --> 00:22:50,940
about what other people want.

412
00:22:50,940 --> 00:22:53,660
It is always changing.

413
00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:55,420
And it's not subject to you.

414
00:22:55,420 --> 00:22:57,940
You're not in charge of what people want.

415
00:22:57,940 --> 00:22:59,940
You are in charge of what you want.

416
00:22:59,940 --> 00:23:04,060
And even that is hard to be in charge of because you don't know what you want.

417
00:23:04,060 --> 00:23:07,340
And many times you're frankly always changing.

418
00:23:07,340 --> 00:23:08,340
And so that's you.

419
00:23:08,340 --> 00:23:12,500
And you struggle to be in charge of what you want.

420
00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:16,380
And then imagine trying to flex to what other people want.

421
00:23:16,380 --> 00:23:18,140
You don't know when it's going to change.

422
00:23:18,140 --> 00:23:20,020
You don't know why it's going to change.

423
00:23:20,020 --> 00:23:25,420
And so frustrating to work towards something that somebody else wants at the expense of

424
00:23:25,420 --> 00:23:26,420
what you want.

425
00:23:26,420 --> 00:23:29,060
And then here's the challenge.

426
00:23:29,060 --> 00:23:31,100
You may have already experienced it.

427
00:23:31,100 --> 00:23:39,020
You work so hard to meet the needs of someone else or meet their expectations.

428
00:23:39,020 --> 00:23:42,500
And then they change or you meet it and then they're like, yeah, that's not what I wanted

429
00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:44,900
or and this still sucks.

430
00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:49,740
And then you feel frustrated and angry because you invested all this time and energy to please

431
00:23:49,740 --> 00:23:52,460
someone and it didn't work out.

432
00:23:52,460 --> 00:23:54,400
That's you leaning up to someone else.

433
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,540
Your career does not belong to anyone else.

434
00:23:56,540 --> 00:23:58,780
Doesn't belong to your mentor.

435
00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:03,220
They will not experience the consequences of a career that's not satisfying to you.

436
00:24:03,220 --> 00:24:04,300
You will.

437
00:24:04,300 --> 00:24:09,660
They will not experience the consequences of a career that left you leaving your family

438
00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:11,740
or your significant other high and dry.

439
00:24:11,740 --> 00:24:13,340
Like I was trying to make my mentor happy.

440
00:24:13,340 --> 00:24:14,740
No, no, no.

441
00:24:14,740 --> 00:24:18,660
That's why I didn't, you know, invest more time in my relationship with my spouse.

442
00:24:18,660 --> 00:24:20,580
Never leave it up to someone else.

443
00:24:20,580 --> 00:24:22,660
You are in control.

444
00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:25,420
You are the writer of your story.

445
00:24:25,420 --> 00:24:27,980
You're the author and you're the programmer.

446
00:24:27,980 --> 00:24:30,940
If you don't program, things don't go forward.

447
00:24:30,940 --> 00:24:31,940
Don't say, oh, they're going to do it.

448
00:24:31,940 --> 00:24:33,260
They're going to look out for me.

449
00:24:33,260 --> 00:24:34,260
They're going to help me.

450
00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:35,620
I'm not saying that they're not.

451
00:24:35,620 --> 00:24:37,100
I hope they do.

452
00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:41,740
But even if they don't, you can control what you do.

453
00:24:41,740 --> 00:24:43,820
You can control your experience.

454
00:24:43,820 --> 00:24:47,340
And even then, you struggle to control your own experience.

455
00:24:47,340 --> 00:24:52,300
Imagine now trying to control somebody else's perception of your experience.

456
00:24:52,300 --> 00:24:53,820
Never leave it up to someone else.

457
00:24:53,820 --> 00:25:01,860
It is a recipe for failure and frustration and anger and a lot of failed relationships

458
00:25:01,860 --> 00:25:04,740
and failed experiences.

459
00:25:04,740 --> 00:25:06,220
Take charge.

460
00:25:06,220 --> 00:25:11,020
Instead of leaving it up to someone else, ask yourself, what do I want to accomplish?

461
00:25:11,020 --> 00:25:12,020
Why?

462
00:25:12,020 --> 00:25:14,180
And then work.

463
00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:15,180
Work towards that.

464
00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:22,180
And number seven, never work hard towards things that are unproductive.

465
00:25:22,180 --> 00:25:23,520
Never do that.

466
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:28,300
This one may be the most challenging of the seven because as physicians, we are good at

467
00:25:28,300 --> 00:25:29,300
working hard.

468
00:25:29,300 --> 00:25:30,940
Oh, are we good at working hard?

469
00:25:30,940 --> 00:25:32,860
It doesn't even matter what we're working hard at.

470
00:25:32,860 --> 00:25:34,460
We're just good at it.

471
00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:37,540
Let's work hard at getting this prior authorization approved.

472
00:25:37,540 --> 00:25:38,700
Oh, yes.

473
00:25:38,700 --> 00:25:43,340
And three hours later, you are still arguing and arguing and seeing your way all the way

474
00:25:43,340 --> 00:25:44,340
to the top.

475
00:25:44,340 --> 00:25:46,940
And you're like, yes, I did it.

476
00:25:46,940 --> 00:25:50,180
Six hours later, medication approved.

477
00:25:50,180 --> 00:25:52,220
I'm not saying you should fight for your patients.

478
00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:54,260
I'm not saying you shouldn't advocate for them.

479
00:25:54,260 --> 00:26:00,780
But I'm saying if something is unproductive, if at the end of six hours of working really

480
00:26:00,780 --> 00:26:08,260
hard, you can't really significantly measure change that improves your experience or improves

481
00:26:08,260 --> 00:26:10,540
the change that you came to make.

482
00:26:10,540 --> 00:26:14,940
You have to ask yourself if that's the right thing to work hard at.

483
00:26:14,940 --> 00:26:19,300
The thing about prior authorization is very important is that you will always have another

484
00:26:19,300 --> 00:26:20,300
one to do.

485
00:26:20,300 --> 00:26:23,180
It's like, great, you got this medication for this patient.

486
00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:24,180
Congratulations.

487
00:26:24,180 --> 00:26:28,140
Six years of your life or six hours, feels like six years.

488
00:26:28,140 --> 00:26:29,460
And then there's the next one.

489
00:26:29,460 --> 00:26:35,380
And in reality, there are other people who have the time and the experience and maybe

490
00:26:35,380 --> 00:26:39,860
a little more strategy than you to do that maybe more efficiently.

491
00:26:39,860 --> 00:26:43,860
And in the meantime, you've been working hard at being productive at a thing that somebody

492
00:26:43,860 --> 00:26:46,700
else could have been productive at and more efficiently.

493
00:26:46,700 --> 00:26:50,820
What you've done is you've left the things that only you can be productive at.

494
00:26:50,820 --> 00:26:52,820
Total waste of time.

495
00:26:52,820 --> 00:26:55,900
But we love the high of accomplishment.

496
00:26:55,900 --> 00:27:00,740
And sometimes we don't ask ourselves, is this the right thing to be productive in?

497
00:27:00,740 --> 00:27:03,660
Is this something I want to be accomplished in at the end?

498
00:27:03,660 --> 00:27:10,140
Yes, I may be really, really good at editing, but who can do it for me?

499
00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:15,700
I may be really, really, really, really good at creating figures that are really nice and

500
00:27:15,700 --> 00:27:18,660
pretty, but is this what I should be investing my time in?

501
00:27:18,660 --> 00:27:23,780
Should I become really good or should I draft something and have somebody else just put

502
00:27:23,780 --> 00:27:26,180
the finishing touches to it?

503
00:27:26,180 --> 00:27:28,200
Choose what you're productive at.

504
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:31,460
Never work hard at something that's unproductive.

505
00:27:31,460 --> 00:27:35,020
And this may be one of the hard ones that's hard to undo because as physicians, we just

506
00:27:35,020 --> 00:27:39,620
go to working hard, even when we shouldn't be working hard in that area.

507
00:27:39,620 --> 00:27:42,100
So I just said seven things.

508
00:27:42,100 --> 00:27:43,740
Seven things you should never do.

509
00:27:43,740 --> 00:27:44,980
Number one, worry about the future.

510
00:27:44,980 --> 00:27:46,620
Number two, regret the past.

511
00:27:46,620 --> 00:27:47,900
Number three, wonder why.

512
00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:48,900
Number four, argue.

513
00:27:48,900 --> 00:27:51,220
Number five, work with people you don't like.

514
00:27:51,220 --> 00:27:52,740
Number six, leave it up to someone else.

515
00:27:52,740 --> 00:27:57,640
And number seven, work hard at things that are unproductive.

516
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,220
As always, it is such a pleasure to talk with you today.

517
00:28:00,220 --> 00:28:05,220
Thank you so much for tuning in and I invite you to share this episode with someone else

518
00:28:05,220 --> 00:28:10,540
and remind them that there are some things you should never do.

519
00:28:10,540 --> 00:28:11,540
All right.

520
00:28:11,540 --> 00:28:12,660
It's been a pleasure talking with you today.

521
00:28:12,660 --> 00:28:19,820
I look forward to talking with you again next time on the Clinician Researcher Podcast.

522
00:28:19,820 --> 00:28:25,020
Thank you for listening.

523
00:28:25,020 --> 00:28:30,340
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast where academic

524
00:28:30,340 --> 00:28:35,820
clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they

525
00:28:35,820 --> 00:28:37,140
have a mentor.

526
00:28:37,140 --> 00:28:43,260
If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself.

527
00:28:43,260 --> 00:28:44,980
Someone else needs to hear it.

528
00:28:44,980 --> 00:28:49,060
So take a minute right now and share it.

529
00:28:49,060 --> 00:28:54,500
As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation

530
00:28:54,500 --> 00:29:00,460
of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.