75. How a Lack of Vision is Holding You Back in Your Career

Do you ever feel like you are so busy that you never get the time to really sit down and think about what you want for your career and personal life? You are just catching up with the day-to-day activities trying to keep your head above water?

Overwhelming often comes from a lack of clarity. Therefore finding clarity by creating time to craft a clear vision for your career in academic medicine and your personal life aligned with your values is key to success and to eliminate overwhelm.

In this episode of The Academic Revolution Podcast, host Dr. Inga Hofmann delves into the transformative power of having a clear vision in your academic career. Addressing the common struggles of academic physicians feeling overwhelmed by daily tasks and lacking long-term direction, Dr. Hofmann shares insights from her own journey and the academic physicians she has supported in crafting a clear vision. She highlights the necessity of carving out time for reflection and strategic goal-setting to craft a meaningful and actionable career plan. Dr. Hofmann offers practical tips and emphasizes the profound benefits of investing in personal development to achieve a work-life balance and genuine professional fulfillment and success. Imagine the clarity and direction you could gain, leading to a more focused, fulfilling career and a satisfying life. Tune in for inspiring advice and consider reaching out for personalized coaching with Dr. Hofmann to gain clarity and direction in your career and personal life.

Learn more about Academic Physician Success Coaching and o book an evaluation call: https://www.ingahofmann.com/coaching
https://calendly.com/ingahofmann/coaching-discovery-call

00:00 Feeling Lost in Your Career? This Episode is For You!

01:43 Welcome to the Academic Revolution Podcast

02:43 The Importance of Vision in Your Career

06:54 Personal Development: A Journey to Clarity

14:12 The Power of Vision: Transforming Your Academic Career

18:23 How to Get Started on Crafting Your Vision

19:38 Conclusion and Next Steps

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Transcript

0:01

Do you ever feel aimless. In your career, you sort of know where you're headed, but you're not really crystal clear. What that destination is. And honestly that might come just from your only able to manage this one next thing in front of you, because you feel like you're overwhelmed and drowning and taking the time to think about your overall vision for the next 10 years or even few years. And your goals seems just so overwhelming and the moment you don't even have a clear mind for that. And if that is you and you've been resonate with that. That is wonderful because this episode is made for you. So stay tuned for after the music and we will be right back. Well, welcome back to another episode of the academic revolution podcast. I'm your host. Hoffman, academic physician and physician coach for many years. And I'm so excited to chat with you today. If you're new to me, by the way, I want to just welcome you and say, I'm so excited that you're here. And if you're one of my loyal listeners. A warm welcome. And thank you to you for tuning back into the show. Week after week. I really appreciate it. And why we added four moment. Don't forget to subscribe to this show wherever you're following it. It's on iTunes. Other podcast platforms, just make sure you download and subscribe to the show. So the show comes to you and you don't have to go searching for it every week. You just automatically see when a new episode is released. That makes things much easier for you and actually saves your time. And I so appreciate it. So thank you for that. Let's dive into today's episode, which is entitled. How a lack of vision is holding you back in your career. This might sound like an interesting topic, but I think it is so important. In fact, I just had a conversation about this very thing. With a number of people. And so I thought I got to make a podcast episode out of this, because this is clearly an issue for many academic physicians. So often have found over the years that we just don't have time to think about the bigger vision, right? We are so busy with our day-to-day activities, trying to keep up all the balls in the air. That it is really hard to sit down and say, So yourself, well, what do I really want from this career? We are my headed. And how does that look like? And in part it's because we am busy and in part it is because we are not really used to thinking that way. After decades of training and a well established path of our careers, you know, what's med school, residency fellowship, and then traditionally thinking an 80, 20 career in academic medicine. If you're a physician scientist, or maybe it's shifting a little bit in your clinical trial list or a teacher educator, but it has been this very traditional path. And they have four because it is a predetermined path with pre. Determined training length, et cetera. That we are really lost our ability to think about. Well, what do I really want in the longterm? How do I want my life to look like? In terms of my career or my personal goals, my family's lifestyle, my work life kind of success. How do I want this to look like? And sometimes it just takes some time to sit down. And do that work. Now on what you're thinking. Inga. You don't know my schedule and I don't really have time for that. I don't even know where I get started. And I totally hear you when you say that. Because a lot of times, and I have felt that too. We think we don't have time to focus on. Thinking about this big picture or planning a hat. And thinking about our big goals, because honestly, when you're super busy, it seems like a waste of time and you just never really get to do it. And that's true for most people. And most physicians that I've talked to. They say, wow, I really need some help with clarity on my goals, but I usually don't have time for this and actually sitting down and sometimes because our brain is so overwhelmed and cluttered with all sorts of things that we need to do every day. We don't even have the mental space or capacity. To actually. Go sit down and do this type of work because it's just like our brain space. Isn't even clear. And that just shows you that it is important to. Actually be aware of that and say, wow, I don't even have time to sit down to be clear on what I want, then how do I actually know how to get to my end destination? It's a bit like you're traveling to a vacation and you say, I'm going to take a road trip with my family. I have no idea where we are going, but we are just going to drive. Well, then you're going to be driving aimlessly around. Instead of saying, I'm going to know exactly where we're going to go, or we're going to go to this beautiful resort in the mountains and you put it on in your GPS and off you go. With a very clear roadmap and that is really what I want for you. I know the very trivial example, but life in academia can be like that too. You just need clarity around that vision and those goals and how to get them. This is exactly what I talked with. One of my coaching clients about just the other day, we had a conversation about she was sharing a little bit about experiences she had in her program and what they were talking about in terms of career development and how it was also not very helpful. And and we were talking a little bit about that. Again, most of the time. Maybe when you go and to a career development program in your institution or at university, it's typically still sort of meningeal style, time management tips, how to manage your email. And this practical tips are sometimes talk on the performance habits, kind of channel on this podcast here too. But there was this missing layer of the depo work of really thinking deeper layers of where do I want to be headed? And that is often missing. And I taught my friend, you know, I remember very clearly that I didn't do that type of work either. Until I was desperate to be honest. I lost a pilot probably 10 years ago now that I was really struggling and academic medicine and I felt so overwhelmed and so exhausted. And eventually I was like, this cannot go. And he. Longer. I need to find a solution. And I shared the story before the short of it is. I decided to find a tools and equip myself outside of medicine, because really there weren't any tools. There weren't any academic physician coaches available. That's why I do this work now, but back then I decided, wow, I need to find some tools to get my head about forwarder. And I stumbled into personal development outside of the medical institution and establishment way. I found all those resources. And I very distinctively remember listening to some of the very first lessons. Of this course I purchased online. And with my own money, nobody paid for it. It wasn't me who paid for it because I was so in need of help that I couldn't find anywhere else. Then I was like, I'm going to invest myself. I need to solve this problem. And I'm worthy of that investment. But I remember sitting there and having to go through these exercises. Crafting my vision, thinking about my purpose. Thinking about the big picture goals. And those questions that were in that program where we, they challenging me to think deeper. I remember going through values exercises. I never even knew what my values were. So. This was the turning point for me when I was like, wow. This is really important work and. And weedy helped me to gain clarity and spent that time on developing a vision, being clear on my values and all these things. That then helped me actually move forward and put systems in place to make my life more efficient, more enjoyable. More productive. So that I didn't have to walk at nights and weekends. So huge mistake that I didn't do this earlier, but Hey, you'll find the resources when you find it. And typically when you're desperate, which I was in that moment. So I want to say to you, if you have never spent the time to weedy. Reflect on what is important to you? Journal on your vision in life. Then I encourage you to do that. Because I strongly believe that. If you spent just an hour or two with a pen and a journal or a planner, and really think. What your life could look like, what you want out of it for the next foreseeable future. Well, the next five to 10 years. That it would really give you a lot of time back. Now, I know what you thinking in the moment. It feels like I don't have two hours to sit here and journal and dream about my future. But I would challenge you and say, in fact, You actually cannot afford not to do this. And it will give you time back, how. Most people in medicine. I know. Have no clear vision or clear direction where they want to go. And when you ask them typically the answers I'm getting when I'm in conversation with people, whether it was with colleagues or with coaching clients doesn't matter or friends. Well, I want to be a good physician. I want to be a good doc. I want to make a difference in this area. Perhaps they're getting slightly more specific and say, I want to be a leader in this particular field and cardiology perhaps. Well, I just want to have a successful lab. This sounds all good superficially, but you know, Any one of you listening could say something and at what be not unique or specific to you. Because these are just very superficial starting points, but actually not very specific To you and your values and your family situation. That makes your heart tick, right? And that is a huge problem because when people are not clear on the vision, And never take time to gain that clarity. A lot of our action is completely aimless and a waste of time. And that is how often people end up doing things that are actually not feeling quite right. People end up doing things that they feel they got talked into, or they couldn't say no to. Because they don't even know if this is something that potentially lines up with their vision or not. And. That is such a sad thing because you could eliminate a lot of. Time-wasters a lot of energy, a lot of frustration. On going down rabbit hole. It's that I'm maybe not really what you want. And. You probably heard this quote before without vision, the people will perish. And you might think this comes from all sorts of places, but it actually is written in the Bible and Proverbs 29 18. So how cool is this? This is not some. Personal development guru that speaking on big stages right now, it is actually ancient wisdom from the Bible. How cool is that? There was a lot of risk and by the way, in the book of probe ups, but. Anyways, I'm just pointing that out because you have all heard this quote before without vision, the people perish. You have to have a vision. You have to have a vision for yourself. You have to have a vision. If you're a leader for program or a team or a laboratory, without that vision, people will have no clear direction. And actually that is a key element of good leadership. It's a whole another conversation. So I want you to get crystal clear on the vision. That is really important because when you have a direction where you had it, Then the things. To say no to become easier. You suddenly have clarity that you're saying, whoa, This particular. Committee this particular good citizenship role at my university. This particular role or title that sounds really flattering to my ego, but it isn't actually part of my vision. Then you would be able to more easily. Say no. And set boundaries and actually feel good about it. Because, you know, clearly where you're headed. Versus just feeling, give us saying no, just for the sake of saying no, because we need to say no more. I see that a lot, people say, okay, I need to say no more. And it's fine to practice that. Or the little things. But, you know, sometimes it feels like. People start doing that just for the sake of I'm saying no to everything. No, you need to be very clear and you only have clarity from your vision, what to say yes. To a hundred percent and what to say no to, or maybe what you say, this is something for later. So that will also help you potentially drop projects. that have been dead weight and dragging you down. Maybe they are some manuscripts, some projects that you're working on that you're like, why did I even start this? And to be honest, you know what. Sometimes it's okay to drop some things and to stop doing them and move forward with integrity and with more poised. Or maybe given this project to somebody else. Or even asking yourself, is this actually worthwhile doing it also might motivate your, when you have clarity of vision to finish a project that has been collecting digital dust. Or lost momentum because now you're like, Wow. This project is actually a really good project. it fits in my vision. Very nicely, but I just always push it to the side because I'm so busy with all the other things that actually, it don't really matter to me. So clarity on vision is essential. Hear me when I say this, you cannot move on in your academic career. Without clarity of vision. And. Honestly, this is how you can tell I'm excited about this. This is actually one of my very favorite things to teach, train, facilitate, and coach on. I hosted a vision retreats for groups. I help academic physician clients, one on one, the people that are coach one-on-one to get clear on their vision, because it always comes up. I have yet to have a coaching client. That wasn't at some level or another, having to look at their vision and actually get clear on what that means for them. And the beautiful thing. Every time I train, facilitate, speak on this. We'll have a conversation with one of my clients is this beautiful aha moment when they're like, wow. This is what I really want. This is actually now I'm having some clarity that feels so much lighter. They feel bad about their journey and they're suddenly have clarity on their goals and what to do next. And from there, we often develop them a blueprint and clear directions of, okay, now that you're clear on your vision, where are we going to be headed with these specific projects? And it helps them so much. To de-stress gain motivation back and also don't book us heart or work on the things that you enjoy versus working nights and weekends on stuff that doesn't matter. That's really sad. After that you it's so much easier to get clear. Awards and then implement those culverts and that's what I helped do for people for years. And again, it's one of my favorite parts. But sometimes. Why do I help people about that sometimes? So I encourage you to sit down and, and Joe, not on that. But I also realize that sometimes you just need to bounce off those ideas. You need to talk it out loud. And fact. It's a bit hard sometimes for people to sit there and journal, unless that is something intuitive that comes to you. This works well for me, but some people, they just stare at a blank page. And having somebody in your corner that isn't a mentor that isn't directing you in a direction. They want you to go, but really. Asking you questions to help you get clarity on your vision for yourself. Can be so helpful. So, if that is you and you say, wow, I really need some clarity. Also need some help with that. And I don't want to do it alone. Then reach out. This is something I do all the time and I love doing it. I often say it's almost as good as curing childhood cancer because of the ripple effect. It has. Why do I give that example? Because I'm a peds oncologist. You might know that about me. Anyways, so to wrap up, I want to make sure that you understand. How lack of vision actually is really holding you back. Because you don't have a clear direction, therefore you cannot set clear goals. Therefore you cannot set clear boundaries and it will make it really hard to move forward in your academic career anti-personnel life because they all connect together. And that's really, really important. So get clarity on your vision. If you need help the fat. And you're interested in learning more about how working together. On your academic and personal vision could look like. Then go to the link in the show notes. I have a little link in there where you can just schedule an appointment with me. We're going to have a chat and we can explore how working together on this could look like. You can also go to my website@ingaahalfman.com. Now very important. This is Hoffman Hoffman is H O F M a N N. That is one F and two ends. Dot com forward slash. Coaching and we'll schedule a time to connect and to talk together. So again, remember, get clarity on your vision. If you need help with that please reach out. And if you know, other people that would benefit from this episode just shared with them. So with that, I say, have a wonderful day. Let's talk next week and maybe dive a little bit deeper in what do we do when we have a vision? How do I think about goals? And also, how does it fit in my bigger picture of having a purpose? So what's that. I wish you a wonderful week and talk to you soon. Bye.