01/03/2008 by Susan E Kersley.

You know what you want. You know what you have to do and
yet nothing happens!
You are still going from day to day getting more and more
frustrated with your ’stuck-ness’ and apparent inability to
get moving on the things which are important to you.

Because you are a doctor, a professional who is successful
and in control, to a lesser or greater extent, of your life,
this inability to get projects finished can be unbelievably
frustrating, can’t it?

Why don’t you do what you want to do?

Many doctors like you are perfectionists so there is a
huge subconscious fear that you may not get it right,
and the task you’ve set yourself might fail. Your colleagues
might laugh at your failure and you would feel awful
if that happened, wouldn’t you?

Instead you could try to de-construct what you actually do
when you plan to do something. Look at each part of the process
and then change something. Change the order or the place
and see what happens. Because you will find that when you
change something other things will change too.

Maybe you relate to the character in the short video:

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07/08/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

Do you get frustrated when you can’t get someone to understand your point of view? Or if they insist on getting you to go through a routine which you know you’ve already completed?

Using the ’stuck record technique’ is useful. Be clear about what you want and keep on repeating it. Don’t get drawn into answering other questions just keep on saying ‘what I want is…….’

Visit www.thedoctorscoach.co.uk

Of course it’s also possible to have a ‘win -win’ situation for both of you so much the better, but they win you lose is not the way to proceed if you want to be happy rather than frustrated!

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21/07/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” Anna Quindlen quotes (American bestselling Author and Journalist, b.1953)

“They say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish they’d make up their minds.” Winston Churchill quotes (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

Is it too difficult to strive to be ‘good enough’ rather than ‘perfect’?

Notice how you procrastinate when you say to yourself that something needs some more work on it. Loosen up, just go for it and see what happens even if it (whatever ‘it’ might be) isn’t quite a perfect as you might have wished.

It (not perfect) could be better than not having it at all!

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01/07/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

If you tell me you have a goal which you want to achieve in a few years time because of considerations in relation to others (eg when the children are older) then I will challenge you! Do you know what the result of my challenging will be? You will realise that you are putting obstacles in your way and these can be removed quite easily!It is like magic. The things which stop you are your thoughts and these can be changed.

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27/06/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

Is there a conflict between the you who wants to be perfect and the ‘real you’?

How difficult is it for you to realise that life is not like a mechanical machine. However carefully you plan things something may get in the way. People don’t necessarily react in the way you might expect. Patients don’t always react to a certain treatment in the way another patient did in the past. How do you react to these unexpected events?

Have you ever considered how your desire or overwhelming need to be perfect as a doctor may be affecting the rest of your life? Does your concern about being perfect make you into a person who tends to procrastinate? Because instead of just getting on with what needs to be done you wait until that imagined time when you could do the task perfectly

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21/05/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

Integrity: have you got it? What do you do to be true to your own values? Suppose something happens which you feel is quite wrong and no-one believes what you tell them? You have to do what you believe is the right thing. However you also must realise that others may have a different view of the world than you do. They may see the situation differently. They may truly believe that it’s best not to say anything for fear of any repercussion.

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20/05/2007 by Susan E Kersley.

I want you to know that it’s possible to be a doctor and have a life! What do I mean by ‘having a life’? I mean finding the time and energy to do more than your professional work. Finding the time and energy to have time to be with your friends and family; to enjoy the company of your partner; to have the time to do things that you love to do yourself and that includes looking after your body, mind and spirit, and being part of a community, whatever any or all of these words mean to you

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