Do you feel like you are constantly stuck in negative situations? That in some ways life is just happening to you and there’s nothing you can do about it. In this interview, Dr. Sunny Smith, Founder, and CEO of Empowering Women Physicians share how a debilitating accident served as a wake-up call that helped her re-think her life. In this episode, you’ll learn about:
- The importance of stepping outside the system to bring about rapid and impactful change
- The reason so many of us feel stuck in jobs where we are unhappy
- One simple tool for reclaiming your power in any given moment
I’m so excited for you to listen to this conversation!
Use the audio player above to listen, or tune in on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
COACHING AS BEING PART OF HER LIFE
Dr. Sunny has always been interested in self-advocacy, autonomy, and self-awareness, and has read personal development books for decades. As a medical student, she struggled with mental health issues, but at the time, there was a stigma attached to talking about it. When she became an attending physician, she started advising medical students and found that she enjoyed helping them with their well-being. Looking back, she realized that her advising and well-being mentoring lined up well with coaching. However, Dr. Sunny also admits that she was sacrificing herself and working incredibly hard, which led to her own health issues.
HER ACCIDENT SERVED AS A WAKE-UP CALL
Her vacation was interrupted by a bicycle accident that left her unable to do anything. The accident caused her to be frustrated as she started to argue with reality. But then she realized these are the facts that she can’t change, and when she can’t change her circumstances-she changed the way she thinks about things instead. This leads her to the actual coaching. A group of PMG Physician Mom Group introduced her to a podcast about coaching. She listened to hundreds of episodes of that podcast about coaching and taking things on your terms. She decided maybe this thing happened to her because she never would have slowed down and taken a good look at her life. This helped her regain her health and rediscover her passion for helping others.
Dr. Sunny believes that the accident may have been a good thing, she reflected on the meaningful job she had before the accident, working on her terms in a free clinic, and mentoring idealistic students. She loved her job and thought that this was something that she will do for a long time, but she was overworked and regularly worked late nights. She became part of a team that received $100 million to work on compassion and physician well-being right before leaving the university, and she thought she would have continued similar work inside the university. However, she acknowledges that there is more freedom, flexibility, and rapid innovation when doing things on your own from the outside, which is what she is doing now.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STEPPING OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM
Dr. Sunny knew that the need for health and self-care is growing, particularly among those in the medical industry. Prioritizing their own health should go hand in hand with the medical professionals’ efforts to improve others’ health. Since she has firsthand experience working within the system and making adjustments and improvements from within, she is aware of its limitations and difficulties. One of them is the timeline; with this kind of system, the rate of change can be so agonizingly slow that even the slightest adjustments seemed to require a lot of time and effort to put into place. She suggested finding a means to make things adaptive and allowing people to use their expertise to heal in light of the current pandemic and the struggling medical industry.
Dr. Sunny came to see that leaving the system and working as a coach allowed for faster innovation and impactful change. She was able to collaborate with people and organizations to bring about a positive change more quickly and efficiently; this kind of strategy allowed for greater creativity and flexibility, which produced an innovative solution that might not have been plausible within the constraints of the system.
EMPOWERING WOMEN PHYSICIAN PROGRAM
Being among the most intelligent and powerful people, Dr. Sunny believes most women physicians lack a sense of empowerment. While it may seem noble to always put others before oneself, she mentioned that this resulted in a constant delay of gratification and teaches you to continuously deny and disregard your body’s needs. This can lead to burnout and learned helplessness.
Dr. Sunny further emphasized that over time, learned helplessness can also result in a feeling of being stuck. Causing someone who has a bright outlook and believes they can do anything to become stuck and believe they have no other options.
The EWP Program primarily focuses on empowering female physicians. and helping them unlearn some of their limiting beliefs. Assisting them in realizing that they have the capacity to manage their lives, and that they are capable of completing difficult things. The program is an intensive 8-week course that has been shown to be the best wellness intervention. She also shared that the participants were able to learn that they have the ability to make decisions and transform their life, and they start making the changes almost immediately.
PATHWAY TO RECLAIMING YOUR POWER
Dr. Sunny said that the first step to recovering your power is awareness—Separating the fact from the narrative. Being aware of your views and challenging them. She talked about understanding that the brain’s assessments and conclusions aren’t always accurate. The brain tends to protect us, especially when it comes to our lives and surroundings. But by being aware you will be able to realign your priorities and match your work to your values. She continued, “Just pick one fact that comforts you and keep thinking about it.”
WHEN A CHANGE NEEDS TO HAPPEN
Dr. Sunny wanted people to remember that there is only one life and that no one is promised tomorrow. People should stop putting off their needs to live the life they want. She discussed how those who are constantly preoccupied with material possessions frequently feel trapped and are unable to lead the lives they want. When one decides to reclaim their power and do things on their terms, it will take time, and there will be inevitably setbacks. She added that this is a process, one that is well worth the effort.
