I blog, ergo…

Sharing ideas in a public venue allows for a proper vetting of ideas and prevents sidetracking as others help us avoid pitfalls in our thinking. All of the other people in the room may be incorrect at times, but not often. We just don’t have access to that type of clarity. We are mostly only able to think in a linear fashion and must spend at least some effort organizing any random genius ideas that may flit and bounce through our awareness. Writing here, then keeps me honest above all other goals. Indeed, it protects me from trundling down trails that will get me nowhere. It forces me to assign an application and good reason to my descriptions and discussions. It’s good to have a point, I think.

So… my point is to have a point. I like to remind myself of why I am in medical school, why it matters to me, what goals I might achieve, and how I might become better at achieving those goals. From a larger perspective, honest introspection and evaluation of ourselves - our actions, our motives, our methods – on a regular basis and stratified in some way seems to make a significant difference. These activities might be a weekly consideration of performance, a monthly or project review, and an annual summary assessment of how the previous year has gone and how it might have gone better. These appointments with yourself would need to be deliberate and not ignored. Good habits for med school, I think.

I recall reading that after studying success rates among college graduates, a group found that the only students to achieve success in life were those who had a plan and followed through with it. Unfortunately, it only amounted to 5% of all graduates. Rather telling, if I am remembering correctly. So, in looking back at our performance and then assessing how we might create a vision of the future, we might actually have a chance at arriving there. Otherwise, it seems we will only stir the pot and never dish any soup out. Heck of a way to starve with all that soup at your fingertips…