How to enhance the quality of your thought life

1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,860 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills 2 00:00:05,860 --> 00:00:11,260 to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 3 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:17,340 As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. 4 00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,380 When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find 5 00:00:22,380 --> 00:00:27,780 that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research 6 00:00:27,780 --> 00:00:29,200 program. 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:35,480 Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. 8 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:40,580 However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs. 9 00:00:40,580 --> 00:00:46,200 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians 10 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:51,800 the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. 11 00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:01,160 Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. 12 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,160 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. 13 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:09,140 I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene., and it is such a pleasure, such a pleasure to be talking 14 00:01:09,140 --> 00:01:10,140 with you today. 15 00:01:10,140 --> 00:01:14,700 I'm excited to bring you today's episode, where we are talking about the keys to your 16 00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:15,700 success in 2024. 17 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:24,360 By now, 2024 is a couple of weeks old, but hey, we're still talking about the keys to 18 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,240 your focus in 2024. 19 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,640 They apply in 2024, and they definitely go beyond 2024. 20 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,360 But today we're talking about your thoughts. 21 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:37,520 We're talking about your thoughts, and the quote I just want to share is, whether you 22 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,680 think you can or you think you can't, you are right. 23 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:50,560 Okay, so we're talking about the quality of your thoughts, and we recognize that how we 24 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:57,640 think drives our lives, and we know that intuitively, but we don't necessarily take the time to 25 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,640 guard the thoughts that we have. 26 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:10,580 And I want to just help you today, and help me too, by really thinking about really focusing 27 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:15,520 on the quality of our thoughts, and how to create thoughts of high quality. 28 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:21,760 And it's so important because if we can create high quality thoughts, we can have high quality 29 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:27,160 experiences, we can have high quality outputs, we can have a high quality life. 30 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:33,520 But it all comes to, first of all, creating the kind of thoughts that create the high 31 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:35,000 quality life. 32 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:43,120 Now, one of the things I struggled with when I first started my faculty career was I thought 33 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,360 I wasn't qualified. 34 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:50,320 And I heard it enough times, and in retrospect, I see what people were saying. 35 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,400 They were saying, hey, you don't have enough experience doing research. 36 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,280 You don't have enough experience leading a research program. 37 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,000 You don't have enough experience doing research in terms of research methodology. 38 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:06,800 You haven't really spent as much time as is needed for the stage of your career for someone 39 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,320 who wants to lead a research program, therefore you're not qualified. 40 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:15,040 I heard that over and over and over again, where I started to internalize my lack of 41 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:16,040 qualifications. 42 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:22,120 And whenever I would apply for an award, whenever I would go for a grant, I would write with 43 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:26,800 a not qualified experience, with a not qualified thought life, right? 44 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:27,800 Because that's the way I was feeling. 45 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,720 And it wasn't until I would hand my document over to someone else to review for me and 46 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:37,000 they would say, oh, you're speaking as if you're so unworthy. 47 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:38,880 You're writing as if you're so unworthy. 48 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:40,240 And I didn't understand that. 49 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,200 I was like, well, of course I'm not. 50 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,640 But whatever you're thinking is what you're producing because thoughts are the foundation 51 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,440 of all of our actions, the foundations of our, I mean, they're the foundation of our 52 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,020 speech, they're the foundation of our life. 53 00:03:55,020 --> 00:03:57,960 And so even when you don't think, you're projecting a certain thought. 54 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,720 If you're having it, you're projecting it, whether you know it or not. 55 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,280 And some of us have become very skilled at being divided. 56 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:12,200 You feel one way inside, you express a different thing to the external body. 57 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:14,440 Some of us have gotten really good at that. 58 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,000 But for the most of us, we struggle to do that. 59 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:23,040 And most people, even if we've gotten very good at lying, that's what that is, where 60 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,600 you think one thing and you do a different thing. 61 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,120 Some of us have gotten good enough that we can fool most people. 62 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:34,720 But there are some people who are very savvy and can pick up on the subtle cues of when 63 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:39,400 how you're feeling inside doesn't line up with what you're expressing on the outside. 64 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:41,240 And most importantly, we can pick it up too. 65 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:42,240 So that's important. 66 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:48,600 But anyway, so there I was feeling unworthy, unqualified because I had accepted the thoughts 67 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:54,560 that I was and I was producing lack of qualification in my writing. 68 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,080 Wow. 69 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,400 And I couldn't see it until somebody pointed it out to me. 70 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,600 They're like, you don't have to explain away this. 71 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:06,680 You don't have to say, oh, if only I had because that's what I was doing. 72 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,120 I was saying, well, I didn't have the training. 73 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:13,560 I didn't have, you know, yeah, it's OK that you didn't have the training. 74 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:16,480 But what do you think about who you are now? 75 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,920 And so that was definitely showing up. 76 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,920 I was definitely showing up the wrong way inside. 77 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,720 And that was coming out the wrong way on the outside, even when I didn't know it was doing 78 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:26,720 that. 79 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:32,280 So that's why I'm talking today about thoughts, because your thoughts are so important. 80 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:34,320 You know that you know that intuitively. 81 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,600 And here's the challenge with our thoughts. 82 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:38,400 They're happening all the time. 83 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,360 We're always thinking. 84 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,600 And when we're not thinking intentionally, we're not controlling our thoughts. 85 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:46,680 They can run wild. 86 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,120 Like you can literally see a black cat. 87 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,900 And the next thing you know, you're imagining yourself six feet under. 88 00:05:52,900 --> 00:05:55,080 And it was just, oh, it was just a cat. 89 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,040 How did you get to that vision of your funeral? 90 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:02,160 You know, I mean, I'm just giving an example of where your thoughts take you. 91 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:07,080 And usually, especially when we are not like paying attention to our thoughts, they don't 92 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:11,840 spiral out of control into a great direction where it's like, wow, I imagine myself as 93 00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:15,560 the king of England. 94 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,280 Most of the time, our thoughts don't take us there. 95 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:21,320 Where they take us is imagining the worst. 96 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,760 And that's what one of my mentors calls undisciplined thought. 97 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,440 It's like your thought life needs to be disciplined. 98 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:32,100 And where you don't discipline it, it just runs crazy. 99 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:39,880 It's like the wild animal or the new puppy that if you don't train this puppy, it just 100 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,000 will embarrass you over and over again. 101 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,120 And so your thought life is so key, it's so critical. 102 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,560 And that's why I'm talking about it today. 103 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,940 And I want to give you five things to think about in mastering your thought life. 104 00:06:53,940 --> 00:06:59,960 So the first thing I want to share is that you've got to be intentional about the thoughts 105 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:01,120 you create. 106 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:02,800 That's number one. 107 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,480 Be intentional about the thoughts you create. 108 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,200 And this is very challenging because our thoughts run so wild. 109 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,600 And many times we're not thinking about what we're thinking. 110 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:21,320 But if we are not intentional about creating thoughts of possibility, we're going to just 111 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:23,240 create whatever. 112 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,960 Or actually more likely, we're going to create the negative. 113 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,080 Because think about it, funding is hard. 114 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:30,360 You can't make enough. 115 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:31,720 You can't get enough. 116 00:07:31,720 --> 00:07:33,720 There's not enough to go around. 117 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,640 Everybody else has a great idea. 118 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:37,880 Your idea may not be fundable. 119 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:43,080 There are so many thoughts that limit us, that keep us from moving forward. 120 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,200 And that's the challenge with the thoughts. 121 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:50,120 The moment you think the thought, accept the thought, begin to imagine the thought and 122 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:55,520 ruminate on the thought, you begin to produce actions consistent with the thought. 123 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,440 And then you fulfill the prophecy of the thought. 124 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:04,200 If you think, you know, this idea sucks so bad, no one will ever fund it. 125 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:08,160 You begin to act like someone whose idea sucks so bad that no one will ever fund it. 126 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,000 You begin to write like that. 127 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,200 You begin to produce like that. 128 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:14,000 And maybe you don't even finish the grant. 129 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:16,200 Maybe you don't even submit it. 130 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,380 And it all started with a thought that you couldn't. 131 00:08:20,380 --> 00:08:24,980 And so being intentional about creating the kinds of thoughts that lead us in the direction 132 00:08:24,980 --> 00:08:28,640 that we need is so important. 133 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:36,200 Be intentional because if you intentionally create a thought of, oh, my idea is fundable. 134 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,160 And it doesn't mean that you don't take feedback seriously. 135 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:44,020 It means that if somebody says this idea sucks, you don't accept this idea sucks. 136 00:08:44,020 --> 00:08:45,680 You push back. 137 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,920 You say, how can we make this idea not suck? 138 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,040 Or how can we make this idea suck less? 139 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:52,040 Right? 140 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,040 You start to ask, how do we improve it? 141 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,520 You don't accept it and then like wither away. 142 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,200 That only comes with being intentional. 143 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,760 It only comes with being intentional. 144 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,880 So how can we be intentional about our thought life? 145 00:09:05,880 --> 00:09:11,520 Well, you got to be intentional about the source of your thoughts. 146 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,160 And so what is the source of your thoughts? 147 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:18,520 Well, the source of your thoughts for those of us who are really visual are the things 148 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:25,160 we see, for those of us who are really sensitive to what we hear, the things we hear. 149 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,920 And it's also the things we experience. 150 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,240 Right? 151 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:33,040 And so if we're going to be intentional about our thoughts, going to be intentional about 152 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:38,840 the source of those thoughts, if you have a superstar mentor who's always yelling at 153 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:44,880 you and driving fear into your heart, anxiety and worry, guess the kind of thoughts you're 154 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:45,880 going to produce? 155 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,880 Thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety. 156 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:53,680 You're going to have a lot of stress, you know, produce in a stressful way. 157 00:09:53,680 --> 00:09:59,960 And here's the challenge with people like you and me, we can produce a lot under a lot 158 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:01,340 of duress. 159 00:10:01,340 --> 00:10:09,480 And so because we can, we think that our anxiety, our worry is what's really fueling our success. 160 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:16,680 And we're already getting plenty of success, but we're burning out in the process. 161 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:20,720 It's like, you know, burning yourself up as fuel. 162 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,520 The challenge is when the fuel burns up. 163 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,480 There is no more source. 164 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,880 And so being intentional about creating the kinds of environments, including your mentoring 165 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:39,660 team that allows you to think thoughts that move you in the direction you want to go. 166 00:10:39,660 --> 00:10:43,240 It's also about being intentional about what you're reading. 167 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:48,740 So what's the quality of the thoughts, the ideas that enter your mind? 168 00:10:48,740 --> 00:10:51,800 What's the quality of the entertainment that you watch? 169 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,440 What's the quality of the books that you read? 170 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:59,200 What's the quality of the audio that you listen to? 171 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,220 So it's being intentional about curating it. 172 00:11:03,220 --> 00:11:07,960 So it's not just, well, most of the stuff around me is good, so I guess I'll be okay. 173 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:11,240 It's saying, hmm, what is not good? 174 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,400 Or what could be more excellent? 175 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:20,720 Because you want to create thoughts that transform your life, you pay attention to the thoughts 176 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:26,480 you want to have, and then you curate a body of work that allows you to have high quality 177 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:27,480 thoughts. 178 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,720 Now, it doesn't mean that you're in an echo chamber, not not at all. 179 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:37,680 But it does mean that you are creating thoughts that are high quality thoughts of possibility, 180 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:41,640 thoughts that you have no limitations because you have none. 181 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:47,160 And so number one is being intentional about your thoughts. 182 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:55,560 Number two is removing everything that impacts your thoughts. 183 00:11:55,560 --> 00:12:01,220 And this kind of goes with number one, which is being intentional, because on the one hand, 184 00:12:01,220 --> 00:12:06,760 it's kind of like where you exercise and you're so good about like exercising 30 minutes every 185 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:13,700 day, you go to the gym, you do all the stuff, and then you come home and you down three 186 00:12:13,700 --> 00:12:18,200 glasses of soda, and you're like, yeah, I worked out of the gym, I can drink whatever 187 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:20,160 I want, I can eat whatever I want. 188 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:24,800 And it's like, oh, no, you can't. 189 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,280 There's no amount of exercise that can outrun a bad diet. 190 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,760 You know that, I know that, you advise your patients about that. 191 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,080 And so why do we do it? 192 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:40,080 Why would we be intentional about curating thoughts of high quality by creating an environment 193 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:48,760 that encourages high quality thought by allowing things into our system that drain our ability 194 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:50,680 to think well? 195 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:52,400 And so what does that mean? 196 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,280 It means not just being intentional about creating the environment, but it means removing 197 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,800 things that affect the quality of our thoughts. 198 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:06,280 Yeah, I didn't say it earlier, but it means, hey, limiting the amount of access the mentor 199 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:08,280 who's always yelling at you has to you. 200 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,520 But you're like, oh, no, he's a noble laureate. 201 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:12,640 What do you mean limiting my access? 202 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,640 If I keep this way, I'm going to become a noble laureate too. 203 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:17,720 I believe it. 204 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:18,720 I agree. 205 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:22,360 You're going to be the most miserable noble laureate ever. 206 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,480 Sure, you'll be a noble laureate. 207 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,760 Is that all you want? 208 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,240 Yes, your mentor is successful. 209 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:37,000 And in academia, a lot of people can be very bad to the bone and still be considered super 210 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,000 successful. 211 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:46,920 They can have poor attitudes to life and people and still be considered very successful. 212 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:51,200 And if that is the path you want to choose for yourself, I am so glad that we have the 213 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,600 power of choice and you do get to choose that if that is what you want. 214 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:01,440 But for most of us, we want the success without all that other stuff. 215 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:05,760 Sometimes we think they all have to go together like, well, if I want the stuff that leads 216 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,360 me to win this amazing award that this person already has, then I guess I got to take all 217 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:11,360 of it. 218 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:17,200 And you know the answer is that no, you do not have to take all of it. 219 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:24,200 And so I encourage you to remove all the stuff that impacts upon your high quality thought 220 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:25,200 life. 221 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:30,080 Yeah, stop listening to that music that makes you feel sad at the end of the day. 222 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,720 Stop watching those things that make you angry. 223 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,360 Yeah, I'm talking about the news. 224 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,880 Because at the end of watching the news cycle, oh, newsflash, there is no end to the news 225 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:41,880 cycle. 226 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:42,880 It's a constant cycle. 227 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:47,880 At the end of watching that, you're down in the dumps, you're depressed, you're angry. 228 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:52,080 Actually, the more likely emotion is anger. 229 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,240 Clearly, anger affects the quality of your thoughts. 230 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,680 How much of the manuscript can you produce while you're super angry? 231 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,280 Okay, so I feel like I belabored the newsflash. 232 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:07,840 Okay, so I feel like I belabored that point a lot. 233 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:14,600 Number two is to remove the thoughts or remove the source of thoughts that impact your ability 234 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,560 to function well. 235 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:23,920 The third thing is to focus on thoughts that create possibility. 236 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,960 Focus on thoughts that create possibility. 237 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,880 People will say, oh, are you trying to be idealistic here? 238 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:30,880 Be realistic. 239 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,160 Yeah, I am talking about being positive. 240 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:40,280 I'm talking about creating thoughts of possibility because they are the only space from which 241 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,080 real greatness comes. 242 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,920 There's a lot of actions. 243 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:51,320 There are a lot of actions that are created from negative, self-hating thoughts. 244 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:52,320 I know that. 245 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,760 I'm an academia, you're an academia, you see it. 246 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,320 People who like, actually, you probably do it. 247 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,680 You yell at yourself, you're like, can't you get it together? 248 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:06,840 And somehow you produce this amazing manuscript that goes on to be a binary abstract or something 249 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,280 in your journal. 250 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:10,280 You did it. 251 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:11,280 You did it by yelling at yourself. 252 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,520 You did it by being mean to yourself. 253 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,880 And so you think that's the way life should be. 254 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:23,440 And I will tell you that encouragement will always go so much further in motivating people 255 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,880 than being mean to them. 256 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:27,240 And that goes for you as well. 257 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,240 That goes for you being mean to you. 258 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:36,760 And so if you would think for a moment with me about where possibility could take you, 259 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,400 where an encouraging kind word could take you, and I'm talking about you speaking these 260 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:48,000 encouraging kind words to yourself first, but also surrounding yourself with people 261 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:49,480 who believe in possibility. 262 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:55,040 I mean, let me ask you, what is the point of submitting for an award that you don't 263 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:56,760 think it's possible for you to get? 264 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:57,760 What is the point of that? 265 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,060 Oh, yeah, everybody just submits anyway. 266 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:01,280 Don't do it. 267 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,860 Don't ever submit for an award that you don't think it's possible for you to get. 268 00:17:05,860 --> 00:17:11,320 Because of the very fact that you don't think it's possible, you are creating a grant that 269 00:17:11,320 --> 00:17:13,480 is probably not going to be funded. 270 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:15,480 Because people say, well, it's not possible to be funded. 271 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:16,480 I'm submitting anyway. 272 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:17,560 Oh, there he goes. 273 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:18,560 I wasn't funded. 274 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,520 How can you be funded when you created a grant out of your impossibility? 275 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,240 OK, that's me on the soapbox. 276 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:26,240 I'm getting off right now. 277 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:31,560 But what I'm asking you to do is to create possibility. 278 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:36,600 And if you don't think it's possible, wait. 279 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:41,400 Create possibility, build possibility, and then go for it. 280 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,960 Don't move forward not thinking it's possible. 281 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,360 Instead, build the muscle of possibility. 282 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:48,740 And how do you do that? 283 00:17:48,740 --> 00:17:52,360 You build the muscle of possibility by talking to people like me who believe all things are 284 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:53,680 possible. 285 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:58,920 And if I don't yet believe it's possible, I go work on deciding and figuring out on 286 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,560 intentionally creating the possibility. 287 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,160 And how do I do that? 288 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,360 I go read about people who've done it before me. 289 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:07,840 I go read about people who've been successful. 290 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:08,840 I go hang out with them. 291 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,240 And I say, hey, you've succeeded in this impossible environment. 292 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,120 How have you done it? 293 00:18:14,120 --> 00:18:17,120 You don't go to the person who hasn't succeeded and ask for their advice. 294 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:19,240 You go to the person who's done it. 295 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:20,680 That's how you create possibility. 296 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,440 Because the moment you are surrounded by people who are doing it, who didn't just do it once, 297 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,520 who didn't just have a lucky moment, who are doing it over and over and over again, it 298 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:36,160 changes the way you experience that activity, whatever it is. 299 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:41,620 And so number three is create possibility. 300 00:18:41,620 --> 00:18:43,640 Create possibility. 301 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:49,040 Number four is have thoughts that are grounded in objective truth. 302 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:53,400 Oh, I want to say this again, have thoughts that are grounded in objective truth. 303 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,440 And this is the point at which people will say, well, the objective truth is that funding 304 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,520 is impossible. 305 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,440 It's one objective truth. 306 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,640 Why would you stake your life on that one? 307 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,720 Another objective truth is that there are a group of people for whom funding is never 308 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,320 impossible. 309 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,160 Okay, go find out the truth of their lives. 310 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:17,440 Because I have to tell you, and I think you know this. 311 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:23,000 All success is intentional success. 312 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,600 Success never happens overnight. 313 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,320 You know that. 314 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,200 People may discover you one day and say, oh, wow, what an overnight success, because yesterday 315 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,080 I didn't know you and today I do. 316 00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,020 Therefore you're an overnight success. 317 00:19:36,020 --> 00:19:39,000 But all success takes work. 318 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:44,260 In the same way, if we think about it, a lack of success also takes work, just a different 319 00:19:44,260 --> 00:19:48,320 kind of work, the anti-work, the negative work, not saying that people who are not successful 320 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:49,320 don't work hard. 321 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:54,620 I'm just saying that there are strategies that lead to success. 322 00:19:54,620 --> 00:19:57,340 Nobody is successful by accident. 323 00:19:57,340 --> 00:20:02,560 And so in grounding yourself on the objective reality of truth, you go figure out what do 324 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:05,340 these people who succeed all the time do? 325 00:20:05,340 --> 00:20:06,520 What do they do? 326 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,600 Because they're doing something different from you. 327 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,120 You want to know what that is. 328 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,840 And that's how you ground yourself in objective truth, objective reality. 329 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,440 Again, there are many objective realities. 330 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,920 That's the objective reality of I can never get funded. 331 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,960 We are surrounded by so many of those people because they're very loud and very vocal. 332 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:31,240 But the objective reality of the people who get funded is a quiet objective reality. 333 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,560 They're not even where you can find them. 334 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:40,040 Sometimes you have to dig them out from, I don't know, dig them out from their bunker 335 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:44,600 where they're holed up doing the things that are making them consistently successful. 336 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,680 But you can find them if you choose. 337 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:55,000 And then you ask them and they will tell you if you choose to listen. 338 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:02,760 So ground your thoughts in objective truth, not in the objective truth of the people who 339 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:08,040 haven't succeeded that surround you, but in the objective truth of the people who succeed 340 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,400 again and again and again. 341 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:18,520 Because success does not happen in any sphere of life by accident. 342 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,160 I mean, if it happens by accident, it's called the lottery and we know what happens with 343 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,200 people who win the lottery. 344 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:33,600 Number five is have thoughts that are consistent with your desire. 345 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:35,320 What do you want? 346 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:39,680 What do you want to see for yourself? 347 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:43,280 What do you want to see happen in your life? 348 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:46,160 Those are the thoughts you entertain. 349 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,640 The things you don't want for yourself. 350 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,960 Those are the thoughts you banish. 351 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,480 Those are the thoughts you starve. 352 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,640 Those are the thoughts you kill. 353 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,480 That sounds great, doesn't it? 354 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:04,960 But yes, you nurture the thoughts that lead you where you want to go. 355 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,560 The key is first deciding where do you want to go? 356 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,600 Where do you want to go? 357 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:15,400 That harkens back to number one being intentional about the thoughts you create. 358 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:19,160 Maybe this should have been number one is deciding first. 359 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:20,680 What do you want to be? 360 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,160 Where do you want to go? 361 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,400 How do you want to show up? 362 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:31,000 And that helps you create the umbrella for what you're going to create in your thought 363 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,920 life, for how you're going to support your thought life, for how you're going to weed 364 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:38,000 out the things that don't belong. 365 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,480 Because they could be good thoughts to someone else, but they're not the right thoughts for 366 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,480 you because they're not your thoughts. 367 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:50,980 And here we are in academia where the thought of the loudest mentor, the most obnoxious 368 00:22:50,980 --> 00:22:52,880 mentor is a thought that prevails. 369 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,320 Oh, no, no, no. 370 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:55,920 That's the worst idea ever. 371 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,120 Throw that idea out. 372 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,000 Let's not do that anymore. 373 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:04,280 And then you're like, OK, I mean, your mentor is correct. 374 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:09,840 It probably doesn't work as is, but it's what you want to do. 375 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,240 And if it's what you want to do, it's worth fighting for. 376 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:17,160 And so it's not the answer should not be OK. 377 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,640 The answer should be, well, how? 378 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,960 How can I get to the place I want? 379 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,560 How can I get to the destination I want to? 380 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:34,160 And so an important key to your thought life is defining who you want to be, where you 381 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:39,160 want to go, because that defines the kinds of thoughts you need to have so that you can 382 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,040 get there. 383 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,480 So be intentional about your thoughts. 384 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:50,780 You want to remove thoughts that are not consistent. 385 00:23:50,780 --> 00:23:54,280 You want to have thoughts that are grounded on objective truth. 386 00:23:54,280 --> 00:24:01,280 You want to have thoughts that are based on the reality that you desire. 387 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,760 So those are the things that I am talking about today about your thoughts. 388 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:11,560 You're going to have the life you want, the life you envy, the life you dreamed of. 389 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,880 You don't want to master your thoughts. 390 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,760 These are some things to think about in enhancing the quality of your thoughts, because you're 391 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:26,360 curating an environment that leads you to think the way you need to, to get you to the 392 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:27,880 place that you need to be. 393 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:28,880 All right. 394 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:32,280 Somebody else needs to hear this episode and I invite you to share it with them. 395 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:37,600 I want to thank you so much for being part of this podcast, for letting your ears and 396 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,320 for voting, voting with your ears. 397 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,320 All right. 398 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,320 Thank you for listening. 399 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:51,880 I look forward to talking with you again the next time. 400 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:57,240 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast, where academic 401 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:02,520 clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they 402 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:04,040 have a mentor. 403 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:10,160 If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. 404 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:11,880 Someone else needs to hear it. 405 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,940 So take a minute right now and share it. 406 00:25:15,940 --> 00:25:21,400 As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation 407 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:42,440 of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.