Self reflection versus self criticism

In counseling or mental health work, it’s important to help our patients differentiate self reflection from self criticism.

Self-criticism is often harsh and judgmental, focusing on flaws and mistakes without room for growth.

On the other hand, self-reflection is more objective, defused and constructive, allowing for learning and improvement by examining actions and outcomes with openness and curiosity.

So try to embrace self-reflection more for personal development, but be careful of too much self-criticism.

Are you a bit lost in choosing the right area of Medicine to pursue?

As Medicine is so diverse, are you stuck with choice paralysis?

Well start with this perhaps.

Make a list of all the things you love or hate in your working career, and ask the question “why” but try to answer that with only one word.  This will give you insight into what your values are and what will inspire you and make you happy.  

So why make a list of all the things we love and hate?  This is because values are usually “emotive”.

Some examples of values are family, fun, adventure, growth, harmony, equality, connection, stability, security, etc. 

Once you are clear on your values, explore what areas in Medicine that will resonate with those values/most of those values and try to make that workable.

So the framework to consider is, follow your values and make that workable in the real world.

I hope you can find your clarity soon in order to create a fulfilling career. 

Psychological flexibility is required to get us out of being emotionally “stuck”

Psychological flexibility is an important skill for folks who struggle with being emotionally “stuck”.

It’s not an easy one because in order to be “psychologically or cognitively flexible”, one has to be able to shift not only thinking and behaviours, but also one’s deep seated beliefs/feelings about one’s context.

That’s the hard bit.

Shifting from fear of failure to the growth mindset

As a Family Doctor, I often see how fear of failure can impact people’s lives in very unhealthy ways.

Often underlying this fear of failure is a deep belief that their self worth is solely linked to external measures like external achievements, looks or popularity. It’s easy to see how this has come to be through our schooling, upbringing, media, and Hollywood.

So how else can we process this feeling as it arises and as an alternative to the usual Fight, Flight, and Freeze responses?

One can use the ACE strategy from Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to Acknowledge that conditioning/belief, and defusion from that belief at the same time. Connect with body sense/s to ground oneself in the present moment, and lastly, Engage with value based actions along with authenticity, workability, personal growth, meaning and purpose despite the challenges or possible failures.

This is to cultivate a “growth mindset” with those triggers rather than simply associating it with the Fight, Flight, or Freeze.

I wonder if you can relate….