How to be calm in the midst of the chaos

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Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD podcast where it is all about helping amazing physicians just like you. Embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and and practice medicine on your terms. I'm your host, Dr. Una.

Welcome back, dogs, to another episode of the Entre Onde podcast. Super pumped that you're here, as always, and today I am so excited because we hit 10,000 downloads on the Entre MD podcast and we've only been here for four months, so that's a huge milestone. So I want to take the opportunity to tell you that. Thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing this with your friends. Thank you for sharing it on social media, for reviewing it on itunes, and if you haven't had a moment to review it yet, I'll ask you to do that today and just let us know how it's helping. Thank you to everybody who sent me a message on LinkedIn and Facebook and Instagram telling me specific changes they made and results they've seen because of the podcast. I truly appreciate you and this is the reason why I do this. So thank you. All right, now I want to come on to talk today about how to stay calm in the midst of chaos. Right? And the chaos could be anything. It could be a pandemic, it could be a recession, it could be a bad divorce, it could be, you know, losing a job, losing a loved one, chaos. You know, and the good news I have for you is that you can do this. I mean, you. You being here is proof that you can do it, because you've survived a hundred percent of all the chaotic situations that you've had to face, and whatever is going on now is going to be like one of them. Okay? So I want to talk to you about how to stay calm, because you need to be calm, you need to be focused, you need to be in control even though stuff is chaotic, okay? And you can the most successful people and the most successful entrepreneurs do this, and so can you. All right? So I'm going to be telling you three things that you can do so that you can stay on top and you can stay calm. So the first thing you're going to do is you're not going to dwell on the problem. Am I saying be a little ostrich and bury your head in the sand and not, you know, be aware of what's going on? No, but you're not going to dwell on the problem. You're going to stay informed but not obsessed. And you go like. What do you mean obsessed? I mean, like scrolling all through social media all day, looking at bad news or listening to the news cycle all day, every day. I mean, even the most successful people have taken a little bit of a break from the news, right? You just get what you need, get the information you need and walk away, but it doesn't become what you think about all day. Okay? So you cannot dwell on the problem. You should be aware of the problem, you should have an understanding of the problem, but you shouldn't be meditating and marinating problem. You can't do that. Okay? Now, 11 years ago, I had my first child, a daughter, Cheta. She's super amazing. And when I was 21 weeks pregnant with her, I was told that she had a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Since I'm talking to mostly doctors, I can throw all that out there, but that's what she had. And she had a pericardial effusion, so of course there was no space for her lungs to develop. When they did the ultrasound, they actually said her lung volume was about 9% of what it should be. Nine, 9%. Right. And they were like, you know, the best thing to do is to abort the baby and all of that stuff. And I won't go into all the details, but, you know, that's what they said.

And.

And I was like, well, I'm going to do what I can do. I'm going to let you guys do what you can do, and I'm going to let God do the rest. We're going to be okay. So we went through with the pregnancy, and I didn't have control over what she had. I had control on how I could respond to it, what I could do for it. I guarantee you that I did not dwell on that problem. Now, she had this. And at the time, I was a pediatric resident. And. And when they broke the news to me, I was working in the nicu, so I had access to babies who had this. I knew what it was like. But I kid you not, I never read another thing about congenital diaphragmatic hernia till after I had her. I didn't dwell on the problem. Right? I'm going to tell you what to dwell on, But I didn't dwell on the problem. So don't be an ostrich. Don't bury your head in the sand and say the problem doesn't exist, because a problem does exist. But. But at the same time, don't dwell on it. The more you think about it, the more nervous you'll get, the more anxious you'll get. I have doctors waking up with palpitations for how scared they are of doing things in the midst of chaos. And I don't want you to have that issue. I don't want that to be a problem. Okay? And I'm gonna stop here, and I'm gonna say to every doctor who's on the front line and who's in the ICU taking care of really sick people, intubating people. Intubating people who are COVID 19, you know, victims. And with all the amazing work that you're doing, I just want to let you know that we appreciate you and we appreciate what you do, and we're rooting for you, and we're here to support and help in any way that we can. Thank you for what you do. Okay? All right, so that's the first thing. Don't dwell on the problem. The second thing is dwell on the solutions, okay? Become a possibility thinker. Start thinking. Okay, we're here, all right? And at the time of this recording, we're in the middle of a specific chaos, and we have the COVID 19 pandemic affecting the entire world. And what I want you to do is I want you to start thinking. Thinking possibilities. Okay? This is going on. What are the problems? Is created. So if those are the problems is created, what are the solutions? What can I do? How can I fix this problem? How can I pivot so I can be the answer to this problem. Start thinking possibilities. If you want something to dwell on all day, dwell all day on the solution. How you can be an answer, what you can fix, how you can help. But don't dwell all day on the problem, okay? So dwell on the solution. Start thinking possibilities. Start thinking new outcomes, Start thinking innovation, start thinking creativity. Like, how can I fix this? Okay. The third thing I'm going to have you do is you're going to work on your calming habits, okay? There are things you can do when it's like, oh, my goodness, what is going on? I don't want to have a temper tantrum, I don't want to pass out. I don't want to have palpitations all day. There are habits that people have, right? Some of them you've developed, some you haven't. And this would be a good time to develop them. So things like breathing exercises, right? Someone's really nervous, starts hyperventilating, you know, you're like, calm, breathe, breathe. Right? Breathing exercises. And there are apps for that. And you don't even need an app. Just take a moment and stop and take long, deep breaths and just focus on your breathing and bring yourself back from all the terrible news of what's going on. But breathing exercises are powerful and you should do them things like nature walks. Those have been shown to be relaxing. So take a walk and it could be outside, it could be in your subdivision. You know, leave your phone in the house and just take a walk and look at the trees and look at the sky and look at the formation of the clouds and look at the birds that are going and the squirrels that are running and just do nature walks. And look, it doesn't have to be for two hours. This can be a 15 minute break, a 30 minute break, or if you're like me, an hour break, whatever. But take those walks, okay? Meditation, meditation. This is a great time to do it. And if you're a person of faith like me, I've been sitting on the scriptures and what God says about chaos and what he says about pandemics. And you know how he constantly says, don't be afraid, I'm with you. And I just sit and I meditate on that. I imagine it, I visualize it and all of that stuff. Those are things that you're going to need to do, okay? You're going to need to meditate. If you're a person of faith, prayer is great because that's you saying, I don't have the final say in my life in that kind of Sense I'm not ultimately 100% responsible. Someone else can help me with this. And I'm like, hey, I need help. You know, so that's something you can do. Practicing gratitude is huge. I don't leave my house without doing that first. Right? Because human nature is to look at everything that is not working. That's our nature. And what you can do with gratitude is you literally reframe your thinking. You start off your day thinking about five things. 10 things, 12 things that are working. And you're excited, and you're like, let's do this. We can do this. You think about other chaotic situations you've been in. Think. Think all the way back. Maybe you had a hard time in high school. Maybe you didn't pass the MCAT the first time you took it. Maybe you didn't get into the residency of your choice. Maybe you didn't get to go to the medical school you wanted to go to. Maybe you had a very difficult pregnancy. I mean, like, you can go on and on and on. You've had chaotic things before, and you survived it. Be grateful for that. Start your day off that way, okay? So practice those calming habits, breathing exercises, nature walks, prayer, meditation. You know, practicing gratitude. Do all of that, okay? If you will do these three things, you'll put yourself in a position where you can be calm. And you know what happens when you're calm. You can be creative. You could be innovative. You can figure out how to pivot what you've been doing. You will be. So you'll be able to come up with, you know, even new businesses, new products, new services, all kinds of stuff. But in order to do that, you have to be calm. Not just on the outside, but on the inside as well. So one of the most important things all of this will make you do is to guard your mind, okay? You need to be in control of how you're thinking. The chaos is one thing. Your response to it, which is as a result of what you think, is another thing altogether. So this is the way I look at it, you know, because there's. There's two extremes. One extreme is, I'm thinking about all the horrible things that can happen, okay? The other extreme is I'm totally blowing it off. And I'm like, nothing's going to happen. Both of which are actually awful, right? The way you should think about it is you should plan for the worst, right? So you do your worst scenario planning like, this is the worst that can happen. And if this happens, this is what my response will be to it, this is how I would prepare for that. So you plan for the worst, then you do that and package it and put it somewhere and then you believe for the best. You are your own biggest cheerleader. You are the cheerleader of your dreams. You're the cheerleader of your future. So if you're not going to believe the best for you, nobody's going to do it for you. Okay? So plan for the worst, but believe for the best. This will require discipline, right? Because every time you hear something happening to somebody else, you're like, oh my God, it's going to be. Then you start going into, you know, this is what's going to happen to me. Start getting anxious, I get depressed, I get, you know, you need to sit and decide to do what you plan to do, which is to plan for the worst. So if this happens, this is what we're going to do. And you put it in place and then you believe for the best. You relentlessly believe for the best, okay? When you think and you're over, you're thinking and thinking that thinking time is, this is a problem. These are the solutions. These are the solutions you need to be thinking. Solutions, solutions, solutions, outcomes, pivots, that's, you know, creativity, innovation, this is all going to be better at the end of this. That's what you need to be doing, okay? So that's what you need to do. Discipline yourself to plan for the worst and believe for the best. And when you think about the problem, only allow yourself to visualize a great outcome, okay? It's your imagination, it's free. Why use it to think up worst case scenario? You've already planned for the worst, you know, so when you're thinking, just think, visualize great outcome. Okay? So this is what I want you to do. One of the best ways to learn is to share what you learned. It is so funny, but that's one of the best ways to learn. So I want you to share this episode along with what you learned from it and the commitment you're making. I want you to share it on your social media platforms. I want you to text this episode to a friend and say, look, you gotta listen to this. I want you to share it because we are living in times when there's a lot of fear, there's a lot of anxiety, and we are the solution. You're literally a hope ambassador. Okay? So I want you to share it and you can tag me, Dr. Una, hashtag Entre MD. I'll go give you a shout out as well. Okay? And if you are in these times, and you're like, I don't know what to do. My business is falling apart. And if you need coaching, whether it's private coaching, group coaching, I want you to reach out, okay? We're here for you. This is what Entre MD is here for. To help you build profitable businesses. Not in. Just in the good times, but also in the middle of chaos. Okay? So you can reach out. Dr. Una. That's-r u n a@entre md.com so, Dr. Una, entre md.com and let's do this together, okay? We're living in interesting times, but it is also a time of unprecedented opportunity. Okay? In the meantime, I want you to sign up to be an Entre MD Insider. You can text your email address to 44222. That's your email address to 44222. And I will be giving you weekly inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment. Okay? I'm here for you. Entre MD is here for you, and I want you to be calm in the midst of chaos. And at the end of the day, we're gon on the other side of this chaos. So see you on the next episode.

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