Tenaya Creek and Lake - 2006

Yosemite National Park

Summary

Your Potential and Life’s Panorama

When considering the matter of actualizing your potential, you may reflect on what you have accomplished, a promotion, a career or a title…and rightfully so.

These are laudable achievements that were based on your character, personal qualities, and diligent effort. 

There is, however, a more expansive, dynamic and beneficial perspective that describes the actualization of your evolving potential. One that is based much more on the nature of your character from which your life’s purpose expresses itself. 

This attitude supports your ability to more fully express your character and purpose in diverse ways as you live through the phases of your life.

It is beneficial to you now and as you progress toward your end of career.

For more on this, listen to the audio above.

Updated: Saturday, August 27, 2022

PS: By the way, do you want to learn more from me...

Sunset to Sunrise

Rocky Mountains - 2005

Planning and Preparedness

A common life experience is the feeling of uncertainty that arises from an inevitable, yet unfamiliar change. The kind that looms large in your horizon and is accompanied by significant challenges. 

There are some challenges that minimize your feeling of uncertainty by virtue of education, training and devoted effort to a particular achievement. Most often, your education and training occurs relatively early in life, prior to launching your career. Then there are some events for which it is usually very difficult to prepare far, far in advance.

(With the recognition that there are a variety of practice settings, the model described here is that of a solo practitioner, as there are many elements of that which apply to other types of practices.)

Timely Training

A relevant example is the end of your career. My experience as a consultant/coach on this and related maters is that there are some physicians who begin to...

Giant Sequoias - 2004

Mariposa Grove, Yosemite N. P.

On Visions and Planning for Success

When the time comes that you begin to seriously consider ending your medical career, you will find yourself thinking about a variety of personal and professional concerns as well as matters related to your practice.

The myriad of concerns that you will have to address will vary significantly according to your type of practice: solo, group or otherwise employed. There will also be variations in practice preparation, particularly if you are in solo practice and want to execute a succession plan or close your practice. Nevertheless, across the spectrum of practice types, there are some common matters, duties, and tasks that must be accomplished. 

It’s my personal experience that you will need more than just knowledge about what’s now unknown about what you are going to embark upon. You will need and greatly benefit from applying a method for planning and executing a successful End...

Exuberant Vision - 2010

Preliminary Steps for Creating a Smooth Transition

Your End of Career Transition will require careful attention to a variety of tasks in order to achieve a smooth Transition. There are five factors that commonly get in the way of achieving that: 

• Lack of awareness of the magnitude of the process.
• The difficulty of knowing when to begin to prepare. 
• What matters must be addressed.
• The order in which tasks should be completed.
• The lack of a structured transition plan. 

The approach to addressing these concerns can be customized for the various practice settings: physicians in solo or group practice and those who are otherwise employed.

The Process of Transition

There’s a common concern that becomes an increasing preoccupation as the questions related to your End of Career Transition increase in number and complexity: it’s an awareness that your transition is not a singular event. It’s a process that is complex and lengthy....

Encounter with Destiny - 2010

Rendezvous Mountain

Bridger - Teton National Forest, WY

 Character, Purpose and Leadership

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of stimulating different reactions from individuals who have diverse temperaments and personalities. These responses can range from cowering fear to towering bravery. The latter is witnessed in men known for their genuine boldness as well those who have been perceived as quietly meek. 

It is this seemingly outward meekness that is sometimes misunderstood for a quiet, steadfast resolve. 

Who Are These Leaders?

Exemplary leaders may be found at a humble home, small and large businesses, hospitals, churches and government bodies. The list is virtually endless. 

Some have a long record of leadership service; others seem to arise out of nowhere to meet the challenge they are confronted with. Perhaps you, as I, have witnessed these behaviors of individuals in the face of crisis:

• The usually,...

Sunset or Sunrise?

Florida - 2010

Proactive Planning Will Reveal the Date

For most of you, the end of your career is an event that you really look forward to. It’s a time of joyful anticipation. It’s the opportunity for you to create and begin a new lifestyle. Yet, as it happens with major life events, there are important questions that must be answered. They can be a source of preoccupation.

You know that this is major life event that you are not familiar with. You may also sense that it will probably affect you personally, deeply.

A very common concern is the need to answer the question: “When is the right time to stop practicing?”

What I Know

In the course of my experience consulting and coaching clients on numerous matters related to the End of Career Transition, I have observed that it’s natural to focus on the obvious: the end date. 

What is not so readily apparent are the myriad of matters that must be planned for and accomplished in advance...

Balloon Flower (Pandion haliaetus)

Home, Florida- 2005

The Creation of Order in Your Universe 

I have previously described the End of Career Transition Plan as the third element of a triad of plans that provide a structured, yet flexible approach to executing your End of Career. This customized approach is applicable whether you are a solo practitioner, a member of a group practice or otherwise employed.

It is my hope that your Transition is one that you have initiated of your own volition, that is, a developmental transition. This will allow you to plan well in advance, thereby promoting an optimal Transition experience. This is in contrast to a reactive transition, which is thrust upon you by a sudden, unanticipated change, as I experienced.

Another Kind of Transition

Regardless of how the transition process comes about, once it has begun both types of transition share similarities. There is, however, a major difference: in the case of a reactive transition, the timeline that...

Long and Winding

Madison River

Yellowstone National Park - 2021

Critical Questions to Ask Yourself…and Answer

You have decided to begin to prepare for your End of Career and have probably asked yourselve a variety of questions. They may include how to begin to prepare and more specifically, what to do and in what order.

Some of these questions are about professional matters that will vary according to your type of practice. Others are personal in nature, as I have discussed in a previous article.

It is important for you to reflect on these questions and create clear answers. It is so important that I suggest you write them down and review them. They will not only add clarity to your lifestyle plan, but the answers are essential for preparing yourself professionally.

In this article, I address some of these questions as examples that I know are professionally important to you. I use the setting of a physician in solo practice as a point of reference. Many of these...

The Path to Transition

Tundra in Autumn, Alaska Range

Denali N. P., Alaska - 2011

This Is the Time to Summon Clarity, Conviction and Courage 

Tranquility and Equanimity

It is commonly familiar that it is in those quiet moments when our mind is free to wander, that we are the most creative.

For me, it is commonly during morning coffee or perhaps fly fishing on a beautiful river for trout or salmon.

There are other times when feeling the rhythm of my heartbeat and breathing is the only perceptible activity.

I usually make no effort to think about anything in particular. And yet, the more my mind wanders, the more meaningful are the insights, ideas and innovations that emerge.

I believe that this simple discipline can be beneficial as you plan your End of Career. 

It is then that you will have a window of opportunity prior to embarking on the next great phase of your life. This is the time for you to create plenty of time and space to comfortably design your roadmap. The map...

Path and Pinnacle, - 2021

Path to Taggart Lake and The Teton Range

Grand Teton National Park

Proactive Preparation Benefits You Now and Supports Success in the Future

The preparation of your practice for succession involves undertaking a series of measures that elevate your practice performance, profitability and value beyond its present state. You will benefit now and at the time of acquisition. So will the physician that acquires it and succeeds you in the future.

Practices and Preparations 

Just as there are a variety of practice settings, the nature of corresponding preparations also vary significantly. These are primarily private solo or group practices and physicians who are otherwise employed.

In this article, the example is that of a solo, private practice. Many of the characteristics of this model are shared by other types of practices.

There are two areas of preparation that apply to most types of practices. By applying some variations in preparation, individual needs...