“How you doin’?”
~Joey Tribbiani, Friends

How are YOU doing right now? 

Joey may have had ulterior motives when he posed this question to others, but did have his interest and intention at heart. When you are having a bad day, wouldn’t it be awesome to have someone with the heart and interest of Joey to ask you, “How you doin’?”

Would that be a jolt to your system? Would that make you feel better? It is not always possible to stumble upon a willing questioner.

 

What if you became the questioner?

  One of the best ways to combat burnout is to get out of your own head about whatever is happening and ask someone else how they are doing.  The pure act of questioning another stops your own erroneous line of thinking, or ruinous rumination.

 

  By expressing interest, you engage the problem-solving part of your brain and are focusing externally rather than internally. You are smart, brilliant and well-trained.  You just need to refocus your brain on making your own self better.  Exercising the interested area of your brain will engage you than at least start processing information. 

 

  Now, you are ready to use the problem solving for yourself. Aha!

 

Start with your interest, add your intention and ask the self-reflective questions to keep your solution focus on yourself. 

 

⇒ Some questions might be:

 

Do I like what I do?

Do I like how I do it?

Am I adequately valued in my current work environment?

What are the favorite and least favorite parts of my day?

Can I construct my day to do more of what I love and less of the rest?

What changes can I make?

What deadline do I give myself to complete my planned changes?

 

  This list is just scratching the surface of you, what you want, and how getting that will get your burnout handled.

Take a moment and ask yourself:  How you doin’?  The results will astound and delight you. 

 

           ~Jeff Moody, MD