It was a sunny winter afternoon in a small town in Indiana, and I was driving from one hospital to another to see patients when I suddenly had an epiphany that changed my life. Up until that point, my life looked flawless on paper, but my reality was completely different.
As much as it seemed liked I had it all (family career, balanced life, etc), I was working 100 hours a week, mothering young children, and walking around sleep deprived, constantly fatigued, and low in energy. I began having an internal dialogue about what my life had become. I knew something had to change, but I wasn’t sure what to do or what the next steps should be.
At this stage of my life, I thought I had to stick with my job because being in medicine is like being in the Mafia (with over $200K in student loan debt). Anything different from working a traditional medical job did not seem like a viable option. As a result, I toughed it out and all I did was work, come home late at night, and work some more while my kids screamed for my attention. It was a total disaster. I felt lost, stuck, and clueless about what to do next.
Now let’s circle back to the epiphany I mentioned in the beginning of this post. It was a moment that opened my eyes to personal finance. Dave Ramsey was on the radio, and he was talking to a woman who was in her sixties with no nest egg (money saved for the future), and yet he managed to give her hope. Although he was speaking to someone else, his words managed to plant a seed of hope within me. I thought to myself: if I can get my finances in order, I can live life and practice medicine on my own terms without worrying about money. From that point on, the journey to financial success began.
I started reading books about personal finances, as well as listening to all three hours of Dave Ramsey’s podcast, which led me to uncover other helpful podcasts. I quickly learned that many of the high achievers on these podcasts had someone to coach them, and I wanted one too. I was ready to do whatever it took to expedite living life on my own terms. I happened to come across a podcast episode where a physician coach was being interviewed, and I wasted no time in picking up the phone, calling her, and signing up. The rest, as they say, was history.
With the help of my coach, I started exploring how I could live a life that is fulfilling. One way that would happen is by bringing in income in a non-traditional way, and giving myself permission to leave my job without guilt… which is exactly what I did. I left my private practice nephrology job and never looked back. I did locums as an internal medicine hospitalist and nephrologist. I later decided to focus on being an internal medicine hospitalist.
On the non-medical career front, I initially wanted to become a certified financial planner. However, after all that my coach has done for me, I decided to pay it forward by helping others in the same way that she helped me. I also wanted to have a more holistic approach to helping people so I decided to do financial and life coaching instead.
It has been so rewarding, especially when my clients have major breakthroughs, such as finding their dream jobs, turning their side gigs into their main gigs, building multiple streams of income, quitting their medical careers, paying off student loans, paying off car loans, doubling their incomes, establishing boundaries in their life, and the list goes on! What is even greater is witnessing the internal shift they undergo, which transforms their mindset to believe that living their ideal life is closer than they thought, and that it is not so out of reach afterall.
I recall undergoing the same shift, and thankfully, I can now say that I am living the life that I want: a life with time freedom, location freedom, financial freedom, and being of service to others. I am grateful for my journey thus far, and thankful to my coach who has positioned me for this life. My hope is to now propel others into the fulfilling lives they desire to live.
*Part two of this blog post will cover the specifics involved with becoming a life coach. If you are interested, please stay tuned.
**PS: I help physicians get out of debt and expedite their journeys to wealthy living using the magic of personal finance and multiple streams of income. If this interests you, I encourage you to click this link to book a complimentary coaching consultation. I hope to speak with you soon!
