Progress, Practice, People

Progress, Practice, People
Vincent Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889). Famous painting, original from the MET Museum (My Favorite Van Gogh Painting)

Life has been great over this last week, mainly due to 3 realizations

Progress

I don’t like chilling and relaxing as much as I did before. Over the last week I have been productive every single day or hanging out with friends, which is a win win to me. I have been super excited to build and to make progress towards the goals that I have set. Getting more responsibility at the clinic has been a blessing because I get less free time. Because I have less free time I have been using my time in a more productive manner. Having too much freedom for me is not healthy and I need external structure. I was pondering if I ever wanted to be location independent and I do not. I don’t care to live in other places, but I would love to visit them. I think two weeks in another location is good enough time as I am a homebody and love my space. I like having my work and my personal space physically separate, which is why dentistry is perfect. I also have been pushing myself at the gym to reach higher numbers and have started to track my workouts. This way I can push a little harder every time I go to the gym.

Practice

I think last week I finally had the realization that I can do dentistry for the rest of my life and I think its pretty fun. I think I am finally getting used to it more and more every single day I come into the clinic. Whenever I help someone with a treatment I feel hella good inside. I am actually getting fulfilled by my work as I feel that I am adding value to the world. Many patients come in poor condition and it feels good to be involved in the process of helping them. I am good at taking X-rays and my assisting skills are improving. I still have to a lot to go but a part of me actually wants to learn it and get better, which is something I could not have said in the past. I cannot wait until I actually become a Dentist and I can have even more impact.

People

I need to see people or be around people every single day. I think that is why I enjoy being in the clinic as I get a social dose whenever I come in. I also like visiting the coffee shop next door, and saying Hi to the staff and having that small social interaction. They also give me a discount because I work in the same plaza and they have my orders memorized, they goated fsho. I realized that being social and learning how to better conduct myself in social situations is the way to go. However I still need large amounts of alone time where I can just sit and do whatever I want. I think I am getting better at balancing this and learning where my boundaries are. I realized that I can also just be who I want and don’t have to react to the people in a way to make them happy. I am trying to be honest in my reactions and letting people deal with the way that I actually am. Also I have been going to cafes and doing work and it just feels better than staying at home. I don’t talk to any of these people, but just having people around makes doing work feel a lot better.

Overall I feel that the quality of my life is improving and I realized that I need to keep up what I did over the last week. Every single day I need to focus on how to make progress towards my goals. Journaling on paper has been great to help me figure out my thoughts and plans going forward. Additionally I have not slept in past 10 am since coming back from Vietnam, mainly because I couldn’t but now it is because I don’t want to. Waking up at 9 to 10 am and getting sunlight feels amazing. I also have been sleeping between 11:30 pm and 12 am, which is crazy to me as before Vietnam I was sleeping on average at 2 am. I think I have been more satisfied with my days as I know that I am using my time in a more fulfilling manner. I know that life has many challenges on the way but today I feel good and I am just going to be happy about that. Focusing on futures that exists is a waste of time, ask yourself what can you do today? We only have today, and that mindset shift has allowed me to use my time more productively and in a way that kept me satisfied.

Thanks for reading, let’s grow together :)

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Jamie Larson
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