#ResilientResidencyInsights 3 - Curate Your Days for the Long Game!

As-salamu alaykum,

Have thought about how your days in residency will play out?

Have you asked a colleague not too far ahead of you to share their typical day with you during the core rotations of your chosen specialty?

Have you taken a close look at your typical day now and how you might begin to modify them for a burnout-proof and resilient residency experience?

It’s unlikely that many get this far - I certainly did not as I was more focused on the usual occupations for many at this point - completing necessary paperwork, moving, travel etc.

Fast-forward several years ahead now, I recognize the value of spending time on this super high-yield but much less urgent “task” of reflecting and curating a game plan that will support my experience through residency and quite frankly, beyond those “few” years.

So how do you go about curating your days for the long game?

For this process, I invite you to dive into this article written by my dear friend and mentor, Mohammed Faris on “The Daily Routine of the Most Influential Man in History”.

As you go through the article in sha’Allah, explore the life of Prophet Muhammad PBUH through the lens of preserving and nurturing your greatest asset - You - through a deliberate practice that Steven Covey Famously described as habit 7 - “Sharpen the Saw” in his highly acclaimed work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

For this purpose, consider yourself along these 4 dimensions;

1. Your Physical Dimension 

The implications of this are obvious to many of us even if we don’t always make the best choices around nutrition, exercise/movement and sleep. This is, however, the foundation of holistic wellbeing that fosters resilience.

2. Your Spiritual Dimension 

This is central to who you are and what informs your identity, your worldview and your motivations. It includes essential pillars such as your intentions, purpose and values and is the piece that we spent some time exploring in the first “installment” of this series. 

It is also where you cultivate the specifics of your religious and spiritual routines as taught to us by “the Most Influential Man in History” - Prophet Muhammad PBUH.  

3. Your Mental Dimension

This is where you executive functions of praiseworthy planning, continuous learning of medical and productive non-medical content and your creative expressions come into play. While many may downplay this component it is central to cultivating the spiritual dimension and must be a core component of one’s deliberate practice that catapults growth and fosters resilience.

4. Your Social and Emotional Dimension 

During residency (or in work and life outside of and beyond), this dimension may suffer without careful attention. 

Allah, the Most High, created us within social constructs from the family to our friends and local communities at work and outside of work, to the societies we live in and the global community that we are a part of.  

This is where we make the effort to cultivate these bonds that support us through the tough days and where we contribute and invest in others in a way that fosters personal resilience and community/societal health.  

We have in the Prophet Muhammad PBUH the best example of balance across all these dimensions for all of us as Allah, the Most High, says in the Qur’an; 

Surah Al-Ahzab v22: “The Messenger of God is an excellent model for those of you who put your hope in God and the Last Day and remember Him often.”

Friends and colleagues, please take some time to curate your ideal routine and establish pillars across the 4 dimensions discussed above with insights from the life of the best role model for Mankind as Allah mentioned in the verse above and you will in sha’ Allah set yourself up for a resilient and burnout-proof experience through residency and beyond.

May Allah, the Most High, enable us to invest time in our own growth so that we may better serve others and aspire towards true success in the hereafter. Amin. 

Sincerely,

Sulyman

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