#ResilientResidencyInsights 9 - Your Best Day of Residency

As-salamu alaykum,

How would you imagine your best day of residency to play out?

This might be a day when you are rewarded handsomely for a key role that you played in a quality improvement project that came in the top spot at a local conference.

In another instance, it might be that you were recognized among peers, senior residents and your attendings for your dedication to your patients and the resident team.

Or maybe it was a day that you felt satisfied with your care of the patients under your watch and fulfilled all your duties within the team with simple acknowledgements that validated your sense of self actualization.

The handsome reward, the recognition and the sense of self actualization are recognized outlets for our nafs (a.k.a lower self) to feel appreciated for the hard work that one puts in.

The upside is that it generates a nice euphoric feeling but this tends to be short-lived and is prone to the lack of resilience that puts us at risk for anxiety tied to not being readily appreciated by the people around us despite meaningful contributions from us.

What if your sense of accomplishment was tied to your alignment with Allah’s will?

The Prophet Muhammad PBUH taught us in a hadith that highlights this principle:

“Indeed the best or the greatest day with Allah is the Day of Sacrifice, then the day of rest.” [Source: Abu Dawūd and An-Nasā’ī, graded saheeh by Al-Albani]

On this great day of sacrifice, Prophet Ibrahim (AS) surrendered completely to Allah’s will and his son Isma’il (AS) followed suit when they both agreed to follow through with Allah’s command with the sacrifice of the son by the father. 

We all know that this did not happen.

We take away from this that our alignment with Allah’s will even if it is not recognized by others around us is the true indicator of our sincerity in aspiring towards the acceptance of Allah in what we do.

Robert E. Quinn wrote in his essay, “Moments of Greatness”, “that when leaders do their best work, they don’t copy anyone. Instead, they draw on their own fundamental values and capabilities-operating in a frame of mind that is true to them, yet, paradoxically, not their normal state of being.”

To paraphase, you and I will do our best work when we are most aligned with our core values and pivotal identity, the Muslim inside of us that longs for Allah’s pleasure.

Your best day of residency will be a day of internal acknowledgement of this alignment that brings spiritual contentment.

In the next best version of this state of spiritual contentment, you will seek Allah’s acceptance of your work in residency by doing your work with Ihsan (excellence) with the hopes that the long and irregular hours of work at the bedside earns you Allah’s mercy and a place in Jannah (paradise).

Your work throughout residency and beyond with all its sacrifices for the sake of taking care of Allah’s most priced creations - Humanity - may even get to the station of attaining His pleasure even if there is no worldly acknowledgement. 

On this your best day of residency, you will cater to all 4 dimensions (physical, spiritual, mental, emotional/social) of yourself that grounds you to excel at the bedside and in the sight of your Lord.   

This is where true resiliency lies - in this fundamental state of leadership or better yet, alignment with Allah’s will that attracts barakah into your work allowing you to do more with less and seemingly reach for the stars against all odds.

This is all doable because it is Allah’s doing. 

Your role and mine is to align ourselves with His will while working hard each and every day.

As you celebrate Eid-al-Adha today, think about the implications of this day for your residency journey (and beyond) and envision your best day in residency.

May Allah, the Most High, enable you and us to align ourselves with His will and count us among those whose work and sacrifices will be acceptable to Him. Amin. 

Eid Mubarak to you and your loved ones!

Sincerely,

Sulyman

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