Meet Mel
The Power of Belief
When I was 13 years-old, I decided I was going to become a doctor. I knew it with such conviction that there was no other option for me but to take action to realize that dream. Despite what seemed like insurmountable obstacles. Despite living in poverty, reliant on food stamps and government assistance, with a mentally-ill, unemployed single mother. Despite finding myself homeless at age 16 and being graciously taken in by a friend and her family. Despite having no exposure to the medical field. I was profoundly aware that my one purpose in this life is to help people. So I made it happen.
I went to college, medical school, otolaryngology residency, and rhinology fellowship. After completing training in 2013, I worked for a few years in academic medicine, realized it wasn’t for me, then made the move to private practice in Worcester, MA in 2015. I grew my practice rapidly serving the good people of Worcester, and I was offered partnership in 2017. I remain a partner at the same private practice to this day and plan to stay here until retirement.
For the first 7 years of my career, I thought I was okay, but I was wrong. As my clinic and operating room schedules got busier and busier, I surreptitiously felt more spread thin, harried, and irritable, feelings that I chose to completely ignore. I found it hard to say “no”, not knowing at the time that when we say “yes” to one thing, we say “no” to something else. I wanted to be everything to everyone: my patients, my family, my staff, my colleagues, my friends. I neglected to take time for introspection and self care. I was afraid of what I would find if I stopped overworking for a hot second to look inside myself, to watch my own brain, to see the ugliness of my thoughts and the deeply suppressed negative emotions.
Then the pandemic hit, and it was like ripping a band-aid off a fresh wound. Suddenly all my distractions were taken away. My practice essentially shut down. I couldn’t go to the gym to distract myself with exercise. I couldn’t go out with friends or go on vacations with my family. I. Had. To. Just. Stop. It was the most awful, emotionally painful experience of my adult life. I was forced to pause and look at my feelings of unworthiness, shame, insecurity, self-loathing, and fear.
That’s when my life bottomed out.
Then I found coaching, and everything got astronomically better.
Nothing outside of me changed. I simply learned to manage my own mind.
Coaching is the Answer
With coaching, I was able to see all the events and circumstances in my life as neutral, and now I deliberately choose the story I am going to tell myself about those events to consciously generate feelings that produce actions and results that serve me. That’s the power of coaching. That’s the power of belief and mindset. The best part about my story is that I am NOT special. If you are currently getting by, treading water, functioning but struggling, then it would be my honor to help you. Coaching is the answer.
