I started working with a new coaching client the other day. I'd already been following the twists and turns of her life saga for about a year, via excited emails she'd been sending me ever since reading my book Live a Life You Love."As you know, I've made all kinds of wonderful changes in my life," she told me over the phone, "I left a job I couldn't stand, sold ...
Susan Biali, MD
Quitting your job and living the dream
Ever dream of quitting your job, moving somewhere deliciously tropical and spending the rest of your days doing what you love (and even making a good, or great, income from it)?This story isn't about me, though some of you may know that I spent 2004-2008 living my dream life in Mexico (Puerta Vallarta and Los Cabos), making much of my income from my writing, dancing, coaching and speaking and occasional ...
Avoiding confrontations and the difficulty of standing up for yourself
When I was 8, my mom went to a parent-teacher night at school. When she sat down with my teacher, the teacher smiled and said: "So how are Susan’s swimming lessons going?"My mom frowned, confused. "Susan isn’t taking swimming lessons - perhaps you’ve confused her with someone else?""No, I’m sure," my teacher insisted. "Susan told me that she has to leave at 3 o’clock every afternoon, right when the bell ...
Stop and really think about what you want from life
A friend and I made a pact today. No more hanging out halfway, it’s all or nothing. Each of us has a dream for our lives.Our respective dreams are almost the same, and they’re dreams that we’d almost cast aside or given up on. Why? Because they require so much faith, dedication, focus and endurance to pull off. Neither of us had wholeheartedly committed to the dream.I've had a small ...
Food is an essential part of a doctor’s success strategy
Nutrition fascinates me - I've been studying it for over twenty years and have a university degree in Dietetics. These days I'm particularly interested in the secrets of high-performance eating; the busier and bigger my life gets, the more I need to be on the ball. Food is an essential part of my success strategy. Put another way: if I didn't know how to eat right for my brain, I'd ...
What would you do if you had a year left to live?
Though I’ve spoken about breast cancer for Susan G. Komen for the Cure (emphasizing the importance of early screening and detection), until recently I had never had a mammogram. In my training I’d been taught that mammograms weren’t that accurate or useful in women under 40 (our health system’s protocols reflect that), so I got regularly checked by my physician whenever I had a physical and otherwise was waiting until ...
Can scientific knowledge overcome uncontrollable food behavior?
I’ve struggled almost my whole life with food. During my late teens I was obsessed with dieting and calorie-counting, which turned into compulsive eating and a powerful addiction to sugary, fatty foods in my 20’s and 30’s – even though I had both a medical degree and a degree in dietetics (human nutrition).Obviously, having scientific knowledge about food and health isn’t enough to help someone control their uncontrollable behavior around ...
Dance healed this physician and helped with burnout
Ten years ago, I was an Emergency Medicine Resident and wanted to die. Today, I’m a general practitioner in part-time practice and am in love with life. What made the difference? I signed up for a dance class.Reports on physician burnout list the personality traits that set us up for trouble: we’re excessively conscientious, feel overly responsible, want to please everyone, and function on an extremely high level - even ...
