You Are Not A Frog

You have brilliant ideas and solutions that can make a difference in your work. But how do you get others on board with them? It can be hard to convince others when they have different views and opinions. The thing is, you can’t change someone’s mind without knowing where they are coming from and what matters to them. You have to face it with confidence, grace, patience, and, sometimes, acceptance...

On this episode of You Are Not a Frog, our guest, Corrina Gordon-Barnes, joins us to discuss the challenges working mothers face in traditional family units. The conversation sheds light on the value of self-compassion, learning to navigate negative emotions, and striking a balance between work and family life. This episode is for everyone involved in parenting, not just mothers. It’s not just wom...

Disappointing ourselves and others is an awful feeling highlighted by guilt and shame. It can often lead us to act out regretfully as we attempt to mask it. Out of fear of its consequences, we resort to tiptoeing around others. This is most common in the medical field, where people tend to prioritise the needs of other people before their own. It could be why you may have difficulties saying no to...

Does it feel like you're in a toxic work environment and can't get out? Too many doctors — both in the UK and elsewhere — find themselves in a whirlwind of work. There's always more to do, and you don't want to imagine the consequences of what happens if you fail. There seems like there's no way out, but the truth is, you always have a choice. In this episode of You Are Not a Frog, Dr Dike Drummon...

Life can seem full of threats and stresses we face daily. As high-stress professionals, these types of situations are a part of daily life. All of this can place a great mental load on our brains and trigger our amygdala to not always respond in the best way.  That's why it's important to learn how we can reduce these threats and manage our stress. The question now is how can we do this? Pick...

Our conditioning has trained us to rely on the egocentric left brain. We often overthink things, even when we have no control over them. But what if we didn't have to accept that this is simply how our brains work? This week, Dr Giles P Croft joins us to discuss his experience of having a TIA that caused his left brain to stop functioning properly. Giles shares what it’s like to access his right b...

Criticism and feedback are fundamental to growing as an individual and professional. However, often, our brain perceives such conflicts as a threat. The amygdala acts upon this and kicks in our survival instincts. As a result, we check out and shut down to protect ourselves.  How do we avoid acting from this place of fear and focus on working toward developing ourselves? In this quick dip epi...

This week, Jo Watkins, co-founder of The HOW People, joins us to explore entrepreneurial possibilities for doctors without leaving their day jobs. We talk about what holds us back from pursuing a business idea and how you can get started on this journey. We also discuss honing the transferable skills you already have to discover what you'd like to try. If you want to start doing something differen...

As a medical professional, facing high-stress situations every day might make you think you can handle anything. But the truth is, decisiveness isn't always what you want when things go wrong. Not every crisis is the same. Sometimes, the best course of action is to take a step back and come back to the crisis later. In this quick dip episode, we uncover why we become terrible in a crisis, even as...

How often do you answer honestly when asked are you ok? Many people often say I’m’re ok even when you really aren’t. In truth, we aren’t ok. In today’s world, you’re faced with high-stress jobs, societal pressure and the uncertainty of the new normal. As we come out of the recent crisis, changed and unsure of who we are, it’s harder than ever to be ok. You have to recognize and accept when you’re...

Do you ever feel like someone else is running your life? Do you find yourself just following a set of instructions in everything you do? Without realising it, we often permit other people to control our lives. It's like living a life we don't enjoy on autopilot without questioning it The thing is, it's not too late to design your own flight plan. You have the power to take control and lead the lif...

Can you keep cool when you receive a complaint about your work? Complaints are part and parcel of every profession. No matter how common they may be and how hard you work to avoid them, the anxiety that you’ll get one is always there. It’s even more nerve-wracking if you work in healthcare. Often, complaints come with threats of referral to a professional regulator. All of a sudden, your career mi...

Too often, we say yes to every request and every demand, even when it's not what we want. It's not about people-pleasing. It's about your values. But ask yourself, is it worth it? Is sacrificing your peace and well-being a worthy cost of validating your internal dialogue?  In a world that applauds the grind, learning to say no will keep you grounded. Setting boundaries helps you care for your...

How do you make decisions? Is it from a deep place of knowing and intuition? Or is it merely out of fear?  Making big decisions (or even small ones) can understandably be stressful and anxiety-inducing. But being stuck in fear-based thinking is a prescription for misery - and for living a life doing stuff you don’t actually want to do.  This week, Henri Stevenson, Executive Coach and Sha...

We need boundaries. In fact, you might have already set some of your own. But ask yourself: how often do you let those boundaries crumble? It’s not unusual for professionals in high-stakes industries to give in to other people’s demands, even if it means losing the boundaries they set. That’s not healthy — so why do we do it? In this Quick Dip, we explore the challenges doctors and other professio...

No one wants to burn out. When you experience burnout, you might find yourself thinking much more slowly and your productivity drops. Many high-stress professionals often feel guilty and ashamed for struggling with burnout. Unfortunately, the demanding and high-stress environment these days makes burnout much more likely to happen again and again. So what can you do to avoid experiencing burnout i...

What criteria do you use when prioritising the tasks on your to-do list? Do you just put them in the order you get them? Maybe you pick the ones that seem the most urgent? Here’s an alternative: do the ones that are the easiest first. Not everything worth doing needs to be difficult! In this quick dip episode, we talk about the reality of our limits. In a high-stress job, getting everything done i...

Professor Chloe Orkin & Dr Nuthana Bhayankaram of the Medical Women's Federation join us in this episode to discuss sexism in medicine. We share first-hand experiences and explore why it remains a glaring issue today. We then discuss some strategies for action and what we can do to improve things. If you want to know what the glass ceiling, glass cliff, and glass slippers are and how to avoid...

When you're dealing with a stressful situation, your first instinct might be to act immediately to solve it. Unfortunately, acting immediately often means you don't think your actions through. Acting rashly can worsen the situation, making it even more stressful. Fortunately, there's a better way to respond to stress. All you have to do is take a few seconds to press the pause button. In this quic...

For high-stress professionals like us, one of the biggest obstacles to making a change in our lives or pursuing our great ideas is time. You might feel overwhelmed by the change you want to make or afraid of what other people would say. It's your choice not to let these reasons stop you from changing your life. Robbie Swale changed his life by using 12 minutes of his week. He joins us in this conv...

As healthcare professionals, we know what we need to do for our physical and mental well-being. So why aren’t we doing it? Often, the first thing we give up when we get busier is something that makes our lives happier. We've normalised giving up our basic needs to make room for productivity. No one bats an eye at it anymore. But is living your one shot at life like this really worth it at the end...

Whether we like it or not, meetings are essential in running an organisation. But when was the last time you attended a  meeting without feeling bored? Meetings are supposed to help us get work done more effectively. It's an opportunity for us to raise issues and make important decisions. But despite their importance, very few of them are done well. How, then, can we transform our meetings fr...

Do you constantly feel guilty about unfinished tasks at the end of the day? Do you keep finding yourself wanting to improve how you manage your time? Your to-do list is not a fixed and immovable bucket. It’s a river of opportunities that you have a choice and control over. How would you choose what things to fish out of this river wisely? In this quick dip episode, we discuss shifting our mindset...

Why is it that doctors work themselves to the point of burnout and stress and making themselves sick? In a system that seems to demand perfectionism in healthcare workers, medical professionals aim for impossibly high standards. What happens when they can't meet the standards they set for themselves? Dr Sandy Miles joins us in this episode to explore the concept of shame and how we respond to it....

Everyone praises those who work hard — so it’s not unusual for people to think that it’s good to push your limits and do as much as you can. But what’s the best thing to do when you’re tired and exhausted? Should you see how far you can go, or take a break? In this short episode, we discuss embracing our limits as a choice. With so many things out of control, we need to discern when to take a rest...