Ep 13: Stepping Off the Treadmill of Achievement with Dr. Dawn Baker

In this episode you will meet Dawn Baker, MD who is a wife, mother, board-certified anesthesiologist, former engineer, life design coach (Practice Balance), avid world traveler and rock climber, who early on in her adult life knew her passions and goals. She shares her story, which many high achievers may relate to, of how she got caught up in what she calls the “treadmill of achievement” and ended up “losing my way in [from] the idea that I wanted to marry science and service.”

Whether you know yourself and what is most important to you,  or whether you have never done this deep self-searching, it is easy to get caught up in this treadmill of “trying to do everything and be everything to everyone,” and straying from the path of what means the most to you. 

For Dawn, it was the moment of discovering her own unexpected diagnosis while sitting in a dark room with her doctor, and lying in an ICU bed post surgery in the role of a patient, and not a physician, with a coma patient lying next to her, to start what she describes as, “my journey back to the values that I knew, and the reasons that I had gone into medicine, to really being intentional and just basically going back to my roots.”

Part of what Dawn did was to practice “not caring what others thought” of what she was doing and why. Dawn wants others to know that they don’t need a “cancer scare” before living an intentional life based on their unique core values.  She also shares her infertility journey, which started in residency, was put on hold due to her health condition, then spanned 3 years early in her attending career. 

Listen to Dr. Dawn Baker’s story and be inspired in knowing you too can live mindfully and intentionally with balance and meaning according to your personal values.

Guest Resources:

• Dr. Dawn Baker's Blog Post "Island Anesthesia" https://practicebalance.com/2019/11/locum-tenens-anesthesiology-in-the-virgin-islands/
• Dr. Dawn Baker's Blog Post  “Life as a Series of Sabbaticals” https://practicebalance.com/2018/10/life-as-a-series-of-sabbaticals/
• Dr. Dawn Baker's Guest Blog Post  “Ask for What You Want” https://www.physicianonfire.com/ask-for-what-you-want/
• Dr. Dawn Baker's Blog Post “My Top 5 Ways to Say No" https://practicebalance.com/2020/12/my-top-5-ways-to-say-no/
• Practice Balance Website and Blog at https://practicebalance.com/
• @PracticeBalance on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/practicebalance/

Dare to Dream Physician Resources:

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Dare to Dream Physician on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/daretodreamphysician/

@DreamPhysician on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dreamphysician/

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