On this episode I am joined by Dr. Joseph D Pianka. He is a Physician/Gastroenterologist and author of It's All In Your Head. He has been a board-certified practicing gastroenterologist in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, for over twenty years. A devout husband and father of three, he is also an avid surfer, snowboarder, fly-fisherman, and outdoor enthusiast. Combining his expertise pertaining to fitness and nutrition, his unique perspectives regarding psychology, faith, and self-motivation, and his love of athletics and pop culture, Pianka’s ultimate goal is to help as many people as possible who struggle to find motivation in regards to health and fitness.
Medical providers are prone to dark moments, and life can be incredibly overwhelming. Pianka has personally always found ways to rise above his dark moments through his athletic hobbies and focus on family, but early in the COVID-19 pandemic, he fell into a spiral at the the prospect of being unable to care for those who depended on him. With a television announcing early statistics about pandemic mortality playing in the background while he learned that a significant portion of his practice—and ability to care for patients—was being restricted, he had an emotional breakdown. Facing physician burnout and depression, Pianka decided to sit down and write an outline about staying fit and healthy in a seemingly chaotic existence, and he kept writing until the sun came out (literally and metaphorically). What began as a simple reference guide for his patients, conceptualized prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, evolved into an unexpected second career as an inspirational writer.
And, once it seemed possible after publication, he realized he wasn’t done yet: All of his proceeds from the book will be donated to Ukraine relief. This book is entirely about creating meaningful difference for others, and the people in the Ukraine are the most in need of help right now. “Profits that would mean little to me in the grand scheme of things may mean everything to some of them.”
It’s All in Your Head was written directly for everyday individuals with busy lives and varied hobbies. Rather than another “how to” manual, it is a “why to” guide through the complicated space of fitness and nutrition. Incorporating the fundamental principles universal to successful diet and fitness programs and teaching self-motivation skills, It’s All in Your Head unlocks doors to previously unrecognized potential and the ability to maintain fitness dreams.
We have an in depth conversation about his personal experience with burnout and what the pandemic has been like from a front line workers perspective. We talk about the warning signs to look for, ways to start making positive changes and what he knows helped him permanently change things both mentally and physically.
On this episode I am joined by Dr. Joseph D Pianka. He is a Physician/Gastroenterologist and author of It's All In Your Head. He has been a board-certified practicing gastroenterologist in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, for over twenty years. A devout husband and father of three, he is also an avid surfer, snowboarder, fly-fisherman, and outdoor enthusiast. Combining his expertise pertaining to fitness and nutrition, his unique perspectives regarding psychology, faith, and self-motivation, and his love of athletics and pop culture, Pianka’s ultimate goal is to help as many people as possible who struggle to find motivation in regards to health and fitness.
Medical providers are prone to dark moments, and life can be incredibly overwhelming. Pianka has personally always found ways to rise above his dark moments through his athletic hobbies and focus on family, but early in the COVID-19 pandemic, he fell into a spiral at the the prospect of being unable to care for those who depended on him. With a television announcing early statistics about pandemic mortality playing in the background while he learned that a significant portion of his practice—and ability to care for patients—was being restricted, he had an emotional breakdown. Facing physician burnout and depression, Pianka decided to sit down and write an outline about staying fit and healthy in a seemingly chaotic existence, and he kept writing until the sun came out (literally and metaphorically). What began as a simple reference guide for his patients, conceptualized prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, evolved into an unexpected second career as an inspirational writer.
And, once it seemed possible after publication, he realized he wasn’t done yet: All of his proceeds from the book will be donated to Ukraine relief. This book is entirely about creating meaningful difference for others, and the people in the Ukraine are the most in need of help right now. “Profits that would mean little to me in the grand scheme of things may mean everything to some of them.”
It’s All in Your Head was written directly for everyday individuals with busy lives and varied hobbies. Rather than another “how to” manual, it is a “why to” guide through the complicated space of fitness and nutrition. Incorporating the fundamental principles universal to successful diet and fitness programs and teaching self-motivation skills, It’s All in Your Head unlocks doors to previously unrecognized potential and the ability to maintain fitness dreams.
We have an in depth conversation about his personal experience with burnout and what the pandemic has been like from a front line workers perspective. We talk about the warning signs to look for, ways to start making positive changes and what he knows helped him permanently change things both mentally and physically.
Welcome to the filled up cup podcast. We are a different kind of self-care resource one that has nothing to do with bubble baths and face masks and everything to do with rediscovering yourself. We bring you real reviews, honest experiences and unfiltered opinions that will make you laugh, cry, and most importantly, leave you with a filled up cup.
Ashley:
I am very excited today. I have Dr. Joseph D Pianka joining me. He is a physician gastroenterologist and author. His book is it's all in your head. All of the proceeds from the book will also be donated to the Ukraine relief. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Joseph:
Thanks for having me.
Ashley:
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Joseph:
Yeah, so I was a. Kid from the 1980s who grew up, I was born in New York city, but grew up on long island in New York, in a small town called west Iceland, which my kids and I kid around a lot, if you are familiar with this show stranger things, which is based in the 1980s, that was very spot on reflective of my childhood. I was your average kid who loved to skateboard and go to malls and play video games. And my kids who love the show are actually a little bit jealous of the time that I grew up. It was just a great childhood and I was very exposed to the ocean. I often comment that my dad's boat when I was a kid was the equivalent of daycare. In the 1970s for me. And so that's where I started to get a real love and exposure to the outdoors and the ocean, et cetera. But also to biology, kind of working with living creatures while we were out fishing and exploring nature. That might have been part of how I got inspired to become a physician, my love of life.
Ashley:
It's so nice being able to grow up in a simpler time. I was born in the eighties, grew up in the nineties and there were so many benefits almost of being bored that we had to explore. We had to find something to do that generally was more outside type of activities.
Joseph:
I couldn't agree with you more and for my own children and don't get me wrong. I don't want my kids to necessarily repeat all the steps I've taken, especially my mistakes through the years. But I do want them to get that appreciation of what is so amazing about reality as opposed to virtually I think if they can integrate that, that's the goal and so important to health and wellbeing, I believe.
Ashley:
Yeah, I definitely agree. Can you tell us about it's all in your head and sort of how that came to be and what readers can expect from it?.
Joseph:
So it started as a simple pamphlet for my patients in my practice. I'm a gastroenterologist, so I get many questions about nutrition. Diet thrown my way. And in this day and age where you're pretty much limited to 15 minutes per visit, it became incredibly difficult for me to share all of my insights and trials and errors and diet and nutrition with them. Plus I am a fitness guy, so I would often get questions about my exercise routines, et cetera. So this idea concept started well before the COVID pandemic as something I could give to them after our visit. To read through and then in their follow ups or whether they wanted to email me with questions, we can then explore things some more. And then the dreaded pandemic happened. I essentially, which I talk about in the opener of the book. I burned out early on in the pandemic. It was just an overwhelming time for all of us, but I think providers particularly were hit pretty hard. this book which had been left on my kitchen table essentially became salvation in that very dark difficult time for me. So I remember it distinctly with the rain hitting the windows, our kitchen windows, and the news reports of the COVID statistics. I just started to type, I can't explain why, but I felt compelled to start working on this pamphlet. I had put aside, maybe it was this long shot of a new beginning or finishing something I started before, or even making a connection to the possibilities of the future or helping someone in a time. I felt helpless and I kept typing. Before I knew it, the sun came up outside the window. The rain had stopped. It was symbolic to me that the sun was gonna rise again. That the new normal may have been an even better normal when it came. And that's where the book started. I just continued with it until it was complete.
Ashley:
It's so nice that you were able to find that like cathartic release, because I couldn't even imagine what being a healthcare provider has been like for the last three years. I just don't think that anybody, unless you've been in those shoes could really grasp just how, depressing and overwhelming and scary. I don't know anybody who was a healthcare professional that didn't experience burnout.
Joseph:
I think there were so many facets of it that were tough For me, the toughest, toughest parts of the early parts of the pandemic, really, in retrospect, before anyone knew anything about this virus and how things were gonna go was this idea that was brought to a specially specialist like myself. You can't do the work that you were called to do and best at we're gonna put all these patients on hold because we're afraid of being exposed to this virus and what consequences that will have. On workers and healthcare providers and other patients and et cetera. So there were sick patients out there. We were not allowed to take care of. And I mean, illnesses outside of COVID other problems that we had to put on the shelf. That was incredibly psychologically devastating for some of us. Plus we had no idea what the future of our practices would be. What the future of medicine would be. And then you throw on top of that, that for a short while we were heroes, but then it didn't take long for a lot of us to become pariahs and blame for pushing vaccine agendas and politics sort of got in the way. So I felt it was the perfect storm for us to really be impacted negatively by so many things that came at us at once. It was a tough time.
Ashley:
I do think that's important thing to highlight that it wasn't just the one piece, cuz I think a lot of people forget about the pressure of, you know, the vaccine becoming political instead of a health crisis and people that were maybe cancer patients or people that did have. I know. Like where I'm from. There was a lot of non-essential, but still somewhat essential surgeries that got put on the back burner for a good year and a half. Our healthcare system is still kind of catching up for our area. So there's so many multi, levels to this, that it really is such an important issue to highlight
Joseph:
and the stay tuned on the data and statistics that are coming. Showing the detriment to a lot of individuals and their health in particular, by these decisions that were made. I'm not saying they were made intentionally to do harm. We just didn't know better. But I think what we will find in the future is so many mistakes were made that we will be catching up for a very long time, if not forever from the consequences of this virus. But maybe the new normal will be a better normal eventually.
Ashley:
Yeah, that part is so hard to say, but I know if we were to take like COVID out of it, even just the mental health crisis, or the fentanyl issues, we're just as serious as COVID in a lot of cases, but we really were kind of only mainly focusing on one of them. So I do agree with you that there are so many different things that will take so much longer to recover from than just the virus itself.
Joseph:
Agreed. I sometimes, and I know it may be a unfair comparison, but it's the way my mind sort of works. I always like to compare myself to some person or group of people in the past. I sometimes think back to what vietnam vets must have gone through when they were recruited to go fight a war that many didn't understand they gave their heart and soul to a cause came back and they too, by a lot of individuals were pariah. I don't know if it's a fair or equivocal comparison. But I do empathize greatly now with veterans who came back and had PTSD from their experiences and felt as if the world at large or society at large, didn't quite appreciate what they had sacrificed or been through. I sometimes do feel that way. It's kind of a weird feeling.
Ashley:
I'm sure it's a really not great feeling to be left with. Dealing with everybody's opinions when they didn't have the opportunity to have the same experience it really is unfortunate that there would be so much judgment and not enough understanding for everybody. We're really quick to focus on what divides us instead of focus on what brings us together, which is another great thing about your book is that it really focuses on things that. Puts the accountability back on us, whether it's ways to beat the burnout for yourself so that you don't have to look necessarily for a doctor or look for all of these other things that it's really tools that we have within us.
Joseph:
Agreed. So much agreed. You know, as well as I do There's a lot of interesting data that comes out saying that, well, maybe we're being a little too harsh on people and putting the responsibility on them. Maybe this is just the way nature's evolving and putting patients and people at risk of being marginalized or judged by medicine. If we put them in these categories of say, you're experiencing psychological symptoms, you're burned out your obese or whatever. You want to use as an example. But on the flip side of that, we can't as providers who have the best interest of our patients and the population at large in mind, sit back and feel pressured by entities who. Don't want to start uncomfortable conversations. The path of least resistant and comfort zones are called that for a reason, very easy and comfortable for sure. But when it comes to the greater good, sometimes you gotta start getting uncomfortable. And that could really change the trajectory of things that don't always seem like they're going in the right direction.
Ashley:
So for patients, once they've kind of hit that sort of acceptance phase, where they do have to start having some of those tough like sort of self reflections of themselves, what do you think would be sort of the next step that they would take on kind of making healthier choices?
Joseph:
So one of the things that I've been noticing lately controversies in terms of medical forums and conferences, et cetera, is this idea that, Hey, you shouldn't be overly worried about these type of trends. Maybe they're not as unhealthy as providers are saying they are, et cetera. It starts with the individual reflecting on if they are where they want to be. Mentally and physically at a particular point in time, if their answer is, yeah, I'm perfectly happy and I'm healthy and I don't want any changes to be made. I'm well adjusted. I'm comfortable with my own skin. Then the conversation ends there. They're all set. Don't push them. But for many, and I mean, many who are not in that position who maybe do feel there's room for improvement in how they feel their sense of wellbeing. Even their appearance to some degree, I think it all starts with setting. A goal in what you are looking for. That's incredibly, incredibly difficult because you have these varying opinions from people pushing you in different directions. But my goal is always to sit down first and define your own goals that you're looking for. Once you do that, then your paths start to open up a little, for example. Let's say someone's not happy with their weight, and they're not comfortable with that at all. It's just not making them feel the way they want to well, then what is it that you are looking for? Are you looking to get to just a number on a scale? Are you looking for a clothing size? Are you looking to really go another level and work on More advanced exercises and dieting that could take you to yet another level of lifestyle and ability. For example, years ago, when I started my practice, I was not at the weight or physical endurance level that I wanted to be. I knew that, and it was causing. Dark moments in my mind that I've sacrificed my quality of life for my career. It was easy to work a hard day and then go home and eat a late meal and have a beer. That added up and I felt I was missing an incredible amount that life had to offer and getting into that comfortable routine or rut as I look back and call it now. So I predefined this idea that all right, I wanna get fit. And then I wanna surf again. Like I did when I was a kid, I was already over the hill for a surfer, but I just became determined. It was a goal From that I became inspired to not only exercise more consistently. But to change my entire diet, absolutely clean it up. It took a few years to get to where I wanted to be. But eventually those early ideas led to this evolution in my entire life. So not only do I surf now, I also snowboard avidly in the winter times. I hike with my family frequently when we go on trips and our mindset as a family, me as a person. But my entire family structure changed too. because my family became interested in the things I was interested in that were healthy and so on and so forth. I really think that led to just a better life. It was what I was looking for. So I think that if an individual starts by defining what their eventual goals are, then those answers to your question about where to start become much more apparent. If that makes sense. I know I went about in a very roundabout way.
Ashley:
That definitely makes sense. I think for a lot of people, they listen to sort of all of the different messaging on what healthy looks like or what we should be buying or, the perfect, you know, quote unquote weight or body type. A lot of people need to sort of quiet all of the noise around them and get down to what really matters to them. Is it weight that feels unhealthy and, you struggle to walk up your stairs at the night or is it, I just want more energy. I think focusing on that individual need really does have ripple effects. Like you say, it's like going back to what we enjoy doing, so then it doesn't make it hard I wanna surf. I wanna go hang out with my family and then it's like creating those memories. And that example for your family will then create a situation where they also wanna go hiking with you or they wanna do whichever activity. So I think it just, once we do switch our mindset to being things that we enjoy doing that are gonna benefit us Versus as much as we all love Netflix, you know, binge watching 14 hours in a row, isn't really benefiting us in the same way that, exercise and a well balanced diet and sleep and family time and all of that other things aren't really comparable to.
Joseph:
And remember those goals don't have to be someone being a competitive surfer, maybe their hemoglobin A1C. Is too high. Maybe they have hypertension and are on two medications. Maybe they want to dance at their granddaughter's wedding. Maybe they want to take a nice walk on the beach with someone they've been married to for 50 years and not feel winded. Halfway through it. It could be anything, but it should start somewhere. I think everybody's dream or vision is so important and valid and it is their starting point. I wanna emphasize that their starting point shouldn't be my starting point. It should be individual. And look back and reflect on this amazing life that you've not only had, but as we've witnessed through an hopefully post pandemic, there are a lot of individuals out there who won't be able to have this conversation, cuz they're not here anymore. And they wish they could have had it because I know what they would've said. Wow. If I only got that second chance, the things I would've done different. Here's my list. And so I think that's just so important. It became so profoundly clear to me during, and after that breakdown of mine, if you will, when I started writing this
Ashley:
I think if we had to find a positive in the pandemic, it really did put a lot of those. what ifs in perspective. And I know for a lot of people. If they were separated from their families or their loved ones with like lockdowns or restrictions or things like that, then it kind of taught them. This is somebody I miss. This is somebody that I don't, and it kind of put those perspectives out there, but it also kind of put it the perspective. Do I, wanna. Walk around my block every night. Does that help my mental health? Do I wanna keep building on those activities? I think just the things that were really important to us, I think the pandemic kind of highlighted these are the things that I wanna keep doing, and these are the things that were really just stressing me out and burning me out. And I wanna look for ways to cut these things out of our life.
Joseph:
In my book, I talk a lot about. Puzzle doing a puzzle. Life is a puzzle and there are some pieces in that puzzle box. I don't know where they came from, but they just don't fit in forming that picture. And why don't we remove those pieces that no longer fit and find the oness that do. And what's amazing about that process is that all of a sudden. When you find a piece that fits the overall picture starts to take on definition and become more apparent. And then other pieces seem to be easier to find and fit and so on and so forth. We keep doing these puzzles in our life. But as you mentioned, getting rid of those pieces, that don't fit awfully hard because a lot of them come from our comfort zones. and it's hard to get out of your comfort zone.
Ashley:
Absolutely. We're making a lot of the things that we're talking about seem like it would be an easy shift, but change is really hard and you do have to be really gentle on yourself. That change takes time change. Generally isn't in a straight line. It really is a couple steps forward, a couple steps sideways. It doesn't have to all look like one specific thing. Taking these tools or taking, the advice of what it could be is really just what we wanna put out there.
Joseph:
So I've been listening to in my few moments that are free here and there, a lot of those motivational clips that you might find on YouTube, et cetera. A lot of them share this common theme that I've come up with. It's that when you fall. That's not failure. If you fall learn from it, pick yourself up and then go forward. That's actually success. Falling is such an incredibly important component of success. I think we were talking about, you know, kids before and you know, the younger generation who seem to, Ugh, you know, I failed, I give up.. No, it just didn't work out. Let's figure out why let's make it work. And now you build upon that and you've got this scaffolding that's being constructed for future success. And it's so important to. Pass that on.
Ashley:
It really is. We're stuck in such a perfectionist mindset that it makes people not wanna be brave and try new things. That fear of no, or that fear of what if, and, what can be perceived as a failure or what can be perceived as like a no usually is just a pivot or a lesson to try it a different way. But if we just stayed in our comfort zone and everything was the same all the time, like how incredibly boring those failures really, pushes us out into having those new experiences and learning how to trust ourselves.
Joseph:
I couldn't agree with you more. In the book I actually quoted something that Arnold Schwarzenegger said in what they call his speech that broke the internet. It's a part of a series, but where he said there is no plan B there's plan a and if you fall. You don't right away, run to plan B. You go back to plan a and make it work, but you're gonna work your ass off to make that happen. That was profound to me. It just made so much sense and it's just been the way I've been living my life for quite some time now and no regrets.
Ashley:
I always love. It can be a quote from somewhere, or you really can find inspiration anywhere and anything that motivates you to make positive changes. I just really love when people are able to share that for others.
Joseph:
I think a lot of us do that and why we are, so I don't wanna say obsessed, but just, we love our celebrities. Right? We love our. Movies that have these stories where there's a hero at the end, and they overcome insurmountable odds and songs that sort of portray that too, that there's a light, you know that never goes out. Things like that. We gravitate towards those concepts and ideas because. They give us hope and they give us that inspiration that is so essential to our own success. I'm a believer that we store all these things in our own libraries, in our heads that we go to when we need them the most. And our answers are found there. A lot of the times, Our forefathers and ancestors and the artists and geniuses of the past, they were probably pretty altruistic and they wanted their discoveries and knowledge. To be past to us and future generations. They didn't want to take it to the grave. They wanted to make a positive impact on humanity. So learn from their words that inspire us so much. There is deep, deep meaning there, and the answers we're looking for in our lives can be discovered there.
Ashley:
I definitely agree with you there. Inspiration really is everywhere. My only add-on would be, it also gives us a community of you were inspired by this person. I was inspired by this person, and now you almost have like a support system or a buddy that you kind of know, okay, this person likes what I like. I could potentially lean on them to sort of build a community or be a safe space that I could use to whether vent about staff or maybe suggest an activity to do or things like that. It just also aids in our mental health that way.
Joseph:
And I'll say as well that maybe it's not even a mutual find, maybe you found something that you tell me about or an inspirational person that at first I scratched my head and I'm skeptical. I ask you the question. Why, why do you find inspiration there? And then I sort of research what you've discovered or vice versa and an entire new world or universe opens up. If you don't mind, I'll tell you a very quick story that happens to me. this weekend So my daughter, who's now 14. My daughter, Emily is absolutely head over heels for Harry styles. For a couple of years, I'm saying, oh, he was a boy band guy. You know, he's a one hit wonder, et cetera. So she convinced me after a couple of years of nagging to. Take her to see him at Madison square garden, which we did this Saturday. I said, fine, you win. I'll take you to see Harry styles at Madison square garden, thinking in my head, this wasn't my genre, this isn't for me. I'm gonna be the oldest guy in there. How awkward can I tell you? I've not been exposed to that much positive. At a single moment in time in my entire life.
Ashley:
Oh, that's so amazing.
Joseph:
It absolutely changed everything for me. I am now going to think about what inspires others in a very different way. I'm gonna ask all the questions I can. Why do you like that? Maybe it wasn't my find, but it was someone else's and I can benefit from that as much as they can. And I have, so I'm not gonna go chasing Harry styles around for 15 nights at Madison square garden. but that show and that energy, I was a vampire for that positive energy absorbed as much of it as I possibly could. I'm a better person for it. And I have two people to thank my daughter, Emily and Harry styles himself. They change my life
Ashley:
So many more people have to be open to that. I saw things this way. Hmm. I'll still go, try to have the experience and appreciate and have it like that life changing moment. I think we need to let that ego go. So that we're not preventing ourselves from having these amazing experiences or these things that could alter, our life and our openness.
Joseph:
And burnout is a very dark place. Yes. When you're there, that for me was one of the darkest places I ever hoped to visit. And someone else, as I just mentioned, showed me a door to a very bright place. Which was something outside of my comfort zone. As you mentioned, very eloquently, that different experience. I gave a chance to flooded my dark space with such a tremendous amount of light and positive energy. Why wouldn't I do that? Every single opportunity I could possibly get. That also kind of spills over into other aspects of society in openness to different beliefs and ideas and genders and preferences and races and religions. I think there were a number of philosophers through the centuries who have been trying to pound that into our heads and somehow we've regressed or devolved and we've become very separate and polarized and us against them. That's bringing more darkness into all of our lives and perpetuating things like burnout. I look at it as a gardener, might look at a garden. Do I want a garden that has the same shape and color evergreens, and finely manicured lawns, or do I want a variety of flowers and Meadows and pollinators all over the place for my interest in my wellbeing and peace of mind, I want B I want the biggest variety I can find. I'm gonna find that. By probing other people for their ideas and what fire is them up and inspires them. And man, I'm gonna be that little kid in the 1980s on long island all over again. Why not? Age is just a number and. That's what I'm looking for.
Ashley:
More people need to have that mindset that focusing on what's really cool and interesting about this person. What can I learn from them? What are they doing that I'm not doing? That is super exciting. And again, you know, just letting the different flowers grow instead of focusing on. Things that really don't need to be important, whether it's gender, whether it's sexuality, whether it's race, all the things that we sort of mask up and put into boxes and then make a lot of unnecessary noise about, or, create laws that set us back 40 years that I just think, I totally agree with you. We need to celebrate everybody's differences on a larger scale that will bring so much more positivity cuz burnout can be very hard to get out of if somebody is in. I'm completely burned out stressed. I can't see any positive or any light around me. What are some of the ways that you recommend they sort of help heal that?
Joseph:
So you're now gonna think a Harry styles, a file if I quote it but I promise you not, it just fit in by coincidence, but in his song, golden, there's a line. I don't want to be alone. Burnout for me was a lonely place. I felt as if I were down this dark well, and I didn't even want to reach out, especially to colleagues for this fear that they would think less of me that I wasn't maintaining my potential. I was less of a physician, less of a person. I think that's what that mental place will do to an individual. I don't want to be alone. The key for me was to find other people who loved me and cared about me and believed in me and noticed the signs and wanted to help me. I think that the start for me is to reach out to those individuals in your life that can really make a tremendous difference. Let's face it as a provider. I'm giving my all to everybody all the time. Don't you think for a moment they would do the same for me in a heartbeat if I needed it. Yes, they would. No question about it. So I think that was my key. Just kind of reaching out, but on the flip side, as we talked about plan a not becoming plan B's, when I got myself out of the hole, so to speak, I then decided I was going to pay it forward and I was gonna seek out people that were in my situation. And be their shoulder to cry on or someone to vent, to, to maybe give helpful advice to, and then they could, once they got out of it, pay it forward. And let's say there's an individual who doesn't have someone to turn to, or doesn't feel that they do. Well, it's amazing how unlikely sources or individuals you never expected would be empathetic and want to support your cause and see you through things. Will you just need to look for them and believe that they're and the world is full of them, no matter how negative the news is and people at each other's throats, I think. The majority of humanity is still inherently good and kind and want to help you look for them. That's the starting point.
Ashley:
I really do think that's true. If we look at like a natural disaster, there's always people that will rush to the scene. And I think it is one of those things that, whether it is a disaster, Feels only individual to us. The more that we let that vulnerability go and understand, like, if I feel this way, somebody else has probably felt this way or is also feeling this way. So it's having those authentic conversations with people it kind of helps you realize like, All people suffer and that you're not weird or bad, or something's wrong with you if it's just you. So I think it's so great to remember, to just reach out to people. I really am so appreciative in some ways that the pandemic. Happened when it did or that we do have, so many of these services are available, whether you're somebody who doesn't have friends or family, and you're at home, there's, you know, apps that you can go onto. There's counselors that do zoom there's medical service providers that you could maybe get into your doctor. And they. Give you a resource that we really do have so many different options and so many different treatments for people where back in our childhood, it wasn't as commonly to say I'm suffering, or I have PTSD, or I have something wrong with me that feels like mental issues. Back then, it, maybe would've been shoved under the rug in a different way that now it isn't as scary to share as it once was.
Joseph:
Absolutely. And the other part of this is the people who are sources of help that you can reach out to. They're benefiting too. In other words, it's not just the person who is suffering. And getting those comforting, supportive words. That's getting light shined into their situation, but the person who's doing the helping is just getting this incredible surge of energy from what they're doing as well. There's just something about being empathetic and kind that is all healing and. Inspirational to the individual doing it or giving you get more ideas. It's crazy, but it's almost, you get hyper intoxicated from that type of gesture where new ideas on how to help other people start coming up. Have you ever had that friend who always seems to be there helping others? When they do something really good, they're almost so hyper. You can't understand them. They're like, yeah. And then tomorrow I'm gonna go do this. And then the next day I'm gonna do that. And you can, whoa, whoa, whoa. You could barely keep up with them.
Ashley:
Yeah. It's like one gigantic big heart and everybody flocks to those people.
Joseph:
No question. And that's so important. I. Honestly want to be that person. We used to always call them the guy or gal that can chat everybody up in the room at a party. They're the first ones invited, right? I mean, there's no question. They're number one, to get an invite to a party. I wanna be that person. I want to make everybody around me feel good. And selfishly. That's benefiting me. That's part of my healing. And man, it goes back to biblical writings that if you do good for others, great, good will come to you. There's no question.
Ashley:
I think, especially as a doctor, that is such a great goal to have, cuz who doesn't wanna go see people that their goal is to be positive and to spread love and kindness it really needs to be the goal overall in humanity, that we all should focus on that. How can I do good? How can I be that shoulder for somebody else What can I do to help other people and create that community around you so that not only are you creating a safe space for somebody else, but you're also creating a safe space for yourself for when the time comes. Good and bad times are always gonna come. So it's like, you don't wanna have to feel like you're suffering in silence.
Joseph:
I think you just answered the question on how providers can best deal with burnout. And that's remembering that fundamental idea that people are coming to you for help and guidance and to be that bright light in their lives. And that's why you went into your calling or profession. To provide exactly that it's this positive feedback loop back and forth where when you're able to do that, you're gonna see nothing but brightness. I have to be perfectly honest with you. I think. Especially in the earlier part of my career when I got so absorbed in terms of electronic medical records and the endless documentation, and the limited time to see patients and the increased demand for procedures and volume and overhead. I can just keep going on and on. I lost. What fundamentally drew me to this profession or my calling, if you will. After hitting my rock bottom. I found it again and that's, what's pulled me through and that's what I hope for anyone who's gone through what I have and what so many are going through now. I think you've answered the question as to how to find the solution.
Ashley:
I love the fact that you found the solution for yourself and that we are heading, you know, into cold flu season where you feel like you have this energy and you have these, protections in place that burnout won't be, in your future, hopefully again, in the same way,
Joseph:
not in the same way. I think, you know once you have experienced. You'll always feel on guard that you're prone to it. But I think now the tools that I've accumulated the game plan, the strategies, I now have them in place in a much more solid foundation and structure where I don't think I will be as vulnerable. Or fall as deeply as I have. I can now identify early signs. Hey, wait a minute. I gotta take a break. I gotta go work out. I've gotta go. Surf. I gotta go sit down and have dinner and chat with my family and lay things out on the line. I gotta call my parents. I've got to do something so they can knock some sense into me or shine some light on me. I'll get stronger from that and hopefully be able to guide some others who can be helped from it as well.
Ashley:
It's like that old saying when we know better, we do better. Now, going back at teeny bit, how we were talking about spreading love is that where donating funds to the Ukraine relief came in.
Joseph:
So the Ukraine relief was another level. So in other words, We talked about all of these steps along the pathway, being in a dark place, discovering, yourself first helping yourself so that you can help others then taking that to my patients. Well, why stop there? I mean, there's a unbelievably unimaginable war and human atrocities going on as we speak. So I certainly won't benefit from any of the profits of this book, as much as some of those oppressed people will. I mean, for me, it won't mean that incredibly much. I didn't write this thing for the money. I wrote this thing for personal salvation and then maybe to help out a few other people. So I've already hit my goals. Anything else that can help other people in a substantial way. Now that's meaningful. And that's that idea that we talked about that hyper person at the party who suddenly has other ideas on how to help. That's where that came from. It was a different level. I really do hope when all is said and done, I can do that in some way. I feel. We should all help each other out in terms of humanity, not just our next door neighbor, not just the patient who's coming in to see me tomorrow, but anything I can do for the greater good that's my goal. And that's, what's keeping me in a bright place.
Ashley:
I definitely appreciate that. I really do find that that message is a beautiful one to spread. I think it is really infectious and I really do think people will feel it when they're surrounding you. I think it is fantastic to be able to help the people in Ukraine because they definitely need it right now. Do you have a website or social media channels that people could connect with you if they wanted to?
Joseph:
Yes. Instagram and TikTok are the two that we use.
Ashley:
I really appreciate you having this conversation with me today. Thank you so much for being here.
Joseph:
I can't thank you enough. This was really a pleasure.
Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode of the filled up cup podcast, don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a review. If you like what you hear, you can also connect with us@filledupcup.com. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you in the next episode.