What Does My Dream Life Look Like?

I did an introductory call with a physician coach the other day and she asked me what my dream life would like if I weren’t in medicine? Rather than run away from the negative aspects of the job, I should run towards something I desire.

I wanted to sort out my thoughts of what my dream life would look like. Give myself permission to dream. Maybe it will help the reality manifest itself.

My primary value is my family, creating a household unit of love, acceptance, and fond memories. At the end of my life, I want to look back on and look towards the rich relationships I’ve cultivated.

I want to live a life of wellness and well being. Good food, good exercise, good stress management or minimal stress, good sleep, good social connections.

An ideal day to day would be to wake up in the morning, get breakfast ready and drink coffee with my husband. Take my son to school, work on something I am passionate about (don’t know what), have the freedom to go to his activities after school and his performances etc, be present for dinner and homework winding down. I would like the freedom to travel with my family to make memories.

I would love a lower stress job. I would like a job where I am collaborating with others to meet a goal, a job that feels meaningful, a job where the negatives outweigh the positive. I realize that being a mother comes with difficult moments and frustrating times. However, at the end of the day, I love my son and can’t imagine a life without him. I want my job to feel that way. I haven’t figured that out however.

Ideas that I keep playing in my mind: health or physician coach? the topic of lifestyle medicine intrigues me, but I wouldn’t know exactly what to do with that knowledge as a job. I like learning about parenting skills and child development, but not sure how that would translate into a job. I am intrigued with the idea of teaching at a community college, but not sure if that is something I would like. I like learning about finances and the idea of becoming a financial planner, but the training seems long. The idea of doing some sort of administrative work at the hospital may be appealing, but I don’t like the idea of hospital politics.

Lifestyle medicine, health coaching, and teaching biology courses seem the most translatable from my training, so leaning in that direction.

I will miss the pay from being a physician as the main point.

How can I move forward from here? I am just going in circles in my head about these careers. I should go ahead and take action, but not knowing what that will be yet.