Move the Bar by 0.001%

Hey there 👋🏻

I just started the newsletter subscription last week. If you’ve been enjoying the content so far, I hope you’ll hit the subscribe button to get the latest updates.

Last week I finished a book called Meditation for Mortals. It isn’t like your typical productivity book that tells you to adopt some fancy routine to maximize your time and joy.

It’s quite the opposite.

The very first chapter already asks you to come to terms with the fact that there are endless things to do in your life. We don’t give ourselves enough credit for simple things like calling your mom or spending time with your cat. Behind all the success and charm we see on social media, we forget how little credit is given for the mundane things: brushing your teeth, taking a shower, doing laundry.

But here’s the thing. Those mundane things we rarely acknowledge are what keep our sanity intact. They are what move life forward, even if it’s just by 0.001%.

I remember when I first started building an inpatient pain program, I thought I needed to “get there.” I had big goals. I wanted to implement buprenorphine initiatives and opioid stewardship principles right from the start. But to get there, I realized it’s just like living life. I had to do the routine things that others might not give much credit to:

• Renally dose a gabapentin

• Stop an NSAID during an acute kidney injury

• Schedule a lidocaine topical that wasn’t being used

If you and I don’t act on those, could the lack of routine interventions fester into something more detrimental? Maybe. Probably.

So here’s a different perspective, especially for those starting out in pain management:

Don’t aim to make earth shaking interventions (by the way, those hardly exist). Aim to move the bar by 0.001%.

• Read a chapter about opioid conversion from Dr. McPherson’s book when you feel like it

• Look up how to convert gabapentin to pregabalin on a random afternoon

• Read the drug label of Suboxone when curiosity strikes

When you shift your mindset from trying to get to 100% to just getting that 0.001% done, you’ll feel more accomplished.

Because the to do list in front of you is nearly infinite.

See you next time.