I want to apologize for neglecting this group for so long. For one thing, I got locked out of Skool for a while. Secondly, my ADHD brain simply got busy with so many other things that I completely forgot I had this group. Yesterday I was checking through my business accounts for tax purposes and realized I was paying for 2 Skool groups every month and can't even get logged into Skool!!! Talk about another example of the ADHD Tax. Anyway, while I do not plan to shut down this group completely, I do have to confess that keeping it active is a big chore when there are a million other things that need my attention. When overwhelm hits, I shut down like an Ostrich that hides its head in the sand. Thank you to those who read this and send a slight bit of encouragement my way.

Welcome all! I am incredibly grateful that you have joined this group! Allow me to introduce myself if you do not know me well. My name is Thomas Stewart and I am a Nurse Practitioner who works in 2 specialties--Emergency Medicine and Hospitalist (inpatient) Medicine. I have 9+ years of NP experience as well as years in the ICU and ER nurse role and before that I was a Paramedic. Many of you are colleagues and I am honored that you have joined me here in this space. About 2-3 years ago I was really struggling to stay engaged in the day to day work of healthcare. So many things changed (not for the better) after COVID shut down then over-ran our healthcare systems. Burnout is something that virtually all healthcare professionals felt and SOOOO many left the field since then. This has made the work even more challenging on those of us who stayed. And yet, the last 2 years I have grown more as a person and a healthcare professional by practicing numerous aspects of personal development. And the most profound changes in my life and mental health have been the result of small shifts in perspective and practice. Now, I have ADHD so I have had times when I have experienced cult-like hyperfocus on personal development and times that I have wanted to crawl into a ball and trash all my progress by one bad decision after another. Can anyone relate?? Things REALLY shifted for me when I understood: WE CAN CHOOSE HOW WE LIVE OUR LIVES! Seriously, We have the ability to curate our existence in ways our ancestors, even the all-knowing Nostradamus, couldn't fathom. The alternative is to let our circumstances and our burnout choose for us and I REFUSE that option. I created this community to share some of the best of what I have spent years learning (and ignoring) and re-learning in a different manner! My hope is to bring in the weary and broken and help them see a new path forward as well as support the superstars of continuous self-development. I chose the Skool platform (out of the thousands of options) because Skool offers messaging and discussion boards as well as specific course options that can be accessed by website or by an app. There is also built in gamification as you advance levels based on comments and engagement. In other words, it allows us a chance to CREATE A COMMUNITY that grows together instead of another lonely journey!

I recorded this video in the parking lot before going inside for a 12 hour night shift, my 8th day in a row and part of a bigger stretch in which I worked 160 hours in 10 calendar days. I didn't know it at the time, but this night was about to be the most challenging of them all. And yet, I got back up and persisted again and again and again. My personal development journey has been anything but a straight path to success. On this night, as with many others, I was irritated with myself and with others and I didn't do everything "right." Perfect performance is not possible, but the true desire to show up meaningfully and care for others to the best of my ability is what drives me forward; flaws and all.