Lean In, Back Out

I made two momentous decisions yesterday.  Momentous for me, at least.  The reason was that I did something uncharacteristic, I pulled out of two revenue generating activities.  I know, those of you who read my income reports are saying: thank g-d, it’s time Doc G let go of something.  But you have to understand, I think of every side hustle as a unique gift and opportunity.   I don’t let go of them without a good deal of thought and introspection.  What I’ve learned this week, however, is that sometimes to lean into life, you have to back out.

Telehealth

For the last six months, I have been working with a company to provide telehealth and online testing.  It’s a field that I am very interested in, but have never found the right opportunity.  So it was with great excitement that I accepted a position with a company run by a personal friend.

At first blush, the company was on the up and up and the medical team was top-notch.  Unlike some ventures, the services provided were reasonable, helpful, and in demand.  I jumped in with a small engagement of ten hours  per month.  Not a lot of time, but enough to get my feet wet.  The pay was 1/4 of my normal hourly wages, but I felt the experience gained was well worth the  lower rates.

My first few hours of consults were wonderful.  I really enjoyed the medium.  The problem, which we realized quickly, is that I was limited to doing consults for Illinois because of licensing issues.

The solution, of course, was simple.  Apply for licenses in seven or eight more states, so I could increase my bandwidth.

And that’s when my cheery side hustle became a royal pain in the arse!

The licensing boards required finger prints, multiple notarized forms, and a particularly heinous procedure called Jurisprudence exams.

My to do list skyrocketed and my stress levels exploded.  Not a good thing for a small side hustle that accounted for less than a twentieth of my monthly income.  The only reasonable course to lean into my own life and happiness was to back out.

I called my friend on the phone and told him that I could no longer work for his company.

I was both sad and relieved.

Dropping The Outlier

I love seeing patients in nursing homes.  It’s a cornerstone of my medical practice.  One of the great benefits of working in this setting is that all the patients are housed in one single location.  In other words, it’s super efficient.  I currently visit five nursing homes.  Four of them are clustered in a geographic square, while the outlier is many miles away.

I had been making the outlier trip several times a month to see a sprinkling of patients.

Yesterday, I finally decided that enough was enough.  It was no longer worth the time to travel the extra distance for a facility that was not fulfilling my needs or those of my patients.  There are several other doctors who frequent this nursing home and can see the patients in a more timely manner.

In Summary

I’ve decided to lean in by taking a step back.  When you are involved in as many activities as I am, there is a natural  pecking order.  Those activities that are stress inducing, time-consuming, or revenue weak will be the first to fall off the to do list.

I feel lighter already!

How about you?  What activity have you dropped that has made all the difference?