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Priorities with Chrissy Guidry · Lean Out Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the lean out podcast.
• 0:02
  I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:04
  Don baker.
• 0:05
  Are you looking for a new approach to authentic and sustainable work-life balance?
• 0:10
  You've come to the right place.
• 0:12
  Listen as i interview amazing women professionals who've taken steps to lean out and find balance on their own terms Hello?
• 0:21
  Hello.
• 0:21
  Thanks for being here.
• 0:23
  This will be the last interview for the year of 2023.
• 0:27
  And I just want to say thank you so much for listening to this podcast.
• 0:31
  It started out as an experiment of sharing the actual interviews that turned into profiles of women.
• 0:39
  That inspired me in their lean out journeys for the book.
• 0:42
  Lean out.
• 0:43
  But it's grown to so much more.
• 0:46
  I've always loved writing.
• 0:47
  And while I have loved listening to podcasts for many years, I wasn't really sure that I would love creating podcast episodes myself.
• 0:57
  However I've really enjoyed it.
• 0:59
  And I so much appreciate your support.
• 1:02
  I'll be back in 2024 with more episodes.
• 1:06
  Please.
• 1:06
  If you have any particular content ideas, things you'd like to hear about or people that you'd specifically like to hear from don't hesitate to send me a message through my website, practice balance.com or you can send me a DM on Instagram.
• 1:21
  I'm at practice balance.
• 1:24
  One last announcement.
• 1:26
  The lean out book is now available on audible.
• 1:30
  It was a labor of love for me to record all of the chapters myself.
• 1:34
  And I finally got it done.
• 1:35
  It was my year end goal for 2023.
• 1:39
  If you're the audio book type or you're a minimalist and don't like having paper books and you have been waiting to buy lean out then now is your time to go get it.
• 1:51
  Okay onto the show.
• 1:53
  Today, I'm going to be talking with Chrissy.
• 1:55
  Guidry.
• 1:56
  Chrissy is a trauma and critical care surgeon who started out her career on the traditional academic path at Tulane university.
• 2:05
  Inspired by her experiences on a fertility journey.
• 2:09
  Chrissy took a hard look at how she was spending her time and decided to branch out to include things in her work-life balance that bring more joy.
• 2:19
  She still has a role as a leader for physician wellness at two lane.
• 2:23
  And she focuses her clinical time doing locum tenens work at nearby small community hospitals, where she finds that she enjoys her work so much more.
• 2:34
  She also has an added new passion in her life, which is community and education.
• 2:40
  And support for healthcare professionals who would like to optimize their mind, body and soul through clean living practices.
• 2:48
  I apologize in advance that my voice during this interview is a little bit scratchy.
• 2:53
  I think I was recovering from some sort of a cold.
• 2:56
  When we recorded.
• 2:58
  I really wanted to get this interview out to you before the year was up, because we talk about so many very important issues that come up frequently on episodes of this podcast.
• 3:09
  Without further ado.
• 3:10
  I hope you enjoy this conversation with Chrissy.
• 3:16
  CG-Dawn: Chrissy, welcome to the show.
• 3:18
  CG-Dawn: I'd love it if you would introduce yourself and tell us about how your work life balance is different from other people who have your profession.
• 3:27
  CG-Chrissy: Sure.
• 3:27
  CG-Chrissy: Well, thanks so much for having me today.
• 3:29
  CG-Chrissy: I'm really excited to be here and get talk to you and talk to your listeners a little bit about a different way of living the life of a surgeon.
• 3:37
  CG-Chrissy: You know, I started, my first job, at Tulane, as a academic surgeon.
• 3:42
  CG-Chrissy: And I, really just thought I was gonna be in academics for the rest of my life.
• 3:49
  CG-Chrissy: And I thought I was going to publish and really just go through the ranks of, you know, assistant associate to full professor well, I started reflecting back on a lot of things through the first few years of my life, here and really started, reflecting even more so after the pandemic started.
• 4:09
  CG-Chrissy: And thinking about what really matters to me and, how do I want my life to play out?
• 4:16
  CG-Chrissy: And throughout, the last five years, I I met my husband, and that changed a lot of perspectives on what my priorities were in life and for my career.
• 4:27
  CG-Chrissy: And what I realized was, you know, I was just in this rat race to, publish more to get more, you know, letters behind my name, I was missing out on the things that were right in front of me, And I wasn't living in the present moment.
• 4:44
  CG-Chrissy: And when I really realized that, I started looking around and seeing things that I was missing.
• 4:52
  CG-Chrissy: I was missing, events.
• 4:54
  CG-Chrissy: I was missing things that I had you know, I was on call for and things that I thought, well, you know what?
• 5:02
  CG-Chrissy: I need to make some changes.
• 5:03
  CG-Chrissy: I need to Spend less time focusing on my career because although my career is super important and, you know, drilled in us, I think a lot of people in my generation from our parents is, you know, career number one.
• 5:18
  CG-Chrissy: You know, you really have to be good at this before you're good at anything else.
• 5:23
  CG-Chrissy: And what I, realized was, like, you know what?
• 5:25
  CG-Chrissy: Like, I can still be a surgeon and not work as much.
• 5:30
  CG-Chrissy: I can still be a surgeon and, get the respect, get the, support around me, but actually build a life outside of work as well.
• 5:40
  CG-Chrissy: Um, then I started looking at different locums opportunities, and that's whenever I decided to change my lifestyle.
• 5:49
  CG-Chrissy: And, Really, I started with, working closely with the departments here at Tulane and got in the role of the GME well-being director, which has been a really amazing experience for me to impact change from a framework level and so from there, I was working less clinically here in New Orleans, and I decided, you know, I kinda came back to my roots of being raised in a small town, and I realized, I think I want to be in a place where there's a hospital in the smaller towns and connect with the community and sit on the patient's beds and really have a conversation with them when I go see them for a consult.
• 6:32
  CG-Chrissy: I started doing that, and it really freed up a lot of my time.
• 6:35
  CG-Chrissy: So it was kinda different.
• 6:37
  CG-Chrissy: You know?
• 6:37
  CG-Chrissy: A lot of people are like, aren't you an academic surgeon?
• 6:40
  CG-Chrissy: And, I'm like, well, I am, sorta.
• 6:43
  CG-Chrissy: I call myself a hybrid because I do a little bit of both.
• 6:47
  CG-Chrissy: I'm still doing some stuff for tooling now and But, you know, spend more than half of my time, in the clinical world in North Carolina and a couple of hospitals here locally in Louisiana as well.
• 7:01
  CG-Chrissy: And whenever I had this extra time where I was reflecting and getting to read a lot and and, you know, getting the help of my coaches to really find out what my purpose was in life and what, I'm supposed to be doing with this newfound time that I had, you know, we we're my husband and I are going on trips.
• 7:21
  CG-Chrissy: We hiked the Camino de Santiago, which I never would imagine having, three and a half weeks off to be able to do something like that.
• 7:29
  CG-Chrissy: And then, coming back and really thinking, you know what?
• 7:32
  CG-Chrissy: I I really need to be in a space where, uh, can create a community of people who are like minded, who want to actually live out these things and and want these things in their life, especially when we're still young enough to enjoy it.
• 7:48
  CG-Chrissy: But, also, we don't wanna be out of medicine.
• 7:50
  CG-Chrissy: Like, I don't wanna not be a surgeon.
• 7:53
  CG-Chrissy: I read a lot of the physician blogs and whatnot, and it's like, fast fire this, fast fire that.
• 7:59
  CG-Chrissy: You know?
• 7:59
  CG-Chrissy: Everybody just wants to retire from medicine.
• 8:02
  CG-Chrissy: But, I don't wanna not practice medicine.
• 8:05
  CG-Chrissy: I wanna be a surgeon.
• 8:06
  CG-Chrissy: I like helping patients.
• 8:08
  CG-Chrissy: That still brings me a lot of joy.
• 8:11
  CG-Chrissy: But how can I do a little bit of both?
• 8:13
  CG-Chrissy: And that was whenever I decided I was gonna start my own business, Whole Body Optimism, And I'm sure we'll talk a lot more about it.
• 8:21
  CG-Chrissy: You asked what my work life balance is, and, um, you know, I'm usually pretty wordy, so You're welcome for that.
• 8:28
  CG-Chrissy: But I, so I sorta work in the academic space.
• 8:34
  CG-Chrissy: I work at the VA, and I love working with the residents here.
• 8:37
  CG-Chrissy: They're a big part of, what I still do and mentor them, which I really like.
• 8:42
  CG-Chrissy: I do some locums in a in small towns, especially in smaller communities that, Um, when the surgeon's on call for that hospital, it's you.
• 8:51
  CG-Chrissy: And there's no other, Yeah.
• 8:53
  CG-Chrissy: Resident, not a lot of APPs where I go maybe a couple here and there.
• 8:59
  CG-Chrissy: And then, I'd like the online space where I can build a community of like minded people that can come together and really share ideas, and I can teach them about clean living and how to, live better lives.
• 9:12
  CG-Dawn: So I'd love to go back after hearing all that to the realization point.
• 9:18
  CG-Dawn: What was it that was happening in your life when you had this realization that in your words, I was missing out on things that were right in front of me
• 9:27
  CG-Chrissy: yeah.
• 9:28
  CG-Chrissy: It's a great question.
• 9:29
  CG-Chrissy: We got married in in December twenty nineteen.
• 9:32
  CG-Chrissy: So, we were freshly in our marriage at the beginning of the pandemic.
• 9:38
  CG-Chrissy: And, You know, when when we got married, we decided we were gonna, you know, really go full force ahead to, try to grow our family.
• 9:48
  CG-Chrissy: Previous to when we got married, I knew, because I had been to the fertility clinic and was told that I had diminished ovarian reserve, and it was gonna be very difficult for us to conceive.
• 10:01
  CG-Chrissy: So, early twenty twenty, we were like, what do we need to do to get this, you know, going.
• 10:07
  CG-Chrissy: You know?
• 10:08
  CG-Chrissy: And so I was in and out of the fertility clinic with ultrasound appointments.
• 10:13
  CG-Chrissy: And, a turning point for me was, uh, there was one morning where I was covering the service.
• 10:19
  CG-Chrissy: And if anybody knows an acute care surgery service, there's partners that cover for you here and there, and it's usually not a big deal.
• 10:27
  CG-Chrissy: And so there was one morning where the residents were they added on a case the night before, I knew that if the case was gonna be the first case of the day, I was going to maybe have to get a partner to cover because, if and anybody's in the fertility space, they know you have to go get these, ovarian scans, you know, every other day just to see if your what your goals are doing and if they're progressing.
• 10:53
  CG-Chrissy: So sure enough, the morning comes around, and they decide, oh, doctor Gentry, we're gonna give you the first case.
• 10:59
  CG-Chrissy: And I was Like, well, I can't be there because I have to go get this five minute ultrasound, way out twenty five minutes away at my fertility clinic.
• 11:11
  CG-Chrissy: So I asked the partner to cover for me.
• 11:13
  CG-Chrissy: So he agreed.
• 11:15
  CG-Chrissy: He's a strong ally would love to cover.
• 11:17
  CG-Chrissy: And when the, consent was revised to the nurses, they said that they couldn't read it.
• 11:25
  CG-Chrissy: And so there was this whole rigmaru.
• 11:28
  CG-Chrissy: The patient was asleep.
• 11:30
  CG-Chrissy: They couldn't get the consent because they couldn't read it, that it was now the new surgeon that was on the consent that their residents did everything right for.
• 11:40
  CG-Chrissy: Um, and so then that led to me getting written up.
• 11:45
  CG-Chrissy: I was just at the point in my life, I was like, what is going on here?
• 11:50
  CG-Chrissy: There's so many roadblocks I'm sure there's a lot of female surgeons, a lot of female physicians listening to your podcast that can relate to this, but it just this was, like, the second or third write up for something so stupid that I was like, why?
• 12:09
  CG-Chrissy: And it wasn't just like a write up and you blow it off.
• 12:12
  CG-Chrissy: I had to sit down with the division chief, with you know, write this response.
• 12:18
  CG-Chrissy: Come up with all these things.
• 12:19
  CG-Chrissy: And really, to me, I At that point in time, I wasn't blaming anybody, and I decided I'm gonna take responsibility for my own actions and really make a change.
• 12:33
  CG-Chrissy: I was like, I have built my whole life trying to get to where I am today Just to be trying to live these both lives, trying to grow my family, trying to have a career, and and I'm meeting a bunch of roadblocks on both sides.
• 12:50
  CG-Chrissy: The fertility stuff is not working.
• 12:52
  CG-Chrissy: The career stuff is, you know, like, all these roadblocks keep coming up.
• 12:56
  CG-Chrissy: And I'm like, I need to do something different.
• 12:59
  CG-Chrissy: I need to practice some more self care.
• 13:02
  CG-Chrissy: I need to reflect on what do I want in life?
• 13:06
  CG-Chrissy: What is my purpose in life.
• 13:08
  CG-Chrissy: What makes me happy?
• 13:10
  CG-Chrissy: Does it make me happy to come in and do these cases?
• 13:13
  CG-Chrissy: Does it make me happy to, take twenty four hour in person, trauma call.
• 13:19
  CG-Chrissy: You know, I really had to evaluate, like, what's right for me.
• 13:22
  CG-Chrissy: And that's whenever I started, conscious efforts, voluntary, purposeful efforts to shave out the things in my life that I didn't feel like were serving me.
• 13:34
  CG-Chrissy: I had to reflect on what are the things that make me happy, and I want to do more of them.
• 13:40
  CG-Chrissy: So that's whenever I started doing more with the mentoring of the residents and this position as the GME well-being director and then started working in smaller towns where there is this just sense of community.
• 13:54
  CG-Chrissy: There's a reason why they call it community hospitals.
• 13:57
  CG-Chrissy: Right?
• 13:57
  CG-Chrissy: Because you get this incredible sense of, collaboration and, humility that you don't find, to be quite frank, in an academic center.
• 14:08
  CG-Chrissy: And so throughout this whole time, I had a fertility coach.
• 14:11
  CG-Chrissy: I highly think coaches are just incredible in their space.
• 14:16
  CG-Chrissy: I tried to get a coaching system for the residents also because I felt like Coaching is a huge part of my life and a huge part of what has impacted my decisions and and can steer people's into the right direction.
• 14:30
  CG-Chrissy: And my fertility coach asked me.
• 14:32
  CG-Chrissy: She said, Chrissy, what are you tolerating?
• 14:37
  CG-Chrissy: And it just hit me.
• 14:39
  CG-Chrissy: I was like, I am tolerating so many things in my life.
• 14:44
  CG-Chrissy: Why?
• 14:46
  CG-Chrissy: I can actually be doing things that make me thrive.
• 14:51
  CG-Chrissy: hOnestly, that was a big turning point for me that made me decide, What am I doing with my life?
• 14:56
  CG-Chrissy: The fertility journey happened for an amazing purpose in my life.
• 15:01
  CG-Chrissy: It got me to the point where I was like, What what do I need to do to thrive, and what can I do to change what I'm doing right now to realize how much more I have in this life than what I was tolerating?
• 15:19
  CG-Chrissy: Early in the fertility journey, you know, there was a lot of triggering things.
• 15:23
  CG-Chrissy: We've worked together in the fertility space.
• 15:25
  CG-Chrissy: And I know a lot of people, kinda shy away from, baby showers or, pregnancy announcements and stuff like that.
• 15:33
  CG-Chrissy: And, really, when you get to the point, I felt this way, and and my coach, really was the pivotal in this was when you get to the point where you're actually happy for people when they tell you that they're pregnant.
• 15:47
  CG-Chrissy: You know that you are just at peace with the timing and the purpose of your own fertility journey.
• 15:55
  CG-Chrissy: And I thought that was pretty remarkable when she said that.
• 15:59
  CG-Chrissy: And I truly can say that I'm at that point where I'm like, things are happening exactly how they're supposed to be.
• 16:07
  CG-Chrissy: Doors are opening and doors are closing for all the good reasons, and I'm gonna continue to go with that flow.
• 16:15
  CG-Chrissy: I'm gonna go where it makes me feel happy.
• 16:17
  CG-Chrissy: I'm gonna go where the the good energy is, and I'm gonna continue to have faith in that next
• 16:25
  CG-Dawn: where are you on your fertility
• 16:27
  CG-Chrissy: Still doing it, which, you know, this started over four years ago.
• 16:31
  CG-Chrissy: It's crazy when you think back.
• 16:33
  CG-Chrissy: You're like, wow.
• 16:34
  CG-Chrissy: I've been in this four years, and This is a interesting, um, lesson that I'm learning, I hate everything happens for a reason.
• 16:41
  CG-Chrissy: I think, and I say this often, everything happens for a purpose.
• 16:45
  CG-Chrissy: And when you can really find what that purpose is, It kinda gives you something to look forward to in the future.
• 16:52
  CG-Chrissy: And, I totally believe that Our baby is coming.
• 16:56
  CG-Chrissy: We're gonna have two babies.
• 16:58
  CG-Chrissy: I have some strong meditations about them, and I pray, and I meditate, and I practice centering, and these are important things in my life.
• 17:08
  CG-Chrissy: And I feel like that we had to get to a point in our lives with my husband and I where we were living cleaner lives, mind, body, soul, so that we can really be the best parents to these kids that are gonna come into this world.
• 17:26
  CG-Chrissy: I definitely feel like there is a lot of stigma around, um, donor egg, and there is a lot of, Oh, well, you're just kinda quote, unquote giving up?
• 17:38
  CG-Chrissy: Well, I don't believe in that.
• 17:40
  CG-Chrissy: I believe that, when the doors were opening for us to go down the donor egg route.
• 17:47
  CG-Chrissy: They were, a little challenging at first.
• 17:49
  CG-Chrissy: You know?
• 17:50
  CG-Chrissy: I think we match with our fifth donor.
• 17:53
  CG-Chrissy: Um, so we're currently in the process of making that work at the moment, but it's just It's been a more pleasant journey.
• 18:02
  CG-Chrissy: It really has.
• 18:03
  CG-Chrissy: And to think that science is created so that we can actually if we have infertility, what did they do fifty years ago?
• 18:13
  CG-Chrissy: They just didn't have kids, like or they went through the adoption process.
• 18:18
  CG-Chrissy: They did all these things.
• 18:20
  CG-Chrissy: Well, now we can actually be so grateful and so thankful that science exists for us to take my husband's sperm with an egg donor, create embryos in a lab, and then put it back in me so that I can actually carry our future children.
• 18:41
  CG-Chrissy: So that is sort of our next step in our process, and we're going through it and and we're, You know, we have good days and bad days when we think about it, but, the long term trajectory is, staying in a mindset of gratitude for, what this journey has taught us and what it's gonna give us so, the journey continues, but, we live in the present moment, and we enjoy every new thing and we look at it more as an opportunity and not, just a challenge.
• 19:14
  CG-Chrissy: We try to get out of the mindset of saying, you know, I have to do this.
• 19:18
  CG-Chrissy: This is more of an opportunity, and I get to do it.
• 19:22
  CG-Chrissy: We're not just gonna, like, put off our happiness Until we get our baby, we're gonna enjoy our happiness right now and our our positive energy that we have in our space and take advantage of everything in front of us.
• 19:34
  CG-Dawn: Thank you so much for explaining all that.
• 19:37
  CG-Dawn: Are so many ways to define success.
• 19:40
  CG-Dawn: And even though you have not had these babies on your journey, yet you have experienced some successes along the way already and changing mindset in reevaluating your work life balance and what you're willing to tolerate, what is your priority, and those kind of things.
• 20:04
  CG-Dawn: So I really appreciate that you're sharing this as well because there are so many people in medicine and in other professions, both men and women, that want to keep this all a secret and want to just suffer in silence.
• 20:19
  CG-Dawn: And that's where the beauty of coaching and of these groups, the Facebook groups and support groups really shines and really helps.
• 20:29
  CG-Chrissy: Totally.
• 20:30
  CG-Dawn: So You talked a lot about coaching, about focusing on clean living, which is now Whole Body Optimism, and using support groups, is there any other way that you have navigated the uncertainty of years of infertility treatments while being a counterculture surgeon, being someone that is bucking the system and is going against the broken system that we operate in.
• 21:01
  CG-Chrissy: It's a great question.
• 21:02
  CG-Chrissy: I come back to, um, my mindfulness practice.
• 21:05
  CG-Chrissy: I am really dedicated to every morning.
• 21:10
  CG-Chrissy: uh, you know, like, my life every day is I wake up at a different time sometimes.
• 21:15
  CG-Chrissy: And, you know, I know a lot of people say, You should wake up at the same time every day.
• 21:19
  CG-Chrissy: Well, I don't do that.
• 21:20
  CG-Chrissy: Okay?
• 21:20
  CG-Chrissy: And I get plenty sleep, and I always just work backwards.
• 21:24
  CG-Chrissy: So If I have to be out the door at seven o'clock, I wake up an hour and a half before that.
• 21:32
  CG-Chrissy: So I'll wake up at five thirty.
• 21:34
  CG-Chrissy: So then before that, I'll make sure I'm in bed at least eight and a half to eight hours before that, so then I'll go to bed.
• 21:43
  CG-Chrissy: So I think having the routine where I can get plenty sleep, wake up and have an hour and a half before I have to leave out the door, I really have that special time where I can spend time in prayer and meditation and journaling.
• 22:00
  CG-Chrissy: And I focus on that time, whether it be Guided meditations.
• 22:06
  CG-Chrissy: You know, I listen to a lot of Joe Dispenza.
• 22:09
  CG-Chrissy: Um, I've recently got into the app Aura that's you know, really has some powerful meditations, that help you to stabilize the mind and to really think about, you know, sensations in your body, calming your nervous system, really making you present in the moment, and then taking that last I spend the last Twenty to fifteen minutes journaling about all the things that I'm grateful for and just the positive things in our life because the research shows if you journal about the things that you're grateful for and the things that you're thankful for, you have an increased happiness as opposed to just writing down all the things from the previous day that you were upset about or things that didn't go well, things like that.
• 22:57
  CG-Chrissy: There's a difference in happiness there.
• 22:59
  CG-Chrissy: So I think that mindfulness practice really, sets an intention for the rest of the day.
• 23:05
  CG-Chrissy: And you can set an intention to be, more, thoughtful throughout the day.
• 23:10
  CG-Chrissy: Show more loving kindness throughout the day.
• 23:12
  CG-Chrissy: You can set that intention every day when you wake up and have this kind of practice.
• 23:17
  CG-Chrissy: And I think that that has really transformed every day of my life whenever I started off like that.
• 23:25
  CG-Chrissy: So what do I use to really get through the moments whenever I get, you know, another confrontation or someone who questions my clinical judgment or something during the day, later in that day, I focus in on my mindfulness, and I really reflect on how my nervous system is really calm during this.
• 23:46
  CG-Chrissy: And it's a opportunity, and I get to explain, this medical condition.
• 23:51
  CG-Chrissy: I get to, you know, have this challenging conflict and figure out how we're gonna get through it.
• 23:57
  CG-Chrissy: So it's I think that, to be honest, if if I didn't have that mindfulness and meditation practice every day, my life would be a little bit disorganized, and I wouldn't be able to really navigate through the difficult things that we face every day in in medicine.
• 24:19
  CG-Dawn: I love that routine, and thank you for laying that out in such a tangible way so that people can understand the steps there?
• 24:27
  CG-Dawn: Because it really shows a very concrete way to work mindfulness or meditation into your everyday routines.
• 24:35
  CG-Chrissy: Sure.
• 24:37
  CG-Dawn: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you knew as that young woman that was on the treadmill way back when with the vision of being the academic, rising the ranks as the academic trauma surgeon.
• 24:53
  CG-Chrissy: Yeah.
• 24:53
  CG-Chrissy: Yeah.
• 24:53
  CG-Chrissy: I would say, I don't wish I would've known things sooner because I think that I learned them in a progression where, I had to, be broken down.
• 25:05
  CG-Chrissy: I had to have these moments where I felt like I was a victim, and then I had to come out of that.
• 25:13
  CG-Chrissy: I would just wish that I would've known earlier that it's okay to kinda go through it.
• 25:20
  CG-Chrissy: It's okay, to be in that space where you won't figure it out.
• 25:26
  CG-Chrissy: You can say no to things.
• 25:29
  CG-Chrissy: I had a good friend of mine who told me that early in my career, and it didn't really make sense to me.
• 25:34
  CG-Chrissy: And now when I reflect back on it, if I would've known, hearing these, you know, introductions to people saying, Oh, she's a triple threat.
• 25:44
  CG-Chrissy: She has her academic, her this, her this, her this.
• 25:49
  CG-Chrissy: That that's not what should be glorified.
• 25:53
  CG-Chrissy: It's different for every single person, and it's okay to say no to things that don't serve you and don't make you happy and don't make you the best version of yourself.
• 26:07
  CG-Chrissy: And I tell that to my residents a lot.
• 26:09
  CG-Chrissy: Don't feel like you have to, you know, sign up for every committee, do all these things.
• 26:15
  CG-Chrissy: My clients now, like, they talk about all these things that they are feeling the pressure of their job to do.
• 26:22
  CG-Chrissy: And it comes back to looking at, is this really your character strength being used?
• 26:29
  CG-Chrissy: Is it something that you love?
• 26:32
  CG-Chrissy: Is it something that will give you joy by looking at the process of it?
• 26:37
  CG-Chrissy: And if it doesn't, then, you should really consider not doing it.
• 26:43
  CG-Dawn: Such good advice.
• 26:44
  CG-Dawn: I love it so much.
• 26:47
  CG-Dawn: Your, yeah, your company is called Whole Body Optimism, and it is wellness coaching and you have a podcast, and it is also called Whole Body Optimism.
• 26:58
  CG-Dawn: Is that correct?
• 27:00
  CG-Chrissy: That's correct.
• 27:00
  CG-Chrissy: It will be starting up in January twenty twenty four.
• 27:04
  CG-Chrissy: I've already interviewed a lot of really, Really just strong people in the field and have some strong opinions about clean living, which I I just appreciate, and different ways to make it practical and And, simple for people that have busy lives.
• 27:21
  CG-Chrissy: We all wonder why we're So tired during the day.
• 27:24
  CG-Chrissy: So so much in a brain fog, and I think it it has a direct correlation as to what we're feeding our minds, our bodies, and our souls.
• 27:33
  CG-Chrissy: And I tend to break it down to something that's practical, bite sized, small changes, and simple that you can make, What kind of foods you're eating?
• 27:43
  CG-Chrissy: What kind of products you're using in your household?
• 27:46
  CG-Chrissy: What kind of things are you teaching your yourself on a daily basis and how you're empowering your relationships, your career.
• 27:54
  CG-Chrissy: And if you sorta clean that up, I really do feel like I've seen so many of my clients really just have some great success on how they feel when they just make these simple practical changes in their lives to be a better authentic version of themselves.
• 28:11
  CG-Dawn: Sounds wonderful.
• 28:12
  CG-Dawn: Chrissy Guidry, thank you so much for being on the show today, and I will make sure to link to where people can connect with you regarding
• 28:23
  CG-Chrissy: Thanks so much, Don.
• 28:24
  CG-Chrissy: I really appreciate you.
• 28:28
  I loved Chrissy's quotable knowledge bombs.
• 28:31
  In this episode, here are a couple just in case you didn't write them down yourself.
• 28:37
  I started looking around and seeing things that I was missing.
• 28:41
  I can still be a surgeon and not work as much.
• 28:44
  I can still be a surgeon and get the respect, get the support around me, but actually build a life outside of work as well.
• 28:53
  Doors are opening and doors are closing for all the good reasons.
• 28:56
  And I'm going to continue with that flow.
• 28:59
  I'm going to go where it makes me feel happy.
• 29:02
  It's okay to say no to things that don't serve you.
• 29:05
  And don't make you happy and don't make you the best version of yourself.
• 29:10
  Aren't those just really good quotes.
• 29:13
  Since we talked about leaning out healthy living principles and infertility, there are just so many great takeaways in this episode with Chrissy.
• 29:21
  Here are my three big ones.
• 29:26
  Number one.
• 29:27
  Change I have to, to, I get to.
• 29:30
  I wrote a classic blog posts about this very topic back when I was struggling as a new mom, trying to juggle the mundane aspects of taking care of a baby while building a career.
• 29:41
  I'll link to that post in the show notes.
• 29:43
  For Chrissy, this change in mindset has helped her weather a very long fertility journey and all its twists and turns.
• 29:51
  Number two.
• 29:53
  Put systems in place to live your healthiest life right now, even if you're burned out or if you're in the midst of a lean out journey.
• 30:00
  You have to preserve your own health.
• 30:03
  Chrissy described her system for prioritizing sleep and figuring out when she needs to wake up each day.
• 30:09
  And thus figuring out when she needs to go to bed the night before so that she can still fit in her mindfulness practice every single morning.
• 30:19
  Number three.
• 30:20
  If you're wondering if you're having doubts about your current work-life balance.
• 30:24
  If you feel like you're on the treadmill and you can't get off.
• 30:28
  Or if you're like Chrissy and you've had something happen at work that makes you go, what am I doing here?
• 30:34
  Spend some time by yourself and really ask yourself the hard questions.
• 30:39
  What do I really want my life to look like?
• 30:42
  What am I doing?
• 30:43
  That makes me happy.
• 30:45
  Conversely, what am I doing?
• 30:47
  That's dreaming my energy.
• 30:50
  My parting question to you today.
• 30:52
  In the spirit of one of Chrissy's aha.
• 30:54
  Moments is what are you tolerating?
• 30:59
  Thanks for listening to the lean out podcast.
• 31:02
  If you find these conversations inspiring and useful, please forward them to a friend and also leave a review on iTunes or Spotify so that other people can find them easier.
• 31:14
  If you want to get in touch with me, you can find me at my website, practice balanced.com, where you can subscribe to my newsletter and get updates regularly about new podcast episodes, blog posts, speaking, engagements, and coaching services.
• 31:31
  You can also support my work by buying my book, lean out a professional woman's guide to finding authentic work-life balance for yourself, a friend, family member, or coworker.
• 31:43
  Have a great day and we'll see you next time