Fixing Your Weakest Link

Just got back from a very hectic 3-day trip to Manchester! Full of “learning” about respiratory but actually realising how much I DON’T know, eating Chinese food, working out at the Manchester gym daily and… reminiscing about the past. I came across the dessert shop I frequented several times in the past but did not go in. The picture below is the infamous “three roast” dish comprising roast duck, char siu and roast pork which I’m slightly embarrassed to say I devoured all by myself.

You are only as strong as your weakest link.

So today’s post is about strengthening the weakest link. Life is not just a game, but a series of very diverse games. Being an amazing doctor is important to your patients and yourself but we would be doing ourselves a major disservice by ignoring other aspects of our lives.

For example, one of the lecturers at the conference I attended stated that on average medical students now leave university with around £70 – 80K in debt. I disagree with her statement that it’s “impossible” to pay that amount back but this ridiculous amount of money in addition to the ever-eroding inflation against our salaries makes it so important to look after ourselves financially.

Another incentive to fortify those chinks in your armour is that it’s comparatively easy. If you’ve arrived to this blog you’ve probably been in the medical trade for the best part of a decade (5/6 years as a medical student + a few years as a doctor) so on the career scale you’re probably a 5 or a 6 out of 10. To elevate yourself to a 7 you’ll undoubtedly have to pass MRCP and possibly publish some articles. MRCP is just the tip of the iceberg and even from a respiratory point of view I feel that the more I learn about the subject the less I actually know. To become an 8/10 you might think about a research degree, obtaining CCT and becoming a subspecialty expert – just think about how difficult that is – it is the law of diminishing returns.

However, contrast this to if a pre-MRCP core medical trainee has £30,000 in debt. From a career standpoint, they are at a healthy 6/10 but from a financial perspective they’re 2/10. It is self-evident that life is a lot more than just medicine and finance but in our hypothetical example, this CMT’s average life score is only 4/10. To elevate his financial score is as easy as surrounding himself with like-minded people so that his mindset changes, learning about investing and begin creating passive income. This is applicable to every area of our lives.

This way of thinking is what I call life macromanagement. But you can also use this to micromanage specific areas of your life. For example if you want to get good at public speaking then you can break down your strategy into verbal and non-verbal communication and elevate your weakest link that way.

Although the body fat measurement of the gym scales aren’t the most accurate, my weight is slowly dropping off during this cut. For the first time I now weigh the same as I did when I was at university all those years ago. My face has slimmed down, skin has cleared and trousers aren’t tight anymore which feels amazing. My fitness/health level was probably a 5 just 2 months ago but now it’s a 6.5 but still a long way to go. This illustrates the law of diminishing returns perfectly because trying to improve my career or finance by 1.5 points would take many years and although I hate to say it, might be impossible for someone like me. I’m aiming for 70kg before possibly building some muscle but we’ll see what happens

If you enjoyed this post then don’t forget to share it to people you like and implement this strategy! I learnt everything I know about personal finance and managed to extrapolate it to other areas of my life using this book, this book, this book and this one. You can get one of these books in FREE audiobook format using this link. Simply sign up to a 30-day free trial and if you don’t enjoy the service you can cancel any time free of charge at the click of button, and still keep your book.