Three things you can do to become an irreplaceable pharmacist

How I define success will be different from how you define success.

Or I hope so anyway...

Because I don't believe success is defined by fame or wealth, not the stuff you see on TV.

For me, it means living the highest, truest expression of myself every day of my life.

It means loving myself and those around me.

It means loving what I do, and loving how I do it.

It means I am financially secure enough that I can dedicate sufficient time to taking care of myself and spending enough time with my family.

It means being in alignment with the source of my existence.

It means serving my true calling and purpose.

This took me years to figure out, and fair to say, I was so lost before I did.

I was doubting myself, doubting the career path I had chosen, and doubting why I was doing what I was doing.

And that's because I was derailed from my purpose.

You see...

When you do what you do, just for financial security - you lose your purpose.

When you align with the true purpose that it serves others - you find your purpose.

(I talk more about finding your purpose through #ikigai in this edition of my blog).

The point is for me Success = Finding Purpose & Meaning to live my highest potential in service of others.

"Katrina, these are lovely sentiments, but translate them to real-life actions please!"

To achieve this type of success, I want to talk about three actions that I have sieved everything I have been doing over the last three years down to:

1. Being in a State of Flow when I do any activity

2. Living with an Abundance Mindset

3. Always being prepared to meet Opportunity

Flow

Flow is a state of complete immersion and focus on a task, where you lose track of time and become fully engaged with all your senses in the activity.

It was first described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who identified several characteristics of flow, including a balance between the challenge of the task and your skill level, clear goals and feedback, and a sense of control over the task.

It simply means you

• enjoy what you do

• you lose yourself in it

• as a result, you pursue it with creativity and you're more productive

Being in a State of Flow when I do any activity, and especially in my role as a pharmacist has allowed me to excel at it.

Over time, excellence became my brand as a pharmacist, building up my reputation and opening me up to amazing opportunities.

Example

Imagine the difference between providing a medication review whilst feeling overwhelmed by the task at hand and wondering how on earth you're going to deal with the complexity of 13+ medicines..

And looking at that same task from a different perspective:

• This task will help me be better at what I do

• This task serves my true purpose in improving the lives of others

• I will immerse myself in this and take it one step at a time

• This is not a means to an end (not for money!)- this patient really needs my expertise to reduce polypharmacy

Plus, who said being a pharmacist doesn't require being creative?

I think Creativity, is the long, lost skill in pharmacy that we need to build.

How to practice being in Flow?

• Take up a hobby that you enjoy and upskill in it to a level that challenges you just enough to keep you engaged but not so much that you become overwhelmed.

• Set clear goals for the activity and focus on the process rather than the outcome

• Eliminate distractions and focus on the activity with all your senses

• Practice being 'mindful' and stay in the 'present moment'

• Be patient and persistent. Flow is a state that can take time to achieve, but with practice, it can become more accessible and easier to enter into.

This is how you become excellent in any endeavour.

(If you look at my writing from two years ago, you'll know what I mean. I cringe when I read it!)

Living with an Abundance Mindset

I couldn't say it better in my own words so here are two favourite quotes from Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth that I live by:

• "When you give little or no help to others, or worse, put obstacles in their path, the universe - in the form of people and circumstances - give little or no help to you because you have cut yourself off from the whole."

• "The fact is: whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world."

We need to acknowledge the good that is already in our life and stop seeing the 'lack of' it.

What you and I have now is more than what many can dream of. The reason we sometimes withhold it is because deep down we are either envious or feel like we're small and have nothing to give.

But here is the thing, you don't Get then Give. You Give then Get.

That's how the universe works - 'for every action there is an equal reaction.'

Give without expecting anything back.

Example

I started writing this blog and giving my knowledge to others for free, and the result was more opportunity and abundance coming my way.

Just Give in Abundance, and you'll be surprised at the result of what you Get back.

Practice operating from a mindset of Abundance rather than scarcity. There is enough good in the world for everyone!

Being Prepared to Meet Opportunity

"Success is when preparation meets Opportunity." - Zig Ziglar

Opportunity doesn't appear out of thin air.

And neither does it appear to you dressed up in a shiny attire flashing 'Hello, I am opportunity, let me transform your career.'

That just isn't how it works!

It comes up in the most discreet of situations..

Like being in a networking event and opening yourself up (even if you're an introvert) and talking to people you don't know, and someone sees in you great potential and decides to work with you...

Or networking and nurturing new relationships on LinkedIn, telling the world what you are about and what you do, and people start to reach out to collaborate on projects...

Opportunity appears in many situations and is always there...

Every interaction has the potential to turn to an opportunity

Every post your write opens you up to opportunity

Every book you read expands your horizons and shows you the opportunities that are possible.

You get the point!

But opportunity requires:

• SHOWING UP (in capitals, underlined, bold.. yes it is just so important!)

And that requires…

• Overcoming being an imposter. You honestly have either of two options:

1. You stay in your cave, and no one will see you and accept your current situation

2. You get out there and tell people what you're about, network, write, meet people, doing what you can to be prepared. So that when Opportunity knocks on your door, you can embrace it with open arms.

I really hope you choose the latter!

Note: Being prepared for opportunity doesn't mean you sacrifice authenticity. Don't build relationships for your benefit - people can see through you, and it will likely cause more harm than good.

So network, build, speak, and write with authenticity, so you attract the RIGHT opportunities.

I hope this blog has sparked up your senses to open yourself up to the world, to opportunities, to giving so much away to others without expecting back, to find the purpose in what you do that you enjoy every second of it and you get so good, that you're irreplaceable.

To your success,

-Katrina

P.S.

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