Phil:  All right, Jenna, here's another submitted question."How do you stay in a workplace when your coworkers are always talking negative, and you try so hard to be positive and encouraging in your job, and trying to make a difference?"  How do you do that?

Jenna:  That's a tough place to be in. It's hard to be the lone positive person. But I have two things with this. So one is if you're in a small clinic and it's you and one other person, that one other person is negative, I think that the only solution to that is to somehow distance yourself from that person and have a good community or support system elsewhere. I still message two of my good friends from grad school when I need that kind of thing. But if you're in a bigger clinic, then I will challenge you because it's usually not only one really positive person and the rest are negative.  Usually, it's one positive person, a bunch of neutral people, and then maybe a couple of negative people.  So if...

My past self could have desperately benefited from seeing this photo.

Earlier this week, I walked to my favorite cafe down the street from my house and set up shop. I picked the ideal table for productivity and got comfortable knowing I’d be there for a few hours. I opened a text from one of my patients enjoying his first pain-free run in a long time and turned my attention to my computer and cup of coffee.

The text made me smile, as do all of my patients. It was a quick distraction from the residency grading and organizing I was about to do.

And that’s when it hit me. This was one of the moments where you sit back and wonder, “how did I get here?” A moment where you are so fulfilled, happy, and thankful that you can’t believe you ever doubted it would be possible.

And I realized that I wished my past self could see me now. There was a time when I felt like I was going through the motions and would be burnt out forever. There was so much doubt that I...

If you have had a hard day or just need a good laugh, check out the video of Jenna trying to fold the background screen after our live MedBridge webinar on Optimizing Your Career and Beating Burnout!

True or False: There is no such thing as the perfect job? How do you know if you only dislike parts of your job or if it’s just a bad job?

Phil:  All right, Jenna, I'm going to start with a negative statement.  We're pretty positive people.  But if I made the statement, every job has a part that sucks, like there is no job that is perfect.  A. Would you agree with that?  And then, B. how do you know when it's just part of the job that's affecting everything else, that if you remove that, suddenly things would get a lot better versus, man, this is just a sucky job.

Jenna:  Yeah.  So one, I would agree with that statement. I think it's like, you know, when I was teaching, grading was lousy. Now documentation is lousy. You know, I don't get excited to open my computer and document, but I think like every job has an aspect that isn’t anyone's favorite.  Right?  And if you like your job over all, those parts don't matter. ...

Are there success stories where people changed their career without changing jobs? Is it possible to create your ideal career without changing jobs?

Is it even possible to have a career that is in alignment with your personal and professional values? When you’re thinking about making a career change, do you consider both your personal and professional values?

In this video, Jenna and Phil share their opinions on this issue.

Phil:  We've talked about the importance of identifying your values before you kind of make a next move or identifying the next move. Is it really possible? Should you consider both your personal and professional values?  And can those co-exist?  I mean, is that really a thing?

Jenna:  Yeah, I think if you know your personal and your professional values and you know them well, I think they have to coexist, right?  I don't think you can uphold a high personal value if it conflicts with a professional value.   Or I don't think you can uphold one if it conflicts with the other. 

Do they have to be the same thing?  No. Like you could absolutely love in your...

How many times have you wondered, “Is it me or is it my environment?” In this video, Jenna and Phil talk about their thoughts and ideas on this topic.

Jenna:  All right, Phil, this is going to sound weird, but how do you know if you are the drama in PT. So now when I ask this, if you've heard it, have you heard like, you know, the meme and stuff like that?  Am I the drama?  Is it me?  So basically, like, how do you know if where you're at is the problem or it's you in where you're at?

Phil:  Oh wow. That's a mind blowing question, actually.  I think it has to do with your contentment in situations that are outside of the drama.  So let me give you an example.  If you're in patient care and there's lots of drama going on around you, but you really like your patient interaction, you're doing well in your patient interaction, I would say that you're not the drama because you're able to kind of focus and really do well in...

What if you take the next step in your physical therapy career and it’s the wrong thing?  Are you afraid to take the next step because you’re unsure whether or not it will work out?  Jenna and Phil discuss those fears and what can happen if you go for it and take the next step.

When considering a career or job change, it often feels like a huge task with little direction. Many go looking to solve a problem or improve a certain part of their previous job, but may need to make sure it aligns with their values first. Phil and Jenna discuss how knowing your values can lead to your ideal position more than searching for the perfect job.

Phil:  Alright Jenna, we're talking about finding the next step in your career.  Why is it important to identify your values?

Jenna:  So it's definitely important to identify your values first, because a lot of times for especially new grads or even people when they're like, okay, I want something different, they just start going in 14 different directions and trying this and trying that.  Maybe I'll do this and maybe I'll do that.  But if you are like ready to make a change . . . so if we're ready to try to figure out what we want next, maybe it's at the same job you're at, maybe it's at a new...

There's a lot of discussion about whether physical therapy is a good profession, a bad profession, or something in between. In this video, Jenna and Phil give their opinions on this issue.