Street cred is pretty worthless unless you are dropping a hip hop album in the ‘90s and there are no magic bullets for a happy life.
Credibility is important in this world. We like to believe people are speaking from a place of knowledge and experience.
Among the most highly regarded types of credibility is so-called street cred. You know the struggle. You’ve felt the pain.
In the world of medical practice, street cred is earned by losing sleep and time with your loved ones. Ob/gyns pretty much have that situation locked down so I got a lot of props for my chosen field.
To this day, when other doctors are fixing their mouths to try to talk me back into clinical practice they often swallow their tongues once they learn my specialty. It seems my struggle was deemed great enough for me to want out of it.
One big problem with this way of assessing credibility within the profession is it sets up hierarchies of misery among physicians. That can lead to us belittling the challenges of others.
It’s amazing the number of conversations I’ve observed (and yes in which I participated in my less enlightened days) where one specialty questions the intensity of another’s work ethic.
I must admit there was a long period of time that I totally bought into the misery index as personal validation. That’s why I was proud of being an overworked physician even though the job drained me more than it fulfilled me.
Of course, street cred also rears its head in one’s personal life. That’s where I fall on the low end of the spectrum.
Many folks would have me believe that being unmarried with no children voids my right to be concerned about quality of life. I mean what kind of joker can’t get it together even though it’s just her at home!
This philosophical battle over what constitutes a credible level of suffering has led to an interesting phenomenon I’ve observed in myself and others. When we fail to give credence to what we find challenging in our lives, we tend to underestimate the effort required to improve the situation.
We assume a quick fix exists. That makes us delay initiating change because we figure it won’t take “but a minute” once we get started.
It’ll be like buying a plane ticket to Paris if you’ve always dreamed of seeing the Eiffel Tower. Making the decision is most of the work.
Let me tell you, making the decision to build a satisfying life is a crucial step. However, implementing the strategies to make it happen usually takes more time and effort than you might initially think.
As one who has gone through this process myself and now helps others do the same let me share two simple truths.
Simple Truth #1 – It’s you who determines how well you function in your life, not the circumstances.
Taking steps towards personal development allows you to thrive in any environment. You can’t be worried about street cred when building a life that works for you.
You are the one who has to live in your life, regardless of how difficult or not others think it should be. Each of us has the responsibility to figure out how best to function in the lives we choose.
Simple Truth #2 – There is no magic bullet to make your life work better.
One of my go-to principles is that everyone is unique. That uniqueness makes it so that what works for you won’t necessarily work for me.
Decades of life also leave us with some habits and beliefs that may not serve our greatest good. It can take some time and effort to revamp everything in a way that allows us to live purposeful and satisfying lives.
With those truths in mind, I encourage you not to think you are some sort of oddball because everyone else thinks your life is much better than it feels to you. Instead, use that sensation as a catalyst to make your life feel as good as it looks.
Just remember – Street cred is pretty worthless unless you are dropping a hip hop album in the ‘90s.
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Dr Jattu Senesie is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, certified success coach, physician satisfaction specialist and speaker. She blogs about issues of self care and well-being in an effort to help her fellow altruistic high achievers find satisfaction in their success as early in their careers as possible.
