09/10/2025
What could surgical training and marathon training have in common?
Surprisingly, a lot!
Here are 3 life lessons I’ve learned from my 8 years of surgical training (5 general surgery + 3 plastic surgery) and training for 5 marathons.
1. The hardest part is the mental challenge. We are our worst enemies and the second we let self-doubt kick in, we have already lost. Surgical training and marathon training require mental fortitude and strength. You have to believe that you can do it. Once you believe in yourself and push those negative thoughts aside, you’ll succeed. You’ll succeed in surgery, running, and life.
2. You can accomplish anything with commitment and discipline. Learning how to be a surgeon and operate on humans requires years of education and training. You are in it for the long game. Same with marathon training. You have to put in the hours, the long brutal days. When you are tired and beat down, you still have to show up. You have to commit and be disciplined day in and day out.
3. Stay focused. Focused on the end goal. My goal and dream was to be a board-certified surgeon. That is what got me through years of lack of sleep, missing major events in my family and friends lives, and literally sacrificing my 20’s and 30’s. For running, the end goal is crossing that line on marathon day. Challenging your body in ways you never thought you could and realizing how beautiful that is. Early morning wake ups to run and trusting the process pays off when you’re holding that medal.
We all have different goals in life. No matter how big or how small these goals are anything is achievable with focus, commitment, discipline, and believing in yourself.
