Promotion to Financial Freedom

What should a physician's goals be?

What should anyone's goals be?

A: To achieve financial freedom.

What's my deal?

The slog through college, medical school, and residency felt like a prolonged indentured servitude.  I am approaching solvency in terms of my finances.  In retrospect, becoming an attending physician has been quite sacrificial.  Yes, this is obvious and known with respect to becoming a physician.

What I wasn't expecting, was how much of myself I would sacrifice, as I guzzled down the Kool-Aid to get to where I am.  That is, academic medicine is an exercise in self-immolation to obtain accolades that nobody really cares about.  I didn't write anything on this blog for years, because I didn't want to be doxxed while in training, or in the military.

The goals I have now are no longer "prestigious".  I don't want a prestigious specialty, a high military rank, a nice car, a nice house, a nice watch, a nice suit, or anything material.  Except for healthy food.  That is the main material thing I want.

What I want is "F U" money, my health, the health of my family, and free time to pursue interests and relations.  

Medicine is set up to prevent people from getting F U money and free time.  It takes too much debt, and too much time.  Once you have come out of the other end of the mold, you are so bogged down in debt, and have done nothing else, that you just keep up the Sisyphean work because you know nothing else.

The BEST doctors I have ever worked with were the ones that had no family, and no spouses.  They were the perfect employees / citizens.  Creating health and wealth for their patients, employers, and the IRS.

Yea, they made a lot of money, but I've seen enough palliative care patients on the backend of middle age to know that none of this "hustle culture" matters.

Do what you need to do to get to where you want to be, while still living life.  Don't forgo life for trinkets.  You can't take them with you.

For those of you who are fortunate to be wealthy enough to not have to grind, please don't lose the wealth.  I've seen distant relatives squander fortunes on wasteful things.  

"Take only memories; leave only footprints."

-E. F.