Lab Medicine Rounds

In this episode of “Lab Medicine Rounds,” Justin Kreuter, M.D., speaks with Beshoi Nashed, a visiting medical student from the Medical University of the Americas in Saint Kitts and Nevis, about his personal perspective on life that has helped him succeed where many others are challenged.
 

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
01:08 Where were you first introduced to this no excuses philosophy perspective, and what is it?
03:09 What’s the perspective they had that they really imparted on you, what did it look like? 
06:44 What do you think is important for our listeners to understand about, what is it that allows you to be successful with this no excuses approach?
10:22 How has your practice changed, if at all, over that time?
12:35 Where do you recommend our listeners get their own start?
14:22 Outro

What is Lab Medicine Rounds?

A Mayo Clinic podcast for laboratory professionals, physicians, and students, hosted by Justin Kreuter, M.D., assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at Mayo Clinic, featuring educational topics and insightful takeaways to apply in your practice.

This is Lab Medicine
Rounds, a curated podcast

for physicians, laboratory
professionals and students.

I'm your host, Justin Kreuter,
the Bow Tie, bandit of Blood

a transfusion medicine
pathologist at Mayo Clinic.

Today we're rounding with Beshoi Nashed,

a medical student visiting us

from Medical University
of the Americas, St.

Kitts and Nevis.

I've been really impressed by him,

his attention to detail, dependability

and I think he's got a really
interesting perspective

which helps him succeed where
many of us are challenged.

So today on Lab Medicine Rounds podcast

we're gonna be talking about
the perspective of no excuses.

Thanks for joining us today

Nashoi.

Thank you for having
me on this podcast, Dr.

Kreuter. I really appreciate
this opportunity

and having me here as one of your guests.

Well, I think this is
gonna be a fun extension

from the conversation that
we had earlier in your month

maybe for our audience,
which is a, a combination

of clinicians, laboratory
professionals and students.

You can kind of kick
us off with,

where were you first introduced

to this no excuses philosophy
perspective, and what is it?

Yeah, that's actually
a very great question

and it's very important to me
as it made me who I am part

a big part of who I am today.

So back when I was studying
during my undergrad studies

at University
of California Riverside,

my biology undergrad studies, I

I got introduced to working out.

I had never worked

out being an immigrant
coming from the Middle East

United Emirates,
Abu Dhabi specifically.

It's not really a, it
wasn't a common thing

at least back in the day to work

out or to really take care of your health.

So that's something that
I really wanted to do

during the first semester
at UC Riverside.

So I joined nearby gym and I began working

out and kind of dabbling in
different workouts, running

and then I heard about
this thing called CrossFit.

So I decided to join a gym
not too far from my campus.

And during the first few weeks

that I was working out
there on the weekends

I noticed these two brothers
that would come in to work

out with us and have these
kind of workout challenges.

Back in the day

they used to call it kind of
the regionals for workouts.

So they had to do these qualifier workouts

and I used to just sit around, watch 'em,

watch how they train, and it stood

out to me that they were very

very unique in how they not
just trained and worked out

but how their mindset came
to approaching the workout

which really attracted,
like, attracted me to

to ask her more questions on how they got

to that level of training
and that mindset of training.

So I asked

if I could start training
with them, and sure enough

they invited me to their
gym, which was called N O X.

And it sounded a little weird to me.

So I was like, N O X, knocks.

So why is your gym called that?

And they said that it's called

that because it's called no excuses.

So that's why they chose N O X

and that's kind of how it all started.

It's so funny you say N O
x I was thinking the gym

of hard knocks, but I

I see where you get to, to no excuses.

It, it's, so what does, I mean, I

we know what no excuses mean

but really what's that
perspective that they had

that they really kind of imparted on you?

What did, what did that look like?

Right. So I initially joined them

because I wanted to take my
training to the next level.

What I didn't know is I'm
also gonna take my mindset

and my personality to that next level.

And I'm very grateful for
that and for, for them

for ingraining that in me.

So basically my goal was
to improve my workouts

and get better over
time, which did happen.

However, what I started noticing is

that my mindset approaching
these workouts began to change.

In the beginning.

I used to approach them with fear.

However, one

of the things that they
would do to not allow to

to kind of not instill fear
in me is they, for example

wouldn't tell me what their workout is

for the day until I showed up.

And then after showing
up, they're like, okay

this is what we're gonna do today.

So, and that was pretty
much the hardest part

for me in the beginning is showing up.

And soon I learned that
showing up was half the battle.

The rest was history once you
showed up to put in the work.

And over time, I also noticed

that that transferred over to
my studies in my undergrad.

Some days I would tell them, Hey, look

I can't come work out.

I have this in a few days.

Or, Hey, I need to take
some time off from working

out because I have these
other priorities that I

need to take care of.

And they would always tell me, look up.

And I would look up and what
I would see is N O X written

on the, on the ceiling, which goes back

to the whole no excuses and
what, what, what that showed or

or that what, what that helped
me with is creating a balance

in my life and creating priorities.

If I can't take care of my
health initially and foremost

how am I gonna go to my school
to take care of my studies?

If I can't take care of my health

how am I gonna take care of my family?

And so on and so forth.

So there's also this very nice quote

by the d Dai lama that
it, it kind of, in summary

it says that what surprised me most

about man is that they
seek money, they seek quel

they seek all these things

but they forget about their health.

And they end up spending all
their money, all their time

all their energy to take care

of their health at the end of their life.

So that kind of, we, we instilled in

in me a new purpose of,
in a new mindset when

approaching different things
in life, whether it's working

out work relationships,
spiritual relationships, any

any anything, whether it's
church, school, any of that.

I think it's very, very important
to have that mindset going

in with the no excuses mindset.

You know, I, I suspect many

of our listers may have
similar experiences, perhaps

you know, this time of year,
I, I guess we're recording this

at the very beginning of February

so maybe there's some
New Year's resolutions

that have kind of fell by the wayside.

You know, many

of us kind of struggling
with time management.

You're talking about all
these different, you know

responsibilities that we're
working to, to juggle.

Having gone through this,
having kind of struggled through

and navigated the,
those, those early phases

of how do I work with this
new kind of perspective

what do you think's important

for our listeners to
understand about what is it

that that allows you to be successful

with this no excuses approach?

I think there's two very
important things to realize

before even having the no
excuses mindset or approach.

First off, we all have
24 hours in a day, just

like you have, the 24 hours
have the same exact 24 hours.

So what we prioritize to do
in those 24 hours comes down

to a personal choice
and a personal decision

that sometimes we make that
decision subconsciously.

And that's something
that builds over time.

It doesn't just, doesn't happen overnight.

So that's the first thing,
realizing we all have 24 hours.

The second most important
thing is also not

knowing that there's specific
things that are gonna be

out of your control.

So a very nice thing that I always write

like to remind myself of, it
is control, which you can't

and which you can't.

You can't.

So what that translates into, basically

there's always things that
are gonna happen, whether

for example, as a medical
student, I might have a

a family emergency or an
exam that's coming up.

There's always things
that, those things, I

if it's an exam, I can
prepare for it ahead of time.

If it's a family emergency
that's outta my control

I don't know.

I like, I, I can't prepare for that.

So the things that I can
control, I need to prepare

for ahead of time and the
things that I cannot control

then I can't, I, I can't stress about.

So with those two points in mind

creating a plan ahead will
allow one to not face those

those failures, you
know, or those struggles.

And then realizing that
we all, again, like I said

we have 24 hours in the day
and prioritizing your time.

It doesn't have to be three hours

it doesn't have to be like half your day

but just making sure you
give back to your body

because that body of yours

you're gonna use it not just
to take care of patients.

If, if it's people medicine
or any other specialty

your body's gonna come back
one day and tell you, Hey

here's your bill, pay pay up.

And this kind of happens
only towards the end of life.

So maybe we don't see it
much in our youth time

but as we grow older and realize

I I should have taken care
of my body when I was younger

that it kind of

it becomes a little too late
and that's when regret happens.

So planning ahead, it's
kinda important for that.

Yeah, I'm really glad that
you reminded us where you are

on your journey, you know, as

as a medical student currently.

Sometimes I think back to, you know

my life now as a physician,
staff physician, I've

I've got a lot more
regularity in my schedule

than I did as a student
or when I was a resident.

And so, you know, we're
really hearing this

this message and, you know,
you're being successful

in this way despite the challenges
of the chaotic schedule.

And it sounds like a

a key part of that is
having that appreciation

for what you can control,
what you can't control.

And so maybe it's not a three
hour workout that you do, but

but you show up and do 20 minutes, right?

Or something like that.

Yes. And and again, I'm

I'm not gonna say I'm
in the exact same shape

or form that I was during my
undergrad studies, however

just a little bit every ti every day adds

up just to keep you just,
just enough in shape, you know

so that when you're going
up the stairs, for example

you're not out

of breath when you're
talking to your patients.

You're able to

they're able to see you
as an example, for example

You know, and you've been doing this now

for a number of years,
you know, as you're saying

you've been in multiple
environments and situations.

I, I'm really curious

how has your practice changed,
if at all, over that time?

Actually, that's a, that's
a very, very good question.

My answer to that would be it
has, and it has not changed.

Now what does that mean?

It has changed, as in I was
able to take that mindset

and apply it to different situations.

So for example, whe when, back

in the day I used to train
and have these competitions

in weightlifting that
allowed me to go on the stand

in front of an audience, and
I had three shots at one lift.

That mindset and that fortitude
that I was able to build

over time allowed me to
be able to kind of present

to an audience and be prepared
in that mental aspect.

I take that as exact same
mindset when I have, for example

very important presentations
to faculty and staff

kind of like the one I had earlier today.

And be confident and plan ahead
so that I'm very organized

in my thoughts, so that when I speak

I can have the same
exact confidence level.

So the preparedness in both ways

they're different and
that's how they're both

it's different situations, but same.

So taking the mindset from working

out and applying it to
different situations in life.

Phenomenal. And, you know,
going back to this mindset

I remember a couple of years
ago when I was just starting

out on staff and I went
at a coaching session

and talking about this common
challenge of, you know, oh

I got so many things in the day.

And I remember the
coach that I was working

with was like, okay, if you, if you had

if there were 26 hours in the day

do you think you would get this done?

And I was like, oh, absolutely.

They were like, Nope, try try again.

Right. I think, you know,
you've kind of shared a lot

of key points here about,
and, and really looped back

boomerang back to this importance
in putting the emphasis

on mindset for our listeners
to reflect and think about.

I, I'm curious now if you
know, listeners are interested

I think sometimes it

it might seem intimidating to
try to cultivate this mindset

and certainly you had great
coaches that you were working

with in, in the beginning
that got you started

on this way, on this path.

Where do you recommend our listeners?

Where, where should somebody
get their own start?

I think it depends really

on the listener and where
they, what stage they are

whether in their training
or in their life or what

what part of the country as
well, or if outside the country.

I think it's, it's important

for us to start with little steps.

So if it, if, if these
are changes you wanna make

to your workout, for
example, life start, don't

don't start with like long

or very extreme workouts
that will quickly drain you

and eventually make you dislike working

out in the first place.

If this is a change you want to make

in your professional life, for example

don't automatically go
pursuing, for example

a PhD and spend like, you know,
most of your day in the lab

because that might drain
you and not allow you to

enjoy what you thought you
might enjoy at one point.

So what I

what I recommend is doing
everything in moderation

everything in balance and over
time, building those little

little building blocks, that's
what would make a difference.

You know, whether it's
professionally or if it's

in their workout or like
healthcare aspect just a little bit

at a time over time
makes a big difference.

Overnight changes are really not like a, a

a key for success.

So true.

And how quickly, I forget that.

But truth be told for our
listeners, since you came

and first spent some time
with me earlier this month

I've been doing the one mile a day run

in the morning just trying to
get those small, small wins

enjoying my workout.

That's awesome.

Especially in the
Rochester, you know, Cole.

So that's

This is, this is inside.

I'm treadmill doing it.

Oh, great point.

So thank you so much.

We've been rounding with
Basho nad to discuss this

no excuses perspective.

Thank you for taking the time
to talk with us about this

Dr. Corter.

It's really been a pleasure.

Thank you for having me

and allowing me the opportunity
to share my perspective

and hear my story.

Absolutely. Our pleasure.

To all of our listeners, thank
you for joining us today.

We invite you to share your thoughts

and suggestions via email.

Please direct any suggestions

to m mcl education mayo.edu
and reference this podcast.

If you've enjoyed Lab
Medicine Rounds podcast

please subscribe and until
our next rounds together

we encourage you to continue
to connect lab medicine

and the clinical
practice, and in this case

your life practice through
insightful conversations.