As physicians and healthcare leaders, we set goals every year that genuinely matter to us. Goals around culture, retention, outcomes, growth, and (hopefully) our wellbeing. And yet many of us carry an unspoken tension into those goals, not because we lack commitment or capability, but because we have been taught to see so many constraints as fixed.

I learned early in life how powerful those assumptions can be.

When I was sixteen, I was crushed under a car and told I would never walk again. The belief behind those words shaped everything that followed. The plan was built around limitations. The effort expected of me was minimal. The outcome was treated as if it were already negative. It was not that people didn’t care (they cared very much). And hey genuinely believed those limitations were real because of what was “statistically probable.” 

Progress only became possible when I questioned the assumption.

No one else believed it was possible. So I started asking different questions. I put in a higher level of effort than was expected. I looked relentlessly for one more option, one more approach, one more perspective to try. I refused to accept that a wheelchair was the inevitable end of the story.

What most people do not realize is that walking again was not just about physical recovery through determination or resilience. It required influence. I had to persuade my care team to let me try things that were not recommended. I had to help them see possibilities they had not considered. Once their thinking shifted, the plan shifted, and the outcome followed.

That experience permanently shaped how I think about leadership, growth, and goal achievement in healthcare. One person willing to question the status quo, apply focused effort, and influence how others see what is possible can change the trajectory of an entire team or organization.

That brings me to three lessons I carry into every goal setting conversation as we head into 2026.

Lesson 1: Belief Drives Outcomes

Belief is not a soft concept. It is an operating constraint.

What leaders and physicians believe is possible quietly shapes the culture they create, the risks they take, and the standards their teams internalize. When the belief is that burnout is inevitable, turnover follows. When the belief is that engagement isn’t important, culture stagnates and turnover increases. When the belief is that better outcomes are not feasible given the constraints, effort becomes cautious and incremental.

I lived this firsthand. The moment the belief shifted from managing limitation to exploring possibility, effort changed, we all started seeing possibility instead of road blocks, and results changed.

In healthcare organizations, belief spreads faster than policy. Leaders influence belief through the questions they ask, the ceilings they accept, and the outcomes they treat as negotiable versus inevitable.

As you set goals for 2026, one of the most powerful moves you can make is to examine which assumptions you have quietly accepted and whether they truly deserve to be there.

Lesson 2: What We Focus on Expands

When I stopped focusing on everything that might not work and narrowed my attention to finding one more thing that could help me walk again, something interesting happened. Possibilities became easier to see. Options that had been invisible before started to appear.

Focus does not just shape effort. It shapes perception.

In leadership, this shows up clearly. When attention is fixed on constraints, teams become constrained. When attention shifts to what other possibilities exist, what can be improved, or tested, momentum builds. People start bringing ideas instead of excuses. Energy changes.

This is where influence becomes practical. Leaders and physicians who consistently direct attention toward possibility, progress, and learning teach their teams how to think differently. Over time, that focus reshapes culture and improves retention because people want to stay where progress feels possible.

Focus is not about ignoring reality. It is about choosing which part of reality deserves your energy.

Lesson 3: Setbacks and Roadblocks Can Become Your Greatest Advantage

My accident gave me something I never would have chosen, but it also gave me a lens I still rely on today. I learned how it feels when decisions made have real consequences on a human body and a human life. I learned how important it is to listen deeply to the people doing the work. I learned how much courage it takes to challenge assumptions that feel settled.

That perspective fundamentally changed how I approach leadership in healthcare.

It made me more willing to take thoughtful risks in service of patients and clinicians. It made me more attuned to the emotional and physical weight physicians and care teams carry. It made me more effective at advocating for change that others thought was not feasible.

Our greatest setbacks often become our greatest gifts when they teach us how to see differently.

For leaders and physicians, this is especially important. The very challenges you have lived through may be what allow you to see solutions others miss, build cultures others cannot, and influence outcomes others believe are out of reach.

As You Set Goals for 2026, Consider This

Leadership, growth, and wellbeing are not competing priorities. They rise and fall together.

The leaders and physicians who make the biggest impact are not the ones with the most authority. They are the ones who understand how belief shapes outcomes, how focus expands possibility, and how influence can shift what an entire organization believes is possible.

You do not need permission to question assumptions. You already have more influence than you think.

Sometimes, the most meaningful progress begins with one person refusing to accept a limitation that never had to exist in the first place.

Here is to a year of goals that stretch you, growth that sustains you, and leadership that creates the change you want to see.

For Leaders Who Don’t Want Another Year of Missed Goals

If you are reading this and thinking, “This is exactly what I’ve been wrestling with,” that is not accidental.

It usually means you already know two things:

• What you want 2026 to look like.
  
• That continuing with the same assumptions, structures, and conversations will not get you there.
  

The leaders who create meaningful change do not wait for perfect conditions. They get perspective early, challenge the ceilings that no longer serve them, and put a clearer plan in place before momentum is lost to another busy quarter.

If you want help elevating your own goals or your team’s leadership, growth, and wellbeing outcomes in 2026, my team and I would welcome a conversation. Not a sales call. A strategic one. A place to pressure-test your thinking, identify what is actually limiting progress, and determine whether working together makes sense.

If nothing else, you will leave with clarity you did not have before.

You can book a strategy conversation with my team here.