Meet Michael Hersh, MD | Physician Coach, Gastroenterologist, Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Hersh, MD and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
It is so interesting to think about this. If I am being honest, I only ever wanted to be a physician. And if you told a younger version of me that someday I would be an entrepreneur, I would have told you that you were crazy. But as I progressed in my medical career, I felt less and less fulfilled by my day-to-day work. I had spent the greater part of thirty years preparing for a career as a gastroenterologist, but roughly ten years into my journey, I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life doing the same thing over and over. Looking back, I was extremely burned out, but I didn’t recognize it at the time.

Physician coaching was not an immediate sell. I was extremely skeptical and hesitant to spend money on anything that might delay my early retirement. Spending money on personal development seemed ridiculous because what I really needed was to get as far away from medicine as quickly as possible. In my first meeting with a physician coach, I was encouraged to take a long, hard look at this line of thinking. It wasn’t long before I realized I didn’t need to escape medicine to be happy. I also didn’t need to retire or flee from my current life. Happiness was available to me right now. All I needed to do was allow it into my life. And, that is precisely what I did.

My life transformed in less than three months. From the outside, my life looked exactly the same. I lived in the same house with the same wife and children. I drove in the same car to the same job every day. Yet simultaneously, everything had changed. Wayne Dyer has a famous quote: “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” That is essentially what happened for me in my first few months of physician coaching.

I absolutely loved my experience with coaching, but I didn’t see many men in the space. My physician coaches were incredible, but they were predominantly women. When I looked around, I saw so many male physicians with similar struggles: creating work-life balance, feeling frustrated with a lack of control at work, striving to be more present at home, and desiring more connection with their families. I knew I wanted to be a part of the community that helped physicians create lives they don’t need to escape from. I also knew I needed to lead by example. From there, Better Physician Life Coaching was born.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think what sets my business apart is the individualized nature of the coaching. Each physician comes to coaching at an inflection point in their life or career. While there is some commonality, people have had different experiences along their journey that brought them here. At Better Physician Life Coaching, I tailor each program to the individual. Some physicians are looking to feel more fulfilled, while others are looking to experience more connection in their relationships. We explore work-life balance, career development, goal setting, building self-confidence, setting boundaries, and getting everything you want out of life. We’re all only here for a short time, so the goal is to create the most amazing life possible.

Through my own coaching, I have learned to look past limiting beliefs and see potential in myself and others that wasn’t previously there. I am so proud to call myself an entrepreneur. It might seem simple, but I never envisioned owning a business. Starting my own business has required me to believe in myself in ways I never thought possible. While I have experienced a number of early successes, there have been a lot of failures too. So much of entrepreneurship feels uncomfortable with a ton of doubt looming in the background. One of the greatest lessons has been learning to see failures as learning opportunities. I don’t know who said it, but a great quote is: “In business, you either get what you want, or you learn what you need.” Accepting that an individual failure does not mean that I am a failure has been so vital to the success of my business, and it has helped me to find a whole new outlook on life. I also credit coaching for teaching me to lean into the discomfort of new and challenging things. Knowing that everything I want is on the other side of discomfort has made persevering through the challenges of business so much easier. I’m talking about business here, but you can see that all of these lessons translate to our personal lives too.

Another important lesson I have learned along the way is that I am separate from my business. I started Better Physician Life Coaching to help physicians navigate the difficulties of a career in medicine. If I spend time ruminating on something that didn’t go right in the business or doubting my success, I can’t be out there helping doctors. At the end of the day, this isn’t about me. Keeping that as a central theme in my business has really motivated me to keep going with the goal of helping as many physicians as possible.

Finally, I have learned a lot about the so-called work-life balance. For physicians, there is no work-life balance because work is our life. Instead, we should strive for life-life balance. And balance does not mean that everything gets equal weighting all the time. Balance means that everything has its place. At times, being a doctor will be the most important thing. Other times, it will be your family. And most importantly, sometimes it will be you.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Chicago, and this time of year can get pretty chilly, but there are so many fun things to do. The food scene here is incredible. I would absolutely take my best friend to check out the new Stephanie Izard restaurant, Cabra. The food is fantastic, and there’s an awesome rooftop view of the city. We would also probably hit up Pequod’s Pizza for the best deep-dish in the Windy City. If we decided to take a break from eating and drinking, we would check out The Museum of Science and Industry or the Field Museum for a little bit of culture. We might then head over to the Half Acre Brewery for some local beer. During the holidays, Wrigley Field is turned into a Winterland with ice skating, ice bumper cars, and tubing which is so much fun. But, of course, after that, we would head to Maple & Ash to grab some delicious steaks and a seafood tower. Do my best friend and I eat too much?

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Of course, I need to shoutout and give credit to my incredible wife, Debbie. She has supported me in every endeavor and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. Without her love and support, I would not have begun my own personal journey with physician coaching, never mind set out on this entrepreneurial quest. My children, Quinn and Landon, are also a constant source of motivation and inspiration. My desire to be a better man, husband, dad, and physician for these amazing human beings has pushed me to keep going.

A tremendous shoutout to my fellow physician coaches. We have formed an incredible community of support for each other. In good times, we are there to celebrate with one another. In more difficult times, we lend each other a supporting hand and words of encouragement to just keep going.

And lastly, a huge shoutout to my fellow physicians. The healthcare system we joined on our first day of medical school looks so different today. It can be a struggle to remember why we set out on this path in the first place. Never forget why you chose to be a doctor, and remember we are all in this together. There is strength in community. When we allow ourselves to grow, change, and set boundaries, we force the system to change along with us.

Website: www.betterphysicianlife.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterphysicianlife/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hersh-md/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterphysicianlifecoaching