For consultants and specialists, the beginning of the year or a new leadership, supervisory or clinical role often inspires reflection on how to strengthen performance, wellbeing, and impact. Many medical professionals set ambitious intentions but attempt to make multiple major changes simultaneously, underestimating the cognitive and emotional load already present in senior clinical work. This contributes to early fatigue and the familiar cycle of abandoned goals followed by future “fresh starts.”
A more effective approach is incremental, deliberate, and paced.
1. Select one high-impact habit
Senior doctors navigate complex demands, from clinical decision‑making to team leadership and departmental responsibility. Your cognitive, emotional, and time resources must be safeguarded.
Focusing on one single habit maximises your likelihood of sustained change.
Consider which change would have the greatest positive effect on your clinical efficiency, leadership impact, or personal wellbeing this year?
When a habit becomes embedded, move on to the next one - deliberately and without overload.
The key is to pace yourself!
2. Clarify your goal and your ‘why’
Define the behavioural change clearly.
What, precisely, is the habit you want to develop and why now?
Understanding your reasoning enables a stronger outcome and highlights the internal or external barriers or perceived barriers that previously made the behaviour difficult.
This reflection is especially useful for clinicians who work in reactive, high-intensity environments.
You might ask:
What does success look like operationally? Emotionally?
What systemic or structural barriers exist, and what is within my control to change?
3. Reduce the habit to the smallest possible steps or building blocks
Break your habit into micro‑actions. Ideally in less-than‑a‑minute steps.
Consultants often default to tackling improvement at a strategic or structural level, but habit change must be operationalised at the smallest behavioural level.
Examples:
Two-sentence note summary immediately after each consultation
A three‑breath pause before entering a challenging conversation
Preparing tomorrow’s clinic list the afternoon before
Small steps remain achievable even during unpredictable clinical days.
4. Scaffold and reinforce each step
Preparation converts intention into consistent behaviour.
This “scaffolding” enables early success and protects the habit while it is fragile.
Scaffolding for senior doctors may include:
Environmental cues (templates, prompts, lists)
Workflow adjustments (administrative batching, micro‑reviews between appointments)
Emotional reinforcement i.e. small celebrations, self‑acknowledgement, or micro‑rewards
Positive reinforcement is not optional, it is part of the behavioural mechanism that creates habits.
5. Advance only when the step becomes automatic
Once you reliably perform a micro‑step without prompts or rewards, it has begun to consolidate as a habit. Then, and only then, add the next step.
Over time, these micro‑steps assemble into a stable behavioural ‘habit wall’ that supports sustained high performance.
Example habit: Finishing work on time
A common challenge for senior clinicians is consistently running late and needing to complete a significant amount of work in their own time.
A habit‑based approach might include:
Clarify the goal:
“Finish clinic on time with essential notes completed.”
Understand what this means:
Is the aim to:
Reduce stress and end the day more proactively?
Complete most documentation within clinic hours?
Avoid carrying administrative load into personal time?
Micro‑steps:
Review the structure of a typical consultation.
Identify recurrent time‑pressure points.
Introduce a micro‑habit such as:
Completing 30 seconds of notes before leaving the room
Using prepared templates
Applying a two‑minute end‑of‑consultation script
Speak with colleagues who consistently finish on time for advice.
Identify what is an individual behaviour vs. a systemic or structural issue.
Scaffold and pace:
Implement one micro‑step, celebrate small wins, and review progress before adding the next layer.
If identifying and establishing behavioural change to form new habits is something you find challenging you may want to chat with one of our coaches about how coaching can support you to plan, prepare and pace towards embedding new habits. You may also wish to explore our 6 or 12 month performance coaching programs which are designed to support you to achieve your goals and embed meaningful change.