Happy Holidays! 🎄

This time of year has a way of slowing everything down, whether we like it or not.
The calendar pauses. The noise softens. And if you let it, life can creep in and ask a different kind of question:

Are you satisfied with how you showed up this year?

Not productive. Not busy. Not impressive. Satisfied.

As clinicians, leaders, and humans who care deeply, we’re conditioned to push. To fix. To carry more than our share. Dentistry rewards output but rarely creates space for alignment and presence. And yet, this season is built for precisely that.

Presence.

The Year Wasn’t Meant to Be Perfect

It was meant to teach you.

If you’re looking back at the year and noticing missteps, pivots, or moments where things didn’t go according to plan, good.
That’s not failure. That’s data. Growth doesn’t come from forcing clarity. It comes from responding honestly to what worked… and getting curious about what didn’t.

You don’t need to rewrite the year. You need to extract the wisdom.

Ask yourself:

• Where did I feel energized, and where did I feel drained?

• What commitments felt aligned? Which ones quietly depleted me?

• When I trusted myself, what happened?

• When I didn't trust mysef, what happened?

These answers matter more than any resolution.

You’re Not Behind; You’re Becoming

Here’s the truth most people won’t say out loud:

Burnout isn’t caused by caring too much.
It’s caused by operating out of alignment for too long.

If this year cracked something open, my hope for you is that it shifted how you view your role, your identity, and your tolerance for the status quo.

That quiet knowing you might feel in your gut. That sense you’re ready for something truer.

That matters. More grounded. More aligned. More you.

This isn’t about doing more next year.
It’s about doing what actually fits and what feels good.

Less proving. More presence. Less force. More trust. More flow.

Let This Be a Different Kind of Holiday

As a serial high-performer, I’ve personally struggled with the belief that I should always be doing something, producing something and that rest equals laziness.

Here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:
Rest isn’t laziness. It’s is a necessary part of the process.

So my challenge to you this holiday season, instead of pushing yourself to “reset” try this:

• Rest without guilt.

• Reflect with curosity but without judgment.

• Respond only to what feels good. Nothing else.

You don’t owe the world another version of yourself. You owe yourself honesty.

And no, pouring into yourself first isn’t selfish.
🫶 It comes in the form of self-care.
🫶 Self-care is a form of leadership.
🫶 Self-care is how you become the best version of yourself, which will everyone in your life will beneft from.

When January comes, clarity won’t arrive because you hustled for it. It’ll arrive because you took the time to get quiet and listen.

From My Heart to Yours

Thank you for being here. For questioning old models. For choosing growth over comfort.
For caring enough to evolve; not just clinically, but personally.

The future of prevention, leadership, and healthcare doesn’t belong to the loudest voices. It belongs to the most aligned ones.

Happy Holidays 🎄,
Rest well and trust what’s next.

XO,

Mel