By Diane Palombi, OD
Like you, I consider myself a responsible and deliberative person. However, recent events have caused me to consider how impulsive acts have affected my life and my optometric career–far more than I had imagined.
My daughter and son-in-law recently dropped a bomb shell on me. My son-in-law had taken a job in Washington, DC. They would be leaving within two weeks. I was in shock. In my opinion this decision was made totally on impulse. My son-in-law had not even interviewed for the job. An army associate had recommended him for the position. They had never been in the Washington, DC, area. I could not believe that they were willing to quit their jobs and leave their family and friends on a lark.
Then I thought, “Pot, are you calling the kettle black?”
If I had stuck to my original plan, my life would be entirely different. Many of my major life decisions, including professional ones, were made on impulse. I decided to follow my boyfriend from Missouri to New Jersey after he graduated from college. A short time later, we were engaged. We decided to try to move back to Missouri with no jobs and little savings after working for the family business in New Jersey did not pan out for him. This was three weeks before our wedding. Luckily, jobs and a nice apartment were found. We chose to relocate to St. Louis instead of Columbia, Mo., in order for me to finish college. I was interested in a post-graduate program in Columbia. However, St. Louis had a better job market for my husband. More about how that choice would affect me later.
A career as an optometrist was not my initial plan.
My first love was writing, but I decided that veterinary medicine would pay the bills better–and I happen to love animals. I thoroughly researched the profession. I attended the career day sponsored by the state veterinary college. My hometown veterinarian was my mentor. Things changed when I enrolled in the University of Missouri, St Louis, to finish my degree. My college advisor was involved with recruiting for the brand new college of optometry that had just opened that fall. He suggested that I might be interested in pursuing optometry as a career.
Being slightly myopic, I was somewhat familiar with eye doctors. So, I thought, why not? I filled out my application and got my letters of recommendation. My admissions interview did not go well. I had not thoroughly researched optometry like I had veterinary medicine. In my interview I mentioned that I did not like having my eyes dilated. Imagine my chagrin when I started optometry school to discoverer that my prior eye doctors had been ophthalmologists. Optometrists in Missouri had just gotten diagnostic privileges. My doctors had been in Illinois where optometrists could not dilate eyes at that time. I am sure that uninformed statement did not favorably impress the interviewing panel. The rest of my credentials must have been good since I was accepted despite this faux pas.
Opening my own independent practice was the result of yet another impulse. I knew my days at my present Lenscrafters location were numbered. The area was going through an economic decline. My employer inquired if I would be interested in buying him out. I decided that I wanted to work closer to home to have the freedom to attend my daughters’ activities. Unfortunately, there were not many optometric practices close to home. Finding employment with another doctor did not look promising. Buying an existing practice was not an option at the time either. I decided to just open my own practice cold. We had money saved so proving the viability of starting an optometric practice to a bank was not an issue. I did the minimum to figure out if this would work out financially for us. My business plan was practically nonexistent. Basically, I was shooting from the hip and hoping I hit my target. I will admit that I was running at a deficit initially. After a few years I was paying my bills, my staff and myself. I also had the income of the sale of my practice when I decided to retire.
Fortunately for me, these impulsive decisions worked out. I could have just as easily fallen on my face. Sometimes being impulsive is the correct decision in the long run; although it can be a bit scary initially. The lesson? Be diligent and do your homework before making important decisions, but listen to your gut and intuition, too.
Although it is great to have all the data to make your decisions, it is also good to listen to that little voice inside of you. For example, sometimes you feel that you might need to refer a patient to a specialist even though you may not have obvious reasons to do so. You get that feeling that something isn’t right with them, but you can’t pin down an obvious cause. More times than not, the specialist finds that you were correct to go with your gut. You might decide to leave that steady job with the guaranteed income to strike out on your own. Reason may tell you to stay put, but your heart says go for it. Letting impulse win over logic is not always a bad thing.
Case-in-point: My daughter and son-in-law are doing well in DC. He really likes his new job. It feels more rewarding to him helping fellow soldiers than being in sales. My daughter’s employer in St Louis let her work remotely from DC. They love their new townhouse and find the area exciting. At this point they are very happy with their (impulsive) decision to relocate.
What important professional decisions have you made on impulse? Was there a time when you did your due diligence, and then realized you wanted to head in an entirely different direction anyway?
Diane Palombi, OD, is the now-retired former owner of Palombi Vision Center in Wentzville, Mo. To contact her: dlpod1@hotmail.com
