We chatted with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith to get to know one of our CTRL+ALT+DEL speakers.
What are you currently working on and what excites you about it?
I am currently working on my next book. I love all the new information I learn while researching and having the opportunity to frame the research with stories to help bring it to life.
Share with our readers your journey up to this point and why you chose to pursue this path.
I am a board-certified internal medicine physician. I have been practicing medicine now for over 20 years. Healthcare has changed a lot in that time. One of my favorite parts of my job was the ability to help teach patient how to be pro-active in their health care.
Now with the time restraints on office visit, there isn’t adequate time for patient education. This is why I started writing. I could begin the conversation with a patient and could supply additional details via a handout. Writing handout evolved into writing blog posts and now into three traditionally published books (Set Free to Live Free, Come Empty, and Sacred Rest). Each book opened the door to speaking engagements which has lead me to many stages including TEDx.
What are your passions? And how often do you get to engage in your passion?
I’m passionate about helping people recover their life. It wasn’t long ago when I found myself burned-out and overwhelmed by the life I had created. I had a life that looked good on the outside with all the trimmings of success but that same life wasn’t one I enjoyed living. I had to make some hard choices about what success means to me and about what my best life looks like. From those choices came my life work at IChooseMyBestLife.com where I help other overwhelmed type-A high achievers get their life back on track. I get to engage in my passion with my personal coaching clients and when I’m creating new content for my online courses. I love breaking down complicated concepts to making them easy for anyone to understand and begin applying to their life.
What are you reading now? What is your favorite book or the one that made the most impact on you?
I am currently reading Imperfect Courage: Live a life of Purpose by Leaving Comfort and Going Scared by Jessica Honegger. The book that has made the biggest impact on my life has been Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits by T.D. Jakes.
What advice do you have for those who want to learn more about the area that you are currently working?
I would encourage anyone wanting to learn more about overcoming burnout, sleep-deprivation, and a chronic rest deficiency to take my free assessment at RestQuiz.com to determine what area of their life is having the greatest negative impact on their ability to stay energized, happy, and productive.
What is your favorite TED Talk?
My favorite TED Talk is 12 Truths I Learned From Life and Writing by Anne Lamott.
With the 2019 theme, we explore the motivations and the act of starting and restarting. We also want to hear about epiphanies – what led to it and the difference it has made. Describe your CTRL+ALT+DEL moment.
My CTRL+ALT+DEL moment is best described in the opening chapter of my book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity.
“There should be a “Get Out of Your Responsibilities” card you can play on those days when life is just too difficult, days when everything within you wants a moment simply to be still. That thought flittered through my mind as I lay stretched out on the foyer floor. I never knew how hauntingly healing cold wooden planks could be for the body. I never realized the many facets of peace and rest available when you lay yourself down on purpose. Peace comes in many forms. On this day it came in a ten-minute reprieve in the middle of the chaos that had become my life. There was no time to break away and do it right.
No time for any long, drawn-out me-time ritualistic activities. No mani-pedi.
No hot tea and biscuits. No caramel macchiato. No Dead Sea salt–infused bath.
No, on this day, time would not allow me to bury my exhaustion in any of my normal vices. So, I did what any sane burned-out human would do after picking up the kids from daycare. I set them in front of the TV with a snack, and I lay on the floor. I stretched out my back against the boards, palms down, and closed my eyes. In that moment of focused ceasing, I felt the beginning of peace stir within my body.” (Excerpt courtesy of Hachette Book Group)
The epiphany I had was that I had no idea what qualifies as rest. I learned the most underused chemical-free, safe, effective medical treatment we have available is spelled R-E-S-T. I spent the next years of my life researching types of rest, reviewing the current research, and seeing how different rest strategies work in real-life. We all need CTRL+ALT+DEL moments to refresh our perspective, revitalize our passions, and help us to remember our purpose. These moments set us back on course to living our best life.
