The Rotary Melbourne Evening Conversation on Wednesday 9 October 24 the guest speaker was Dr Karim Moussa, Emergency Physician, Director, Emergency Department, John Fawkner Private Hospital and Author.   
Topic “From Defeats to Defining Moments: unleashing mindset”.    

The meeting was delivered via Zoom, our first solely on-line weekly meeting for nearly 3 years, bringing back a variety of memories of our action during the Pandemic Lock-down.

MC for the meeting was President Elect Philip Cornish, and Chair of the day was Stephen Rando.  

Dr. Karim Moussa's presentation began describing his experience as an aspiring doctor facing numerous challenges to eventually achieving his dream of becoming an emergency physician in Australia.

His early experience suffered overwhelming stress which impeded his confidence and performance.  As a child Dr. Moussa suffered from severe asthma, which motivated him to pursue a career in medicine.  Despite achieving high Honors in Egypt, Dr. Moussa faced numerous obstacles in Australia, including language barriers, and institutional scepticism concerning the quality of his training in Egypt, and self-doubt which sent him into an emotional downward spiral of severe depression. These factors combined to make recognition of his qualifications a challenging journey.

His recommended strategies for dealing with stress was anchored in a disciplined way of thinking about stressful situations. 

1. Self-Compassion Mindset: Emphasizes the importance of loving and forgiving oneself unconditionally. Treat ourselves with the compassion we would extend to loved ones.
2. Performance Psychology: Utilise dramatic techniques: visualization, referencing real events, and imagining being highly skilled person to perform under pressure.
3. Positive Self-Talk: Reinforce positive and challenge negative thoughts.
4. Stress Maximization Strategy: See high-stress as an opportunity for best performance – turn stress into a positive force rather than a debilitating factor.
5. Emotion impact management: Allowing yourself to feel emotions; do not let them dictate actions. Separate emotions from actions to ensure productivity.
6. Mental Adaptability: Adapt to circumstances that cannot be controlled and change the environment when possible.
7. Incremental Progress: Take small, consistent actions that lead to large results over time.
8. Goal-Oriented Living: Always having a goal to strive for, to provide a direction and purpose and counter negative thoughts and setbacks.
9. Support Systems and Seeking Help: Encouraging openness about struggles and actively seeking medical and psychological help when needed.

Dr. Moussa concluded by sharing his own achievements following these strategies, including becoming the director of an emergency department, writing a book: “Winner’s Mentality. Turning Stress into Strength”, and positively impacting his family and community.

The recoding of the meeting can be viewed by Clicking here.

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