Dear young friend,
You open your phone, and someone your age has started a company. Someone has moved abroad. Someone has bought a car. Someone is sharing another achievement.
You may be happy for them. Yet a question quietly follows: “Am I falling behind?”
Then come the instructions: work harder, build your brand, increase your income, make every hour productive. In medicine, the language changes slightly: see more patients, operate more, collect qualifications, establish your name.
As a surgeon approaching sixty, after three decades of professional life, I want to stand before your generation and offer another message: Take care. Be peaceful. Earn enough. Keep growing.
These words come from someone who still believes deeply in effort—and who has learned to question what we sacrifice in its name.
Your ambition deserves a thoughtful direction
I want you to dream. Become a skilled doctor, a capable engineer, an honest entrepreneur, an inspiring teacher. Develop something useful. Become financially secure.
But pause occasionally to ask: What kind of everyday life is this ambition creating?
A career is lived on ordinary Tuesdays. It includes the journey to work, the people around you, the meals you manage to eat, the conversations you postpone and the energy you have when you return home.
Those details deserve a place in your definition of success. A title can tell the world what you do. It cannot tell you whether you are happy with the life you are building.
A lesson I learned through my own health
In 2010, when I experienced ventricular ectopics, I began to examine the way I was living and working.
I had spent years responding to other people’s suffering. My own health needed attention too.
That experience helped redirect my work towards prevention and self-healthcare education. It also changed the advice I wanted to give younger people.
Today, when I tell you to care for yourself, I speak as a doctor who had to learn to include himself in the circle of care.
You do not have to repeat every mistake of an older generation to earn its respect. Let our experience shorten your learning curve.
Decide what “enough” means for you
Money matters. Education costs money. Housing, family responsibilities and emergencies require it. You deserve fair pay and the freedom that financial security can provide.
But give “enough” some thought. What income would allow you to meet your needs, save responsibly, support people who depend on you and have some choice over your time?
Your answer may change. That is natural. The difficulty begins when you never answer the question—when every milestone simply moves the finish line.
Before accepting another commitment, ask what it will require. More money may be worth the additional work. Sometimes it may cost time you would rather spend elsewhere. Make that decision consciously.
Peace belongs in the calculation too.
Your pace needs to fit your circumstances
Perhaps you are preparing for an entrance examination. Perhaps you are working while supporting your family. Perhaps you are still discovering which career suits you.
Advice about balance must acknowledge those realities. You may have limited control over your schedule. You may need a demanding season of work to create better options. Caring for yourself within those circumstances requires practical choices, support and patience.
Start where you have some influence: a conversation with a mentor, a manageable routine, one financial decision, a request for help.
And when you gain authority, remember the people who still have little control. Build workplaces and institutions where reasonable boundaries are possible.
Race against yourself—with kindness
One idea I return to in Race Against Yourself is to examine your own progress instead of allowing comparison to govern your life.
Ask: Am I learning? Am I becoming more dependable? Am I handling difficulty more thoughtfully? Am I making choices that reflect my values?
Some weeks, progress will be visible. Other weeks, you will be recovering, reconsidering or simply getting through a difficult period.
You do not have to turn every day into a performance review. A setback deserves understanding as well as action. Your worth remains larger than your latest result.
A practical way to begin
Within GSHER and the CelluReva™ approach, I use Reset → Revive → Reprogram → Restore as a framework for reflection and everyday change.
Pause and identify one pressure you have accepted without questioning it.
Make room for something that supports you—rest, movement, a meal or an honest conversation.
Replace one unhelpful habit with a realistic action you can repeat.
Reconnect with a person, interest or purpose that matters to you.
Treat this as an invitation to build supportive habits. If you are struggling, seek appropriate professional help as well. Asking for support is a responsible decision.
What my generation owes yours
Young people need more than motivational speeches.
They need fair opportunities, humane training, trustworthy mentors and leaders willing to examine unreasonable expectations.
In medicine especially, we must teach competence alongside integrity, sound judgment and respect for the doctor’s own humanity.
My generation has experience to share. Your generation has questions we need to hear. Let us bring both to the table.
Dear Gen Z, work seriously towards the future you want. And give yourself permission to enjoy parts of life while you are building it.
Take care. Be peaceful. Earn enough. Keep growing.
I hope your achievements become part of a life you are glad to live.