Self Care In Action

Dear Miss Overachieving Black Girl,

Today, I wanted to share some examples of me putting self-care in action.

But first, I have to address the elephant in the room….where have I been on Substack? Well, 2025 has been incredible but very busy. I am a 3rd-year medical student at HMS, and third year means I am taking advanced electives/sub-internships. You can learn more about the nitty-gritty of what this means on my blog and Instagram, but it’s been a busy couple of months.

But part of my hiatus, too, is my constant struggle with “perfection” - where I wanted to write and share, but because I didn’t have an hour or two to write out a nicely formatted newsletter for you all, I wouldn’t write anything at all.

This goes into the first self care in action of today, allowing myself to share in the process. A lesson that has been resonating with me is the idea of “Becoming” - that we are all constantly becoming. There is actually truly no point in life in which one of us will have it all figured out.

I gave a talk last week at the Student National Medical Association’s medical education conference titled “Self Care is not Selfish: Prioritizing Well-Being in Medicine”

This conference is the largest gathering of Black medical students across the country and it was truly an honor to be able to share and talk about this topic.

I shared my journey - bringing to light how my identities and stressors work together to cause distress and how I recognized early on in medical school the need for a method to not only survive, but to thrive during my medical training. I also frame self-care as a foundational practice that is much more than face masks and supplements. The talk was very well recieved and I’m considering a virtual option or series so stay tuned on that.

But I returned from the 4 day conference where I had so many social interactions and connections, not enough sleep, a very delayed flight back to Boston not getting in my bed until 4am….and then right back to it while feeling like I had to play catch up on projects and tasks while all my body wanted was a B R E A K.

I laugh with my classmates about how medical school gives you ALOT except for those 5 words. As I am now a senior medical student, the pressure is worserrrr and it will only increase as my responsibility over patient care increases.

So what are some ways I’ve put self-care into action this week?

First off, sleeping in. Now I am a proud member of the 6am girlie squad - I just love the mornings and when I can I enjoy a calm morning routine. But this week I had to listen to my body or rather it made me listen. I literally had an appointment on Tuesday morning at 9am, and why did my eyes open at 8:52 am?

……

Wake up call Kye….you’re tired! I’m lucky to be in a more chill schedule this month with class 4 hours of the day rather than the 13-15 hour days 6 days a week I did last month. I had to listen to my body this week and forgo the 6am alarms….and that is ok!

Second quick act of self-care - saying no. In 2025, thus far, I have been traveling A LOT [see Greece photo below] It has been so great - I started a new relationship and I am so happy!! But this adds on another important relationship for me to balance with my family, friends, and myself. That can be a blog of itself.

I was set to travel this weekend for the 4th weekend IN A ROW and the like 10th weekend for this year when I had to pause and realize that what I needed was a weekend home where I could write this manuscript, clean my space, sleep, and give my body a break from the travel.

I am someone who wants to be there for everyone. And as I’m getting older, my friend groups have expanded with some of the most AMAZING people. But that means almost every month is a birthday, a graduation or celebration, or some other way I want to be physically, financially, or emotionally present for my friends.

Self-care in action is me recognizing my limits. It means communicating openly, honestly, and frequently with my friends and loved ones. It means finding other ways to show love.

“Hey sis, I would love to fly out and join your graduation party….but honestly, I’m looking at my schedule and I’m not going to be able to be there in person but I want to celebrate you in spirit. Expect a gift from me in the mail!”

Communication like this with my friends has helped me to keep strong relationships while also prioritizing my school and self.

So Miss Overachieer, I know we think we try to do it all…..and we can! This is what doing it all looks like. Doing it all means sometimes you sleep in, sometimes you do that 6am pilates class, sometimes you hop flights, sometimes you stay in, but all the times you are doing what honors you and the amazing person you are.

I hope you enjoyed my little yap and sharing a few ways I put self-care into action. What is a way you took care of yourself this week?

xoxo,

Kye