Meet Dr. Goobie. He’s a sweet (MIT-educated) neurosurgeon in his 30s. And he just quit his job. The decision was the byproduct of poor health, broken incentives, the lack of time freedom and __career-driven existential angst.__ Goobie quit without a plan, overcoming the “sunk cost fallacy” of med school and residency. And in this viral YouTube video (watched 9 million times!) he describes being in the “messy middle of quitting” and trying to build a simple life that feeds his soul. Here’s what we can learn from Dr. Goobie. ![Watch Dr. Goobie explain his midlife crisis on Youtube](/images/blog/Screenshot-2024-07-24-at-7.56.28 PM.png)Watch the [full video on YouTube]() ## New to RadReads? Hi, I’m Khe Hy. Nearly a decade ago [I quit my 7-figure job on Wall Street]() to become a writer. I explore topics like [money](), [happiness](), [ambition](), [relationships](), [productivity]() and [more](). I also host [The Examined Life Podcast]() where I explore life’s thorniest questions with a different guest each week. My newsletter is the best way to experience my work. Sign up here: ## The sunk cost fallacy is real The career path for medicine starts early. Remember “Orgo” and pre-med? Then there’s the MCATs, med school, residencies and specializations. You only start cashing in the chips at age 30 — which makes it really hard to walk away. Unless you’re not living in alignment. ## The “leaky roof” problem As a neurosurgeon, Dr. Goobie mostly conducted back surgeries. (Yup, I guess thankfully there aren’t that many brain surgeries to be had.) But after this brutal (and deeply invasive surgery) he realized that many patients were back to square one with their pain levels in less than a year. These patients all had something in common — [a leaky roof.]() They had bad habits. They didn’t sleep much and barely exercised. They were overwhelmed by stress. And they coped using alcohol and cigarettes. > “The surgeries that I could do were like going into that house, tearing down that drywall, ripping out the moldy insulation, putting in brand new insulation and rebuilding the wall, but not fixing the leak in the roof.” Unless the root cause was tended to, the outcome for the patient was typically sub-optimal. ## Bad incentives messed things up Which led to the next problem. Dr. Goobie observed (empirically) that many folks already experiencing back pain had a chance at fixing it holistically and preventatively by: * Eating a heavy plant-based diet * Limiting their salt intake * Having ways to relieve stress * Sleeping a lot * Moving their bodies daily * Not smoking and barely drinking However, the medical complex deeply disincentivizes this behavior. > “If you figure out a way to help patients heal, and that way doesn’t include a pill or a surgery, well then the hospital and the doctor are in big trouble because if you figure out a way to help people heal and you can’t charge them for it, well then you’ve just worked yourself out of a job.” And with these broken incentives, Dr. Goobie found the job gnawing at his soul. ## Was this a midlife crisis? His peers couldn’t understand why he’d quit. He was holding the golden ticket of a high-income, [high-status job.]() In fact, many of them suggested that he was having a mid-life crisis. > I think that’s what most people call a midlife crisis. Those nine years I was really unhappy. I knew something was wrong. And I knew I couldn’t live like that. But I felt stuck in that situation, like I couldn’t escape it. However, the true midlife crisis? For Goobie, it was remaining a doctor: > That was a crisis. Now that I’ve left, I haven’t been this happy in my whole life.” ## Exiting (without a plan) So he quit. Without a plan. And his wife was in school, so they only had one income. (No kids, just a dog name _Doobie_.) And this turned out to lead to some projections from his peers, who were embarrassed on his behalf: > “Because I don’t have a plan. I don’t have to be anywhere. I don’t have to do something at a certain time. I just kind of like leaned into it. Someone asked me, Oh, what’s your plan? I said, I don’t know? And I felt good about it. __And I could tell they felt embarrassed for me.”__ Doctor Goobie’s in the process of figuring out his next steps. He’s got some savings. He’s spending a ton of time hiking outdoors with Doobie. He’s in the process of figuring out what to do next, but he leaves us with some simple wisdom: > Trust your heart. Lean on the people that love you. And do what you need to do. Whatever that is. ## Are you a high-earner going through a career transition? Find purpose, navigate money scarcity and reimagine ambition with our Group Coaching program. [Apply today]()