Let’s Be Honest… I Disappeared for 2 Months

Jul 17, 2025

You’re Allowed to Take Breaks — And Still Win

Hey friends,
Let me start with a bit of honesty — I vanished from this newsletter for the last two months.
No excuses. No productivity quotes. Just life… happening.

And maybe that’s exactly what I needed — a pause.

So, Where Was I?

In the last two months, I’ve been traveling through the UK, walking nearly 20 km a day, hiking through the Lake District, exploring London and Edinburgh, attending ceremony at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and squeezing in moments of reflection, filmmaking, and pure silence.

It wasn’t all glamorous — some days felt chaotic, others deeply peaceful. But in that pause, I found a kind of clarity that work alone couldn’t give me.

And while I wasn’t sending newsletters or creating content as regularly, I was living — which, sometimes, is the most creative thing you can do.

Let’s Talk About Breaks — Especially for Us

Whether you're a dentist, a student, a content creator, or just someone with big goals — you probably carry this invisible pressure to keep going. We’ve been taught that rest equals laziness. That if you’re not working, you’re falling behind. That consistency is king, even when you’re running on empty.

But let’s zoom out.

I know brilliant female colleagues who’ve paused their careers to get married, relocate, start a family — or even just take a breath and prioritize their mental health.
I’ve seen highly skilled female dentists step away from practice for a while — not because they lacked ambition, but because life demanded a different kind of strength from them at that moment.

And yet, many of them wrestled with guilt.
Worried they’d be left behind.
Feared that stepping away would mean starting over.

But here’s what’s incredible:
They came back stronger.
With more clarity, more purpose, and a fire that wasn’t dimmed — only refined.

Some opened their own clinics.
Some upskilled and re-entered the profession with new confidence.
Some found a whole new path within dentistry that aligned better with their life.

Because the truth is:
Taking time off doesn’t weaken you — it recalibrates you.
It allows you to grow in other dimensions, build resilience, and come back with a fuller understanding of who you are — not just as a professional, but as a person.

Your skills, your knowledge, your ambition — they don’t disappear just because you unplug for a season.

So Here’s the Takeaway:

You don’t have to earn your rest.
You’re allowed to be offline. To not have all the answers. To disappear for a bit.
And still return… better, clearer, stronger.

Try this today:
Instead of asking, “What did I do this week?”
Ask: “Did I give myself what I needed this week?”
That question changes everything.

What’s Next?

I’m back — and excited to share a ton of exciting projects coming up:
🎥 New YouTube videos (dental + travel + thoughts)
📷 A travel photography series from the UK
🦷 Tips from my dentistry journey and dental career path
💡And as always, practical life motivation you can actually use.

Thank you for being patient.
Thank you for still being here.
Let’s take this second half of the year slow, steady — and strong.

See you next week.
— Dr. Haris Ghole