Welcome to Cringe Mountain. Get familiar with its terrain.
What Is Cringe Mountain?
It's that brutal period where you're terrible at something new. Where every attempt feels like presenting your first presentation—sweating through your scrubs while attendings watch you fumble basic concepts.
Here's the physician problem: We've been smart
since kindergarten. Top of class → med school → match → attending. Linear progression. Clear metrics. Always competent.
Then you try something new:
- Your first LinkedIn post gets 50 views and one like from your dad
- Networking feels like pimping yourself
Entrepreneur
feels like stolen valor
The cognitive dissonance is excruciating. You're simultaneously overqualified and underqualified for everything.
Why Physicians Get Stuck at Base Camp
**Credit to Dr. Sermed Mezher: “Health Creators: Climb Cringe Mountain #explain”
1. The Competence Trap
We're addicted to being good at things. After 15+ years of academic excellence, being bad at something feels like a personal failure. So we stay where we're comfortable—even if we're miserable.
2. The Perfectionism Paradox
In medicine, we're trained to be right the first time. One wrong dosage calculation, one missed diagnosis—real consequences. But here's the mind-bender: that perfectionism that keeps patients safe? It's exactly what keeps physicians stuck.
The business world rewards iteration over perfection. Ship fast, fail cheap, pivot quickly. Meanwhile, we're over here treating our first LinkedIn post like a peer-reviewed publication. We're editing our about
section for the 47th time while the wellness coach is on their 500th TikTok.
In medicine, failure can kill. In entrepreneurship, failure is tuition.
We just don't see the climb—only the summit.
3. The Identity Crisis
Being a doctor has been your identity since pre-med. Suddenly you're... what? A content creator
? A consultant
? An entrepreneur
? The imposter syndrome hits different when you've had a clear professional identity for decades.
The Climb: A Field Guide
Stage 1: Denial (Elevation 0-1,000 ft)
I don't need to be on LinkedIn. My work speaks for itself.
Reality check: Your groundbreaking research on occupational asthma has three viewers—your mom and the peer-reviewers who were required to read it.
Stage 2: Anger (Elevation 1,000-3,000 ft)
Why does this naturopath have 250k followers talking about 'wellness'? I have actual medical training!
Truth bomb: They started posting five years ago. You started last Tuesday.
Stage 3: Bargaining (Elevation 3,000-5,000 ft)
Maybe if I just get one more certification... attend one more bootcamp... read one more business book...
Spoiler: You're procrastinating. Post the damn article.
Stage 4: Depression (Elevation 5,000-7,000 ft)
I spent a week crafting a LinkedIn post about AI in healthcare. 2 likes. <100 impressions. My 2 AM rant about EMR frustrations? 5000+ impressions and counting.
The algorithm is drunk. Keep climbing.
Stage 5: Acceptance (Summit)
I'm terrible at this. And that's okay.
This is where the magic happens.
Your Cringe Mountain Survival Kit
1. Embrace the Suck
The only way through is through. Post the terrible article. Send the awkward email. Record the painful video. Your 10th attempt will be slightly less terrible. Your 100th might actually be good.
2. Find Your Cringe Crew
Connect with other physicians fumbling through career transitions. We're all out here being bad at things together. Join physician entrepreneur groups. Start a accountability circle. Share your failures—they're more instructive than your successes.
3. Reframe Your Metrics
Stop measuring success by clinical standards. Your first consulting gig won't feel like nailing a difficult diagnosis. Your early content won't get the immediate validation of saving a life. Create new metrics: emails sent, connections made, content published.
4. Leverage Your Unique Perspective
Your clinical lens is your superpower and anchor—you just need to learn how to translate it.
5. Start Before You're Ready
You'll never feel qualified to:
- Start that newsletter
- Launch that side business
- Apply for that board position
- Give that keynote speech
Do it anyway. Competence comes through practice, not preparation.
The View from the Top
Here's what nobody tells you about making it to the summit: You immediately see another mountain. And another. And another.
That's the secret—there is no final summit where you feel perpetually competent. Every new venture, every pivot, every growth opportunity requires another climb up Cringe Mountain.
The difference? Each climb gets a little easier. Not because the mountain gets smaller, but because you get better at being bad at things.
Your Next Steps
Identify your mountain: What's one thing you want to do but feel too incompetent to start?
Take one cringe action today: Send that LinkedIn request. Write that first paragraph. Schedule that informational interview.
Document the climb: Share your journey. Your struggles today are someone else's roadmap tomorrow.
Connect with climbers: Find other physicians on their own Cringe Mountains. Mozibox's community is full of them.
Remember: Every physician leader, entrepreneur, and innovator you admire has climbed their own Cringe Mountain. They just don't Instagram the altitude sickness.
The only real failure is staying at base camp. See you at the top.
Further Reading
Planning to fail: Why every doctor should be seeking failure