"My H Index is bigger than yours!" – a humourous review of 2019.

After a few days of relaxing with too much indulging and family I review my year that was 2019.  

2019 will be forever known as the year of transition, otherwise known as the mid-life crisis. I'm perfectly fine with this as I've never felt better and if this is a midlife crisis then bring it on.  

After 20 years working in a mixture of university and hospital positions, being a Professor for over 6 years and holding several leadership positions including Associate Dean of Research, in mid-2019 I decided to go part time. This was a result of me reviewing my values and priorities and realising that I wasn't actually aligning my life to my values. My 2 core values incidentally are 1) family and 2) using my experience and expertise to improve the lives of others. I would have previously said that I improved the health of others via nutrition but I now expand this to say that I improve the health and happiness of busy people via mindset, nutrition and enjoyable movement.  

I'm proud of the work I've done with my colleagues and research team to investigate nutritional models for improving the care of those with cancer and older adults. I'm heartened to know that hundreds of thousands of people have benefited from the research and education that I've been involved in. Acknowledging of course that there is yet still so much more to be done. Likewise I get more of a buzz from when my research students receive an award than when I do. I have a strong need at the moment to help people more one-on-one. Hence, a few months ago I started my Wellness Coaching business LINC (Liz Isenring Nutrition Consultancy) Nutrition to act as a link between hospital and community care. I support people in a more intensive manner over several months to get real results. It's some of the most fulfilling work I've ever done. I like to see myself as a younger, (slightly) less eccentric female version of the medical doctor, "House", who focuses on nutrition and wellness challenges. To see people improve after working with me for a few months when they've had these issues for years is very rewarding. I also mentor a few junior colleagues. Ironically since going part time my research output has improved . Amazing what happens when you spend less time in admin and teaching and have a super productive research team around you! 

Despite starting a new business, I have more time for my family and can attend my kids' school events which was almost impossible previously. Ever notice how there is often only a few days warning before an event?? My health and happiness is at the best it's been for decades. It's a journey and I've still got a little way to go but I now appreciate the process rather than racing towards the goals.

So upon some reflection (and a few champagnes), the key lessons I've learned in 2019 are: 

1) Life is more than a paycheck, status and titles 

2) Assess your values and priorities regularly  

3) Align your life to your values and priorities  

4) Stop worrying about judgement & do want makes you happy. Everyone is too worried about themselves to care what you are up to anyway! 

5) Don't be afraid to try new things, to fail, to just have a go. In many of our worlds we are so caught up in metrics (H index, number of papers, citations, research success, student numbers, student income, ROI etc.....). When you take the pressure off the end result and focus more on the fun and experimentation of the process amazing things can happen.  

So that just about wraps up my 2019 in review. And the title for this blog?- Well I overheard two researchers discussing (arguing) when one ended with the classic line, "Well my H index is bigger than yours". I've been waiting for the right opportunity to use it myself. As the academics will know, the H index is a somewhat controversial measure of research impact and is calculated by the number of times one of your papers has been cited that number of times (e.g. if you have an H index of 20, 20 of your published papers have been cited in papers at least 20 times).  

As I'm sure some academics will be inclined to tell me that their H index is in fact higher than mine (we're a competitive bunch). To that I will say well done! I know the research world is not easy (5% success rate anyone?). However before you feel the need to comment on my H index I would like to say that it's a respectable 30 (Scopus) and 41 (Google Scholar) and almost 4000 citations (it doesn't even change that much if I exclude self-citations!). For my age and discipline and the fact that I haven't been in a research only position for many years these are pretty decent research metrics even if I do say so myself.  

As I look towards 2020, I'm excited for the new decade. My "power words" for 2020 are Health and Happiness and this will be the lens by which I make my decisions. I wish you and your families an amazing 2020 and encourage you to reflect on 2019. Continue with the aspects that bring you satisfaction and joy and perhaps leave somethings behind that are no longer important to you. If you're lucky you may just experience the kind of "mid-life crisis" that has helped me re-align my life!! Here's to your Health and Happiness!!