Field Notes:
Performance Medicine Physician Coach’s notes on the evidence of human optimization.
Field Notes is the clinical record of what actually works in human performance optimization…And what the wellness industry gets wrong about it.
Every post here is written by Will King-Lewis MD FAAFP, a board-certified Family Medicine Physician, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and US Navy Senior Medical Officer responsible for the health and performance of 3,500 sailors.
I am a Sustainable Performance Coach creating a new fiduciary standard in personal performance coaching to ensure that your performance is grounded in evidence and designed to help you for the life. The standard applied to every recommendation here is the same one applied in his clinical practice, the Fiduciary Standard.
I read the study, check the sample size, find the conflict of interest, and ask who funded it. If the evidence is strong, you will hear that. If it is limited, you will hear that too. If something is overhyped, you will hear exactly why. Even if that means going against the grain and not recommending the newest hotness, or other popular, profitable, and aggressively marketed wellness junk.
That is what the MD means. That is what Field Notes is.
An Executive Performance Program with Physician Oversight
Most executive performance programs have no physician involved. Here is what physician oversight adds to a performance program and why it changes the clinical outcome.
Ready to Work with a Performance Coach? This is Where You Start
If you're ready to work with a performance coach but not sure where to start, identifying performance leaks is the first step when the process is physician-led and evidence-based and held to a fiduciary standard.
Why A Sustainable Performance Physician Holds Coaching to a Fiduciary Standard, and Not a Research Standard
Demanding a perfect study for every coaching intervention sounds rigorous. It is not. A physician explains why best interest, not maximum evidence, is the real standard. and why he holds coaching to a fiduciary standard, not a publishable research or peer review standard.
The Clinical Threshold: When a Performance Problem Is Actually a Health Problem
Performance and health are not separate conversations. The line between them moves, and most coaches are not trained to see it.
Performance Coaching That Doesn't Push Supplements
Most performance coaching comes with something to sell you. A physician explains why the supplement on the back end is a conflict of interest, and what coaching held to a fiduciary standard looks like instead.
Identity Lock: The Performance DRAIN That Does Not Respond to Productivity Systems
Header image for SPMD Field Notes post on Identity Lock. Dark navy background with bold white text reading Identity Lock: The Performance DRAINS That Does Not Respond to Productivity Systems. Center image shows a broken painted mirror with a faint smiley face visible through the cracks. Subheading reads: The role has grown. The identity has not. No protocol fixes that. Footer credits Field Notes at SustainablePerformanceMD.com and Will King-Lewis MD FAAFP.