Sleeping in Cars, Wearing White Coats: A Doctor's True Story (PART 1)

Pushing past the bare minimum is where true growth happens. This raw, unfiltered conversation dives into the reality behind professional success stories that often gloss over the struggles along the way. My journey from "Hood to Hooded" wasn't the straight path many assume – it was filled with unexpected health crises, homelessness, and moments where giving up seemed like the only option.

After graduating from Meharry Medical College, I faced what should have been my triumph with an unexpected battle. During my final semester, emergency surgery for endometriosis left me with one ovary and medication side effects that nearly destroyed me physically and mentally. The assumption that crossing the graduation stage instantly transforms financial circumstances couldn't be further from my reality. With no family support system and severe illness, I found myself making impossible choices – eventually sleeping in my car during dental residency in New York while still showing up professionally each day.

What kept me going? The unwavering belief that consistency would eventually yield results. Today's "consistency project" represents my public commitment to show up for 365 consecutive days regardless of circumstances – not because it's easy (it's actually my greatest weakness), but because I've learned that pushing through when quitting seems reasonable is what separates dreams from achievements. The CDP formula – Consistency plus Discipline minus Procrastination equals Growth – became my lifeline through homelessness and continues guiding me through practice ownership challenges today. Your current circumstances don't define your potential; they merely test your determination to claim what you know is possible. Whatever dream you're pursuing, remember this: when you refuse to quit on yourself, nothing can stop you. How will you show up for yourself today?

Chapters

• 1:13 Showing Up Despite Tough Days
• 2:31 Being Consistent as a Weakness
• 3:48 Gratitude in Perspective
• 5:28 Unexpected Struggles After Dental School
• 8:58 Surviving Surgery and Illness
• 14:14 From Homeless to Six Figures
• 18:17 Reacting to Past Self-Video
• 20:47 Treating Yourself as Royalty

Transcript

Dr. Shon: 0:37

even when the days are long and tough and hard, we still show up for our dreams, we still show up for the things that we want to accomplish. And I have a hypothesis that if I can push through all of my difficult days of running a dental practice and having 10,000 jaws and having a little backache right now and almost feeling like I'm about to fail doing this shit because I don't have a roadmap and because I came from hood to hooded, then I gotta show the up every day, dead serious. I gotta show up every single day and if I don't, I fail this challenge. And nobody may know that I failed this challenge, but me. But I'm going to still do it for 365 days to see if my hypothesis is right. You have to do some things, as the Lulu, to see if you can push past the bare minimum, and that's what we're doing today Pushing past the bare minimum and being grateful for the ability to get on here and communicate with you guys and talk to you guys and motivate people around the world to just be positive and grateful On those days when you feel just exhausted, like right now. Let me just be honest being consistent is a weakness of mine. Honest, being consistent is a weakness of mine, so the fact that I'm working on this weakness publicly with my audience is, at least, very vulnerable. It leaves me very vulnerable and I have to be transparent. So I'm just trying to diversify my message and diversify my output to reach more people. So being consistent and just showing up is 100% of my goal. As long as I can get on here and chit chat with y'all, then I have met my goal. I have truly met my goal. But let's talk a little bit about why I'm so grateful today. I was just watching videos of different cultures today and it helped me put my own life in perspective.

Dr. Shon: 2:51

Sometimes we can start to complain a little too often about our situation. We can complain about how far we came and we can't forget where we came from. We can do that, you can do that sometimes, and we don't want to do that. We want to always be grateful every day, wake up with gratitude regardless, because it could always be worse. I mean people who are going through things and it seems like once life knocks you down, so many things keep happening here in the us. We are overstressed, we work ourselves to death. We don't spend time with family, spending time with family. They have turning into this rare thing that you only can do when it's a family reunion, and those are not that frequently. So we are on our second week of this consistency project and week one.

Dr. Shon: 3:49

I felt the same way as I do right now, like it's really hard to show up so late at night after a long day of running the dental practice and doing my best with that and having that stress me out. I'm always so amazed at how people just feel like once I crossed the stage at Meharry Medical College which was one of the greatest days of my life that I just became some type of boss millionaire. Let's talk about it how they feel. Like I'm just such a boss millionaire and I just got money laid out and I just I'm just rolling in dough and I got, I can get, and all of this. Let me tell y'all something that's not the case. Let me show y'all I'm gonna show y'all, I want to show y'all what was happening with me after I crossed the stage and became a doctor, because it wasn't easy, and that's why I'm just so shocked at how people they'll want me to save the day for them and I'm like dang guys, I'm still struggling. I didn't get this far by having rich parents. My parents really didn't even get to experience this with me. My mom she died in a car accident when I was only eight years old and even before then I wasn't living with her. My dad he had his own personal life going on, just being a victim of colonization and they kicked the fathers out of the house and they kicked the fathers out of the house. But after I graduated dental school, that was one of the most hardest, unexpected times of my life. You just never know when an illness is going to set you back.

Dr. Shon: 5:33

The last semester of dental school I had to get surgery for having endometriosis. This surgery was an emergency surgery. Here I am, my last semester in middle school. I have to study all day, all night and just being so grateful to get to the end. And they said, hey, you need to go to surgery. I'm like, no, I'm not going to no surgery. We got carob belly ball. We got graduation. Y'all got to wait. I got to turn up. They said, hey, got to wait. I got to turn up. They said, hey, you gotta have an emergency surgery. This was january of my last semester, my d4 year. D4 is the fourth year dental school and I said, no, I can't have no surgery. So I refused to have the surgery.

Dr. Shon: 6:15

Until I refused to have the surgery, until they told me that it was like kind of mandatory, I said I had a surgery, so I had to take this time off because I was constantly missing school for pain. I mean endometriosis, and I had this chocolate cyst, I think it was like 10 centimeters or something and they needed to take it out. So they scheduled a surgery. This is around my birthday, 2016. I didn't even get to celebrate my birthday like that Graduation party, nothing that that semester was the most difficult life changing semester I ever had. I got sick, had the surgery, had to miss six weeks of school when I got back. I'm behind on my my requirements now.

Dr. Shon: 7:00

And then they said, hey, we had to take one of your ovaries. I'm like what the? So they took one of my ovaries during the surgery, left me with one ovary, stressed me to death. Then they said endometriosis is so bad that you need to take this shot Call Lupron. I'll take this Lupron shot and I didn't want to take it of all, but they told me that it was gonna help me. Mind you, it's a $2,000 shot, so I feel like it was all about the money. They didn't know the side effects.

Dr. Shon: 7:31

Took this shot, man y'all. This shot nearly killed me. This shot nearly killed me. It nearly killed me. I started. It puts you in clinical menopause temporarily. I was having hot flashes, I was tired, I was weak, I was asleep constantly in the er. It made me go into rage and side effects were just like. I was a whole, nother crazy person. And on top of that I had an issue with a professor not allowing me to finish my credits that I had already done, I had. I had so much going on, and that was the year where I should have been like you know what. I quit, but I had came too far.

Dr. Shon: 8:09

Fourth year, at the very end, and that was my test to see if I really wanted to be a doctor, because I could have gave up at that moment moment being sick in the bed, couldn't get out for two weeks With somebody on my tail acting like I'm not going through something, with no family to help me, with nobody to call for money, and then when I call people, they're so used to me being strong that they won't help me, because when my parents died. I didn't really have anybody. Even before, when my mom died, I had my grandmothers, but they come from poverty as well. I'm thinking I got to get out of this, I'm going to be this big doctor and just go back and help my nieces and nephews and my family. And then this happened, boom, and I realized who's going to show up when you're down and who's not going to show up. My fiance was there, working day and night to help me out during that time and that was such a miraculous thing because I couldn't do nothing and without him I don't know if anybody would have came to my rescue.

Dr. Shon: 9:14

When I crossed that stage, I remember this lady speaking to me when I was going back into the opry mills to go grab my split pops that I love. She said you a doctor, now you don't need no slip pops, you can buy some. You can buy some more. As if I crossed the stage and I was instantly rich. That wasn't the case. Long story short, I was sick. I took another shot and that one really almost killed me.

Dr. Shon: 9:37

Meanwhile I missed all my whole senior year. This doctor from the Brooklyn Hospital Center came down for one of the balls that we were having. That I missed also. And they had a spot at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and two of my professors recommended me to go to this and I also got accepted into Meharryry, even though I didn't apply to any programs. And this is how favor works when you're chosen, you just chosen and even if you miss something, you always gonna stay in the know and you always gonna be in the loop, my Niji. So I said I'm highly interested in moving to Brooklyn, but I didn't have the money, I didn't have the family support to get me there, I didn't even have the health to go to Brooklyn.

Dr. Shon: 10:22

But in my mindset, as a dreamer, as you know what, I refuse to fail, just like this consistency project. When you refuse to quit on yourself and you don't take no for an answer, it is nothing nobody can do to stop you. There is nothing they can say to stop what you have going on. You're gonna make it regardless, through the homelessness, through the sickness, through the depression, through the anger, through the shifts in your balance and people poisoning you with medicine that you don't even know the side effects. You will overcome that. I don't know who I'm talking to tonight, but whatever it is, you will overcome that. You just have to keep a determination to win period. You need to make a decision, stay disciplined and be determined to win and work on that CDP formula. We've been talking about it all week and if you don't know, go to the hood to hood podcast or, dr sean, live on youtube and catch up on a cdp formula consistency plus discipline minus the lack of procrastination equals your go up.

Dr. Shon: 11:33

And when I was going through all of this, graduating and there's this instant stigma that you just got it like that, and I felt, damn, when I graduated, I'm gonna have some type of money and I wanted to really go to work after graduation. I didn't want to go to residency, let me be honest. But I had to go to residency. You want to know why? Because I was too sick to even get the job. I had to go to another safe haven. I made it a way to go to residency. I had to sell all my stuff, give away all the stuff because it couldn't fit in the car. I could only take what could fit in the car out of a two to three bedroom house. I cried, lost my apartment. I got so sick I couldn't even pay bills. I couldn't do nothing. It was like once they put the medicine in me. I became a different person. I lost my edge. I lost who I was before that. I lost something and I had to fight like hell to get it back. And I refuse to ever quit, regardless of who don't believe in me, regardless of what people say, your haters, your naysayers.

Dr. Shon: 12:36

People don't know your story, baby. They don't know your story. They don't know that I'm hood to hood. They don't know how I got this book right here. They don't know why it's so thick. They don't know what you survive. They don't know all the things you overcome being in poverty, being broke, being confused, wanting to be loved, wanting your parents, people mistreating you, feeling like you ain't nothing because you don't have your parents. People will make you feel like you are nothing, make you feel like you're going to be a stereotype. I was supposed to be that stereotype and I knew this, but they didn't know that I was a genius and I knew that they didn't know what they was talking about. So that's why I'm here today, guys, to tell you, from hood to hood it, you can survive anything. Just show up for yourself. Tonight we realizing it's all about consistency and showing up for your dreams. Now, what I want to do is show you guys a video that I made when I was homeless. I just want to react to it because I haven't seen it in a while. I want to react to my emotions and how much I have grown since watching this video.

Dr. Shon: 13:43

I recorded this on July, the 15th 2018, in Brooklyn, new York, during my general practice residency at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, and it says Dr Sean documents journey from homeless to six figures as a first year dental resident and I had 11 days left to graduate and I discussed the ins and outs of going from homeless to six figures. I was trying to get my story out then, and the title of this was there is no excuse to give up on your dreams life goes on. Back then, I was in my christian identity. Right now, I identify as americ indian. I'm niji chakta muskogen, seminole abalachi. I have a different spiritual system with the creator. My mindset was different. Back then, I under uncovered the truth about who I am through my genealogy and realized that my ancestors are indigenous to America and that I'm not from Africa.

Dr. Shon: 14:45

It's a lot of things that I've been uncovering and learning in addition to becoming a doctor, in addition to learning how to run a practice every day on the brink of failure, because people just don't understand that you need support. I'm in a whole nother state that there's no family up here in new york. It's just me, fiance, whole nother state doing this out the mud. No loans, for god's sakes. I didn't even get a congratulations card when I opened up my dental practice.

Dr. Shon: 15:15

Now I don't know why I have to be the person to go through these lowest of the low spots and the homeless to the six figures in the positions, because I know that I represent somebody out there who do not believe in itself, because they got to show up for themselves alone. You got to do it, sometimes by yourself, with just you and one other person who supports you, one other person who's going to be your ride or die there, rain, sleep or snow. I remember during this time when I was homeless, sleeping in my car, I called a family member and I'm working, but it's so expensive that I can't pay rent in New York and plan to move and save for a place. We had a place. It was so expensive but the one room was like fifteen hundred dollars a month and we got a boot on a car and if you know about new york parking and it just threw us in a it's keep the house or the car. We got to keep the car, we got to maintain the car and then that story is crazy. It's in the book, but either way, it was like this is the decision we got to make because the money ain't adding up and we need to save, so it was a decision that we had to make. Sometimes that's how it is you have to go homeless to accomplish your dreams, and this is in 2018. It's 2025. This is seven years ago. Seven years ago. Seven years ago.

Dr. Shon: 16:49

What's going on video? I'm just trying to get it to where I want to react to this video. I never really did a reaction video. I think that'll be really cool to react to this video now that we're doing the hood to hood it. This isn't really the hood to hood it challenge. This is more like the dr sean consistency project. So I want to pull this up and show y'all what it looked like when you just on the ground. I mean, in this video, I am goes on life, I am, life goes on. In this video, I am just fighting for my dreams. So we're going to pull it up, what's called there is no excuse to give up on your dreams and we gonna let it roll.

Dr. Shon: 17:46

This is me when I was a resident in dental school in New York. Like I said, june 15, 2018, homeless. Let's see what my mindset was that guys, as I was about to graduate from residency, what's going on video diary? This is dr sean, motivational dentist. This is day, and I had to leave work early today because I wasn't feeling good. So, yeah, life goes on. That's what happens in life when you, life just goes on. That's all I have to say about today. Life goes on and it's always unexpected. You just never know. So I'm out sick. I'm working on Project. It's gonna be very big, is probably gonna be released.

Dr. Shon: 18:44

Christmas time. That's what I'm doing with time today. I'm happy it's Friday, though. Kudos for that. I wish I felt a little bit better, but, as promised, I'm on this vlog every day because I want to document my mood, my emotions, how I'm feeling, everything about today.

Dr. Shon: 19:08

Not too many if you reach out. That's me completely care, not always here. That's the most important thing. I know that there are so many people who sacrifice all. They will sacrifice the comment my sacrifice, oh congratulations. But not too many will really make that sacrifice. Sacrifice a prayer, sacrificing funds, none of that.

Dr. Shon: 19:33

And it's so weird that when you're broke, people don't really pay you any attention. It doesn't matter why you're broke even if you're broke because whatever but when you're not broke, people pay you attention. I don't know why that is. It's like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, all because of mentality. You know what I mean.

Dr. Shon: 19:54

And we don't know how to invest in one another. And that's the big word. A lot of people throw that word around oh you ain't investing me. No, yes, no, get this car anyway. We didn't invest in me. No, invest means really investing, believing in someone's business, believing in someone else's dreams. If you're not going to go out and get your own self, it's just believing in someone other than yourself. That's what investing in is actually putting money behind it, saying I believe that you are capable to do what you say you're going to do in your business plan to action. I'm going to be investing you and you just pay me back. I mean, that's how you invest. So today and every day is definitely growing me as a queen, because it doesn't matter if I'm in this car, or it doesn't matter if I'm on the top of a mountain.

Dr. Shon: 20:47

That does not negate the fact that you have to treat yourself as royalty every day. It doesn't matter if I'm on the top of a mountain. That does not negate the fact that you have to treat yourself as royalty every day. It doesn't matter. You know what I mean. You must feel like royalty every day.

Dr. Shon: 21:01

Your situation, what's in your account, what's on your mind, what you're doing in life should never make you negate the fact that you're supposed to have your crown on head tied at all times. And this is what you establish as the foundations. And the character of a queen and a king is when, even at your lowest or even at your highest, you never waver in god's standards for your life. You never forget why he puts you on this earth. So even when you feel the lowest, he's always there to remind you, with your crown on, that you are the highest in his book.

Dr. Shon: 21:35

You might not have all the material things that don't mean a thing when you leave here, but as long as your spirit is good, your mind is good, your heart is clear and you still have kindness and you don't let situations make you mad. This is when you prosper. This is when you can feel that royalty exuberating through your bones, exuberating through your blood vessels and your mind, and then your spirit will leap for joy. It will be so happy of the things and the knowledge and the wisdom that you gain from your experiences. Whether that's sleeping in a car, whether that's going and working so hard day to night till your feet ache and your bones ache, your hands ache, whether that's fighting for your dreams, studying all times of day when other people don't get it, whether that's being in New York City city on june, the 15th 2018, as a real life dentist here dealing with life.

Dr. Shon: 22:38

You know, I mean, it doesn't matter what you go through, kings and queens, it doesn't matter what you go through. You should never have an excuse to give up on god. You should never, ever have an excuse to give up on God. You should never, ever have an excuse to give up on your dreams. No matter how big or how down you think you are, you always have the opportunity to dig yourself out of that. You always have the opportunity to get yourself and your spirit and your mind in check and never letting anybody or anything or your situation make you feel worthless or that you're not worthy enough. It's gonna be a lot of people around you who are gonna ignore situations that come about because they don't want that type of responsibility, for instance, me. No one wants the responsibility of raising a doctor unless they're your parents, and then when your parents don't do it, it's only you to do it.

Dr. Shon: 23:33

So my mom employed me to do this dream. I did it like I tell people I would not do this again, probably wouldn't do this again, but I did it nevertheless. I did it. So god makes dreams possible. That's the moral of the story for this blog today is god makes dreams possible and for that reason and that reason alone, you do not give up on your dreams and, most importantly, you do not give up on god. Amen. Oh, I had my mic off this whole entire time. Oh no, you guys, I had my mic off this whole entire time. Now, that's a terrible mistake. That's a terrible mistake.