Before You’re an Optician, You’re a Person

The Identity Behind the Title

Before you’re an optician, you’re a person.

Before the qualifications, the clinics, the patient lists, the targets, there’s you.

Somewhere along the way, many professionals forget that. We spend years training to care for other people’s vision, and in doing so, we lose sight of our own.

In the optical world, success often looks like ticking boxes: exams, accreditations, clinical mastery, patient satisfaction, business growth.

But when you strip it all back, who are you when you leave the consulting room?

Who are you before the uniform goes on and after it comes off?

The Silent Struggle of High Performers

Burnout doesn’t arrive with warning lights. It’s quiet. It’s gradual. It often hides behind the phrase “I’m fine.”

You know the feeling - running on autopilot, showing up every day, doing your job well… yet feeling completely detached from yourself.

Optometry attracts high-achievers: disciplined, detail-oriented, and deeply responsible people. But that same strength can become a weakness when it turns into self-neglect.

When I hit my own breaking point years ago, it wasn’t because I lacked skills, it was because I had neglected me. My identity had become “the business owner,” “the optician,” “the mum.”I forgot I was also a human being who needed rest, reflection, and purpose.

That’s when I began exploring mental fitness, not as a buzzword, but as a survival tool.

Mental Fitness — The Science of Self-Leadership

Mental fitness is not meditation and candles (though there’s nothing wrong with those).It’s training your brain like a muscle.

In neuroscience, this is called neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to rewire itself.Every thought you repeat strengthens certain neural pathways.

Every time you respond to stress differently, you’re literally reshaping your brain.

In my coaching and speaking work, I teach that mental fitness has three layers:

1. Awareness – noticing your emotions and triggers without judgement.

2. Resilience – recovering quickly from setbacks.

3. Alignment – acting in line with your values, not your fear.

   
   

It’s about learning to lead yourself first - because you can’t lead a team or a business from burnout.

When you start strengthening your mental muscles, something powerful happens:You stop operating from autopilot and start living with intention.

You reconnect with why you started this journey in the first place.

From Optician to Human-Centred Leader

When I mentor opticians and healthcare entrepreneurs, I often ask: “Who are you when nobody needs you?”

That question usually stops people in their tracks.

Because our industry rewards productivity and clinical precision, but rarely pauses to celebrate presence. Yet leadership today requires both: precision and presence.

When you learn to lead from a place of mental fitness, you notice the energy in your room, not just the readings on a chart. You start seeing your team, not just managing them. You become emotionally intelligent enough to understand that empathy and boundaries can coexist.

Optical leadership isn’t just about business growth. It’s about creating environments where people feel seen, supported, and inspired to grow — including you.

Reframing Success

Maybe the real success isn’t in how many clinics you run, but how connected you feel to yourself while running them.

Maybe it’s not about doing more, but being more present.

The next time you feel overwhelmed, remember this: Before you’re an optician, you’re a person. And when you strengthen that person - mentally, emotionally, and neurologically - everything else starts to sharpen into focus.

So....

If you’re ready to start rebuilding your resilience and reclaiming your sense of self, download my free guide - “7 Micro-Habits for Mental Fitness.”

Small daily shifts that rewire your brain, one thought at a time.