P. Daniel Ward MD

Facial plastic surgeon, RealSelf100 Doc, Author, Coach, Entrepreneur, Amateur Presidential Historian

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

5/ Maybe something you worked hard on got burned up, like a project, a plan, or progress you'd made. The fire doesn't get the last word. Pick up the pen. What you write next can hold even more than before.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

1/ A king once burned years of someone's work in a fireplace, piece by piece. God's answer wasn't "give up." It was "write it again." 🧵

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

4/ The second scroll wasn't just a copy. "There were added besides unto them many like words." (Jeremiah 36:32) What gets rebuilt often ends up fuller than what was lost.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

Good facial surgery shouldn't make people ask, "What did you have done?"

It should make them say, "You look rested."

The goal is still you. Just you on a good day.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

You can't be forgotten by Someone who wrote your name on His hands.

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." (Isaiah 49:16)

On the days you feel overlooked, read that again. It was written for you.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

3/ Say it back. When an instruction matters, have the person receiving it repeat it out loud. It feels slow. It prevents the mistakes that are truly slow to fix.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

1/ The operating room has taught me a lot about leading a team. Two ideals I keep working toward: 🧵

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

2/ Anyone should be able to stop the line. Not every team gets there, and plenty of people don't feel safe speaking up. That's exactly why leaders have to invite it, out loud and often.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

I try to make my hardest decision of the day before lunch.

By 4 PM, everyone's judgment is tired, including mine. Surgeons know this. So do good leaders.

Protect your best hours for your biggest calls.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

5/ And the Lord noticed. He told Ebed-melech, "I will surely deliver thee... because thou hast put thy trust in me." (Jeremiah 39:18) Who near you is sinking today? Your old rags might be enough.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

1/ Sometimes the person who pulls you out of the pit isn't the one you expected. And what they use to do it isn't fancy. 🧵

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

4/ That's how kindness usually looks. A text. A meal. Sitting with someone. You don't need the perfect thing to help someone out of the mud. Use what's already in your hands.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

The best question in a facial surgery consult isn't "What would you change?"

It's "What do you want to keep?"

Your smile. Your expressions. The face your kids recognize. Good surgery protects those first.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

In the storm, the disciples woke Jesus and asked, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38)

He cared. He was in the boat the whole time.

If your storm hasn't calmed yet, that doesn't mean He's left.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

Before any hard conversation at work, I write down one sentence: the thing they need to hear.

If I can't say it in one sentence, I'm not ready to have the talk.

It keeps me kind and clear at the same time.

[P. Daniel Ward MD @Wardmd]

The flaw you stare at in the mirror is usually invisible to everyone else.

Patients often point to something their friends have never noticed.

That doesn't make it silly. It means you deserve a calm, honest look before you decide anything.