Dr. Nicolas Slenkovich does not have the early education most people expect from a successful plastic surgeon. He dropped out of high school yet turned his life around on a self-improvement journey. Along the way, he learned some valuable lessons that he now shares with others.
You Have to Help Yourself to Help Others. Dr. Slenkovich began his self-improvement journey during college. He had a GPA of just 0.6 and realized something needed to change. He says, “through deep self-reflection in my mid-20s, I knew my life was off-course, and I believed that I could do more to help others if I expected more of myself.” He explains that his decision to open a plastic surgery practice was to help “others on their own journey.”
Hard Work Makes You Happy. Becoming a doctor is not easy. Becoming a double-board certified plastic surgeon is even more challenging. Yet along the way, he learned that this hard work was well worth it. He discovered that “hard work makes you happy.” Today, he helps his patients apply the same lesson.
Learn from Your Failures. Like many other successful people, Dr. Nicolas Slenkovich has also learned important lessons about failures. Specifically, he learned that they are “inevitable,” but that is not bad. He says, “the problem isn’t the failures, it is how you learn from them.”
You Need a Clear Vision of Success. Dr. Nicolas Slenkovich also discovered the importance of having a clear vision. This lesson was so important that he says it is the one piece of advice he would give to someone just starting out. He explains, “success comes from having a vision of what success looks like for you. Without a clear vision, you won’t have the commitment to overcome challenges along the way. Your most important task starting out is to build this vision of where you see yourself and exactly what that looks like.”
Dr. Slenkovich grew up in Silicon Valley. He worked in his parents’ small business growing up. After graduating college, he decided med school was his next step but couldn’t choose between surgery and emergency medicine. His decision to focus on plastic surgery came after hearing a speaker on rhinoplasty. He realized that this path would let him help patients achieve their goals while keeping him challenged.
Dr. Nicolas Slenkovich learned valuable lessons from his self-improvement journey, which he now shares with others. Now, he performs plastic surgery to “partner with patients on their self-improvement journey.”
