BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IF you want something, chances are you are going to have to work for it. There is no skirting around this one! And with the right ingredients, you are only one cocktail away from success.
Set Goals
Born in the early 1960s, Theodore Hanley always knew that he wanted to be a doctor. He knew that he was destined to become a physician and, having set that goal for himself, he somehow kept it in the forefront of his mind, in every crevice of his imagination and was the basis for many – if not all – of his actions from then on.
The first home he knew was in Tabernacle where his mother was a district nurse and his father Eardley Hanley was the Chief of Prisons. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to St. Peter’s where Dr. Hanley attended primary school. But at the age of 10 his family was again relocated, this time to Shadwell where the family’s house was built.
The eldest of five children, Dr. Hanley’s primary school education continued at Maurice Hillier Memorial Junior School before he began his secondary school education at the then Convent School.
Work towards your goals and stick-to-itiveness
At Convent School, Dr. Hanley told this publication that he knew he would never be able to fit in because, at that time, the subject areas which were a prerequisite to him pursuing a career in medicine (the Sciences) were lacking from the school’s curriculum.
He convinced his parents to transfer him to Basseterre High School, which they did. Just weeks after entering the Third Form he was elevated to the Fourth and, notwithstanding the struggle, he saw success at the end of his secondary education.
“It was difficult, because remember I was coming from Convent, I had not done Chemistry or Physics yet and I managed through it. It was tough stuff but when you have a goal and a mission in mind and a vision, no matter how young you are, you can do it.”
In Sixth Form – now known as the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College – Dr. Hanley attained seven GCE ‘O’ Level passed in subject areas including History, Chemistry and Biology. And after spending just one year there, his family migrated to the United States of America in June 1978.
A grandaunt of the State University of New York with a major in Biophysics, Dr. Hanley was set to pursue a PhD in that field, but his passion did not reside there.
He reminded himself that the goal he had set for himself was to become a medical practitioner. And by 1985 he was in med-school.
Communal Effort
His parents were a driving force in helping him achieve his goal but, as he began building his own family, they became instrumental in steering him towards success.
“When I was 22 I was married and we had one child. At that point I was also in graduate school and about to go to Med-school. When I had my third child I was graduating from Med-School. That was in 1989. Do you know that we all did it together? I was studying late at night and taking care of that. So you must have goals, vision and stick-to-itiveness.
Leave your imprint everywhere
A successful medical practitioner with speciality in Anaesthesiology and Pain Management, Dr. Hanley is the Chief of Anaesthesiology at the St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, New York.
He has not neglected his homeland and has done some work in Pain Management within the Federation.
Recently, the 53-year-old partnered with Charles A. Archer – author of ‘Everybody Paddles...’ and contributed a success story titled ‘Leave Your Imprint Everywhere’.
He told this publication that over the course of his life he has and continues to endeavour to positively impact those with whom he comes in contact.
“What I really want to come across from this is how when you have a goal, you have a vision, to not just be about you. Because a lot of times we are so insular we are so insulated, and it is natural because we are in our head. No one really knows what we think unless we tell them. No one really knows how we feel unless we articulate or communicate with others. One should not develop themselves, one should develop other people; each one teach one, and that is what it is all about.”
Dr. Hanley said one of the most important things he learnt is that with all these other ingredients, the success cocktail is completed with a “never make excuses” attitude. He said the energy put into making excuses should be channelled into goal-setting and achievement of said goals.
