On today's thoughts from the truck episode, I ponder a little bit about a quote and this quote, for a context comes from one of my top seven of all time books; biggest, most impactful books that I have read. One of these books, out of the seven, that lie on my mind altering, life altering type shelf at home. This book is called High Performance Habits by Brendan Burchart. Highly recommend reading this book and looking into it, but in this book, the author, who is a self-help, self-developmen...
Jun 02, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Supplementing a Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation product modulates innate immune function and ameliorates bovine respiratory syncytial virus infection in neonatal calves Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32780814/ Ultimate Message: We do have an ability to modulate immune responses to make them less damaging within the respiratory tract of our calves and potentially beyond that if you start to look outside of this study. Big 3 Take Aways: Number one, there are differences between prebio...
Apr 27, 2023•21 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Find the full article text at otovets.com/post/feeling-dumber-you-might-be-stressed Stress makes you dumber. Period. Our brains have a limited amount of working memory in them. As such our brain seeks to utilize this limited resource in the most effective way. This means that when we are stressed the brain begins to shift blood to prepare us for action. A natural and necessary response from an evolutionary perspective. The shift allows us to prepare for using this memory to aid our fight or flig...
Mar 06, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Get this newsletter delivered to your Inbox every month! Signup for the Countdown to Success HERE! Happy February OTO, At Operators to Owners we encourage continual growth and learning. In the spirit of this initiative we will be experimenting with our monthly newsletter, the Countdown , and its layout throughout 2023. We are doing this to make it more useful to you, as well as more accessible to the veterinary community. As part of this experiment I'm proud to pre...
Mar 01, 2023•15 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Take the Personal Growth Initiative Assessment at otovets.com/pgi Our Inner Work Life Tells a Story Struggling with feelings of burnout and stress at work are not unique to the veterinary profession. In fact, this is an endemic issue that pervades almost every level of our society. Scientists have begun to classify these internalized thoughts and feelings that are brought on at work as "Inner Work Life." We've all experienced the power of Inner Work Life at some time. The waxing and...
Dec 01, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 74
In Episode 72 we introduced the concept of Salutogenesis and my feelings about it's ability to impact our profession; specifically how it has the potential to aid us in discovering our Flourishing State or that state in which we are: "Being free from illness and distress but, more important, of being filled with vitality and functioning well in one's personal and social life." - Source Today we discuss the four principles that make up Salutogenesis: 1) A Sense of Coherence - This is ...
Sep 01, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Salutogenesis is a word few of us have heard before but could be the means by which we can rejuvenate our profession. Salutogenesis is the pursuit of knowledge around the study of the origins of health, contra the origins of disease, resulting in a better understanding of the "flourshing state" of mental, physical and spiritual health. More simply defined; salutogenic research revolves around the "top performers" and what makes them the top, vs focusing on the pathologies that cause...
Jun 30, 2022•14 min
Bottlenecks have existed for as long as man has. From the drawbridge in medieval days, to the corporate board room and even within our own heads; these friction points decrease our efficiency and cause us to experience a variety of problems. These problems disrupt our lives and cause us untold physical and emotional pain. Therefore, the identification and addressing of bottlenecks can prove to be a much needed skill for the modern medical professional. This podcast will ...
Dec 16, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Fostering motivation for personal development is one of the key values of OTO. Creating an environment of momentum, one that motivates you to continue your development is key to experiencing long term success in this endeavor. As a listener to this podcast, you're likely among the 20% of individuals that are doing 80% of the creative work in our industry. But finding the motivation to continue this task, continue this work, is incredibly hard. This is where the Matthew Effect is cri...
Oct 29, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Have you ever wanted something but didnt know how to get it? Maybe you've started a new service and are struggling to get it off the ground? Maybe you've always wanted to provide a service or bring a product to the market but have struggled to get traction as it develops? Have you ever grappled with feelings of inadequacy or imposter syndrome? Then today's episode is made JUST FOR YOU! Speaking something to existence means that you are committed to sharing your vision with the world....
Sep 09, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 69
When is the last time you've sat down and thought about what actually is meaningful to you? Have you ID'd those niche's, specialties and hobbies that fill YOUR cup and provide you energy every day? The deeper that I dig into Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the motivations it can create, the more I begin to understand the importance of meaningful work in the workplace. This work is unique to us as individuals, and allows us to express our own interests and desires. This typ...
Aug 12, 2021•12 min•Season 1Ep. 68
The Progress Principle: Learn More at https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins Today we discuss the characterization of virtuous cycles at work and how to craft them using small wins for yourself and your employees. We all experience good and bad work days….and there are so many factors that play into each; the type of work, the challenge of the work, our home life, the relationships at work, road blocks we encounter, tools we find…..the list is endless. So how do we maximize the # of pos...
Jul 01, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 67
We are surrounded by peers who are in vicious cycles. Struggling with negative mentalities, poor workplaces or a lack of work-life balance. Recently one of my masterminders posed a question to me, "How do I get friends to start to try Personal Growth Initiative as a way to develop?" This is a great question. Those of you who listen to this podcast likely already see the value in Personal Growth. Likely you've invested in this concept for weeks, to months to even years. &n...
Jun 10, 2021•22 min•Season 1Ep. 66
The Virtuous Cycle; a very cool sounding term for the concept of using small wins to build momentum. A virtuous cycle is a cycle of wins and progressive movement in areas that matter to you. This means you're making measurable or visible progress in your areas of salient interest. As Owners of our personal and professional lives it is up to us to set ourselves up for success every day. We must manage our daily lives as well as manage our days in order to create this momen...
May 27, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 65
1 minute of planning or preparation is = to 10 minutes of execution. - John Maxwell When is the last time you planned before you took on a consulting project, home improvement project or personal growth activity? Do you know how to successfully create a plan to achieve your wants and whys? If not this episode is for you! Today we are going to go beyond simple goals and dig deep into how we can make a goal become a reality. By harnessing a concept called OKR's we can begin to create actionable pl...
May 13, 2021•17 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Discovering what you really want saves you endless confusion and wasted energy. – Stuart Wilde Picture a world where no one knows what they want or why they want it. They simply go about their day checking boxes; fulfilling their basic needs and then ending the day. When I do this it conjures up images of sci-fi movies with these drones of people moving about with no purpose or mission in life....then in comes our superhero. This hero breaks free of the mold by wanting somethi...
Apr 29, 2021•24 min•Season 1Ep. 63
What should we do about the nay-says among us? Those who tell budding vets to find another career or something with a better ROI. How would I handle such an individual and how could personal development, clarity and goal setting change their opinion. Join me today OTO'ers as I provide my perspective on these negative community interactions. Join the discussion at otovets.com/facebook or interact with me directly at [email protected]!
Apr 15, 2021•14 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Many veterinary professionals struggle to create balance between their professional and personal lives. This struggle can lead to some intense internal and external conflicts about what is most important in their life. Conflicts such as these can severely effect a professionals mental health, well-being and lead to dissatisfaction and burnout for the individual. Today, I will share some thoughts that I have taught in my Work-Life Balance Mastermind as well as three strategies I belie...
Apr 01, 2021•11 min
Today's podcast discusses why I preach Input as the first tenant in the Professional Development Plan. This lesson is based upon the book: The Half-life of Facts by Sam Arbesman. Once we understand that what we know has a finite shelf life it becomes easier to aggressively pursue new information and knowledge to make sure "our facts" are just that; actual facts! Sam's Thesis: Facts change in many ways but the undeniable truth is every fact has a half-life that obeys mathematical rules. We can me...
Mar 18, 2021•20 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Welcome to our newest podcast. It's been a long minute since I've seen you guys but I'm excited to share a little bit of the changes that have happened since we last talked. What made me need to be away from you guys for about 5 months and an overview what's new for OTO and where we're headed from here. So tune in and learn more about the direction of OTL and where we've been. Episode Resources: *New* OTO Work-Life Balance Mastermind Info at otovets.com/90days *New* FREE OTO Au...
Feb 18, 2021•10 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Have you ever been fired by a client? It stings and many times it can become a he said she said experience. What if it didnt have to be that way? Our human brain likes to process interactions in strict yes/no contexts. That is to say yes, I was at fault or no, I wasnt. But what if instead we approached being fired from a learning perspective? Could we gain something positive and break the cycle of negative thinking, self doubt or client blame? Today's episode is all about how you recover from a ...
Aug 13, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Estimates of calf starter energy affected by consumption of nutrients. 2. Evaluation of models to predict changing digestion on energy content in calf starters Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(19)30082-7/fulltext Big Take Away #1 Let’s open with a great quote, “Estimates of energy in CS in young calves should consider rumen development and changing digestion with advancing GI maturity.” When we calculate daily DE or ME in...
Aug 10, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 31
There is no "right" answer to this question, only clarity to be gained by asking yourself it. When we think about how we do what we do for a living we can begin to classify it into 3 different categories. We can either be the 1/3 of Americans that have what they would define as a Job. We can be the 1/3 of Americans that have what would be defined as a Career. Or You could be the 1/3 of Americans that say they have a Calling. How you see your veterinary job will affect the lengths you go within i...
Aug 06, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Symposium Review: Precision Technologies for Dairy Calves and Management Applications Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30554-3/fulltext Big Take Away #1 The authors concluded that disease affects activity in calves, but the differences in greater or lesser activity are more likely attributed to how the calf responds to illness. Many studies have mapped increases in lying bouts and/or times with accelerometers in calves...
Aug 03, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Today we ask the hard question. Can your boss be your mentor? Many Boss-Employee relationships evolve naturally to a Boss-Mentee relationship due to the continuous positive and negative feedback needed in the modern workplace. But is this healthy and how can you seek to establish a healthy Boss-Mentee relationship? This question and more are answered in this weeks Thoughts from the Truck podcast.
Jul 30, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 56
The effect of feeding Levucell SC™ rumen specific live yeast on feed intake and weight gain performance of calves during weaning Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.wageningenacademic.com/pb-assets/wagen/files/JAAN/JAAN_back_issues/S2049257X17000018a.pdf Big Take Away #1 Even in the face of a moderately aggressive milk limiting ration, improvements were seen at weaning using a yeast type rumen development “supplement.” Many of these milk limiting rations are thought to...
Jul 27, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Did you know in the modern workplace?... 80% of learning takes place informally through a mentor or co-worker. Yet......54% of individuals claim that they don’t currently have a mentor personally or professionally. Did you know in the modern veterinary practice?... 29.7 percent is the average employee turnover rate; double the national average (AAHA) Yet...only 25% of small businesses take advantage of official mentorship programs which have been shown to increase retention rates from 49% in non...
Jul 23, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Effects of employer management on employee recruitment, satisfaction, engagement, and retention on large US dairy farms Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30499-9/fulltext Big Take Away #1: Durst in 2018 identified 6 common management failure areas on a dairy; specified goals, employee input, inter-employee problems, communication, training and positive feedback. This is unsurprising as the majority of owners, much less ...
Jul 20, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 29
One of the #1 demands from new graduates and new hires is good mentorship. Yet it is a skill we receive 0 training on in school and it has little to no formal training in the currently provided Continuing Education programs. Today, OTO will begin a three part series that dives deep into experiences people have enjoyed and learned from with their mentors, what traits or qualities you need to be a successful mentor and investigating if a boss can still be a good mentor. Join us for part one in thi...
Jul 16, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Youth and adult public views of dairy calf housing options Big 3 Infographic at otovets.com/cuttingedge Link: https://www.journalofdairyscience.org/article/S0022-0302(20)30496-3/fulltext Big Take Away #1: It would be remiss of us as agricultural industry reps to ignore the power of public perception. BUT we DO NOT need to view it as wholly negative! These new societal platforms present us with a unique way to get the word out as well as LEARN and adapt much sooner than previously possible. Big T...
Jul 13, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 28
