What if you were never meant to work in Vet Med forever? What if the clinical practice was only supposed to be a tiny part of your journey? What if you were never supposed to "fit in" there? If these things are true, then did you make a mistake pursuing it in the first place? Many of us would believe Yes. Some of our friends, family members, and colleagues would also believe Yes. I believe NO. Absolutely not. Forever and always, pursuing Vet Med was your Best. Decision. Ever. How is that possibl...
Feb 23, 2021•26 min•Ep. 41
You and I have at least one thing in common... We both pursued careers in Vet Med. Beyond that, there are similarities, and there are differences. Society and culture would have us believe our differences are problematic. This idea is so integrated that it leaves us comparing ourselves to others... Not measuring up... Concluding that the others have it all together, and we are the outliers who don’t. We suffer quietly, hiding our inadequacies with perfectionism, efforts to control, and isolation...
Feb 16, 2021•12 min•Ep. 40
"I just can't do this anymore." Most of us in the veterinary profession have said those words... at least to ourselves. Maybe the last time was after a particularly sad euthanasia. Or, maybe after an ugly encounter with a client. Or, perhaps, when leaving work hours after the scheduled end of your shift. There comes a point for all of us when we are no longer willing to tolerate certain things in our lives. This is the Breaking Point... and it's actually a GOOD THING. In this episode, I share my...
Feb 09, 2021•21 min•Ep. 39
Veterinary medicine brings us the opportunity to feel all the feels. You might struggle with that part. I did. I still do, sometimes. If you're anything like me, you probably have a tendency toward perfectionism. Perhaps you beat yourself up from time to time. And, maybe, you use things like junk food, television, shopping, and even overworking to try to feel better. (If I could just get caught up...) But let me guess... It doesn't work. No matter how hard you try, or how much you do, it's never...
Feb 02, 2021•19 min•Ep. 38
Our world is full of never-ending opportunities to be stimulated. Veterinary jobs reinforce this with overbooked schedules and chaotic days. The unpredictable nature of practicing medicine doesn't help. Many of us get through our days with a combination of adrenaline and caffeine. We then collapse in physical exhaustion when we get home... but the looping thoughts about work, cases, and life are relentless. It never stops. We rarely feel rested. With the thought loops come a steady dose of corti...
Jan 26, 2021•18 min•Ep. 37
Are you experiencing the compounding effect of anxiety and stress? Does it seem like it's getting heavier than usual? You aren't alone! If you're like me, your mind drifts frequently to the "what if..." And, let's face it... with the pandemic, election-related activities, and our own personal and professional challenges... we have a lot of material to work with. It may seem that considering the "what if's" is a useful tactic for preparing in advance for what might come next. MIGHT. Truth is, we ...
Jan 19, 2021•11 min•Ep. 36
We often experience an emotional rollercoaster in veterinary medicine. There are extreme moments of happiness, relief, and appreciation... And there are also extreme moments of grief, regret, and fear. However, the framework of our veterinary careers, and entire lives, actually creates no emotion for us at all. Life has two components: Framework Experience The framework is created by facts... data points, actions, words, and events that the entire population would agree occurred. Facts can be pr...
Jan 12, 2021•17 min•Ep. 35
There are Four Root Causes of all Anxiety in Vet Med: Unexpected Outcomes Personal Inexperience Human Interactions Prior Decisions These causes have two things in common: None of them are within our control. All of them are anchored in Fear. Because they are anchored in fear, they feel extra terrible. They feel like something we need to fix, solve or avoid. They feel like something that threatens our life and well-being. Well, that's 1/2 right. It feels that way... ... but our life and well-bein...
Jan 05, 2021•13 min•Ep. 34
The new year is coming. So, where do you land? In the camp of excited anticipation? Or in the camp of dread, doubt, uneasiness, and a little bit of fear? No doubt, 2020 threw us a hefty dose of the unexpected... But... ...not really more than any other year. Read that again... Not really more than any other year. What we can predict has remained unchanged. What we control, that's remained unchanged too. But the paradigm of what we believe.... now that's where the real shift occurred. For many of...
Dec 29, 2020•11 min•Ep. 33
The decisions we make exclusively from our emotional experience often do not create the results we ultimately want. We make decisions this way because we want to feel better. And when we make these decisions rashly. It's simply evidenced that we want to feel better immediately . It works... for a while. When we change our circumstances we automatically experience different emotional feelings... ... not because the new environment is better than the old, but only because our thoughts are differen...
Dec 22, 2020•26 min•Ep. 32
Thinking about quitting Vet Med? You aren’t alone. Thoughts of leaving this sh*twshow behind are pretty common for a lot of us. Ya, Really! But, why? Here’s where it gets interesting... Why are you thinking about leaving your job? Why are you thinking about ditching the profession altogether? My guess: the VMVs... Blame directed at the Vet Med Villains is the most common response to “Why” we leave Vet Med. Makes sense. Seems logical. Feels justified. We experience a lot of suffering at the hands...
Dec 15, 2020•26 min•Ep. 31
We put a lot of pressure on happiness. We've turned it into the measure of the quality of our life and career. Of course, we want to be happy! But in pursuit of that, we've turned the absence of happiness into something that it is not. Absence of happiness does not mean something is going wrong. Absence of happiness does not mean something needs to be fixed. Absence of happiness does not mean someone else needs to be different. Absence of happiness does not mean you have the wrong job, relations...
Dec 08, 2020•14 min•Ep. 30
Some of the hardest components of a veterinary career are amplified by four things: Stressful Client Interactions Unexpected Patient Death Board Complaints / Negative Performance Evaluations Negative Online Business Reviews We try our best to avoid these things... ... to keep them from happening. And then when they do, we turn inward... > we blame ourselves > we determine we are bad vets or vet techs > we conclude we aren't fit for this job This all creates a lot of suffering for us in ...
Dec 01, 2020•21 min•Ep. 29
In veterinary medicine and life, happiness is never something to be found, it is only something to be created. Happiness is an emotion. Emotions are never created by the events of the world. This faulty conclusion we've drawn about the things that happen to be the cause of the way we feel is defeating. When we believe our happiness (and other emotions) are dependent on the things that happen around us, we also often recognize we have no control over those things. As a result, we don't see a path...
Nov 24, 2020•20 min•Ep. 28
In an uncontrollable world, there is one thing you can control one hundred percent of the time... You. Unfortunately, many of us give away that control, which compounds the impact. The ways in which we give up our control are subtle. We don't recognize these three simple things have a massive negative impact on our lives, self-confidence, and our futures. Those things: People pleasing Failing to set boundaries Buffering When we learn to manage ourselves in all of these areas, our lives immediate...
Nov 17, 2020•11 min•Ep. 27
The Vet Med journey is not predictable. Despite the shared experiences of those who’ve gone before, the journeys of others are not indicative of our own. We will forge our own paths. Left to chance, those paths look very similar. But, intentionally decided, they look very different. Vet Med is simply a catalyst. The ultimate question becomes this: How do you determine the value of your life? Are you measuring your life success, and finding satisfaction (or lack thereof) based on variables you de...
Nov 10, 2020•7 min•Ep. 26
Veterinary Work-Life Balance is an interesting thing. In Vet Med we often lament about not having it ... and we identify it as a must-have when searching for new jobs. Many of us believe the perfect job can make work-life balance a reality for us. So, we actively seek work-life balance, as if it is something to be found... as if it's, something we've misplaced or just not come across yet. We have it all wrong. Work-life balance will never be found because it doesn't exist outside of us and our o...
Oct 28, 2020•14 min•Ep. 24
The veterinary environment can be rough. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. We often blame the clients, and their behavior, for our experience. But, it doesn't start there. It starts closer to home. Many of us experience work environments where gossiping and back-stabbing are the norm... ... where "us against them" is common... ... where nobody seems happy, and nobody feels safe. In these environments, we turn on each other. We become self-righteous. We judge harshly. We become control-freaks an...
Oct 20, 2020•25 min•Ep. 23
Remember the Bluebirds I talked about back in Episode 11? They taught me a great lesson, which I shared on the podcast, about how to overcome obstacles. (If you haven't listened to Episode 11, consider checking it out.) Turns out, they had more wisdom to share. Perseverance: The ability to keep doing something despite how hard it is and how long it takes to achieve success. When we graduate with our veterinary degrees and get out into the real world, it's hard. Really hard. We decide we're doing...
Oct 13, 2020•20 min•Ep. 22
Uncertainty creates fear. Veterinary Medicine is full of uncertainty. It's no wonder many of us feel stressed, anxious, and worried a lot of the time. Under all of those emotions is fear. We've tried our best to eliminate the uncertainty. We've become control freaks & perfectionists. (okay, okay... so maybe those aren't new traits... but they are more dominant now) We've also become increasingly frustrated and angry. When the humans don't follow our rules, when the patients don't get ...
Oct 06, 2020•22 min•Ep. 21
Fear is a powerful motivator. It makes perfect since when we remember the original purpose of this emotion... Self Preservation. Fear is part of our built-in alert system. Super useful when our ancestors were being hunted by predators, not so much today. The alert system still exists... and it’s really good at sending off false alarms. Fear is so instinctual that it is often the first thing we feel in any uncertain situation. Uncertainty creates fear. Fear drives the desire to withdraw... to get...
Sep 29, 2020•28 min•Ep. 20
Feeling angry with your veterinary clients because they just don't get it? Tired of the complaining about scheduling appointments, curbside service, and the inability to get in same-day? Wishing they'd just chill out and understand what you're going through? You aren't alone. But it's not just veterinary clinics experiencing this Extra from clients. And it's not just veterinary clinics turning to social media to publicly Client Shame the behavior. Not Cool, Friends. Sure, this passive-aggressive...
Sep 22, 2020•27 min•Ep. 19
How's your mood? Think back over the last several days, weeks, or even months... How have you been feeling? These may seem like random questions, but the answers explain Everything about the progress you've been making (or not making) toward creating the life you want. Your mood is a direct reflection of your Net Emotional State. So, if you're spending most of your waking hours stressed, angry, or unhappy then there is no reason to beat yourself up for not making progress toward your goals. It m...
Sep 15, 2020•17 min•Ep. 18
How are you choosing your clients? Are you intentionally cultivating the clientele you serve? Or, are you just accepting every potential client who seeks your services? Did you even realize you had a choice? You Do! What about your compensation... Are you paying yourself adequately as a practice owner? Do you understand how you can increase your compensation as an associate? Do you know how to move up in compensation as support staff? If your answer is no, then recognize that you are drawing con...
Sep 08, 2020•16 min•Ep. 17
Vet Med is an interesting career. Often a Love / Hate relationship. Spectacularly rewarding, and crushingly devastating all at the same time. The events that occur in veterinary medicine are just part of the job. The way that we respond to the events, is optional. OPTIONAL. That's really hard to see when a client is blasting us on social media, or a six-month-old puppy dies during a routine spay. Frustration, Fear, and Sadness are appropriate emotional responses... But then we take it too far......
Sep 01, 2020•17 min•Ep. 16
Scenario: You're asked a yes-or-no question. How do you respond? Yes, without hesitating? Awesome! No, without regret? Excellent! No, with remorse because you really want to say yes? Uh-oh... trouble ahead... Yes, with bitterness and anger because you really want to say no? Welcome to the People Pleasers Club... your future is at risk. Not Joking. How did yes-or-no questions get so complicated?! Fear. It all comes down to fear. Fear of disapproval. Fear of conflict. Fear of unknown consequences....
Aug 18, 2020•36 min•Ep. 14
Therapy or Coaching? It's a question I'm asked frequently by my veterinary colleagues. It's yet another example of binary thinking... either/or... For some of us, both might be the best choice. Mostly it just comes down to our ultimate goals. If we want to heal the past and put it to rest, therapy is great for this. If we want to move beyond the past to intentionally create something different for the future, coaching is the answer. There is a lot of stigmas, even now, associated with therapy. T...
Aug 11, 2020•15 min•Ep. 13
How do you think your life should be? For that matter, how do you believe the world should be? We all have our opinions... ... and when it comes to our own lives, the gap between what we believe it should be like and what it actually is, creates emotional turmoil. This is true in our vet med jobs, our relationships with others, and even our evaluations of ourselves. When we focus on what should be, we miss the opportunity in what is. Even when the reality isn't as we'd like it to be, embracing t...
Aug 04, 2020•23 min•Ep. 12
Our circumstances don't stop us from pursuing our goals and dreams... ... our thought patterns do. Our minds are complex, to say the least. Our thought patterns are layered, and very influential... but not always in a good way. It's so easy to believe that our circumstances are the problem... ... that our circumstances are the reason why we aren't living our best lives. The Eastern Bluebirds on our farm clearly reminded me this is never true... and I'm sharing that story today on the podcast. Un...
Jul 28, 2020•19 min•Ep. 11
You know what they say about assumptions... It holds true in Vet Med as well. There is a collection of broad-sweeping beliefs that many of us have about our lives as veterinary professionals. The most influential beliefs are about the impact of our career choice on our time and income potential. Through the normal course of our veterinary careers, we've absorbed these beliefs from those who have gone before us. The perspectives are common. We've accepted, without question, these conclusions as t...
Jul 21, 2020•18 min•Ep. 10
