5 Ways to Improve Your Job Satisfaction as a Veterinary Professional
I love this cover photo of the young lady holding up the fluffy teddy bear in a field. I believe this is what most of society think we do while doing our jobs as veterinary professionals.
That said…
In my opinion, veterinary professionals are completely awesome individuals, and we do have the best jobs! As veterinary professionals, it’s time we start tooting our own horns!
What profession offers a more rewarding upside potential than the veterinary profession? There may be one, but there certainly aren’t many.
While the veterinary profession is prestigious and rewarding, there are some obvious areas of the profession which can be very stressful — mentally, emotionally, and physically.
In order to keep balance, we — as veterinary professionals — must incorporate tools and strategies into our daily lives so that we can take maximum care of ourselves.
“The best thing we can do for our furry patients and our clients is take great care of ourselves as vet professionals. By focusing on ourselves, we can make poor veterinary wellbeing a thing of the past!” — Dr. Quincy Hawley, Co-founder, Get MotiVETed!
Let’s Make Our Jobs as Veterinarians Great Again!
Below are 5 easy and simple ways you can to increase your job satisfaction immediately, and with time, your personal and professional wellbeing.
- Incorporate daily gratitude
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
- Melody Beattie
This is by far one of the most powerful things that you can do. When you show gratitude for that which you already have, you are attracting more good things to come your way!
One of my favorite parts of gratitude is that it’s really hard to be in a negative attitude of mind while simultaneously showing gratitude for something.
This is also training you to always look for the best in every situation. In other words, this is truly teaching you the key to finding the advantage in every disadvantage and to find the opportunity in chaos.
Can you be grateful for the ‘negative’ parts of your day? By using gratitude, you can turn the negative things into positive experiences, and end your bad days once and for all. Once you learn to do this, you have mastered life. You are a mastermind.
As members of a profession that has LOTS of “negative things”:
— Euthanasias
— Trauma/Abuse cases
— Owners that can’t afford treatment/diagnostics/preventatives
— Terminal cases
— And let’s not forget the infamous Gator Rolling, Anal Gland Spraying German Shephard that simply needs a rabies vaccine that has never bitten anyone before and doesn’t need a muzzle (I love my job!)
— And Dr. Hawley’s personal favorite, the pissed-off cat that lunges at the cage when you get within 1 mile of it’s cage lol
As you can see, we have LOTS of opportunities to turn the negative things into LOTS of positive things.
2. Discuss Your Favorite Moments Instead of Your Worst Experiences of the Day
This exercise is so simple and makes such a huge difference!
Instead of doing the typical bashing of your complex cases, difficult patients, annoying co-workers, and rude clients, try doing the exact opposite.
When you come home, tell your friends or significant other about the cutest pet you had that day! Talk about nice things that your co-workers/employees did that made your day. They will appreciate you more for it!
By doing this, it helps you to focus on the positive events of the day. That which you focus on, you bring on.
That which you thing about, you bring about.
Therefore, attract positive things to you by only focusing and thinking about the positive experiences!
These are concepts that you must grasp and hold in your mind continuously, until you start to experience the magic of your thoughts and attitude of mind!
Note: If you must get a bad experience off of your chest, please understand that recreating it won’t help you, and it can’t help others! So unless you’re going into your venting session with the intention of getting something positive out of it, you may want to rethink it. It’s O.K. to vent, as long as you have a purpose.
3. Keep an Important Goal with You
“Review your goals twice every day in order to be focused on achieving them.”
- Les Brown
Hopefully you have at least one goal that you’re working towards.
Once you have your goal in mind, write it down, memorize it, aand keep it with you at all times! Literally keep it in your pocket. Put it in your pocket in the morning, and take it out of your pocket when you get home.
Having something that you are working towards gives meaning to everything that you do throughout the day.
Therefore, when you run into the pissed-off cat or that gator rolling German Shepherd that is terrorizing your hospital, you don’t lose sight of your dreams and goals.
Goals should have a plan that follows the C-5 Complex.
“The plan should be clear, concise, compelling, and you’ve got to be consistent, and committed.” — Chris Gardener, Entrepreneur
When times get hard in the hospital…
When you have 5 euthanasias in one day…
When your boss is giving you a hard time…
When your team is giving you a hard time…
On the days when you just can’t get a break…
Remember your goals. Remember your dreams. Your dreams and goals will put everything in the correct perspective for you!
I know this sounds like a lot of ‘woo-woo’. I get that. But TRUTH is TRUTH. These are the principles I have lived by, and they have revolutionized and transformed my entire life!
4. Try Daily Motivation
Most people find motivation to be cheesy and ineffective at best and a complete waste of time at worst.
I’ve found daily motivation to be the anchor of my persistence and an important source of knowledge of myself. These two combined keep me focused on reaching my full potential, while enjoying the moments that I have every single day!
Listen to the following video every morning for the next 30 days. Take a chance and just try it! If you listen to something like this multiple times a day EVERY DAY, then there is no way your life won’t INSTANTLY improve! Yes! Just from listening to it!
Motivational Video
The reason most people find motivation ineffective, is because they only use motivation once or twice and don’t it again for days, weeks, months, or years. Much like personal development, motivation should be daily and deliberate.
Motivation, like bathing, needs to be done frequently. You don’t just take one shower and say ‘I’m clean for life!’, and you shouldn’t expect one day of motivation to change your life. Daily bathing keeps you clean, and daily motivation keeps you motivated for life.
I challenge you to try 3 times a day motivation as a 30-day challenge and see for yourself how powerful it can be.
5. Learn the Practice of Mindfulness
This is one of the most powerful tools someone can use to enhance their life immediately.
Call it self-awareness or something else, but if we don’t pay attention to the moments, then we will miss the beauty of the things we have in life.
Combine this with gratitude for something very, very special!
For more information on mindfulness, check out “The Mindfulness Body Scan for Veterinary Professionals” and “How to Decrease Anxiety and Stress”.
I’ll Leave You With This
As veterinary professionals we have amazing opportunities every day to help animals who can’t help themselves and to serve clients who need our expertise and dedication.
I don’t know you personally, but I want you to live the best life possible for yourself, and it is our aim at Get MotiVETed to empower you to believe in yourself, and we provide you with everything we can to help you succeed!
You are an amazing individual who can be what you want to be and do what you want to do in life.
Let’s try to make our profession better by becoming better ourselves.
To receive weekly emails with amazing veterinary specific content and resources to help you become your best self, join the Get MotiVETed Online Community, where we are dedicated to making poor veterinary wellbeing a thing of the past! It’s free to join!
Thanks for reading this article! Feel free to leave a comment below!
