I lost a lot of Sundays to Sunday Blues. 😢 For years it was my only day off each week… and I was so afraid of squandering it that I’d sit motionless on my couch, thinking about all the things I could (or should) do… and doing none of them. I’d watch
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Sunday Blues
Stop Giving Your Power Away
💥 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝗪𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝗪𝐀𝐘 💥 📣The things that people say and do can only impact your mental health IF YOU LET THEM. You Get To Choose… every time… in every situation… Your Choice. Most of us just believe that the way we feel in any given situation is just
The World Needs You, Vet Med
Way too many veterinary professionals are suffering from ➤ career regret ➤ feelings of inadequacy ➤ feelings of incompetence ➤ lack of confidence ➤ generalized anxiety ➤ compassion fatigue ➤ financial concerns ➤ mood swings ➤ self-loathing ➤ over-eating ➤ over-drinking ➤ over-spending The shame that results is crushing. 😔 The belief
Money. Estimates. Treatment Plans.
Money. Estimates. Treatment Plans. Many of us dread these client conversations.Given the opportunity to pass the task to someone else, we gladly will. The entire encounter can create extreme anxiety.Have you ever wondered why?What is about money conversations that put us on edge?The answer: the unknownWe don’t know how the clients will react to our
Entitled Clients
Entitled Clients. You know exactly the ones I’m talking about, right?The ones who call and demand an appointment the same day, and get it.The ones who show up late for their appointments, and are seen anyway.The ones who show up with more pets than scheduled for, and they all get seen. It’s easy to be
What Defines You?
What defines you?What determines your value?Who decides your self worth?Most of us have never considered these questions.Day-in, day-out we just keep going and doing.We uphold our responsibilities.We meet our obligations.We show up… or at least someone does.But, is it you? It probably was at some point.But is it still you?Many of us find ourselves looking
Why Happiness Is The Wrong Goal
Have you ever wondered, “Why can’t I just be happy?”We ask ourselves this a lot, don’t we. The bigger question, why is happiness the goal at all?What do we believe about achieving happiness?What is happiness anyway?What creates it?How do we measure it?Here’s a better question: What if being unhappy wasn’t a problem… but just a
What Do You Believe?
What do you believe?Beliefs are just sentences that we’ve thought so many times that we now accept them as truth. What’s really interesting is that many of our beliefs don’t even come from our own thoughts! They come from sentences we were introduced to through parents, schools, churches, etc. Questioning our beliefs is one of
Anxiety. Depression. Suicide. Vet Med.
Do you every wonder why I keep talking about anxiety?It’s simple.Anxiety leads to depression… and depression leads to suicide… and suicide is not an acceptable solution. I don’t want to lose any more VetMed professionals to suicide.But so far, we aren’t doing enough to stop it. So I keep trying. I know when I talk
Bucket Emotions
Anxiety and stress in the veterinary profession seems like an inevitable reality for many of us in the profession.We regularly describe ourselves as begin “stressed out” or “anxious” people.Some of us have been wearing these labels for a long time. We believe them to be true. They are part of our identity.But most of us
What If You Are Normal
I have a question for you this week….What if you’re normal?What if patients not getting better don’t mean you’re bad at your job?What if angry clients don’t mean that you’re doing it all wrong?What if all that student loan debt doesn’t mean you’ve chosen the wrong career?What if your anxiety, and the nights you’ve spent
Set Up To Fail in VetMed
Have you wondered why this VetMed work-life balance thing is so dang hard? I’ve got the answer: You were set up to fail.Yep, you heard me, right.Our education and our professional organizations have set us up to fail.They haven’t meant to do it… I’m certain they were motivated by the desire to help.But, I think
The Solution for Vet Med Anxiety
One of the things we do really well in VetMed is diagnostics. I mean, we kind of have to, because our patients can’t talk, right?We intentionally gather information about a particular problem in order to make decisions and create a plan for addressing the problem. In order to fix any problem, we have to first
What If VetMed Wasn’t A Mistake
There is a lot of joy, and a lot of heartache, that comes along with a career in VetMed. This isn’t news to you.I know you’ve experienced it first hand like I have.I also suspect that the heartache has been harder to deal with than you expected it to be… especially when you add to
Perfectionism & Judgement
I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on what information would have been helpful to know 10-20 years ago.Not so much because I would have taken different actions, and created different outcomes… but because I recognize now that those years of my life would have been fundamentally different…Less worry. More peace. More joy. Waaaayyyyy more
Vet Med and Weight Gain
You know those people who are super-careful not to talk about potentially uncomfortable subjects just to keep the peace?Well, that’s not me. In a Joyful DVM Facebook Live I dove straight into a subject most people just don’t talk about… VetMed and weight gain.It’s a thing.For many, many of us, the extra pounds we carry
The Gratitude Trap
Sometimes gratitude can hurt you.I know, I know… that sounds ridiculous. So let me explain.Many of us have been told from childhood to be thankful for the things we have in our lives. Things like warm beds, food, and shoes. As adults, many of us carry with us the belief that we should be thankful
Setting Boundaries in Veterinary Medicine
I very clearly remember complaining to my fellow vets and vet techs about clients, friends, and even family who didn’t respect my boundaries.It was so rude of them. I felt very angry every time my boundaries were violated…… probably because deep down I knew I had No Control over the actions of other people.That created
Why you don’t believe in yourself in Vet Med
There is a bit of an epidemic spreading through the veterinary profession.It’s so embedded into who we are, that we don’t even know it’s there… let alone realize how it is influencing every single thing in our lives.The epidemic > lack of belief in ourselves.There is a lot of responsibility that comes with the careers
Rewrite Your Vet Life Story
I don’t know about you, but I hit a point in my veterinary career where I’d had enough…… enough of getting off work late and cancelling plans… enough of constantly thinking about (and let’s be honest, worrying about) cases every waking moment… enough pushing through my work week to enjoy a day offBut again, if
Vet Med Self Sabotage
Many of us in the veterinary profession believe that pursuing this career path was a mistake. 😥We find evidence of this in…👉🏻 toxic work environments👉🏻 unpleasant client interactions👉🏻 student loan debt 👉🏻 growing waist lines👉🏻 the repeating cycle of anxiety and stressThis is not the life we want! So we just decide that we made
Negative Consequence of Achieved Goals
Back in the early days of my veterinary career I found myself in a slump and a little defeated.I’d worked So Hard for So Long to do all the things I needed to do to become a veterinarian. It had been my single greatest goal, my purpose…But not long after graduating and beginning my work
The Veterinary Resentment Trap
How do you feel about your choice to join the veterinary profession?If you are like many of us, veterinary resentment is near the top of the list. 😕Over time, we build up a lot of resentment about all kinds of things associated with our jobs including… 👉🏻the hours we work, 👉🏻clients in general,👉🏻student loan debt,
Why we beat ourselves up in Vet Med
Have you ever wondered why we beat ourselves up so much in Vet Med? In Vet Med, why are we so quick to judge ourselves when patients don’t get well or clients behave badly? A pesky voice in our minds tells us it’s our fault… we must have failed… Somewhere along the way we decided
4 Categories of Veterinary Anxiety
When I look back at my darkest days in veterinary practice, I can still feel the anxiety. I remember the nights I didn’t sleep much because I was so worried about a patient……or replaying a client interaction over and over in my mind…. or dreading the surgery on my schedule the next day….Sound familiar? Can
Are You A Perfectionist?
Do you describe yourself as a perfectionist? Many of us do… and we wear it like a badge of honor. But here’s the thing… it’s killing us, literally. The need to be perfect, to have perfect outcomes for each case, to have perfect relationships with clients so they never get upset (or worse, so
Every Single Veterinarian Needs To Own Their Own Business. I know that’s a pretty bold statement, and for many it brings up flashes of brick & mortar animal hospitals with lots of staff and complicated business stuff…That’s not what I’m talking about (though it is a great option for many!).What I mean is that every
2019 Reflection
If you’re like me you can’t help but look back at 2019 and consider all the blessings (and challenges) that came with it. For me, in 2019 there were three things that will forever remain pivotal moments in my life…1. The fateful Facebook Live I did on the Joyful DVM FB Page back on May
Gratitude
Thanksgiving not only kicks off the Holiday Season here in the US, but a whole new level of crazy in the veterinary profession as well.Cranky ClientsAppreciative ClientsDietary IndiscretionsForeign BodiesNew Puppies & KittensEuthanasias…It’s an interesting mix of total chaos, holiday cheer, holiday grump, and yummy treats.The emotional roller coaster is real.Self Care is critically important during
Vet Tech Love
It’s National Veterinary Technician Week… the week set aside each year to celebrate Veterinary Technicians. In my opinion, one week is not enough time to express the respect and gratitude I have for these individuals in our profession. Have you seen their curriculum? It’s FREAKING HARD! I know! I was the national program director for