Why now is the best time for veterinary professionals to prioritize their wellbeing

Here’s the cold, hard truth about wellbeing for most veterinary professionals:

COVID-19 is majorly frustrating for pretty much everyone that I know. However, there are people who are thriving and making the best of it - despite how frustrating it is.

On the contrary, there are people who are getting emotionally, physically, and mentally beat up right now - especially in veterinary medicine. 

Veterinary professionals who weren’t making their wellbeing a priority before COVID (for their organizations and as individuals), are struggling with COVID-related challenges more than veterinary professionals who did make their wellbeing a priority prior to COVID.

In essence things like curbside, the increased demand for veterinary care, the decreased efficiency due to social distancing, the threat of becoming infected with COVID, the possibility of passing it on to loved ones, and all of the other challenges 2020 brought, sting a little bit less for veterinary professionals who were optimizing and prioritizing their wellbeing and mental health well before things hit the fan!

However, there is some REALLY good news: It’s not too late to start beefing up your wellbeing army, NOW!

A concept that I grasped a few years ago is that things could always be worse.

2020 and these times of COVID-19 could honestly be the glory days.

In truth, things could potentially be way worse a year or two from now. Thus, NOW is the best time to start building a ROBUST wellbeing army. 

Why prioritize wellbeing and build a wellbeing army? 

The answer is simple. You should build a robust wellbeing army now so that you don’t get your wellbeing ass kicked if or when things get worse in the future. 

When I first graduated from veterinary school, I didn’t have a wellbeing army. So when I went into a really busy practice, I didn’t have healthy mental health and wellbeing practices. I didn’t have healthy ways of coping with all of the difficulties and challenges that working in a fast-paced veterinary practice could bring. 

In other words, I was prepared to handle the clinical part of being a veterinarian, but I was prepared to handle the non-clinical part of being a veterinarian.

Note: When times are stressful, you ARE going to cope one way or another. The question is will your coping mechanism be something that is healthy and that helps you grow stronger, or will it be something that is unhealthy that leads you down a dark and treacherous path? 

Because I didn’t have healthy ways of coping, I turned to easier but non-effective and unhealthy ways of coping. 

I started drinking heavily and smoking frequently. I would leave work and go to the first gas station on the way home and buy an alcoholic beverage. I would then drink and drive on my 30-minute drive home. When I got home, I would drink some more. 

In essence, I was trying to drink and smoke the pain away… Not to mention that I also tried to comfort eat the pain away and started packing on the pounds. I was literally ripping my pants - right through the crotch area - in the exam room! 

All of this carried on for a couple of years, but it was all due to the fact that I didn’t have healthy tools and strategies to handle difficult times. 

If there’s one thing that you take away from this article, let it be this: 

By building a robust wellbeing army and prioritizing, cultivating, and essentially maintaining your wellbeing, you will be giving yourself a powerful ability of being able to handle any combination of circumstances, conditions, or life events that come your way! 

THAT will make all of the difference in the world as you face life’s and vet med’s challenges! 

Take action and build your army!

Are you ready to take a step in the direction of a better, fuller, more exhilarating life?

If so, then what deliberate action will you take today to work towards that?

At the beginning of the journey, you may not know exactly where to start. I’ve been there, and I know it can seem really confusing! While starting where you are is the best advice I can give, I’d also like to recommend a resource I created to actually help you do that!

It is for this exact same reason that myself and veterinary technician and mindfulness expert Renee Machel created Get MotiVETed University: School of Wellbeing for Veterinary Professionals.

There, you will find some really awesome free resources, as well as, deluxe courses that will help you get started on this journey. If you already know what you want, there are also more advanced courses that are designed to help you take your life to the next level!

I believe in you to be able to get your life to where you want it to be. Don’t let the rest of 2020 and 2021 and years into the future push you around! Take action towards the life you want to live!

Trust me: building a wellbeing army is invaluable. It is something that you can do that will cost you very little money and will be with you for the rest of your life. Can’t beat that!

You can follow me on social:

Instagram: @Dr.QuincyHawley

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