I was interviewed a few weeks ago for the Vet Practice magazine about the tools and skills required to become a successful vet.
For days I have been thinking about this. Should I be specific or discuss the big picture?
I decided to write an article as I realised I had a lot more to say than the magazine could print.
- Define success for you.
What does being a successful vet mean to you? Not everyone defines success the same way. One person’s success may be another persons nightmare. - What is your vision?
What impact do you want to have in your life and career? Considering you will be spending around 40 years in the veterinary profession, what do you want to contribute? It may be for the profession, your practice, your community and/or family.This is important as your vision will give you clarity and a sense of direction. It also involves your purpose or ‘why’. This will help you in the tough times after a challenging day or when you don’t want to do it anymore. - Self Knowledge
Who are you? Your personality, your strengths, your weaknesses, your likes and dislikes, your values, beliefs and attitudes shape your behaviour.
Once I became aware of who I was, I began to understand my motivations and reasons for my behaviour. I also become more accepting of myself and others. I recognised why I ‘clicked’ with some people and didn’t with others.
It is also of vital importance to evaluate your professional knowledge, skills and experience on a regular basis. Where are they in relation to your goals and your vision? What action steps do you need to take?
Determine if you are in the right practice to develop these skills and gain adequate experience. This is discussed in depth in the Veterinary Career Plan course.
Working to your strengths is very important. However, ignoring your weaknesses will limit your career. Shine the torch on your weakness and determine which are critical in practice and start learning. - Growth Mindset
Carol Dweck has a great book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, that I highly recommend reading. It discusses how our belief systems about our abilities and potential fuel our behaviour and predict our success.
A ‘fixed’ mindset assumes our character, intelligence and ability is fixed. Success is about proving you’re smart or talented which leads to a fear of failure.
A ‘growth’ mindset is based on the belief that your qualities can be cultivated through your efforts. You can grow through deliberate practice and experience. This leads to a passion for learning and developing yourself.
In this profession, we are continually learning. When you become experienced clinically, you then must develop other skills such as your leadership skills. Be open to continually learning. - Emotional Intelligence
I am passionate about EQ as I know it is critical for career and life success. While there are 26 competencies I train on, the points above and below are important.
– Communication skills are one of the most important skills in our profession.
– Empathy is the ability to sense other’s feelings and concerns. Clients want vets who care and are looking for veterinarians they know, like and trust.
– Resilience is the ability to persevere in the face of setbacks.
– Stress Management. Continual stress, leads to chronic stress which leads to compassion fatigue and burnout. - Self Belief and Valuing Yourself
Be aware of how you are valuable and an asset to your practice.
You must believe in yourself. If you don’t, it will be pervasive in everything you do. - Rest & Renewal.
This is something I will continuously discuss. High achievers keep going and never stop. They achieve a goal and move straight on to the next. How is that working for the profession that prides itself on hard work and long hours? Considering the burnout, compassion fatigue and the attrition, it’s not!
If you look at this profession as a long term career spanning 40 + years, there is no point losing our best and brightest after 5 years due to burnout. I was always in a rush to achieve the most as fast as I could.
When you look at a time span of 40 years, you then realise that you have time.Take that holiday.
Make time for your friends and family. Make time for that hobby or sporting team.
In his book, The Third Space: Using life’s little transitions to find balance and happiness, Dr Adam Fraser uses the following to safeguard executives against burnout:
– Every day do something for 10 minutes that relaxes you.
Working 10-12 hours without a break is madness. Your performance decreases after 8 hours and your brain becomes fatigued after an hour if you don’t take a break.
– Every weekend ensure you do something that renews you.
– Every month have a lazy day with nothing scheduled, organised and no responsibility
– Each quarter take a long weekend to turn off and completely relax
– Every year take a holiday
Even now as I have finished this article, I haven’t. There is so much more I want to say!
Remember your career is only one aspect of your life. There is your health and wellbeing, your friends and family, your community + more.
When you make time for these areas in your life, it will have a positive effect on your career.
Natasha
