Strengthening Veterinary Mental Fortitude and Resilience with Personal Values-Based Affirmations - pt 1 of 4 - 175

Julie South [00:00:05]:
You're listening to the Vetstaff podcast, the place where you, the veterinary professional, can go to get your head screwed on straight so you can get excited about going to work on Monday mornings and be the most fantabulous version of you you can be. I'm your show host, Julie south, and this is episode one seven five. You can find back copies of the Vetstaff podcast@vetstaffpodcast.com. If you sometimes feel like you're losing your why or you've lost your why, then I'd like to invite you to join me in a challenge this March to help you recalibrate and or perhaps discover your inner compass and give you the tools to start topping up your personal resilience juice tank for the next four weeks through to Easter, we're going to go through some really simple things you can do on a daily or and or an as required basis to keep topping up your resilience Julie tank just one drop at a time. This is so that when you need to dip into that juice, when those pear shaped moments happen and you find yourself up to your neck in alligators, that you've actually got something in your resilience tank to call on. What you're going to do is start building your own unique, tailored exclusively for you and motivating personal affirmation statement library. Different statements that you can pick up and put down for different situations that empower you so that when you start to find yourself on a downward spiral, you can go to your personal library, reach for whichever one you need in that moment, and start using it. They're a bit like recalibrating your personal compass back to your own north star to keep you on track.

Julie South [00:02:15]:
There are a few reasons for having a personal collection, a personal library of affirmation statements, and it makes them a good idea to have. In short, affirmations help magnify your meaning, your motivation, your resilience, and your direction. They're all critical for tackling each workday with positivity and purpose, even when and even if, and especially when you find yourself up to your neck and alligators going through one of life's pear shaped events. Having a personal affirmation statement means that you have clarity because affirmations help bring sharp focus to you or remind you of what truly matters. Because affirmations can align your actions with your values, which in turn help strengthen your resilience. And when you have resilience, your affirmations help keep you anchored in those alligator, those pear shaped moment times. They help you stay in the moment, they give you presence and they empower your affirmations help build confidence through and courage as well through repetition. We're going to kick off this little miniseries by creating your own affirmation statement now, because everything you do is underpinned by your personal values.

Julie South [00:03:58]:
We're going to start there. We're going to start with a personal values statement as it relates to your work. Because that's what I'm hearing from a lot of veterinary professionals right now. They need a little bit of help with work. It's not because they don't like their work. They absolutely love what they do. They know that they're in the right career and they can't imagine themselves doing anything else. If that's you, then this is for you as well.

Julie South [00:04:29]:
And sometimes maybe you feel like you're up to your neck and alligators and you're in a bit of. A bit of overwhelm. So here we go. Identifying your guiding value is key for staying motivated and fulfilled at work. When your core values align with your daily actions, you start to feel more confident that you are pointed in the right direction to your true north. Affirmation statements are a bit like the fuel being the fuel that ignites your drive and helps keep you going when you need that little bit of extra oomph. This week's task for you is start by listing five to six values most important to you professionally. For example, they might be compassion, empathy, honesty.

Julie South [00:05:28]:
Care or caring. Collaboration. Collegiality. It's also okay to include virtues that you find empowering for you. Maybe for example, like dedication, commitment or patience. You might need patience from time to time. From the list, choose one value that you feel is most relevant to you right now. Right now, today, when work feels like a bit overwhelming, or maybe even Hoham.

Julie South [00:06:03]:
Maybe you feel like you're going to scream if you have to do another now trim or vaccination. You need to connect to your purpose through your values because it's centering. Then write an affirmation statement focused on that one core value. For example, it could be I approach each task today with patience and wisdom. It's written in the present, in the current, not the future. Always. Affirmation statements are always in the current, in the now. I build community spirit through my collegiality.

Julie South [00:06:45]:
Or perhaps I speak honestly and compassionately in difficult situations. Perhaps I speak honestly and compassionately in difficult conversations. The affirmation puts your value into words and into action. It describes how you want to move through the day. If you like, it can become a mantra to repeat when you need to realign and or recalibrate yourself. Place your value affirmation statement somewhere that's visible for you and so where you can reference it each morning as you start work. Read it, internalize it, believe it, own it, embody it, let it guide your decisions and your behaviors. Use it to recenter you when you feel like you're starting to feel the pressure build up, or maybe you're starting to feel yourself getting into a bit of a rut and you need a little bit of oomph to get out of that.

Julie South [00:07:54]:
Because it's just a phase, it's just a stage you're going through, or the clinic is going through because it's that time of the year. Perhaps by recentering and reconnecting small daily choices like reaffirming your affirmation statement and reconnecting that statement to your overarching values. What you're doing is adding small, teeny, tiny, yincy, wincy, little dinky drops of juice into your personal motivation and your resilience tank. It's an intentional reminder of purpose, and it helps fuel you through those challenges that we all have, large and small. Having an affirmation statement helps make values concrete, and they help you steer through whatever the day brings. Your affirmation statement puts your value into words or your values, plural, into words and action. It describes how you want to move through the day. It becomes a mantra, like I said, for you to repeat when you need a little bit of realignment.

Julie South [00:09:16]:
When you feel yourself starting to lose your way through the day, come back to that affirmation statement as your North Star compass needle points in the right direction for you. I hope you found that this episode was helpful as a way to keep or to get your head screwed on straight. Strengthen your resilience and get excited about going to work on Monday mornings again. If you like the Vetstaff podcast and you find it helpful, can I ask you to do me a favor? Please? Please help me spread the Vetstaff podcast word by telling three of your friends or colleagues about how this show helps veterinary professionals get their heads screwed on straight and build their resilience so you can get excited about going to work on Monday mornings. Thank you. If you enjoyed today's podcast, then please hit that follow button wherever you're listening to it right now. That means that you'll automatically receive next week's episode direct into your audio feed and you won't miss out. You can do that@fitstaffpodcast.com.

Julie South [00:10:33]:
Stay tuned because next week we're going to look at what positive mindset shift you can make right now that'll add another drop of resilience juice into your resilience juice tank. This is Julie south signing off and inviting you to go out there and be the most magnificent, resilient version of you you can be. The Vetstaff podcast is proudly powered by.

Julie South [00:11:04]:
Vetclinicjobs.Com, the new and innovative global job board reimagining veterinary recruitment connecting veterinary professionals with clinics that shine online. Vetclinicjobs.com is your goto resource for finding the perfect career opportunities and helping vet clinics power up their employer branding game. Visit vetclinicjobs.com today to find vet clinics that shine online so veterinary professionals can find them. Vetclinicjobs.com.