Prevention
is the first line of defense for those not in the throes of symptoms caused by burnout. Just like there are various methods to preventing distemper in our pets, be it education, environment control, and vaccination. So what does that look like for burnout prevention? Education starts by understanding what burnout looks like in general. Then gaining some awareness of yourself and how burnout can manifest in your life. Next, building proper boundaries for a life and a career of well-being is a fantastic place for any person to start.
As adults, we tend to become less intentional in creating what it is we desire; life “carries you away or gets in the way”, distractions and obligations deplete your precious energy, if you aren’t paying attention. So the action item here is to take inventory of where your energy is going and how your attention to the different areas of life flows. This will help you reallocate your finite resources (energy, time, awareness, money etc.), creating more balance.
Boredom is a huge missed part of burnout, so making sure that, in some way, you feel like you are playing matters. Notice I mentioned feel. I want to point that out here- it’s not just how life looks on your scheduler. While that is a necessary step (breaking down the yearly/qrtly/monthly/weekly/daily/hourly) in cultivating the optimal environment where you personally thrive. It is more important that it feels aligned with your truest or deepest values. If what you are doing day in and day out is more like a low-spirited groundhog’s day, it is not congruent with who you are. This is surely a recipe for burnout, compassion fatigue, poor mental health & well-being, along with other ailments or manifestations in your life/career or relationships.
Does this make sense so far? So get intentional about your methods to prevent it. Lastly, compared to a vaccine- are you doing anything to ‘innoculate’ yourself? The Veterinary Burnout P.R.E.P. Certification program is a fantastic place for people ready to next-level their skills. If you are just starting out on your well-being journey, read more blogs, watch more videos, and listen to more podcasts. There are so many fantastic well-being experts in the veterinary community and outside of it where you can immerse yourself in a new kind of educational and uplifting newsfeed.
To keep this blog short- I’m going to do a series rather than a book, lol so keep your eye out for the next pillar in overcoming burnout which is Resilience.
Deserve the success you get
-Aristotle
-Renee
