You’ve invested thousands of dollars into your veterinary education, but how much have you invested into your own personal wellbeing and happiness?
The good news is that investing in your own wellbeing will only cost you a very small fraction of what your college education is costing you!
As a pre-veterinary student, you read and learn lots of information on animal science, yet, most of us don’t read and learn much in the way of books on “how to be a happy human” or “how to be a great human” or “how to be a great husband or wife” or “how to live your Dream Life”.
Would you feel comfortable going to a human physician who had never read books on human medicine?
Would you feel comfortable giving your money to a financial adviser who had never read a single book on finance?
Lastly, can you imagine trying to practice veterinary medicine without having read any books on the subject of veterinary medicine? It would be pure frustration; wouldn’t you agree?
The cold, hard truth is that:
- Physicians study human medicine relentlessly and emphatically!
- Financial advisers study finance relentlessly and emphatically!
- Veterinarians study veterinary medicine relentlessly and emphatically!
Why are we surprised, then, that veterinary professionals are struggling with self-care and wellbeing, when we know good and well that veterinary professionals ARE NOT studying human wellbeing relentlessly and emphatically?!?!
Without veterinary books, we may do ventral midline incisions for spays as if we were about to do an exploratory. For dog neuters, we may do scrotal incisions instead of pre-scrotal incisions. We’d probably have tons and tons and tons of inefficiencies and flat out errors every single day.
Life is the same exact way! If we don’t read the books and listen to the people who have already figured life out, then we will have tons of inefficiencies and flat out life errors with great frequency!
By reading and having mentors to show us the way, instead of the spay taking 2.5 hours, we can make it a 5–10 minute spay with a teeny-tiny incision.
Likewise, instead of having to be frustrated by the circumstances, conditions, and life events life can bring us at any moment, we can learn to control our thoughts, feelings, words, actions, and core beliefs —if we study how to succeed in life and if we apply the learned information!
Ask This Question to People You Admire:
One question I ask all of my favorite, “successful” mentors is “What’s your favorite book?”
The reason I ask that question is because I read 65 books (on prosperity, wellbeing, abundance, relationships, personal development, health and fitness, public speaking, coaching, business/entrepreneurship, etc.) in 2 years (from November 2016 to the present), and it really did have a profound impact on my life. Therefore, I respect when successful people who I admire give me a book recommendation.
Below you will find the favorite books of 3 of my favorite celebrity mentors: Will Smith (That’s right! The Fresh Prince!), Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Harvey (the actor/comedian/game show host).
They each recommended a book to me, and each book was enlightening and empowering for me. Each book opened my eyes to endless doors of success and complete happiness! If you haven’t read these books, I highly suggest you read or listen to them!
For each book, I will tell a little about the book and give my favorite take home message of each book.
Personally, I have followed the principles of these books to the letter, and the results have been remarkable, and I know with 100% certainty that you can do the exact same!
Note: I have both the audio book version and book version of each of these books; however, I prefer the audio book for each one – just my personal preference!
Wellbeing Book Recommendation #1
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho — Recommended by Will Smith
I absolutely love this book! I mostly listened to the audio book. For an entrepreneur or even for a dreamer, this book will give you all of the hidden messages to success that you could ever dream of!
Hear Will Smith Talk About The Alchemist
The book is written in ‘story code’ which is a term that I made up. What I mean by story code is that they don’t out right give you the secrets to success. They are dispersed subtly, and only the astute mind will catch them. However, the mind that catches them will be rewarded, and I think that we can look at Will Smith’s career and say that he’s been rather successful as an actor, and he’ll gladly tell you that he is living the life of his dreams!
If you want to live your dreams, I highly recommend this book! It certainly won’t disappoint.
Major Take-Home Point: When you want something badly enough… and when you take action, have faith, and persist… the entire Universe is for you and will not allow you to fail at whatever it is you are trying to achieve – be it wellbeing, riches, relationships, or whatever! That principle gives me chills every time I think about it!
Get Your Copy of The Alchemist
Wellbeing Book Recommendation #2
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne — Recommended by Steve Harvey
This book put me on to life principle that has led me to a life of my dreams and authentic happiness! This book is my life, and I owe so many amazing days to the wisdom within its pages! It brought me mentors that I could have only ever dreamed of having! It brought me the lifestyle that I dreamed of! It has helped my marriage go from failing to being something that my wife and I would NEVER let go! Steve recommended it to me during one of his YouTube videos.
Hear Steve Harvey Talk About the Power of The Secret!
When I first listened to the Secret, I thought to myself that this whole Law of Attraction thing is just a bunch of hog wash and woo woo. I’ve never been more wrong in my entire life. Very successful individuals who live balanced lives of abundance and wellbeing have used the information in this book to amass fortunes and live in their purposes.
I’ve even had the pleasure of meeting and being mentored by a business legend who has used the information in this book to help him succeed.
The same law that led me to my mentor and that led him to his success has led YOU to this article. It’s led you to the very words you are reading that I have written. What you do with the recommendation to read these books is up to you.
The book is authored by about a dozen different contributors; all of them have achieved their dreams, and they credit their ability to do so to the secret.
Major Take-Home Message: What you think about, you bring about. You control your thoughts. Therefore, you control your environment and your entire world. Things group themselves and arrange themselves around you according to your thought!
The world works in mysterious ways. If you aren’t living your Dream Life every single day, then I suggest you consider getting a copy of this book!
Get Your Copy of The Secret
Wellbeing Book Recommendation #3
The Seat of the Soul: 25th Anniversary Edition by Gary Zukav— Recommended by Oprah Winfrey
What a book! What a book! This one helped me get past some childhood trauma. It helped me look at the world from a completely different viewpoint.
It helped me realize that I am more than just my flesh and bones. I’m more than just my personality. “I” am something far greater than my ego could ever be.
Hear Oprah Talk About The Seat of the Soul
This book, while slightly longer and more complex than The Secret and The Alchemist, is simply remarkable. The foreword in the 25th Anniversary edition is read by both Oprah and Mya Angelou! They both go on to say how this book revolutionized their own lives. Hey! If it’s good enough for Oprah and Mya, then it’s certainly good enough for me!
Major Take-Home Message: Every experience that you have in life is happening for the advancement and completion of your soul. Depending on whether or not you handle it appropriately, you may or may not have to experience the same type of experience again. Once we look at life with this new perspective, we can clearly see the good that lies within every seemingly “bad” thing that happens in life! Simply amazing!
Get Your Copy of The Seat of the Soul: 25th Anniversary Edition
In Summary:
I hate to sound so fairy tale-ish. I know the ‘live your dreams’ stuff can get old.
That said…
I am just an ordinary guy from a small town in NC that graduated veterinary school in NC, as well. I thought the concepts in these books were strange, but I tried them.
I was in a dark place of poor wellbeing. I knew I wasn’t happy, so I figured I had nothing to lose.
Little did I know that these books would open my life up to a whole new world of concepts, people, and experiences.
Because of the concepts in these books, I haven’t had a bad day in over 2 years! Sounds crazy, right? But truth is truth.
You can look at the accomplishments of the people who recommended these gems to me, as confirmation of the validity of the concepts in the books. As an entrepreneur and family man, I have found these books to be priceless.
As a personal development coach, I have shared these books with clients, and they too have seen the results they can bring.
Thanks for reading this article, and if you decide to read/listen to any or all of these books or if you have already been through these books, I would love to hear your thoughts!
If you find any of the concepts to be unclear, please reach out to me! I understand them all!
