Words I like: 

“Prioritize your own wellbeing.” 

Why is this VITAL for vet professionals?

In vet med, it is common to see a member of our community neglect basic human needs and functions to get the job done.

Prioritizing wellbeing is a solid step above doing basic things like eating, drinking, and using the bathroom - and we have a hard time with simple things like not holding our pee for 12 hours at a time because [name the veterinary things we had to do]. 

Definitions of prioritize

To me “Prioritize” means "to put in front of other less important things". 

When I say ‘prioritize your wellbeing’, I don’t mean to neglect everything that’s not your wellbeing.

Here are the dictionary definitions for “prioritize”: 

“to determine the order for dealing with (a series of items or tasks) according to their relative importance” and 

“to designate or treat (something) as more important than other things”. 

In other words, put lots of time and energy and resources into your wellbeing BEFORE investing time and energy into other things.

3 reasons prioritizing your wellbeing is smart

So the question now becomes, “What in the world is more important than your wellbeing?” This may vary from person to person, but for me, there’s nothing more important to me than my own wellbeing - ESPECIALLY as a veterinarian (caregiver). 

There is no client, case, human, animal, cause, task, or project that I’ll neglect myself for. 

As you’re starting to prioritize your own needs more, you’ll likely break a boundary and put your wellbeing on the back burner. There are certainly times when I’ve done this. 

Reason #1: You'll perform worse if you neglect your wellbeing

If you prioritize other things because you think they’re more important than your wellbeing, then you run the risk of operating at less than who you desire to be and being less able to take quality care of others because you’ve given to others before you’ve taken care of yourself. 

Here's the real dagger - giving to others when you are the one who really needs to be cared for. 

Reason #2: Improved career longevity and career satisfaction

You’ll run the risk of potentially shortening the longevity of your veterinary career by putting your wellbeing last. If you have an early career exit because you're exhausted because you’ve neglected yourself, then that means there are more pets that you could have seen and more clients you could have served.

In this way, you will actually accomplish less good in the long run.

Furthermore, you'll likely resent your veterinary career LESS if you don't have it to blame for your diminished wellbeing. 

Reason #3: It sets a fantastic example for others 

This one is mainly for people in leadership positions or positions of influence. 

When you prioritize other things over your wellbeing, it shows. 

This one is brutal!

There are people in vet med who are failing to prioritize their wellbeing because the person before them did it that way or that's the way they were trained. It's normalized to be extremely altruistic.

As my mentor old Wallace Wattles says in the book, The Science of Getting Rich:

"... remember that extreme altruism is no better and no nobler than extreme selfishness; both are mistakes."

This cycle of "the person before me did it that way" continues until someone says, "Hey! Wait a minute... Neglecting myself for the sake of other things is stupid." You should make it your goal to be that person in your organization.

Luckily, the opposite is also true. Once someone starts taking action and prioritizing themselves, the results show, and then the people around them notice. Before you know it, a good example has been set. 

Therefore, I find it absolutely essential to give my best shot at prioritizing my own wellbeing at all costs. More often than not, it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up, and it’s the last thing I think about before going to bed.

No one can prioritize 'you' for you

Last but not least, if you don't prioritize your own wellbeing, who else is going to do that for you? 

Breaking news: most people - even the ones who would LOVE to support your wellbeing - have their own challenges they're dealing with. 

There isn't going to be someone there to hold your hand day-in and day-out, when you wake up, midday, and before going to bed. 

Even coaches, mentors, and mental health professionals aren't going to be there spooning you at night and gazing in your eyes when you wake up in the morning reminding you to prioritize yourself. 

"It's easier said than done!"

Perhaps, but you've got this!

A major issue that often arises is that people don’t know what prioritizing wellbeing is. They don’t know what it means or what it actually looks like.

That’s another story for another day. 

But if you don’t want to wait for the next article, here are some simple ways to learn exactly what wellbeing is and isn’t, as well as a lot of other really useful strategies for taking your own wellbeing to the next level and helping others do the same! 

Enroll in our course "The Veterinary Wellbeing Choice: How to Prioritize, Cultivate, and Maintain Wellbeing" where you can earn 4 RACE credits and learn the basics of prioritizing wellbeing.

Attend the Veterinary Burnout Preparedness Summit of the Yearwhere you can learn from multiple speakers and earn up to 8.5 RACE credit hours! There is an early bird special where you can get a seat to the summit and access to the burnout certification program for less than a hundred bucks! You can learn more about Summit of the Year here.