#44 The Impact of What You DON'T Want

The Joyful DVM Podcast: Empowering Veterinary Professionals

What do you hate about Vet Med?
I'm guessing creating that list would come pretty easily.
I suspect justifying that list with your personal experiences would be effortless.
I bet you could even round up a group of colleagues who would agree with you...
... who would share their similar experiences...
... who would create their own, very similar, list.
Herein lies one of the sneakiest problems in Vet Med.
Commiseration.
There is a comfort that comes in sharing our experiences with our colleagues.
Venting.
Releasing the anger.
Expressing our combined displeasure against the common enemies...
In the anger and frustration of the collective we find solace, we find redemption...
But there is one thing that will NEVER be found there...
Hope.
And not just hope.
Possibility, Potential, Momentum, Compassion, Understanding...
They can't be found there either.
See, our brains are amazing computers.
They can solve ANY problem.
But they can't solve a problem they have never been asked.
They can't gather evidence on topics we've never told it to be important.
That's how the Reticular Activating System works...
What we focus on, we create more of...
This means the bi-product of all the venting and commiserating is going to be more evidence of reasons to vent and commiserate.
This fuels our negative emotional state.
But worse... it blocks the solutions.
It's not that solutions don't exist, it's that we haven't told our minds that finding solutions is important.
Resources:
Discover Your Purpose workshop