Month: August 2017

How can being wrong be OK?

The fear of being wrong can be paralyzing. But we are all wrong sometimes. How you deal with it is the key.  

Check out the video I made on this subject:

Now let me know how this works for you… Let’s set up a time to talk one-on-one. Just head over to my scheduling system. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Simple Tips to Stop Compartmentalizing Your Day

So often in my day I have to move from 1 appointment to the next with barely time to catch my breath.

I used to feel like I had to hide the stress or sadness of the previous appt from the next one. But I realized that as I did that, I was also stuffing down and ignoring my emotional needs and by the end of the day I was exhausted and depressed. I would go home and binge eat, or not eat at all, and yet never really let go of the emotional stresses of my day.

That is what leads to burnout and compassion fatigue.

What I have found is that spending just 30 seconds on dealing with the emotions I am feeling in the moment helps me feel better throughout the day.

Here are several ways I release tension and emotions throughout the day so they don’t build up and overwhelm me, especially if I am crazy busy or running late with appointments:

  • I will pause before opening the exam room door, take a couple deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth. I feel the breath in bringing in peace and happiness, knowledge and confidence. I feel the breath out releasing any negative emotions I might be feeling-stress, anger, sadness.
  • I will tell the client of the next patient a 1 sentence explanation of why I might have run late, such as “I am sorry to keep you waiting, the last client had some difficult decisions to make and I could not rush them. I appreciate your understanding. Now, I see that Fluffy is very excited to be here today.” Telling them that I respect their time and that I am only human has been well received. Most clients respond with “when it is my pet, I know you will do the same for us.”
  • I “shake it off.” Literally, just like the Taylor Swift song says. I do a full body shiver, shake or jump around for 5-10 seconds. It releases tension, can be a source of laughter for my staff, and it allows me to feel brighter and lighter moving forward. If you can’t do a full body shake, try swinging your arms or bouncing on your toes.

Seeing new clients and pets every 15 minutes or so can be very draining if there is no effort to stay centered and balanced throughout the day. In the coming weeks, we will explore ways of releasing negative emotions by reframing your thoughts and honoring your feelings.

If you like what you just read, or if you have other ways of releasing negative emotions during your work day, I would love to hear from you. Please visit calendly.com/healthyselfdvm to schedule a free, 1 hour phone call with me to explore ways that work for you.

Have a fantastic day!!

Dealing with energy drainers…

I know that when I am feeling stuck and unable to move forward, I realize there are things in my house or office that need to be done that bother me every day as I look at them. Little things like clutter on the countertop, stuff on the stairs waiting to be carried up, a burned out light bulb in a lamp.  Things that I could quickly and easily remedy, but I don’t.  

I use them as evidence to myself that I am lazy, worthless, overworked, a poor time manager and an overall failure at life! Yep, that sums up my thoughts some days!

But what I have learned is that when I feel that way and look at those things, if I can resolve them I feel so much better and can turn around that negative self-talk.  

So here is my challenge to you:

  1. Pick 3-5 things that irritate (drain) you every day when you look at – or think about – them. Choose easy-to-remedy things for now like change that light bulb (not paint the house or clean the closet out).  
  2. Now, commit to resolving one thing on the list every day this week.  Just one.  
  3. As you resolve the thing, give yourself credit for fixing it, tell yourself how much you love yourself for doing this and celebrate the hell out of your accomplishment every day!  

These energy drainers are keeping you stuck. Changing the little things you don’t like about your surroundings will lead to your ability to create the bigger things you dream about.  

Here is a TEDx talk that will give you more ways of jump-starting the removal of those energy drainers: https://youtu.be/Lp7E973zozc.

Watch it and let me know how your Energy-Drain-Unclogging goes!  Click here to set up a free, 1 hr call with me to let me help celebrate your accomplishments!

 

Can you be grateful in stressful situations?

Gratitude. Feeling grateful for the experiences in our lives is a powerful way to feel happier and more empowered.

When you can extend the feeling of gratitude to the people and experiences in your life you will find that more and more good things come your way.

So I encourage you to keep a gratitude journal. Start small: just commit to doing it for 7 days. Each morning or evening, write down 5 things that you are grateful for. They can start with simple yet important things: you woke up!, your car started, you have clothes to wear, etc.

Be honest with yourself and start with what you can truly say you are grateful for having. I think you will feel better after the 7 days and I encourage you to keep the practice going or at least reach for it when you are feeling down.

As time goes on, see if you find gratitude in the challenges of the day. Such as gratitude that you were 5 minutes late leaving the house because then you got to avoid the accident, or see the heron in the creek, or the cute dog being walked by its owner.

Gratitude can also be extended to challenging client interactions. Be grateful that you do not have the life experience of the chronically bitchy client. Be grateful that the client with no money allowed you to flex your “No” muscle and not get drawn into their drama.

Being grateful for the good things in life is a great way to start, but finding ways to be grateful for the suckier things that happen is when the true magic occurs. So go out and be GREATFUL today!

If any of this resonated with you, if you have questions, or if you just want to discuss these ideas more, please click here to set up your free, 1 hr one on one call with me. I can’t wait to hear from you!

I challenge you…

Complaining. Argh.

It is so easy to go through the day complaining about all types of things-the weather (it’s always too hot or wet or cold), the clients, the computer system, the staff, the management.

But complaining, and getting others to join in with you, is a way of continuing to keep yourself tied down to negative thoughts and emotions.

For today, I challenge you to not complain about anything!

If you feel the need to complain, stop, take a breath, try to recognize why that situation invokes your need to complain and find a way to breath through it and let it go. Make a list of the things you really want to complain about and see if there is a common underlying thread. Maybe they are situations in which you are feeling powerless. Maybe they are situations that challenge beliefs about the world or yourself.

Sometimes finding the common thread helps you to be able to play with ways of changing your beliefs so those situations do not irritate you any longer. We will be discussing ways of changing those irritating situations/thoughts into better feeling ones as we move forward. The first step is noticing what you want to complain about and what is the underlying belief.

So for this week, try noticing what situations cause you to complain the most. When you have some quiet time, see if there are any common threads to the areas.

What sets off your complaining mood? I’d love to hear from you.

Click here to set up your free, 1 hour one on one call with me to discuss these ideas further.