By Dr Emma Davis BVSc, Veterinary Career Coach

6 Reasons Veterinarians should Celebrate their Successes and their Failures!

1. Vets are AWESOME

Firstly, simply because we are Awesome! Admit it – YOU are AWESOME!

Anyone with a veterinary degree has a lot to celebrate – in fact – this achievement sets you apart – and that is GREAT! Congratulations!! You ROCK!! If you stop to think about it – and doing so is the key – pausing in our never-ending Quest-For-Excellence to acknowledge, reflect and celebrate – you can allow yourself to realise that …..‘Hey – I’m already excellent’!

2. Celebrating is a learned skill

To learn that even the small things in life deserve to be celebrated! Learning to seek and celebrate the positives in life, both the big and small, (and even reflecting on and acknowledging what we have learned from our failures) is a mindfulness habit that boosts our wellbeing. When we learn to notice the good things in our daily lives, it creates a positive mindset, feeds positive emotions and creates a buffer of good experiences for when the inevitable negative ones come along – which all help build resilience.

3. Striving without celebrating is de-motivating (and not much fun)

Because constant striving without celebration of growth doesn’t serve us and if out of balance (in full-blown perfectionism) can create great-harm. Let’s face it, as vets, most of us have perfectionistic tendencies such as a super-high standard for ourselves and creating a façade of perfection – that we have it all ‘under control’ – in fact you could say it’s the ‘identity’ of our role as being the pinnacle of knowledge in the field of animal health. However unrelenting striving without stopping to acknowledge and celebrate our progress can cause personal fatigue, disengagement and de-motivation. On the other hand – when we have something to look forward to and we know we will celebrate – such as finishing a course, getting that job or just handling a difficult client with skill and kindness, the anticipation of the celebration creates optimism, fun and a reason for doing the work.

4. We need to understand what success is to us

Because to celebrate success we first need to identify what success is! Has it occurred to you that perhaps you are bathing in success right now but just not acknowledging it?  How would that make you see yourself? What is success for you? Have you put words around it, thought what it would feel like or look like? If we are all working towards success but don’t know what it looks like – how will we know when we get there? If we never get there will we ever feel successful and just need to keep working relentlessly – now this is a scary thought! If you don’t know what success is to you – investing in help (such as a coach) to clarify what it means to you is a valuable tool, because personal success is just that – it’s personal. It is constructed of your own beliefs and values and no-one’s version of success looks the same. Therefore, measuring against anyone else’s measures of success is irrelevant and de-motivating. Set your eyes upon your version of success and enjoy the journey of getting there and plan a UBER-BIG party for when you reach it!

5. Celebrate your failures

And what do I mean by celebrating failures? It wasn’t a typo – celebrating the hard stuff in life can be learned also and is an amazing leadership tool. It is only through trying something new, stretching ourselves and failing at bits or all of it that we really move forward. There is always something to be learned from a failure, and indeed it can be turned from being seen as a negative thing to being seen as a stepping stone towards success (Ah – today I worked out one more way that this ISN’T going to work!). Constructively reflecting upon and learning the lessons in failures move us forward and humans need to see themselves moving forward to feel happy and successful! If we’re not stretching, we’re not able to see what we’re capable of. It takes courage to fail and that you have had the courage to step out of your comfort zone and take a risk – is definitely something that deserves to be celebrated.

6. Our profession needs us to

Because the culture of not celebrating our successes is real in veterinary medicine and it doesn’t serve us or our peers to let it continue. The extreme competition that comes from placing a group of high-achievers all in vet school together at the same time has successfully bred an elite form of perfectionism and perfectionistic-tendencies in our profession and we need to cut this out so we can all thrive better. At its worst, perfectionistic-tendencies can damage our relationships with others as we can then start to expect the standards we impose on ourselves onto others. Being courageous enough to reveal to others both the well-deserved pride in the end result while also being authentic, realistic and giving an honest account of the efforts it took to get there – the sacrifices you made and the times it all felt impossible – will create an encouraging environment for those who are likewise striving.

So it’s clear we NEED to do this – but if you are so out-of-practice you might have forgotten how to do this – walk with me through three easy steps:

1. Notice the moment, stop, think about and notice the details of the event
2. Create movement/break in routine and step out of your ordinary space
3. Create a ceremony of sorts – if you cannot break out the champagne glasses then why not treat yourself to a quick stand under your favorite tree outside and let your smiling face feel the sun, or recite of a verse of your favorite poem or book a treat of getting your nails done or coffee with a mate… I look forward to hearing about it

~ Love Your Career! ~ Emma Davis