Wagaliciousness Begins Here!

Did someone pop your balloon today?

My Poodle brother stole my favorite stuffed birdie and wouldn’t give it back – and he’s bigger than me! That made me mad and sad and sulky.

You, too? Did your day start off well and then someone did something so bad that you just can’t find your fun self?

Try this – is there anything you can do, right this minute, to make that person take back what they did? Can you fix what they did? Can you erase what they did?

No to all of that? Then your power is in letting it go.

When your brain starts working it like day-old chewing gum, put up that mental stop sign and think of something else. Sing a song if you have to – just stop thinking about whatever it is that you are powerless to change, fix or erase. And get set to get your good day back on track.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you beat yourself up when you make a mistake? I hate it when I mess up heeling and Mom won’t give me the cheese until I get it right – geez!

Anyway, when you make a mistake, are you harder on yourself than you would be on your best friend? What’s up with that?

Give yourself the same grace you’d give your best friend – if you wouldn’t chew her up one side and down the other, why do you do that to yourself? No one expects you to be perfect – you’re human and part of your job is to make mistakes and learn from them.

So if you made a mistake today, congratulations – you’re human, you probably learned from it and now let it go. Next time you’ll get the cheese, I promise!

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

When someone snaps at you, how do you react? If you snap back, seethe or sulk, that’s a sign you’re taking that snap personally. It probably wasn’t personal – it probably was that person having a bad moment or a bad day and taking it out on you.

Try not to take it personally – instead of reacting right away, take a moment to think it through. Was the statement about you or just at you? If it was at you, let it bounce off. If it was about you, say something like “wow, what you just said stung a bit” and see if an apology happens. It might or might not but at least you’ve given the other person information about how their bad behavior felt to you.

Maybe they won’t snap again, just remember…like some dogs, some people are slow learners!

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Is there someone on your team you wish was different?

I wish Mom would just leave my food bowl down all day long but no matter how many hints I drop it only comes down twice. Guess I can’t change her and guess what? You probably can’t change the person you wish was different, either.

Think about how tough it is to make changes to yourself – how are this year’s New Year’s resolutions doing? If you can’t make yourself behave differently, imagine how tough it’ll be to make someone else change?

If you’re their leader you can help them grow and maybe you can inspire change in them. That only happens if they want to make the change you want them to make, and it takes a lot of diplomacy and tact to get the words just right.

Change how you think about their unwanted behavior – you have total control over that!

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you value groupthink on your hospital team or are you open to dissenters?

While it’s tempting to wish for a team that’s always on the same page, humans don’t do their best work that way. First, you know how tough it is to get two people to agree on everything – how can you expect your entire team to agree all the time?

Instead, be open to differing ideas and points of view. When your team trusts you enough to disagree with you right to your face, that’s when you know you’ve developed a strong team.

Celebrate differences of opinion – that’s where growth opportunities for everyone come from.

I’m Sandy Weaver and just like Kacey, I love veterinarians!

You’re a veterinarian because you care about animals, right?

First of all, thank you – I love my veterinarian!!

And second of all, you know what that says about you? You are loving, kind, you care about the feelings of others and you’re a fountain of benevolent humanity.

Did you know that about you? It’s all true, so maybe write it down and keep it on your desk so you can remind yourself a lot.

You are a wonderful, loving human being who makes a difference in this world and you deserve to know that.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you worry a lot?

Sometimes I worry about the squirrels that jump on the porch roof – I worry that they’ll get away again!!

Seriously, if you worry a lot, what you’re really doing is using your incredible imagination to create something you don’t want.

And remember when I told you that your brain can’t tell the difference between reality and the thoughts inside your head? Yep – when you worry you’re creating stress hormones, muscle tightness, and contributing to long-term damage to the cells in your body.

How to stop worrying? When you realize you’re doing it, focus on something good instead. Look around and see what’s good in your right now and focus on that. Take a few deep breaths, admire that thing you’re focused on and feel the tension melt.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

What are you expecting? And if you answered “a baby” congratulations, and that’s not really what I meant.

When you walk through the hospital doors in the morning, what are you expecting?

If you feel excited because you know it’ll be a day of interesting challenges faced with a great team, then you’re in the sweet spot.

If you feel stress because you know it’ll be a day of interesting challenges and you wonder if you’ll all be up to those challenges, you’re where a lot of veterinarians are.

And if you feel dread because you know the day will be full of things or people that make you feel bad, then it’s time to reach out for help. I know I know…it’s hard to ask for help.

You’re human and you’re great at so many things but nobody expects you to be great at everything. Was there a buddy in vet school you could reach out to? A current colleague or friend? The people at Not One More Vet?

You’re not alone and Mom helps veterinarians get back into the sweet spot all the time. You can do ...

Do you drink out of your water bowl enough? OK, so it’s me drinking out of a water bowl – water is good for me, good for your patients and good for you, too.

Most humans don’t drink enough water, and can feel cranky, headachy or just mentally exhausted. You could keep a water bowl on your desk – maybe a better idea is to keep a big jug of water there and make it your goal to finish the jug each day.

You might be shocked to see how much easier your days feel when you’re well-hydrated.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians! ‘Scuse me…I gotta go drink out of the water bowl…or maybe the toilet bowl!!

Do you wish you had more courage?

I’m pretty courageous now but I remember when I was just a little puppy how big, sudden sounds scared me. I got more courage and you can too.

The more days you live, the more different experiences you have, the more courage you’ll develop. Part of courage is the willingness to try again, the willingness to learn and the willingness to say you’re sorry if your actions hurt someone else.

It takes a lot of courage to be authentic, open and caring – and since you are the definition of a caring person, you’re already more courageous than a lot of people.

When you have courage in the small things you’ll trust that you also have courage in the big, sudden scary things too.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!