Center for Workplace Happiness

Do you have a staffer in your hospital who’s a bully? Sadly, that’s very common in veterinary hospitals and is very destructive for morale.

It’s like when mom and I go to the park for a walk and that big border collie stares at me really hard – it makes me nervous and it’s hard to concentrate. That’s how your people feel when a staffer bullies them – they’re always on edge and even a bit unfocused.

This is true about bullies – they are that way because they are insecure. When Mom works with hospital teams that have a bully, she encourages them all to share what they appreciate about each other. When you focus on what’s good about team members even the bully feels heard, seen and appreciated. 

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you have an affirmation that pumps you up?

When I want to feel energized and fun I squeak a squeaky toy and howl at it – bonus, it makes mom laugh a lot!

What can you say to yourself when things aren’t working quite right to remind yourself how awesome you are? Mom reminds herself that things always work out for the best – and then they always do!

Affirmations work to keep you focused on the best part of you and your life instead of letting that little voice in your head remind you of failures. Today take a few minutes to come up with a sentence you can use anytime to lift your spirits. Words have power so pick ones that feel powerful to you. 

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Some days do you feel unappreciated? Who knew mom would be so upset when I brought her that pretty red leather shoe. I only chewed it a little bit and I did give it to her…sheesh, you’d think I started world war three or something!

Anyway, if you’re feeling unappreciated too, give yourself a little present. Buy some flowers for your desk or your kitchen at home…download a new book to read or listen to…go get a decadent coffee. Appreciate yourself and don’t worry about whether anyone else appreciates you or not. Here’s a secret – they do, but they’re human and forgot to tell you that.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians.

What new thing are you learning? Does it excite you? I love to learn new things – mom says I’m a fast learner with a short attention span. Someday I’ll learn what she means by that. Anyway, learning is great – it keeps you focused and fascinated.

In your work you probably learn something new pretty often but that’s not what I’m talking about – learn something that might not even have anything to do with animals. Maybe it’s a new language or how to knit or even golf – learning something new is a great way to decompress and de-stress.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Look around your workplace – are you there? If you looked around my place you’d see stuffed toys, a hard rubber chew or two and you’d know I’m a dog that loves toys. When people look around your workplace do they know what you love?

If you love kayaking, do they see pictures of rivers you’ve been on? If you love the ocean do they see seashells? If you love travel do they see pictures of the places you’ve been? Celebrate you at work – decorate your workplace with pieces of your life besides your work.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Aren’t smiles cool? Even us dogs smile and humans know just what we mean when we do. Mom knew a dog a loooong time ago who squinted like crazy when she smiled – she used her whole face!

Do you use your whole face when you smile? You know you do when those little muscles at the outside of your eyes make you squint a little bit too – those are the best smiles on humans and on dogs. Next time you smile, make sure your eyes are smiling too. You’ll be flooding yourself and the person you’re smiling at with feel-good endorphins.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Do you take all the days off that you’re entitled to? This is something I don’t understand about humans at all – most of you don’t take all your vacation days!! Yes, what you do is very important work. Yes, you love what you do and it’s a calling and most of the time it feeds your soul.

You know what else feeds your soul? Having a balanced life, and one of the best ways to do that is to take all the time off you’re entitled to. And do something fun or nothing at all – it doesn’t matter. Just take your days off because you earned them and you need them.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

What is that voice inside your head telling you about yourself? And if you just thought, I don’t have a little voice inside my head, that was the voice inside your head talking!

Most humans got programmed early to believe bad things about themselves – that they can’t do things right, they’re not smart or pretty or athletic enough – all kinds of bad things. And they heard them early and often enough that they believe those things, when they’re probably not even close to true! When that voice inside your head says something bad about you, just remember that’s an old fairy tale that was never true and you can ignore it.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Have you heard people talk about the power of being in the moment? What does that even mean? Shhhhh…here’s a secret…it means being more like me! OK, pretty much all dogs and cats and gerbils and goldfish live in the moment. We are good at it and you can be, too.

Instead of letting your brain chew over things that happened in the past or might happen in the future, let it really see, hear, smell, taste, touch and deeply feel what’s happening right this very minute. The power of it is that you won’t miss important things in your life while your brain is chewing over other things.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!

Want a brain trick that’ll help you solve problems and be happier? When something looks like it’s going wrong, find three good things about it.

Let’s pretend I was riding in the car and someone hit us from behind. That’s not good – that’s the way I get in and out of the car, so can I get out or am I stuck in here forever??? Three good things – I was in a crate so I didn’t go bouncing around, mom was buckled in so she didn’t either and the fire truck is here to get the back hatch open.

Finding three good things to focus on keeps you from focusing on all the bad things and helps you figure out the best next steps to take.

I’m Kacey and I love veterinarians!