4 Reasons Why I Shouldn't Have Reached Burnout As A Veterinarian

I was in denial for a long time before I realized I was burned out, I think mostly because I believed I was doing everything “right”.

Here are 4 Reasons Why I Shouldn’t Have Reached Burnout:

1. I took a year off in-between undergrad and vet school to make sure I still wanted to be a veterinarian.   

I knew vet school was going to be hard and expensive and since I had wanted to be a vet since I was 6, I wanted to make sure it was what I actually wanted and not just the career path I had always pictured. 

I also wanted to give myself a year in the real world before going back to 4 years of intense studies. I decided there wasn’t anything else I wanted to do and applied to vet school confident it was the best career path for me.

2. I was proactive with my mental health and mindset.   

I had a 50 minute commute to my first job as a new grad and during those commutes, I binged SO MANY positive mindset podcasts and audiobooks. Being a new grad was stressful and scary and I wanted to be proactive in having a long and successful career. There were lots of great tips that applied in my life. I still reached burnout. 

3. I prioritized my health.   

I started getting really into health and nutrition my senior year of high school. I loved eating healthy and worked out religiously. Running was my form of stress relief and it was time for me to be in my thoughts.

Even during vet school when I was on large animal rotations working long hours and on-call, I still got up early so that I could have a nourishing breakfast and fit in workouts. I was very proactive in supporting my physical and mental well-being, because I knew that was important. At least I thought I was supporting my physical and mental well-being.

4. I had candid conversations with my bosses.  

Even though I was a people-pleaser, I would muster up the courage to have difficult conversations with my bosses when something wasn’t working. When I moved to Charlotte, I worked in urgent care for a year and in many ways loved it. But I realized it wasn’t sustainable (the hours were the opposite of my husband’s) and I missed the relationships and follow through I had with my clients, so I went back to GP. I had a lot of job offers and instead of choosing the one that had the best compensation package, I chose the hospital that I thought would be the right fit for my long-term happiness. A few years later, I reached burnout. 

Those are some of the reasons why I was in denial that I was burnt out for a long time. That wasn’t part of the plan. I was doing everything “right”. I was living my dream.

The thing that led me to burnout were the rules and messages that I had trusted and listened to. They were the things that I didn’t even question in my life, because I just thought it was the way that I was and the way things were supposed to be. 

That’s why I created the Beat The Burnout videos and my coaching programs. So much of what we have normalized and been taught leads to health and success actually leads to the exact opposite. 

For a long time, my body had been trying to tell me that I was heading for burnout. Even starting in undergrad, I would get crippling stomach aches out of the blue that even sent me to the ER. And yet years later when I was totally exhausted, constantly anxious, and having brain fog every afternoon it STILL took me a long time to realize that wasn’t “normal”. 

Your conscious brain will gaslight you. Not because it’s trying to hurt you - it always means well - but because it’s good at normalizing discomfort and looking for proof that supports your beliefs. For example,  “Yeah, I’m kind of stressed but I also love being a vet and I’m doing so much to be healthy”.. 

In my case, our healthcare system was gaslighting me, too. They told me I was “super healthy” even though I felt awful and that made me question if I was making it all up or overreacting.  

Trust your gut. Your body will tell the truth. As vet professionals, we become disconnected from our bodies. We live in our heads and our thoughts, because we have normalized ignoring our own emotions and needs in an effort to be professional and to help our patients. That’s not sustainable. 

The Beat The Burnout videos are a starting point to start reconnecting with all of you: body, mind, and heart so that you don’t go down the same road I did and suddenly find yourself where you least expected: burnt out.

For more in depth support, that’s what my 6 month mentorship program is for. If you’re interested in working together, the first step is to apply so we can make sure it’s the right fit for you.