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Welcome to Part 3 in our series on avoiding burnout for you and your team where we examine the third category or domain of resilience Psychological – and how we can turn the constant chatter into a gentle inner guide...
If you missed the previous two posts in the series you can read them here:
Easy Steps to Avoiding Burnout for You and Your Veterinary Team – #1 Physical
Easy Steps to Avoiding Burnout for You and Your Veterinary Team – #2 Practical
Now take a moment for yourself and join us as we unpack your mind to help you use your psychological powers for good.
You don’t need to be a full-blown ‘yogi’ and spend hours on a yoga mat in a meditation pose, to enjoy the benefits of mindfulness.
In fact, a few minutes per day is all you need to incorporate some useful mindful exercises that allow you to reframe your thoughts on work, life, and resilience.
The helpful folks at Headspace define mindfulness as “the ability to be fully present in the moment”. Within each of us, we have a thinking self and an observing self. Mindfulness is the technique to help us tap into our observing self.
🧠 Our thinking self is loud, it’s the constant chatter in our minds that is easily distracted by and reactive to our feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
🧠 Our observing self is quiet, it’s a calm state where we can acknowledge our feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, without getting caught up in them.
The goal of mindfulness is to turn down the volume in our minds, so we can be more present in the moment and be less judgemental about our thoughts.
Here are a few ways to harness the power of your mind:
Take a moment (or a few minutes) to rest, reflect, and reflect between activities and tasks in your day. Use your breaks or your daily commute to create a quiet space for your own mind.
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Meditation has immense health and well-being benefits, even if you only have five minutes available. You can practice at your desk, in your car, or by rolling out a mat – whatever suits you.
How you talk to yourself affects your mood and your attitude. Next time you’re confronted with a difficult task or conversation, tell yourself “I get to”, instead of “I have to”, to tell yourself a more positive message.
1. Do you find you’re often distracted by your thinking self?
2. Pay attention to your self-talk and see what thoughts keep coming up.
3. Which mindful exercise do you feel will be most helpful to you at this time?
Easy Steps to Avoiding Burnout for You and Your Veterinary Team – #1 Physical
Easy Steps to Avoiding Burnout for You and Your Veterinary Team – #2 Practical
Easy Steps to Avoiding Burnout for You and Your Veterinary Team – #4 Social
Monday 28 – Tuesday 29 August | The Hilton Surfers Paradise
Chris Gough is on a mission to empower business leaders and managers with the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage effectively with their people to create extraordinary results. The first half of Chris’ career was spent developing systems enabling him to create one of Australia’s most successful veterinary practice. Riverbank Animal Hospital, an ASAVA Accredited Hospital of Excellence, was benchmarked in 2015 as their top performing veterinary practice by recognised industry analysts. Chris joined Lincoln Institute as a student with Lincoln’s founder Paul Ainsworth in 2012. After completing Lincoln’s flagship Lead to Succeed program he was the first graduate invited to join Lincoln’s innovative mentoring and coaching program in 2015 and 12 months later he became a partner. Chris now heads up Lincoln’s talented Coaching Team, oversees Lincoln’s member benefits program, Lincoln Advantage and is also head of operations at Lincoln HQ.
Connect with Dr Chris:
Even in the most capable veterinary teams, not every working relationship feels easy, and there’s usually a reason for that. We’ve all been there. You're working with someone who’s perfectly competent – maybe even kind and considerate – and yet, something doesn’t...
