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Thinking About Your Career

At some point in veterinary school, you may find yourself asking, Why? Why am I doing this to myself? What is all of this for? What is this education going to lead to? 

These are excellent questions and it’s ok to let your mind wander as a study break. In fact, I find thinking about the future provides focus for when I do get back to the grind of studying. 

Let’s look at some of the many career options for veterinarians. You’ve probably heard that your veterinary degree will open the door to a very broad set of opportunities, and I’ll definitely second that! Your career is literally what you make of it, and it’s only limited to what you decide to do and what brings you joy and happiness. 

The point is, if you can decide what you want to do and what brings you happiness, then your financial success is much more achievable. If everyday at work is a slog, then you are much more likely to burn out and jeopardize your future. 

All we want to do is show these options to you, and let you decide what is best for you. What piques your interest? Follow up on what excites you.  And here’s the key - do NOT settle or definitively decide right now! Have some ideas and goals, but know that you have plenty of time to make final decisions before and after graduation. 

Aslo, another cool thing about your veterinary degree - this does not have to be a final decision! Don’t put pressure on yourself that you have to decide on a career path once and for all! If you chose wrong, you can definitely change paths after graduation. I’m a perfect example of that. During my career in veterinary medicine, I’ve wandered from equine theriogenology, to private mixed animal practice, to focusing on small animal orthopedic surgery, to practicing veterinary law, and to entrepreneurship and business ownership! You don’t have to settle on one thing forever! 

Most veterinary students enter school looking to go into private practice, and there is NOTHING wrong with that! Private practice creates a great career and can create a great lifestyle if you create some boundaries. It just so happens that private practice veterinarians are who most of us were in contact with and aware of during our high school and undergraduate years.

While in veterinary school, we get to see all of the other types of work that is possible with our veterinary degree. Basically, our horizons are expanded, because we start to see those veterinarians that are a little bit more “behind the scenes.” 

The list at the following was created by the AVMA and is hosted at: 

https://www.avma.org/career/articles/careertransitions/career-options-veterinarians

Note: you may have to log into your AVMA account to access some of the links. 

The bottom line - know your options and opportunities. Do your research and find the career that’s right for you! Don’t let anyone tell you what you should do - you have to determine that for yourself. Most importantly, visualize your future, and keep working to reach your goals! 

What Motivates You?

As you settle into this semester, here’s something to ponder. What motivates you to study harder, to dig deeper and to better yourself? What drives you more: Loving to win or hating to lose? Are you motivated by the fear of failure, or the joy of success? These questions are insanely important to highly successful people, like veterinary students. They require some self-reflection and brutal honesty with yourself. 

Here’s the reason why. The fear of failure is an extrinsic motivator. In the financial world, extrinsic motivators are status symbols, like luxury cars, mansions, expensive clothes and jewelry. When financial success is defined by extrinsic motivators, like status symbols, it becomes very hard to maintain that happiness and success. When people are driven by extrinsic motivators, they derive their personal self worth on others’ perception of them. Our consumer driven economy, with advertising and marketing of luxury goods, drives this motivation. Further, social media, with the false impression of perfection and happiness can also drive extrinsic motivation. 

On the other hand, intrinsic motivation, or how goals are met, or success makes you feel inside, is not based on external rewards. It’s the personal satisfaction of learning, succeeding or meeting a challenge. On the financial side, intrinsic motivators are the peace of mind, the comfort and the control that comes with being financially well. 

If you are internally motivated, it’s much easier to achieve and sustain financial wellness and meet your definition of financial success. 

What does studying and tests have to do with intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation? Let’s use school as the litmus test as to how you are motivated. If your pre-study warm-up is an internal dialog about how you are going to fail and everyone will think less of you, then that is classic external motivation. If you commonly talk of the fear of failing a test, a class, or out of vet school, then that is a marker for extrinsic motivation. If you love sharing your good grades with classmates, who you know scored less than you, but then hide your poor grades, that’s extrinsic motivation. If you enjoy learning, and the joy of mastering a topic, and the grade is secondary to the process of learning, then that is intrinsic motivation. If you imagine getting your Doctorate and the sweetness that day will bring, then that's intrinsic motivation. 

On the financial side, if your main motivation is a fear of bankruptcy or failing to pay loans, then those are extrinsic motivators. The problem with extrinsic motivation is that the goal posts are always moving. It also causes fixation on the next test, bill or hurdle. As long as things aren’t failing or broken, then people don’t fix it. In addition, with extrinsic motivation, it's easy to pay attention to the facade and not the inside! 

To take a lifelong approach, intrinsic motivation is necessary. 

If you do find yourself more on the extrinsically motivated side, that's ok. We just don’t want that fear of failure to creep into your financial habits.  Moreover, extrinsic motivation can be corrected with mindfulness and concentration. Pay attention to your motivation, focus on the intrinsic motivators. Visualize intrinsic values. 

When the fear of failure creeps in, shift your focus and don’t let that fear take hold. 

Align yourself with friends and study partners that are focused on success and not failure. Peer pressure and the intensity around tests can certainly creep into your mind. 

That’s when you can visualize and focus on financial wellness, because of the intrinsic values that it will bring you. 

All of this goes hand in hand! Your school success, your professional success, your personal wellness and your financial wellness are all intertwined. Why? Because they are personal to you!  And the motivation needs to come from within! 

We’re Going (Philosophically) Deep

There is only one! 

Only one person on this Earth is responsible for you! 

Only one person is responsible for making you happy. 

Only one person is responsible for your career choices. 

Only one person can develop your personal financial wellness. 

This is a revelation that some people realize early in life, some people figure out after years of struggle and some never reach. We are conditioned from an early age to rely on others, to work in teams, and that movies always end in “They lived happily ever after.” That motif often spills over into relationships and finances, where we depend on others for our happiness and financial well being. 

Family is of the utmost importance and Healthy relationships are essential to be a healthy individual. Working with others is an important skill. However, modern relationship advice teaches that every successful relationship begins with the individual. The individual has to constantly look at what they can change about themselves, not how they can make others change. The individual has to consciously choose happiness, not wait for others to make them happy. This is work and it's a complete paradigm shift in our way of thinking. It’s contrary to popular culture. It’s a major philosophical shift for most of us to digest. Regardless, it’s your life and happiness. The beauty of this life is the freedom to choose happiness or misery! 

In personal finance, it's, well, personal. Only you are responsible for your financial wellness. This means you have to do the work. 

It’s a common condition to attempt to shift personal finance (and happiness) to a spouse, partner, parent, or someone else. This will fail every time. Sometimes the mistake is discovered in time and sometimes it’s not. It’s smart to seek professional help, such as a personal financial planner or an accountant. But they aren’t ultimately responsible for your personal financial wellness, you are. 

If you are in a relationship, that’s great. We’re not advocating that you withdraw or put up walls. The relationship becomes better and stronger if everyone takes personal responsibility for themselves. In financial matters, it’s best to work as a team, not a dominant/subservient manner.

Here’s my soapbox - There are unhappy veterinarians. They are unhappy with life, their job and the profession as a whole. They look to blame clients, other doctors, staff, the boss and the profession. I know because I was there. I failed to set boundaries for clients and I burned out. I would let a single client’s choices ruin my whole day. And it happened almost every day. Some people suffer on, some run, some lash out and some sink into depression and consider suicide. 

In the end, however, the individual is the one that is suffering. Once you realize that it's your life, it’s your career and it's your choice to be happy, it’s much easier to overcome life’s obstacles. It's how we react to the triggers and stimuli that are present in our lives everyday that determines our happiness. 

Note that many people are dealing with mental health conditions, which are far out of their control, and that’s where professional help comes in. However, just like financial professionals, the mental health professional does not become personally responsible for the happiness of their patient. It’s the patient's responsibility to do the work and put the counseling and advice to good use. 

These concepts should take some deep thought. Stop and analyze your relationship routines with classmates, coworkers, family members and significant others. When a breakdown occurs, shift your brain away from what they should have done differently to how you could have reacted differently. If you are stewing about something they did, remember that it’s your life and your happiness! You have the ability to choose happiness! 

Along that same line of thought, stop and make the conscious decision to take control of your personal finances. Don’t be the veterinarian that blames everyone but themselves down the road. You have the ability to change the outcome! 

To look at this from the other direction, the only thing that you are truly in control over is you! You can’t control other people’s actions and others can’t control yours! Your actions are the only thing that are in the nidus of your control, including personal financial decisions. Again, you and only you can control your personal finance. 

Can you do this? Without a doubt! You are becoming a professional. You’ve gotten yourself into veterinary school and are getting yourself out with a Doctorate! You are smart, capable and independent. Take your happiness and your financial wellness into your own hands!