From ‘I should’ to ‘Why?': A different approach to burnout

“We all know that burnout in [veterinary] medicine is really kind of an epidemic,” cohost Aaron Shaw, OTR/L, CHT, CSCS, begins in this episode of The Resilient Vet: Mind and Body Strategies for Success. In this installment, Shaw and Jennifer Edwards, DVM, ACC, CPC, ELI-MP, dig into why veterinary professionals continue to struggle with burnout despite the abundance of wellness information available.

They suggest that the issue is not a lack of knowledge, but cultural norms and personal barriers that make it difficult to implement meaningful change. According to Shaw and Edwards, addressing burnout starts with identifying an individual’s true “why,” recognizing what gets in the way, and shifting from gathering information to taking action in meaningful, personalized ways.

Partial transcript:

Edwards: “...when we start to hone in on what do I really want? it becomes kind of like a drill down process—[we] go a layer deeper, then a layer deeper, then a layer deeper, then a layer deeper, and then a layer deeper.... A lot of people want things like health and fitness and eating well. The “should” comes from sometimes superficial reasons. Like, “I should be skinny or I should look a certain way for society” and all of these things. But what if I don't care? [What if the person says,] “I've got my partner and she loves me just the way I am and I don't care that I'm 20 pounds overweight.” Not everybody is motivated by those “should” factors.

When we really pare it down into what they want for them—their lives—when they think about their children, when they think about [how] they love nature, when they think about the idea of their children someday having their own children and being a grandparent, hiking a mountain, being able to walk down a beach, being able to get in and out of a fun little car easily, being able to get down on the floor with the neighbor's puppy and play with it...I might not be motivated to go to the gym because I want to be skinny and sexy in a bikini on the beach. That ship has sailed for me. I don't care, honestly. That's not motivating for me. But when I think about my daughter, like, that's my ‘why.’

So, for each person, I would start to really consider what's important to you in your life. For example, if there is a grandchild or a niece or a nephew or a puppy or a beach, that can be your motivation...

Transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and cohesion.