veterinary medicine

What’s Your New Year’s Resolve??
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What’s Your New Year’s Resolve??

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Ah New Year’s day! The day the gyms are packed with high aspirations, the day that we “turn over a new leaf”, start dieting, develop new relationships, try to find love, etc. We have been at this juncture last year and every January 1st before; many times we were met with the same outcome – disappointment. Not that our “resolutions” weren’t admirable, but we were never quite able to carry them out for a week, month, or let alone a whole year.

I hope this is not the normal New Year’s Day post. As we embark on a new year, we do have a clean slate and can start fresh. While we can restart on any day of the year, January 1st has become the day to reset. I hope everyone can do things differently and better in 2016. This can range from improvement to our health, personal relationships, business relationships, and more. Let’s make our New Year’s resolution one in which we follow out our new found goals! While a common definition of a New Year’s resolution is “a tradition in which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something nice”. Wouldn’t it be better if we took a different approach and made goals for the new year and use our “resolve” to accomplish the goal.

A recent definition of the word resolve is “firm determination to do something”. Wow that is powerful, it almost sounds like we WILL accomplish that goal if we show resolve! When making goals we not only need to define what it is we want to achieve, but we need to define the “why we want to achieve it” and the “how we are going to achieve our goal”. The why and the how will fuel and power our resolve. If we never define these important components of our goals, they become mere resolutions and dreams – they are admirable and lofty, but there is no power behind them!

When choosing goals for the new year (or at any part of the year), remember to chose goals that are reachable, defined, and are dependent on you and your actions. I also want world peace, but I also realize there are many factors that go into that dream. Another thought is to WRITE down your goal(s)! Unfortunately, this is a lost art – writing in a journal or notebook. This can be one of the most inexpensive tools, yet one of the most effective tools we can employ. The ability to see our goals in writing can make an immense impact on us and be a constant reminder. Lastly, share your goals with someone you trust and someone that can provide encouragement. Accountability is an essential tool that can power your resolve. For some this may be a spouse, significant other, employer, colleague, parent, etc., whomever this is for you, this can make or break success. You may be thinking that this is a lot of work and you would be correct, reaching goals requires dedication and discipline.

Throughout this new year, let’s continue to make new goals and power them with resolve to follow them out to completion. Remember as we enter a new year, we can put last year behind us, with all the doubts, concerns, and failures – DON’T dwell on the past! Make goals that will better your life and the lives of those around you, both on a personal level and in your business life!

Remember these 4 points:

  1. Write down your goal
  2. Define your why
  3. Define your how
  4. Tell someone

Happy New Year and attack this year with RESOLVE!!!

  • Kevin Benjamino DVM, DACVS
    • Copyright January 1, 2016
Events + Response = Outcome
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Events + Response = Outcome

Sunrise in Florida

EVENTS + RESPONSE = OUTCOME  (E + R = O)

Whether you are a football fan or not, this simple formula can change your life. If you are a hermit (or just don’t like sports) you may not have heard a little bit of Ohio State’s football team’s tumultuous journey this past year, just in case read the link below. If nothing else, it will at least give you some inspiration. Some may say that sports are over-rated and hold no real life application, but to those nay-sayers it at least gives us tremendous insight into the word “Teamwork” which is invaluable to any business and life in general, which is a topic for future discussion. No one wants to be that lone vessel floating away in the current of life, everyone needs a “team”.

Unfortunately, many times we cannot dictate the EVENTS in our life, both the good events and the bad. Everyone has a mix of good and bad events (even the people that seem to have all the luck).  In some respects, this part of the equation is uncontrollable (not totally). The totally controllable variable is the way we RESPOND and we determine that part!  We all know the people that seem happy throughout all types of life events, as well as the people who drag you down and are out-right depressing through both the good and the bad life events (these individuals can suck the life right out of you). In the end the outcome or result of the event will be molded by our response. In bad events, it can be particularly hard to see something positive and it requires an act of our will. In good events, this response is easier, but we must also make a conscious effort to acknowledge and give credit where it is due.

Business Application:

We have all been there, where one of our patients may not have had the desired outcome, such as developing a catastrophic complication or worse may arrested or past away during a procedure. This type of event (for veterinarians and physicians alike) will happen and is something that not only deals a firm blow to the owner and family, but also affects us as well. Once this event has occurred, often the next step is communication with owner/family. It is extremely important that this be handled appropriately and with compassion. If not, the emotion with these types of events can spiral in a whirlwind of misplaced accusations and resentment of and for both parties.

Another less intense example:

We have all had those days where we wonder “why did I get up this morning”? When everything seems to go wrong from the minute you step out of bed. Maybe you stepped on a vomited hairball in bare feet (kidding, I’ve done that) or maybe the toilet overflowed right before you were going to leave, or you pulled a muscle during your morning workout.  Whatever the cause, your mood is less than stellar when you come into work on Monday morning. As you walk into work, there are five charts of client callbacks and it isn’t even 8:15am yet! Oh yeah, you have three emergency transfers from the emergency room and an 8:30am recheck appointment (that showed up early) and standard new patient appointments starting at 9:00am. It is at that point that you need to stop yourself and think -“I can’t control WHAT I need to do, but how can I respond positively to these events?” My gut response may be to turn around and walk back to my car, however that would be a less-than desirable response. Remember your team (whether you are a boss, associate, or employee) is dependent on you and your positive response will not only help you get through the day, but inspire the team to rally around you and help you through these events. You may also notice that a positive response may start to determine the events that occur in your life. The events in our life are not left to fate, if so both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates were extremely lucky.  Instead their decisions and responses helped mold the events in their lives.

While these events may sound extreme, I think we have all been through our own version of them. We all know that the days can be very, very long when we respond poorly. Inspire yourself and the team around you with a positive response – I promise, you WILL see results!

The Power of Ohio State’s Positive Thinking

 

Kevin Benjamino DVM, DACVS

Copyright @2015