I think it can be really easy right now to feel overwhelmed or depressed if you’re watching the news or hanging out on social media a lot.
There seems to be so much that we are being told we need to worry about.
So many conspiracy theories around Corona, worries over politics, fears around the recession, travel disruption etc.
Uncertainties around what’s going on job-wise in the vet profession, with redundancies, will-there-be-a-second-wave fears and the ongoing weariness of working under difficult and time-consuming conditions.
For those who were already thinking they wanted to make some changes in their life or career this year, now that all this other stuff has exploded into 2020 and seems to be hanging around, it can raise the question of, “Is now still the time?”.
Can I still make changes during this time and is it safe, sensible or advisable to do so?
Surely the best course of action at this point is to just hunker down, stay in get-through-it mode and wait to see what transpires?
I obviously can’t know for each of your unique situations what is the right thing for you, but what I DO know is that putting your life and any changes you want to make on pause indefinitely while we wait to see what happens is not a risk-free strategy either.
Life is happening right now, as all this is going on, and people need what you have to offer right now more than ever.
It’s easy to feel powerless to influence some of the macro-stuff going on around us in terms of Corona or the recession and politics etc. however this isn’t the case.
People talk about looking at what is within your own circle of influence and focusing on that, which I think we cognitively get but often still feel this may not make much of a difference on a wider level.
However, that’s not the case.
I love this fable, maybe you’ve heard it?
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,
“Well, I made a difference for that one!”
When you don’t yet know the what and the how of the changes you want to make, but you’re pretty clear on why you want the change and what feelings or experiences you’d prefer to be having, then a really good way to ‘throw a starfish’ is to keep regularly tuning into the vision you have for your life or career, even when you don’t yet know the exact pathway.
The reason for this is that it will accelerate your progress towards it.
Our subconscious mind is significantly more powerful than our conscious, thinking mind. It is also like an emotionless storage organ which cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
This is the reason that our worries – which are just thoughts in our mind after all – can 
switch on our physiological fight or flight hormone cascade, or why our mouth will salivate if we start to visualise and think about chewing a lemon quarter.
Our subconscious mind also wants to bring us into alignment with our beliefs and thoughts, so if you have a particular worry and you’re focussing on it a lot, you will see evidence and articles and hear conversations that back up and corroborate that worry as your brain’s filtering process is on the hunt for evidence to make you ‘right’.
Luckily this process works in reverse and it’s why having a regular gratitude practice has been proven to make people happier.
When you regularly tune into what you’re grateful for, your brain then starts hunting and filtering for other similar things and you become more consciously aware of them.
It’s like when Amazon’s AI knows what you’ve been looking at, and it says, “Oh, you liked that item did you? Here are other similar items like that!”.
When you regularly focus on the changes you’d like to make and the outcomes you’d like to be experiencing, even when you don’t know how to make it happen, you harness the incredible power of your subconscious mind.
It will then start looking on your behalf for opportunities, articles, courses, conversations etc. that open up new possibilities and lead you towards what you have told it you want.
Obviously the sooner you can start to make the changes you want with your life or career that result in a happier, less stressed, more motivated you then that is of great benefit to you as an individual and also to your partner, kids, friends, colleagues etc.
The knock-on effect on a wider scale is that precisely BECAUSE there’s so much turbulence, uncertainty and challenge going on out there at the moment, the profession, the wider workplace, our country and the planet actually really need us to be showing up and using our skills and talents in the best way for us right now.
Yes, things contract in these situations and opportunities that were there before might be on pause or not there at the moment but I can tell you from the work I’m doing with clients who are pushing through making career changes right now that new, unforeseen needs and opportunities are arising constantly so your skill set WILL be needed somewhere right now.
So, for those who feel brave – i.e. sh*t scared but willing to take action anyway – then coaching can really help with this.
In a one-to-one setting, your coach can powerfully hold the space and belief for your vision while you wobble around outside your comfort zone and take the action you need, helping to keep you on track.
In a group coaching setting, there’s a big comfort in the “I thought it was just me and am relieved to find out it’s not!” effect where hearing your peers being brave and taking action alongside you helps to comfort and motivate.
If you’d like to find out more about transformational personal one-to-one coaching click here and book a chat with me.
If you’d like to find out more about the upcoming relaunch of the hugely successful Veterinary Career Mastery Group coaching program next month, click here.
That’s it from me for now, I’ll be back next weekend with the release of my free training on How to Master your #vetpassport so watch this space!