When is the last time you've sat down and thought about what actually is meaningful to you?  

Have you ID'd those niche's, specialties and hobbies that fill YOUR cup and provide you energy every day?

The deeper that I dig into Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the motivations it can create, the more I begin to understand the importance of meaningful work in the workplace.  This work is unique to us as individuals, and allows us to express our own interests and desires.  This type of work gives us an intrinsic motivator; IE something no single individual can take away from us.  In addition, research has shown that if we are able to chase after this "meaningful work" concept on a daily basis we are more likely to experience a greater volume of positive work days and therefore overall improved well-being at work overall.  Today's episode is a collection of my ruminations about meaningful work's impact on my career to this point and my increasing belief that it may be one of the most critical factors we as practice owners can utilize to help the overall well-being of our peers.

The Progress Principle: Learn More at https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins

Today we discuss the characterization of virtuous cycles at work and how to craft them using small wins for yourself and your employees.

We all experience good and bad work days….and there are so many factors that play into each; the type of work, the challenge of the work, our home life, the relationships at work, road blocks we encounter, tools we find…..the list is endless.

So how do we maximize the # of positive days we experience at work? This is the very question HBR researchers Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer asked. And their results were quite eye opening.

#1 thing we can do as employers and self managers to increase the # of positive work days is create progress at work in meaningful tasks.

While following 238 over 26 projects…through 7 companies and 3 industries….researchers asked these people to do daily diary entries about their work day. They were seeking to find the source of the elusive positive work day…..what they got was 12,000 unique entries that they read and analyzed to come to this conclusion.

What they found was that individuals experiencing progress were 5x as likely to have a positive work day than not!

Interestingly, these same researchers found that individuals only experienced a positive work 6% of the time they encountered roadblocks or a lack of clarity in their tasks and perhaps even more troublingly these same individuals experienced an astounding 0% positive work environment when they encountered environments that were toxic, confounded with disrespect, discouragement for their tasks and a lack of emotional intelligence.

This concept of progress, and the subsequent concepts the authors called catalysis and nourishers, is so powerful that it doesn’t just extend to employees….it will impact you as a business or self manager as well!

Think back to the last time your team made progress, landed that new client or created that new service. Did it empower you as a manager? Did you find new energy and passion?

Lacking energy at work?  Burning out?  Then this episode on The Progress Principle is just what the doctor ordered!

We are surrounded by peers who are in vicious cycles.  Struggling with negative mentalities, poor workplaces or a lack of work-life balance.  Recently one of my masterminders posed a question to me, "How do I get friends to start to try Personal Growth Initiative as a way to develop?"

This is a great question.  Those of you who listen to this podcast likely already see the value in Personal Growth.  Likely you've invested in this concept for weeks, to months to even years.  If your like me you might even struggle to remember the first steps that lead you down this development path.

Today I reflect upon my personal development journey.  From my first days of simply reading books, to my most recent revelations about reflection I share my story of how Personal Growth occurred for me, step by step through the last 8 years.  I will show that this growth doesn't need to occur all at once and that each step, and no matter the means, will create a new Virtuous Cycle.  Discussing potential new habits, steps or commitments is key to the conversations you will need to have with your friends and peers to shift their mentality.

I believe that if we can get our peers to invest in even one of these steps we will be able to "hook" them into more motivated Personal Growth behavior, shifting the perverse negative mentality in our profession!

The Virtuous Cycle; a very cool sounding term for the concept of using small wins to build momentum.  A virtuous cycle is a cycle of wins and progressive movement in areas that matter to you.  This means you're making measurable or visible progress in your areas of salient interest.

As Owners of our personal and professional lives it is up to us to set ourselves up for success every day.  We must manage our daily lives as well as  manage our days in order to create this momentum.

In my personal opinion the best way to begin this momentum is by creating re-occurring TO-DO's or Non-Negotiable daily tasks.  This can be things like daily workouts, reading, refection or thinking time.  These activities can range from 5 minutes to 20 minutes each BUT they will fill your internal cup and create small wins BEFORE your day starts; allowing you to begin that day's virtuous cycle.

If you are successful in this you can increase the chances you will have a positive day as well as carry momentum into your daily goal based To-Do list.

To learn more about why the Virtuous cycle is so important and how you can harness it; tune in!  I promise the positive feelings you will garner from this technique are well worth the listen!

Discovering what you really want saves you endless confusion and wasted energy. – Stuart Wilde

Picture a world where no one knows what they want or why they want it.  They simply go about their day checking boxes; fulfilling their basic needs and then ending the day.  

When I do this it conjures up images of sci-fi movies with these drones of people moving about with no purpose or mission in life....then in comes our superhero.  This hero breaks free of the mold by wanting something different for a compelling reason.  

This is what clarity can do for you.  It can help you understand what you WANT in the short, mid and long term.  Additionally, clarity will help you understand WHY you want it.  Giving you endless motivation to chase that end.

Today I will give you a few exercises I have used and coached with.  Things that I have found helped me realize my inner desires and driving factors.  These things are why I push every day.  The WANT'S and the WHY's that drive me.  So join me today OTO'ers for a training lesson on how to find your Clarity!

What should we do about the nay-says among us?  Those who tell budding vets to find another career or something with a better ROI.

How would I handle such an individual and how could personal development, clarity and goal setting change their opinion.

Join me today OTO'ers as I provide my perspective on these negative community interactions.

Join the discussion at otovets.com/facebook or interact with me directly at [email protected]!

Many veterinary professionals struggle to create balance between their professional and personal lives.  This struggle can lead to some intense internal and external conflicts about what is most important in their life.  Conflicts such as these can severely effect a professionals mental health, well-being and lead to dissatisfaction and burnout for the individual.

Today, I will share some thoughts that I have taught in my Work-Life Balance Mastermind as well as three strategies I believe can start a veterinary professional down the path toward better life balance.

By the end of the episode you will:

1) Understand Work-Life Balance in the context of "Life Seasons."

2) Evaluate what "balls" can bounce in your life vs break.

3) And begin to contemplate, "What is enough?"

I hope you enjoy the episode OTO'ers!

Welcome to our newest podcast. It's been a long minute since I've seen you guys but I'm excited to share a little bit of the changes that have happened since we last talked.  What made me need to be away from you guys for about 5 months and an overview what's new for OTO and where we're headed from here.  So tune in and learn more about the direction of OTL and where we've been. 

Episode Resources:

*New* OTO Work-Life Balance Mastermind Info at otovets.com/90days

*New* FREE OTO Auto-Reply Manual at otovets.com/autoreply

*New* FREE OTO Knowledge Broker Newsletter "Countdown to Success" otovets.com/5-4-3-2-1

Join Our Facebook Community at otovets.com/facebook

Checkout Our Blog at otovets.com/blog

Carry on OTO'ers