Change is uncomfortable.
Change takes effort.
Many people fear the unknown and crave the familiar.
But change is always happening and it’s actually more uncomfortable to avoid change, than embracing it and allowing it to help you grow.
“What you resist, will persist”.
The decision to change jobs often generates fear and stress inducing thoughts - but why?
Breaking the Pattern
Humans like routine and we have our unique daily rituals. Routines anchor us and provide us with predictability and comfort. After all, the world of veterinary is often unpredictable, so having some predictability in your day is desired.
Shaking up the routine can help to increase your focus and memory. You will no longer be running on autopilot and in a new working environment, with a new daily routine to adapt to (and new daily surprises), you will maximise your brain’s effectiveness allowing you to retain more information and be more successful.
Leaving Your Friends Behind
If you’ve been with your practice for some time, you’ll feel connected and absorbed in its culture and the practice probably feels like part of your identity. Spending so much time with colleagues means they often become friends, it has gone past knowing the ‘work you’ and you find comfort in the camaraderie. The lines are almost unavoidably blurred due to the sensitive and emotional world of veterinary practice.
Why Change is Good!
You'll achieve a stronger sense of purpose and growth
You might have an initial identity crisis, but changing jobs isn’t ‘the end’, it is the beginning of something new and the next version of yourself.
Changing jobs can give you a new spark of excitement about your work and give you new reasons to reignite the passion. Taking a leap of faith is scary, but it certainly gives you an increased sense of adventure about the path ahead and your future growth.
You'll meet new people
The more people you meet throughout your career, the more you will learn about your work and life! You’ll gain fresh ideas and perspectives by exchanging information on challenges, experiences and goals.
Expanding your professional network creates more opportunities and experiences for the future too and can help you to further advance your career by being more visible in the industry.
Meeting new people also builds your confidence. By continually putting yourself out there and stepping outside of your comfort zone, you’ll build invaluable social skills and self-confidence.
You'll develop new skills
Think back to your days as the 'newbie' at your current practice, or your first job as a new grad, and the process of learning you experienced. It might have taken you a while to adapt, and the learning curve was probably steep!
Now, years into your job, everything is familiar, but in some ways this means you might have formed bad habits. It’s important to never stop learning and growing, and whilst you can focus your energy on CPD and additional qualifications and courses, sometimes having a fresh new environment, team, client base and caseload around you is the change that will help you to really soak in, and apply, all the learning in a new way.
You'll face new challenges
“Always go with the choice that scares you most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow”.
Facing challenges or obstacles changes your perspective and forces you to tap into your creativity to come up with ways to overcome them. You might see the more weird and wonderful cases (or clients) in your new role, which forces you to look at how you would normally approach something and come at it from a completely new angle, therefore making you a more well rounded vet.
Overcoming challenges feels good! Everybody thrives with the right amount of challenge and stimulation. When we accept the challenges before us and handle them, we suffer less and gain more.
Is your fear of change holding you back from achieving your full potential?
Book a Career Management Consultation with Simply Veterinary to receive valuable career coaching and advice, achieve real clarity on your career goals and ensure you're on the right path.