Tiny Bites of Wagaliciousness

Want to have a great day today and another one tomorrow? Want a whole string of great days? Start each day with the intention of loving everyone you deal with. Everyone. Some people are tough to love, for sure – for those people, stay out of the details of who they are and remind yourself that they’re just doing the best they can do in the moment. Love them anyway, and before you know it, the best...

Has your day been challenging so far? Do you feel like, no matter what you do, it’s going to turn out wrong? Can you give yourself about one minute for an attitude adjustment? When it feels like everything is a struggle, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that everything’s going to be a struggle going forward, and that is something you have control over. When you give yourself one minute to refram...

If you have a staff that squabbles often, that’s bad for your mental wellbeing. It makes you not want to walk through those doors in the morning, especially if settling the squabbles falls on your shoulders. Try this – create a Word document with every staffer’s name on it, in a column with as much space between the names as possible. Print a copy of the list for each person on the team. At your n...

Unless you have very thick skin, let someone else in your hospital be in charge of social media posts and reviews. People post things without thinking about the fact that there are living, breathing, feeling human beings who worked with them to help their pet. They just get a bee in their bee-hind about something and vent, because it’s what they do. Then their friends, in a misguided show of suppo...

Give yourself the gift of comfort while you work. Place padded mats or padded rugs in areas where you stand for long periods of time. Purchase and use an ergonomically correct and comfortable chair for your office. These things may sound frivolous and they’re not – they’re the tools you need to do your job well. You need a good surgery table to perform surgery, and a good x-ray machine to take goo...

Have you added a virtual component to your hospital’s offerings yet? Offering follow-up and triaging appointments virtually is a convenient way to work more patients in without having to extend the length of your hospital hours. An experienced technician can virtually assess healing of a surgery site or wound, can reassure a nervous and inexperienced owner with a video triage of symptoms to assess...

Communication is the backbone to successful teams and successful businesses. When communication is clear, complete and plentiful, misunderstandings are far less likely to happen. When you and your team members talk to each other as equals, with respect for what each person brings to the success of the hospital, turnover drops. When you and your clients talk to each other as team members in the car...

It’s probably not about you. Don’t make it about you inside your mind. When someone tees off on you, no matter what the topic, what they’re saying to you at the most basic level is that they’re having a bad day and taking it out on you. Don’t respond right away, and maybe not at all. And don’t take it personally. They’re going to vent, so let them get it out. Keep a placid look on your face and pr...

When was the last time you read a book that challenged your beliefs or expanded your knowledge? If it’s been since you were in school, time to hit the books! Expand your mind – learn new things, explore cultures and places, and challenge what you think you know, all from the comfort of your home. Read for ten or 15 minutes each day. Those who don’t read are no better off than those who can’t read....

How do you react when something gives you bad vibes? Do you forge on anyway, try to rationalize why your intuition is wrong or do you pay attention to the internal nudge and move away from the situation? Bad vibes, also known as a gut reaction, is your internal wisdom trying to keep you out of danger. There's science behind it - too much to go into here, but trust me. And trust your gut reactions...

Oh, the sweet savoring of revenge…not! It’s very human to think about how you can get back at someone who’s done you wrong, and it’s detrimental to your mental wellbeing when you focus on revenge. You survived, you saw a side of them that you now know exists, and you’ll move forward with more awareness of their character. Act accordingly, now that you understand them a bit better. Don’t stoop to t...

Have you ever wondered about how someone can believe something, and you believe the opposite, and neither of you can sway the opinion of the other? Since everyone leads a different life with different experiences, we all have different beliefs, and each person’s brain looks for evidence to support those beliefs. Once enough evidence has piled up, beliefs become almost unshakable. So next time some...

Do you work with someone who infuriates you? Maybe they make the same mistake over and over again, or maybe they are a close-talker or maybe they play on their phone instead of pro-actively getting things done. No matter what it is they do, you’re the one who’s getting upset, and you’re blaming that person for making you upset. Instead of getting upset, if you maintain your composure you have the...

The world has been weird for a while, hasn’t it? And when uncertainty happens, people tend to get weird, too. Research at the University of California Riverside found that the stress of uncertainty is worst at the beginning of an uncertain time, eases up as time goes on, and then worsens as a conclusion nears. Are we near a conclusion? Who knows? Humans would rather have bad news than have uncerta...

Every now and then, most people question whether or not they are in the right place in their lives. The right place might be a relationship, a town or a career. Think about your “right place” – does it feel right to you or do you feel like something else might suit you better? Before you make any major decisions, think about what you can and can’t control about you and your “right place.” Can you...

Did you make a mistake today? Good. Did you feel any pain today, either physical or mental? Good. Did you work through a tough situation and bring it to a satisfying conclusion? Good. Whether you’re messing up, hurting or handling a problem, you’re human and you’re alive. And as long as you’re human and you’re alive, you have the opportunity to learn, grow and flourish. Challenges make you stronge...

Do you feel stuck right now? Maybe there’s something you want to do and you can’t see a way to do it? It’s easy to ruminate on the “how” instead of imagine the “why.” When you find yourself feeling stressed out about how you’re going to accomplish something, stop. Think about why that thing needs to be done and why you are the one who should do it. Once you’ve sorted those two avenues out, if you...

Are there people who just suck the life out of you? They need more from you than you have to give, or they don’t value the time the constantly want from you? Time to set a boundary with those people. Because every situation is unique, every boundary is unique. Get creative on how you can only give this person the resources – and yes, your time is a resource! – that you want to give them. If they c...

Do you know your purpose in life? We’re raised to be goal-oriented and success-oriented and driven to achieve, and yet that has nothing to do with our purpose. Our purpose is to help and to love. Our purpose is to smile at a stranger, carry grocery bags for someone on crutches, save a stray dog, listen deeply to a friend in pain. Our purpose is to love and to soothe and to lend a hand to someone w...

Do you know someone who harms themselves? Maybe a friend or co-worker has an eating disorder or cuts themselves, or cuts themselves down all the time. People who do harm to themselves are in need of professional help, and you can help them, too. When your friend or co-worker expresses their problem – the anorexic skips lunch and has black coffee when you go out to lunch, or the cutter accidently f...

Have you ever suffered a big loss? Maybe it was the loss of a job, a relationship or the loss of a loved one. In the wake of major losses, we first feel unable to find happiness, and then with time, we may trip over something that makes us laugh or feel light-hearted. In that moment, guilt may crop up – a feeling that, because of the loss we’re not supposed to feel happy. Tell the guilt to take a...

Are you feeling insignificant? Many people feel like what they do and who they are doesn’t matter, and that they’re not making a difference in this world. As humans, we take our strengths for granted because they come easily to us. We assume that others are at least as good, and probably better than we are at the things we do well. You are one of a kind and your talents and skills are unique and v...

What you do is hard. Your patients can’t give you feedback in your language, only in theirs. Your clients may not be great observers or reporters of what’s going on. Test results may or may not give you the entire picture. You take all of the information you can gather, including observations on physical exam, and come to a conclusion, complete with treatment plan. Once you’ve done that, you have...

Your power is now. Only now. It doesn’t matter what wonderful or awful things are in your past and it doesn’t matter what fabulousness is in your future – you have no power in the past or in the future. Your only power is right now. What action will you take? What thought will you think? What decision will you make? You can’t do any of those things yesterday or tomorrow – everything is right now,...

How do you feel when someone doesn’t like you? Do you try to help them understand who you really are? Do you do things to try to curry favor or help them see what a good person you are? Just like you weren’t put on this earth to like every other person on the planet, sometimes people just aren’t going to like you. It’s part of the human experience and it has nothing to do with you. A really powerf...