The mirror can be your best friend, or it can be your worst enemy. 

If you look in it and see someone who needs massive reform, who isn’t worthy of the best, who just can’t get it right, who gets lucky once a century, and who is ashamed of their mistakes and imperfections, then it will be your worst enemy.

On the other hand, if you look in the mirror and see someone who is amazing, on their way to reaching their full potential, who is the creator of their own life experience, who can thrive despite any combination of circumstances, and who is perfect but not yet complete, then the mirror can be your best friend! 

What do YOU see when you look in the mirror? Do you see beauty? Do you see something that makes you smile? Are you proud of what you see? Do you give what you see grace? 

When I look in the mirror, I smile! I honestly feel good about the person I see in it! I feel a sense of inner peace!

However, there was a time in the not so distant past, when I would look in the mirror and almost instantly get teary-eyed. Ouch! Just thinking about those dark times hurts.

Thankfully, that was years ago, and in this article I’m going to talk about a few things that have helped me along the way! 

You see, in my experience, many veterinary professionals suffer from some degree of diminished self-worth, lack of self-esteem and insufficient self-belief. 

This leads to many of them experiencing impostor syndrome - a psychological pattern in which one doubts one's accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud".

For most of the people who lack a positive self-image, the future looks like a mere extension of their troubled past. Their expectation of what is to be is consistent with what has been, which can quickly lead veterinary professionals to feel a sense of hopelessness.

This is exactly what happened to me after I graduated from veterinary school in 2013. According to my wife, who is also a veterinarian, and according to many of my co-workers, I was an amazing veterinarian - a little long winded in the exam room - but good nonetheless! In other words, I was a much better veterinarian than I thought I was. 

However, I always felt like a fraud… like I wasn’t as good as the doctors that I worked with. The funny part is that there wasn’t really anything to justify the feeling. I simply felt ‘less than’, ya know? 

The consequence of a lack of self-belief and self-esteem

Because of their lacking self-esteem and confidence, some veterinary professionals are drifting towards a life that lacks the excitement and passion that characterizes the lives of those who feel worthy of tapping into the best things life has to offer. Veterinary professionals who possess positive self-belief and a positive self-image typically have an optimistic expectation of what is ahead of them, and as a result, they realize this expectation as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The opportunity of cultivating self-belief and self-esteem

Now, let’s consider the possible future for those who possess a healthy level of self-belief. Their future will result from their expectations, and because their belief is good, their expectations will be good! If you expect good things, then you will get good things. 

Think about it, do you know any negative Nancy/Debbie downer types who are always complaining and being pessimistic, who think of themselves as weak and incapable and who are also living their best most enjoyable life? 

On the contrary, do you know any positive people who are always looking at the good in life and being grateful for the good they have, who have awesome self-belief and who also seem to be living their worst life? 

While it’s possible, it’s not likely! 

In other words, you - as a veterinary professional - get to invent your own future! In fact, you are the sole designer and architect of what is to be. The best part is that the result will be entirely consistent with your expectation and your self-image.

When I realized that my future would be directly related to what I expected for it to be, my life completely changed, and I was INSTANTLY empowered! I wasn’t empowered in some cheesy motivational way. Rather, I had a confident knowing that ‘all was well’, and that I could live a life of my own design. More importantly, I was the only thing that could stop me!  

As you move forward, realize that if you doubt your self-worth and expect your future life to be worse than your current situation, you will sabotage yourself into making it turn out in alignment with the self-fulfilling prophecy. This will result in decreased self-belief, which will start the entire cycle over again, which will lead to even lower self-belief and so on! 

So the only way out of this negative cycle is to find a way to increase your self-belief so that you will be able to turn the cycle into a positive one, where your self-belief leads to the amazing life you expect for yourself, which will in turn lead to greater self-belief!

Note: In the second hour of the RACE-approved seminar titled, “The Veterinary Wellbeing Choice: How to Prioritze, Cultivate, and Maintain Wellbeing” I go over a powerful way to build unlimited and healthy self-belief. I highly recommend checking it out if you lack self-belief. 

Are you ready to create the life you want and deserve?

If you are ready for the best life has to offer, then decide that you deserve better. Reframe how you see yourself and resolve to act from a declaration of who you are! Most importantly, take the following simple steps towards success.

1. Change your expectations. Expect positive results in your life! Expect good things to happen to you! 

2. Design a life plan consistent with your new expectations. (See my free book opportunity below)

3. Build a support system of people who can support you! Join our Facebook Group, where we have a passionate group of veterinary professionals who are on journeys of wellbeing! This is a great place to start building your support network! 

So, my challenge for you today is to download my free book “Hard Work Ain’t Hard Work: How to Discover, Pursue, and Achieve Your Dream Life”, and read Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 is about writing out a clear and specific description of exactly what your life will be like in every area including your relationships, health, wealth and finances, occupation, recreation and social life, and personal and spiritual development. The rest of the chapters discuss how to discuss the challenges you’ll face and the skills you’ll need to manifest your description in to your life’s reality!

All it takes is the courage to begin the process of creating your best life and start living full of self-belief and possibility!