As you might imagine, Animal Health and Veterinary career success requires many things. One of the themes that runs through my blog posts and newsletter articles is that success, including career success, starts in the mind.
That’s because what you think and what you believe has a direct impact on how you act. And of course, your actions and your behaviors greatly influence your success—or lack thereof. One essential element that I’ve explored previously is that of resiliency. In fact, I’ve said the following about resiliency:
- Resiliency will always be needed, no matter how good things seem in the present.
- Resiliency is ultimately the number-one factor in determining success.
- Resiliency is one of the best forms of value that you can offer to an employer.
So, if I’ve stated that resiliency is the number-one factor in determining success, what is this other essential (but overlooked) element necessary for career success?
That element is courage.
The desire to act with courage
Occasionally, I have a case study that serves to better illustrate the point I’m making, and I have such a case study for this article. At The VET Recruiter, we recently spoke with a professional who ranked her current job a “1” on a scale of “1 to 10.” You would think that would be reason enough to update her resume. However, it was not. Even after we interviewed her and identified several opportunities that appeared to be better than her current job, she did not want to update her resume and start a search.
Now, I can understand not wanting to explore an opportunity that is not much better than the job you currently have. However, considering the fact that this professional ranked her current job as a “1” on a scale of “1 to 10,” what are the chances that the other opportunities that we had were better? I would say probably 100%.
But as I mentioned, she did not want to update her resume and do something that could improve her situation. She did not want to take action. Courage is often the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person. It all boils down to action, not just the ability to act, but the desire to act. The desire to be proactive instead of reactive.
When you think about it, what does it take to be resilient? Most times, you must take action. You must do something in the face of adversity to meet the challenges and overcome the obstacles presented by that adversity. And to take that action, you must have courage. It serves as the main catalyst. You have courage to take the action that will help you overcome adversity and be more resilient.
Acting with courage vs. reacting in fear
So, what stops people from acting with courage? In a word, fear, which I’ve also addressed in previous blog posts and newsletter articles. Fear holds people back from having the courage to go after the things they truly want, and that includes what they want in their professional life and their career. There are three main types of fear:
- Fear of change
- Fear of failure
- Fear of rejection
These are fears that everyone has experienced in their life, and they’ve more than likely done so multiple times and in combination in some cases. That brings us to an important distinction:
People who are more successful are not people who live without fear. That’s because courage is not the absence of fear. Instead, it’s the willingness to overcome that fear by acting in the face of it.
Successful people are not successful because they feel less fear. Most of the time, they feel the same amount of fear as everyone else. The difference is how they handle their fear. Do they allow it to affect them negatively, to paralyze them and stop them from going after what they want? Or even after what they deserve? Or do they fight through their fear and not allow it to rule them or make their decisions for them?
The professional world and the job market are fraught with fear. There is fear of change, failure, and rejection at every turn. The key is to not focus on the fear, but instead to focus on the opportunities that exist. Animal Health and Veterinary career success is all about opportunities. It’s about the number and quality of those opportunities because those opportunities provide you with options. The more options you have, the better your chances of choosing the one that will help you to grow your career.
How would you rate your current job on a scale of “1 to 10”? It might not be a “1,” but is it a “5” or a “6”? Do you want to settle for those kinds of rankings? There are plenty of “10” jobs in the employment marketplace right now. This is perhaps the biggest candidates’ market ever, and that includes within the Animal Health industry and Veterinary profession. All it takes is courage for you to act and explore those opportunities.
And The VET Recruiter can help! For more than 25 years, we’ve been helping professionals in the Animal health industry and Veterinary profession find exciting new employment opportunities. Not only that, but we’ve guided them through the process and provided expertise and advice to help them navigate the process for the purpose of creating a “win-win” situation for everyone involved.
If you’re looking to make a change or explore your employment options, then we want to talk with you. I encourage you to contact us or you can also create a profile and/or submit your resume for consideration.
We help support careers in one of two ways: 1. By helping Animal Health and Veterinary professionals to find the right opportunity when the time is right, and 2. By helping to recruit top talent for the critical needs of Animal Health and Veterinary organizations. If this is something that you would like to explore further, please send an email to stacy@thevetrecruiter.com.