Before I lay out 5 Ways to Use Gratitude to Avoid Burnout in the Pet Professions, we should recognize the symptoms of burnout.

What is Burnout?

Are you feeling physically and emotionally exhausted?

Are you cynical and detached from life?

Do you feel like you are ineffective?

Do you feel like you are failing to accomplish what you want to in life?

Then you are living in a state of chronic stress or Burnout that has brought on these symptoms.

How Does Burnout Affect You?

If you are involved with pets in any way, you may have some of the symptoms of burnout.

Pet rescuers feel the stresses of rescuing, caring for, fundraising for and adopting out pets that are in need of a forever home.

Dog groomers, trainers and veterinarians work long hours to earn a living.  Although dog groomers and trainers can get immediate satisfaction from their work, cynicism can also creep in when they deal with pet parents that are lackadaisical in the care and training of their pets.

Compassionate Veterinarians have to deal with chronically ill animals that they may not be able to save, sometimes only because the pet parents lack the funds to pay for their medical care.

Veterinary medicine has become “predisposed” to suicide as noted by the blog Vet Girl. Dr. Shirley Koshi and Dr. Sophia Yin died by suicide within a few months of each other.

5 Ways to Use Gratitude to Avoid Burnout

♥ Start Your Day With Gratitude

Think of and write down 3 things that you are grateful for each day.  Let them be 3 different things each day. Take 20 to 40 minutes and tune into Dr. Joe Dispenza’s guided meditations to sync your heart and brain wavelengths and create your day around love and gratitude. Dr. Joe is a neuroscientist that travels around the world offering scientific proof that ordinary people are accomplishing extraordinary things when they go beyond themselves.

♥ Say Thank You To A Family Member  

Never take the nice things your family members do for you for granted.  The more you thank them sincerely, the more inclined they will be to do more for you 😉 …but more importantly, you are building them up to face the stresses of the day.

♥ Say Thank You to Customer Service

Regardless of whether you are shopping in a physical store or online or dealing with government or insurance agencies, say thank you for the service you receive.  This process may test your patience if you are put on hold in the circular phone answering menu of a business, but the person that finally answers will appreciate your “thank you.”

♥ Thank Your Business Associates

Business owners that express gratitude to their employees find that their productivity goes up and that those employees are more likely to stick with them through the ups and downs of growing a business.

As an independent business owner, I am grateful for being able to create my own schedule, my own level of income and my business friendships…and for the fact that I can take time off as needed or wanted and still have money coming in.

♥ Say Thank You to All Caregivers

Pet sitters love your pets first. Many of them sacrifice time with their own families…and sometimes their marriages…to care for your pets.  You know this if you are a pet sitter.  Don’t just pay them for their services, send along a thank you card expressing how much you really appreciate them.

As a pet sitter, be sure to thank the pet parents for trusting you with the care of their pets and their homes.

Gratitude Challenge to Avoid Burnout

When you give or receive a simple expression of gratitude, you will feel like you are making a difference in someone’s life. I challenge you today to not only say “thank you” but to reach out and give a sincere compliment to someone. You will have lower levels of emotional exhaustion which drives burnout. You will also experience a higher level of efficiency in your own efforts for making a positive impact on the lives of others.

Be sure to come back for more Miracle Living With Gusto,

 

Amelia