Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for that lovely welcome, Jackie and Dawn. Thank you so much, guys.

I'm so pleased, you guys have taken the time to join me. Just remember that a lot of people would rather be doing other things today. And whether you're watching this live or on replay, I really think you need to understand that you're so further ahead, of a lot of people.

So I hope you really enjoy this. My promise to you today is, I really want to show you how easy it is to, just get some, you know, time to yourself, you know, without needing to make excuses. We love excuses.

We call them reasons, but they're excuses. OK. I'm also gonna promise to show you how to do it counterintuitive way to change your life.

You know, and the idea is you'd really need to find a way to thrive in your life without succumbing to the mental anguish that, I think we sometimes all suffer from, you know, What is really helpful I found is understanding my mistakes. So I'm gonna share with you my biggest mistakes, and it really led me to discovering this path to a bit more of a fulfilled life. Now, Tell me if this sounds familiar, OK?

You know, are you feeling super, super overwhelmed at the moment? Overworked, exhausted, and it feels as if everybody else around you is coping. So you're not too sure, is it just you or is everybody else pretending?

OK. Just let me know if this sounds familiar. You know, are you struggling to kind of break free what feels like a hamster wheel, you know, and you just can't seem to move forward, whether it's in your, work life, if you're in clinical rotations as a student, or, just business.

This is something that I find with a lot of my clients and a lot of my colleagues is quite common. OK. So What I really want to tell you guys.

It's not your fault that you ended up here. OK. It's, it's definitely not your fault.

Sometimes we find all sorts of reasons to blame ourselves, but do you want to know what the truth is? OK. The real problem, 100%, the real problem is that stress and burnout are not actually the problem.

And why do I say this? You know, problems have solutions, guys. You know, burnout isn't one of those things.

Burnout is a challenge. It's an obstacle. It's an omnipresent risk to all of us.

Because of the work we do, it is always gonna be there now. Ask yourself, why should you listen to me? OK?

You know, what's, what do I have to say that you haven't heard before? Now, I'll tell you one thing. I'm not an expert, OK?

However, I'm definitely a very experienced warrior in dealing with poor self-care. And being burnt out, then I use the experiences myself and other people have had to help other people avoid it. All right, I think we all know that the veterinary profession is really going through a mental health crisis at the moment.

If you haven't lost a colleague or a classmate to suicide, you probably know somebody who has. This is real, guys. All right.

Studies repeatedly show us that there's significantly higher rates of burnout, depression, suicide, and suicidal. Ides in the veterinary profession, when compared to the general population, both in the UK and in the US. So this isn't something that is just, you know, I've just come up with.

So this is the real reason I actually decided to go into mentorship and, wellness coaching. My nutrition coaching came later when I started realising that what we put in our bodies really affects our stress levels in the way that we function. So I have a mission.

All right? My mission is to help and inspire veterinary professionals just like you. You know, I want to help you create a life of freedom by finally just finding your voice and successfully dealing with any stresses, and also any resulting stress that you can, just start living a really balanced life, healthy and just fulfilled.

I really look forward to guiding you through your transformative journey. Now, here's the thing, guys. I tried everything.

You know, when you're trying to work through, Stress, busy lifestyle, self-care, you try everything. OK. It was the hot baths.

I, I worked super hard. All right. Society tells us, if you work hard, you'll do better.

I did more courses, I worked long hours. I did the massages isn't true because I didn't actually have time to have massages, but I was running, I was trying to do the whole work. I did everything the experts and the gurus told me that I should be doing.

But do you know what really happened? OK. I just couldn't prioritise my downtime.

All right, I, I wasn't very good at it, and nothing I tried was working. OK. So I found that before, I felt really positive.

I was happy, and I did struggle to manage my personal time, especially when I was running a business and actually running and working the business. I had a young family at the time. I could almost always never see my friends.

I did see together on the outside. But I was silently crying on the inside. OK.

And then, you know, because I was burning the candle at both ends, and I was really driven. I was so driven, but it really was a really unacknowledged, deep-seated fear of failure that was pushing me. And, I had this idea in my head, you know, if only you worked harder, then you can have more, and then you'll be happy.

But, you know, I was never, it was never enough. And that whole imposter syndrome started creeping in. And I really felt Underqualified to manage my team.

So I started filling my spare time. I never had a lot, but I started filling it with, a postgraduate surgical certificate and loads of leadership programmes. This came with a load of other things, guys, as you can obviously think about.

And I ended up in a situation where I started having the warning signs. OK. And tell me if you recognise any of these signs, OK?

First started with the whole working late. I started feeling really overwhelmed by work. A normal work day would would have been fine.

I, I used to enjoy it. It used to really give me, You know, just that adrenaline. It was great.

But then I started getting overwhelmed by work. It started intruding into my sleep, and I experienced insomnia. Now, a lot of people think insomnia is just something that happens to them.

I don't sleep well. This is a sign of chronic stress. Please don't ignore this or think it's normal.

It isn't. OK, I started having real Unkind conversations with loved ones and engaging in more fights. And I just sometimes felt as busy as I was, I felt really lonely and deeply, deeply sad.

I didn't realise what a panic attack was until I had a panic attack. And even afterwards, I described this to my sister, and, she just kind of said to me over the phone, she goes, Oh, dear, you were having a panic attack. And I was like, What?

And she says, yeah, you, you were having a panic attack, and I was like, oh, I didn't realise. I just thought I was being weak. It all came, it all came together, guys.

And I, one day, I was preparing to go to a dinner, and I started feeling a little bit nauseous. I went to the bathroom and started vomiting. This didn't stop.

I kept on vomiting, and I ended up in A&E. And I was diagnosed with, obviously. What they thought at the time was just a tummy bug.

Turns out it really wasn't. I, Had been so stressed that my gravity of serious people pleasing, very poor boundaries and excessive stress. And really, the truth was constantly putting myself last.

Ended up with 4 further hospital visits in 6 months. This was in 2019, and it culminated in a cardiac catastrophe. And I mean, I have never felt my heart beat so fast, and I had to have abdominal surgery.

So that was me looking fairly awful. And like my friends over in, in America would say across the pond, they'd say, I was a hot mess. And I was, but I needed to experience this, and I reached the end of the line.

I had to figure out how to find. Peace whilst doing my job, and it felt like my job was actually starting to suck the life out of me. So it was like, am I gonna sacrifice my mental health, or destroy my physical health any further?

I needed to figure it out. So the reality is, this is my life today, OK? I just found a path that just can give me some sort of freedom and feel fulfilled.

And I just followed my heart and I just want to spend time with people I love, doing things I love to do and not spending an hour and a half or 3 hours a day travelling. OK? So I get back to my community now, and I really enjoy my life.

And I want the same for you. OK. Some of you might be listening to this and thinking, I've got that already.

And I think that is amazing. If you could just share that with as many people as possible, that'll be fabulous. But today, I'm gonna tell you my 6 biggest secret practises.

I know, I know the title said 3, but I like to give, and actually, I'm gonna give you 6 different practises. And This is why I've done this. I just want to tell you guys that you can do this and you don't need to struggle, and for heaven's sake, you don't need to end up in hospital like I did, OK?

So. If you're ready to get started, let me know if any of this resonates with you, OK? So just put in the chat and see if anybody else, understands if they feel the same way about this.

So, first thing is, guys, who recognises this, right? Your version of timeout. All right?

Maybe a bubble bath, a glass of wine. But, you know, this picture is all sorts of things, but it isn't accurate. OK.

First of all, the glass of wine. Mine looks like a glass of water. And secondly, my version of this was my kids pretty much banging on the door after 5 minutes saying, how long am I gonna be?

And they need me to come down and slice some apples for them. Whatever the issue was, this just didn't cut it. OK?

So What I wanted to just say is, we're gonna cover these different aspects. OK? The first one will be just how to practise narrative medicine and journal regularly.

All right. This is known to help with, mental health. So this is something that I think is important for you to understand.

It's totally free, so you can do this even starting tonight. All right? Really, it's a good idea for us to start practising some effective boundaries.

All right? Especially if you don't want to feel guilty, whether it's leaving work or you feel like someone's gonna judge you if you actually go and everybody else is still there, but it's actually your time to go. We need to figure out how to practise boundaries.

All right? I'm also gonna speak about meditating. And how you can practise.

A lot of people speak of mindfulness. You don't have to sit cross legged to do this. There are other ways in which you can do this.

All right? And I also think the last three practises are avoiding negativity. It's, it's so important.

This is a practise that we can actually start using on a daily basis, and, just really helps us understand that what we think really does affect how we feel and the way we behave. We also are going to speak about recharging our batteries and some active recovery. And my favourite subject, of course, is food, and how to choose the right fuel for your brain and your body, so you can like avoid being sluggish.

So practise number one, guys, and I call them secret practises because, a lot of people just don't do them. So it's almost like a weird secret. But, how to journal regularly, you know, so that you can be more focused, efficient, and maybe even practise some gratitude.

OK? So these are a couple of mistakes that I used to make. And just let me know if you, you look at this and listen, you think, maybe.

OK? So number one is I don't have time. All right?

I hate writing and I avoid it, or I mean to, but I always forget. Or I've started so many journals and I always abandon them. The truth is, all of these things are valid.

But writing in a journal, each day really allows you to direct your focus to what A, you've accomplished, what you're grateful for, and then also, you know, what you're committed to doing better. All right? Because there is a three-step way of writing.

And the thing is, with narrative medicine, this is known as just the approach of utilising people's narratives in clinical practise. They use it in research and education as well. And it really is a perfect way to promote healing.

This is not something that comes naturally, guys. Do not expect to know what it is you're doing without you having some form of guidance. The best way I can put this is Can you imagine, can you imagine, your very first spay, OK, your very first, bitch spay.

And, this is how it goes. Somebody gives you a book, a textbook, no video, no PDF, a textbook, and says, Why don't you read in here how to do a bitch spay? And then income waddles a, 45 kg Labrador.

She's Blatantly overweight, and the plan is for you to perform the bitch speed based on what you've read, perfectly the first time. Yeah, sends shivers down most people's minds. This is not realistic, but this is what we expect we can do with a lot of the things that we try to do.

So it's a good idea when you're starting, journaling or narrative medicine, that you actually understand that you've got to do it several times and have a little bit of a plan, some prompts. OK? So, secret practise number 2.

I honestly. Cut out all negativity. And I mean in all its forms.

All right? Treat this with the same disdain as a cancer, right? Because that's exactly what it is.

Be careful. If you're thinking you don't know anybody who's negative and everybody loves each other at work, yeah, have a closer look. All right?

So I need you to consciously avoid anything negative, right? Stop reading, stop watching, Stop listening to the news. OK?

I knew a very good friend of mine, and she was in the broadcasting community, and she said, If it leads, it bleeds. If it bleeds, it leads. OK?

And basically, if it's a really nasty story about some horror, that's the one they're gonna lead with. And it's like, A lot of the stuff, guys, is sensationalised, it's controversial, it's traumatic, it's really biassed, and it really causes us to be in a very negative state. So please stop watching the news.

Number 2 is stop watching negative TV shows. They're super addictive. But if there's people being nasty and, unkind to each other, this is not something that you should be specifically trying to, watch.

All right? So Try maybe think about some of the invitations from negative friends or people who they're not friends, they're acquaintances, but they always make you feel bad at the end of meeting up with them. Don't hang out with them, OK?

The next 3 is. Remove words, negative words, basically, like, I can't, I shouldn't, you know, all of those things. So we need to swap those out.

But if you are big on social media, guys, unfollow the whingers and the whiners. They literally are like energy vampires. If you've ever seen, Harry Potter movies and you've got the Dementors.

I, I picture them as dementors, sucking the life out of you. So please, these people who make you feel a little bit bad, and sometimes it can be entertaining, but it will tyre you out, just unfollow them. All right?

This one's important because this is what actually drives a lot of our impostor syndrome and the way we worry about things. And so you gotta ditch the negative self-talk. And I've got the kill the ants.

Now, ants are automatic negative thoughts. OK. This is a phrase that was put together by, Dr.

Daniel Amen. And, there is an extra, Resource on this. But you've got to understand that the negative messages that we have in our head that we repeat to ourselves are normally brought about and You know, they're, they're not our own.

These are from the past. These are echoes from people in our past, usually relatives, sometimes teachers, toxic bosses, people who should just never have been in leadership, positions. Watch out for those automatic negative thoughts that you have, and you need to catch them and say, hang on, is this true?

OK? And you can do this perfectly by paying yourself compliments, OK? So just take it one step further, just pay yourself compliments.

Say really nice things to yourself, and notice when you do something well. So celebrate your wins, OK? So the lesson I have from these two practises is basically journal and reflect about, you know, compliments that other people pay you.

You know, we get loads of treats and cards and flowers from clients. Take pictures of every single one of them. Make a collage of it, you know, do something positive to remind yourself, especially when that one complaint comes in.

Have those to remind you that actually, a lot of people are happy with what you do and they love what you do. OK? So write down the things that inspired you during the day, things that went well, a conversation you had with somebody that was really positive, you know, people and things that you're really grateful for.

And most importantly, how can you improve yourself going forward? How can you improve something that you did and you want to do a little bit better next time, or tweak it a little bit? OK, so the takeaway is just be consistent with journaling.

I try to journal in the mornings. During my quiet time, but this is a fantastic new self-care habit, and you'll be surprised how good it is for when you start, describing the types of things that you did at work that day, how you felt when you had that conversation with the client, with your colleague. It's really important.

It really increases. The emotional intelligence. And then it helps you keep accountable to yourself, or even your coach.

You know, if you've, if you've already, employed a coach, fabulous. This is a great way, but you need to be accountable to yourself first and take self responsibility. So create that self-discipline and you'll find that you have these neural pathways.

These new neural pathways that are formed. And it does take a while, but actually, once they're formed, they just get bedded in by you repeating the activity and just recognise any negative patterns. It's so easy to do.

But once you've written it down and you read it back to yourself, you can see any automatic negative thoughts and behaviours. OK. So, off to secret practise number 3.

OK. This is the boundaries. Guys, this is so important.

We must create effective boundaries. You know, without feeling guilty. It's so important that we look after ourselves.

You know, the mistakes people make here, it's mistakes number 2. So, having a problem saying no, any, anyone, OK? So you think other people, are the ones that are disrespecting, your boundaries.

This is a big one, guys, and it's really difficult to hear because a lot of people think to themselves, Oh, hang on. No, no, no. You've crossed my boundary.

No, it doesn't work like that. You set your own boundaries, and then other people have to respect your boundaries. It's not the other person's job for them to respect the boundaries.

You are the one who has to actually maintain the boundary. And if you're a huge people pleaser, This is an issue. This is a big issue, isn't it?

All right. And if you Click with this, you'll understand what I'm talking about. And, you know, Brene Brown, speaks about this a lot, and she says, when you fail, You know, to basically set boundaries and hold other people accountable.

We feel used and mistreated. OK? This is vital for you to understand that that feeling of being used or mistreated, we actually have control over that, and we need to just find ways to flip it out.

OK? You know, the lesson is, guys, I used to always offer to stay late, come in early, cause I thought I had to, you know, the proverbial burning the candle at both ends. It never ends well.

I mean, there's some pros here, don't get me wrong. If we look at the picture, you've got A, a candle, it's burning. It's, it's producing twice the amount of light.

It's fabulous. But you know what's gonna happen in a bit, right? So the cons are, it's gonna burn twice as fast.

You're not gonna have it for as long. And if you keep holding it like that, what's gonna happen? Fingers are gonna get burned.

And that's what happens with us, OK? So, I have a quick 4-step process that you can use to set personal boundaries. OK?

So, first of all, identify your desired boundary. And there are a few guys. So we've got emotional boundaries, we've got physical boundaries.

We've got personal. You know, boundaries where people are like physically next to us. But, you know, you've got time boundaries, time.

This is why I started off saying. Guys, you have spent time spending time doing this, and this is a very, very special commodity. This can never be replaced.

So identify your desired boundary. Step 2, communicate it. So tell people exactly what it is.

That your boundary is Don't overexplain. You do not have to justify why you're telling them or why your boundaries like this. Don't justify it.

Step 3 is important. Don't overexplain. You've already told them what it is, you're communicating it.

Don't assume people understand. The fact that you're quiet, that's not communicating it. You need to physically say it, OK?

Set consequences for when you do not respect your own boundaries. It's you not respecting your own boundaries. So if you were going to go home at a certain time and spend some time with the kids and make sure that you had dinner with them, but you disrespected your time boundaries and you worked on for a further hour, missed dinner didn't actually have that family time.

You are the one who's actually caused that. OK? So please do this four-step process, identify your desired boundary, communicate it to the people who you need to communicate it to.

Don't overexplain and then set the consequences for yourself. OK. Take away #2, guys.

Decide what emotional, physical, intellectual, and your time boundaries are. And stick to them. It's it that's straightforward, OK?

Secret practise number 4. OK, have a method of pretty much microdosing necessary time off, you know, so you can have active recovery. And what do I mean by active recovery?

You know, it's quite important that we clear our calendar and, you know, regularly and fairly periodically, this is an essential strategy for recharging your energy levels. You know, it's whether it's spiritual, physical, mental or emotional. This is a very powerful self-care strategy, OK?

You've got to make time for active recovery. Now, I have to specify here. Mindlessly watching and binge watching Netflix or reality TV does not count as active recovery.

OK? These are some evidence-based strategies that have shown that they can really build your resilience and reverse some of that damage that we've caused by, veging in front of the TV. We don't really want to have loads of stress hormones circulating.

So these activities are free. And definitely part of your self-care toolkit. And, you're able to practise these beautifully without actually spending a single penny.

OK? So showing affection. Now, this includes affection to your pets, whether you've got a horse or, grumpy cat that wants to sit on your lap every so often, just that sharing that space really, really does help.

You know, Make sure you've got good quality sleep and rest. And I mean quality sleep, not passing out. You've got to actually have a really intentional sleep, system set up.

If you spend time in the sun on a daily basis, a minimum of 20 minutes, It can be, a couple of versions of 10 minutes here, a little, a little bit of sun there. But it needs to be your entire face. The sun needs to hit the back of your retinas, and ideally your arms.

OK? And make sure, I mean, this you guys can do during lunch. And I know right now, our lunches are inside stuffing a sandwich, while we're trying to catch up on phone calls or read histories.

I know. But you need to be intentional about this. When you do have that quiet 1015 minutes, take your, you know, take your drink outside and sit in the sun.

Do some movements, some exercise. Now, I'm not talking about going to the gym here, walking. If you're a runner, that's fabulous.

If you like horse riding or hiking, do that, OK? Share some laughs with your friends. OK?

If you really get on with people at work, that is such a positive thing. Enjoy that time and have some laughter, just spread some, you know, good endorphins out there. And this also goes ties together with positive social interaction and, creative expression.

OK? And creative expression is art and those types of things. So the takeaway here, guys, is you're the only person who can stop people taking advantage of you and your personal time.

So you've got to protect your active recovery, OK? So the boundaries and the active recovery, those go hand in hand, OK? So, Our 5th practise is how to meditate without feeling pretentious or silly, you know.

So you really can effectively reduce stress and anxiety in your life. You know, the mistake some people make, is, you know, trying to clear your mind. This is impossible.

It, it literally is impossible. You know, people say, I can't shut up. I've got loads of mental chatter.

And also, yeah, this goes on to people then starting too big too soon. You know, we have between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts per day. It's a lot of thoughts.

What's interesting is 85% of those thoughts, Negative. What's worse is 90% of the thoughts we had the day before. So think about that.

So of all the thoughts you had today. Maybe 10% of them were you. You had the same ones yesterday, and more than 80% of them were negative thoughts.

So we need to be able to find a way to calm our mind. And find thoughts and look at thoughts and feelings of things similar to the way clouds are pass in the sky. So if you're looking at the sky and there's loads of clouds.

The thoughts aren't you. The thoughts are outside of you, so they don't make up who you are. So a lot of people start too big with meditation and they try, do like 20 minutes, 3 times a day.

How about 5 minutes? OK? So regardless of which forms you try, OK?

And in, the notes at the end, I have actually put together some of the details of the types of meditation you can try. There are loads of physical, and they're measurable, these benefits, including reducing stress and anxiety. It really boosts your immunity, and it does reduce insomnia and blood pressure.

I promise you. OK. It's so important that you understand that it'll really boost your mental clarity, and it will increase your attention span and your ability to focus.

We do important work. If you want to really just dial up the way you work and the way you interact with people, and the way you are happier with yourself. I definitely would consider, meditation as one of the things that you need to do.

Now, this is practise number 6, OK? You know, what are your ideal foods? You know, you know, find foods that you want to eat that improve your cognitive function, as well as help with your mental clarity.

You know, eating has become one of those mindless acts that we do. Like I said before, we're busy, like, stuffing our faces in the prep room as we're doing notes. And, we often do it really quickly with a little thought to it.

But, you know, by eating mindfully, we can really restore, the attention and just slow down, making eating an actual intentional act. And if you were listening to me earlier and you thought, mm, I don't know about the meditation, eating can really eating mindfully can really, really help. So, as I said, food is my, I love food.

OK. But there's, this is healthy brain food. It's important because this is the one organ, we kind of forget about, but we need really, really the most.

OK? So there is an extensive list of foods that you can choose from. But here are my top 10.

And the main thing is, there's loads of, information about how, the brain is really susceptible to oxidative stress. And these, you know, quite a few of them are antioxidants. So, these are the top 10.

Again, this whole list will be in your notes. So make sure that you access some of these foods. OK.

Now, I did mention mindful eating before. So mindful eating really relies on the mindfulness I was speaking about. And this is what I was trying to say.

This can actually be a form of meditation. And I'm talking about the 10 minutes when you're actually eating your food and you're thinking, how does this taste? Where did it come from?

You know, this feels amazing. You know, eating, is about developing that awareness of your experiences, you know, and also thinking about the physical cues, and like, are you actually hungry when you keep eating? So, you know, the takeaway here, guys, is learning to meditate successfully.

And reaping its benefits can be done in as little as 5 minutes a day, you know, at a regular time of the day, it doesn't matter what suits you, morning or evening, or both, it, it doesn't matter. But if you're thinking this isn't for me, I don't like this whole everybody jumping on the meditation bandwagon. You can start mindful eating.

Everybody eats. Add this to your tool kit. But I mark my words, guys.

The same, same as we brush our teeth every day, you have a bath, you know, you respect, the traffic signals. We're going to have meditation as one of those habits that all of us do every day. And you pretty much are gonna say to somebody, Oh, you haven't meditated today.

Go, go sort that out. Mark my words. OK?

So This is a quick recap of what we've covered. OK? This is a self-care toolkit, and it's an A4 piece of paper that I have.

We've got ours printed up in our prep room, and, you can just decide what you wanna do. All of these can take anything between 5 to 10 minutes. Just choose one.

OK? Choose one a day. All right?

So, choose the active recovery. Do you want to do a movement, a couple of, high kicks, some pushups, whatever it is. And this is for people who are like, very highly charged, and you need to do something.

Try not to do this in the middle of prep room, you know, just, yeah, maybe go upstairs out of the way. But Have you hydrated enough? What snacks are you having?

What food are you gonna choose? You know, what positive interactions are you gonna have? Are we gonna avoid the negative Nelly in the practise just for today because you just need to be having really good positive interaction with, somebody who puts a smile on your face?

Do you wanna choose to listen to some really calming music, practise meditation, maybe? Have you rested and have you, you know, chosen to recharge properly? And, you know, have you chosen to kind of do some narrative medicine, some journaling?

This is what this tool is for, OK? So definitely use it. I'm gonna ask you The question, OK?

If you've heard all of this before. Are you actually practising it? OK.

It's not about whether you know it, it's are you practising it. Do you need Somebody to help you maybe be more accountable, OK? Are you currently happy with your state of affairs?

And it can be anything, isn't it? So, you know, do you practise self-care? If not, Do you think you can make it happen on your own?

Have you tried, and then it hasn't worked out? What is it that you think you could do with a little bit of assistance? OK, I've created something for you guys.

I was just wondering if you could give me a couple of minutes. Would it be OK if I shared it with you, OK? And it's pretty simple.

People have never been taught how to reduce stress, practise self-care. Or any kind of self-reflection, and then create that work-life balance that everybody speaks of. I will show you another way to do this, guys, without quitting your chosen profession, or worse, your life altogether.

So there's a path I've created. It's called, A series of quests, OK? And the truth is, it's a burnout prevention quest series.

Now, I've mentioned burnout several times. And some people know what burnout is, and the signs include all sorts of things. But there's 3 patho mnemonic signs.

Rosie was speaking about it, in another webinar. If you want more details, please go listen to that. But, you know, you've got this emotional and physical exhaustion, depersonalization, and you're just cynical, and also this reduced sense of personal, accomplishment.

These quests pretty much focus on different areas of what it is that you are dealing with at the time, OK? Whether you're struggling with boundaries, or you just want to be a little bit healthier. You're not as grateful as you could be, and you just want some helpful hints.

These are 15 day, between 10 and 15 days, little habit coaching quests. They have approximately, Between 5 to 10, minutes a day, it'll take you, but it's all these perfect tips and tricks for really restful sleep and increasing your cognitive function. And, the first one I'll introduce you to really is reducing your stress, because I think all of us could do with this.

And before you take this, you know, this could be something where you're really struggling, to break free from this negative self-talk, overwhelm, just exhaustion, guys, and just overall poor self-care. And hopefully, after you complete this, you will be able to just finally create boundaries, have an ideal work-life balance, with personalised self-care practises that you are happy with. This isn't going to be something that you need to do.

Everybody, in a, one size fits all, it doesn't work like that. Nobody's life works like that. OK?

So, you know, if this sounds amazing and you think, hmm, I'm interested, what will you receive? So this is what you get when you enrol. It's basically, you get the training videos.

These are, video recordings, in the quest, you get one per day, over 15, recordings. So, you also will get audio lessons for people who like to walk and are not into videos, and like podcasts. All of the recordings are also in audio, so you can just listen to them.

I know all of us have different learning styles. So there's a 100-page workbook that has details of each day of the quest, and it also has areas for you to journal and kind of has some reflective writing. It works beautifully if you're that type of person.

I've also got some daily challenges in there. So specific daily actions for you to complete, just so you don't lose the momentum. Every day, there's a different challenge for you to do.

That simple challenges takes you no longer than a minute or two. I love resources. So I have, principal resources.

You know, this is a bonus, worksheets, and the wellness toolkit is in there. I've also got mental health toolkit, and at least, 8 other, tools that are in there and 8 other, resources for you to use. I think this is a really important one.

So this is an ebook. It's an anti-anxiety formula, how to banish worry and live a panic-free life. This is an entire ebook, and it has really fabulous, bits and pieces in there, for you to work, even if you don't do anything else.

If you just do that, it's really worth it. And because I love habits and the way that habits work and how they work, honestly, you've got track your good habits as well as your bad habits. So you'll quickly ascertain which habits are helping you and which ones are hurting you.

So, definitely download this one. It is fabulous. OK?

I've added in there your weekly planner. You really want to focus on what matters most, OK? If you have You know, crazy weeks.

And I know it's, you know, break at the moment, but, you know, whether it's school lunches, PE, it's, laundries, you're on call, all wrapped into that fabulous brain of yours, and you don't know what is happening when and if somebody had to ask, you would have to kind of go back to your memory palace to go extract the information. Why don't you just write stuff down? And the idea here isn't to write everything that you need to do every day.

It's just the areas that you have decided and put aside for your own personal self-care. And I'm not talking about going to the spa. I'm talking about your 10 minutes in the morning for you to sit down and journal your 15 minutes in the middle of the day for you to walk.

Whatever it is, you've got to plan it so that you can actually do it. OK. If you like, social media, we've got a Facebook group.

It's a group of like-minded people, really, who are empathetic to your situation, and they'll really prove to be a vital support. So each of the quests, all of us will be in the same Facebook group. So whether you're doing the sleep quest or the reduce your stress quest, all of us end up in that group.

And, what I do is I pop into the group, and we can have some bonus, coaching calls in there, and you can ask me questions. If you miss it, it's fine, it'll be recorded, and it'll be posted back into the group for you to access. OK?

And I just want to remind you guys. If you actually looked at any of these feelings and you resonated with at least one of them. Have a think about what it is I'm saying, OK?

Because there is always that one time where you're thinking, how am I going to get from where I am to where I want to be? OK. So I'm, this is just a bridge.

It's a chasm where we are, and we want to get across. So decide which path you want to take. You know, you can try to figure all of this out on your own.

And, you know, That's fine, because some people are fine where they are. Or you can finally just get some support and guidance and accountability that you need to succeed in your own life without the stress and the guilt, OK? So, I just wanted to, let you know that enrollment is now open and you are more than welcome to go register.

That is the link at the bottom. And Just to show you again, what is involved. So this, this is everything that you get.

It's the reduce your stress, quest. It's the 15 day quest. Now, the regular price, guys, is 97 pounds.

OK? That is, that is what it is. If you go onto the website now, that's what it is.

For everybody who's attended this webinar, This is a gift from me to you. You get to save £50 and you can enrol for just 47 pounds today, OK? It's got a special code, it's at the bottom.

And if you put in stress, slash 45, 4047, you will be able to get this, Get this quest. Oh, yeah. And one thing, a huge, huge thank you, whether you register or not, a huge thank you to every single one of you for spending this hour with me is, thank you so much for attending, and I am giving every single one of you guys an ebook.

And you will be able to get that in your email, that, The lovely people at Webinar VET will be sending. So, here's your discount code again, and make sure, you save your spot before the expiry date of the discount, which will be on Friday, the 30th. OK?

So, This has been really, really amazing chatting to you guys. Thank you so much for being here. Please check your email, and then you can download a copy of the 6 ways of practising self-care and your free happiness ebook, and obviously, then your coupon code, which will be in there.

OK? I have been just so blessed to have you guys sit and listen with me. Thank you so much.

Wow, CD, that was my, my mind is blown. I, I barely have words, you know, I think. All the comments coming through on the chat were just that everything that you're saying was really resonating with the audience.

I mean, obviously, everybody that's that's joined us tonight has come for a reason, and I think, you know, your words have really struck a chord with people and, and I'm very much feeling that as well. There were so many points I I I feel like I could talk to you for another hour, to be honest, but I, I'm just gonna give people a few minutes. Just pop any questions that they may have, in the Q&A box if they want to ask them directly here.

I will keep it anonymous, you know, I won't give out any names or anything like that. So please feel comfortable to do that. But just from, from my point, I think the, the two kind of main points that you said.

Firstly, that I have to kind of reference your comment about the Dementors, the Harry Potter stuff. Because that's exactly that's what I see as well in my head. I think I read something years ago when it was talking about people are split into 22 categories and they're either radiators or they're drainers.

And I guess the drainers is that that your dementors, isn't it? And it's it's how you kind of perceive people and how they zap your energy and I think a lot of it kind of comes from, you know, acknowledging that that's, that's what they are and protecting not not trying to change them, you know, but protecting yourself, kind of having that. Warrior cloak on and just going right I'm gonna expel the arm or that kind of protect yourself from it.

The thing is, Jackie, a lot of people feel like, oh, I don't have a voice or maybe I shouldn't say anything. I don't wanna upset anybody. And just take it and listen to the negativity and the complaining.

And a lot of things are happening in the industry right now, but just protect yourself. You know, be careful what you allow in, because it festers. Just be careful.

You know, just protect what it is you're allowing into yourself and into your life. And you're in control. We don't think so, but we are 100% in control of what's happening to our lives.

Yeah. Yeah, we are. And you know, actually that that's That's my, my other big take home from what you were saying, .

With you mentioned, you know, you, you may be aware of all these kind of techniques, but are you actually exercising it? And I know, you know, for my own part, when I was in practise, I went through, you know, a, a, a stressful time without going, you know, too much into personal detail. Nobody needs to know my story, but, you know, I, I had, I had a period where I, I was struggling and I kind of, you know, I, I found my ways to, to deal with that and to get myself out of that situation, but.

Do I now still, still practise those and still protect myself? No, I don't, and I know all these, these things that worked for me, and yet I don't give myself the time to do that and actually like say, self-care, you know, we have to make, make that time to look after ourselves, don't we, that's the crucial thing. Yeah, a lot of people have, I mean, a lot of our current priorities, you know, we prioritise the 23 things that we prioritise work.

Followed by family and friends, maybe. And then right at the bottom is personal care. And that's the wrong way around.

100%, if you're not looking after yourself, you don't provide as much care to the people who you're looking after. So we've got to flip that around. Work cannot be the be all and end all.

And especially now when we don't have enough people, we don't have enough staff, that's exactly when you should be looking after yourself. Yeah, it's it's difficult out there at the moment, isn't it? It really is, it is, it's, it's hard, and clients are not kind.

No, no. Shocking. It is, yeah.

Some of the stories that I hear from, you know, practises that I talk to, I just think, woof. But right, enough about me, anyway, let me get to some of these questions, we've got some coming through now, so the first one just says how can you successfully cut out all negativity from your life if that negativity is coming from a workmate you are obliged to work with or a client you cannot avoid. I think the work mate is, unfortunately, one of the things that happens to almost all of us, and you've got to make a choice.

For yourself, OK? And it's the boundaries I was talking about. OK?

So you've got to set a few boundaries, and you'll be surprised if you say to somebody, do you mind very much if, I don't talk about other people when they're not here? That is, that, that isn't saying, stop, you stop talking about it. Do you mind very much if I don't partake in conversations about other people when they're not present?

You know, it just makes them stop and think, Wait, what, what are you saying? What are you saying? So that is, that is something that can work.

So have a couple of sentences and have a couple of tools to be ready for when they come up with like, Oh, God, you know what so and so did the other day. Have a few of those saying, Yeah, I think we need to actually have a conversation with them about that instead of us continuing this conversation between us. You know, and it's hard because you're thinking, I don't know if I'm brave enough to do that.

Leave the room if it's difficult. And yes, you work with them because, but you're gonna have to be brave and protect and have, and just your boundaries have come down. That's why that's happening.

So we need to find a way to start putting our boundaries up. You're not keeping people out, you're just maintaining your space. Yeah.

Wonderful. I love that. I feel like I need to make notes about these comments, so they're brilliant.

We all, we all need you in practise behind us going to say this, just. OK, let's see what the next one. So he says, how would you advise to create boundaries in a work environment when everyone stays late and overworks, and by setting boundaries and not staying late, they, they may think that you are slacking, making more work for them, or not being a team player.

Oh God, I think that there's a lot of people that probably feel this, really good question there. Yeah, this is, this is very common. This is very common.

And, what we did in our team is we had a meeting. It had no bosses or anybody in the meeting, it was just a team about guys, how are we going to work this? And you can actually, instead of everybody working late, we decided.

On these days, I get to leave on time, you know? So, so you get to leave on time on a Monday, you know? And it, it's regardless of the disaster.

Now, I'm not saying, stick your head, you know, your fingers in your brain going, la, la, la, when there's an RTA coming in. That's not what I'm talking about. Some of the things are your responsibility.

But the fact that we've become accustomed to getting used to saying, Everybody's late, working late. I'd better stay. But you know you've got a date with your kids.

You, you, that guys, we can't go on like this. But each and every one of us, when we start saying, Right, OK, guys, remember at the beginning of the day, I said, I need to leave. Yeah, we've had 3 extra people come in, but have the confidence and just to start the conversation with your teammates first, not just yourself.

Have the conversation with the teammates. So, guys, how can we work this out? All of us seem to be staying late all the time.

Why don't we have some system where we've got a give and take, you know, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, those are the days that my kids are home. Is it OK if I, you know, we need to figure out a way. Every, every system will be different.

Every practise will be different. Some people finish at 7, some people finish at 8 or 9, but we can't all be doing that all the time. We will burn the entire industry out.

So we've got to figure out a way, and I'm sorry, but it starts with having those conversations with your teammates. Putting, putting everything on the table. Guys, I'm exhausted.

Guys, I'm getting burned. Well, me too. It's so easy.

And then suddenly you're like, whoa, wait, this isn't what I wanted to say. So there's a tool that I use where everybody, there's a tool where basically, there's rules to the conversation. OK, everybody has a list of the rules, and we stick to the rules.

And the rules include, who goes first and what language you use. You don't use you said, you don't use language like, yeah, but last time, you don't do blame or any of those types. So there's specific rules, how you speak with each other so that you don't point at the person, but you speak to the behaviour.

So it is important that we have some system in place to actually, and, and this, like I said to you guys, you know, you're not gonna learn how to do a bit space from a book and and perfect it the first time. This is part of it. This is part of actually having that emotional intelligence of working out how to have those difficult conversations, but definitely having a rule to do that, and it's, having difficult conversations.

I might send it to Dawn, if anybody's in. Interested, just put in the chat. If you want that, I could send it as a tool to add, to send to everybody who attended, the webinar.

It's a really good way of starting difficult conversations with teammates where everybody's a bit raw and feeling like they need to be heard. Everybody needs to be heard. But in a specific and a very respectful way.

Mm, everybody's here, yes, please, please send me that. Yes, they all want it they want it. OK, I'll I'll add that to the to the tools and I'll get Dawn to just add it.

So I'll just, I'll send it to you guys will get it tomorrow. Brilliant. I mean, it's that recognition again of it is working as a team, is it?

It's looking after yourself, but also supporting your team and because everybody's up against the same kind of pressures, you know, and it's working together to set, set those boundaries for yourself and encouraging others to do the same and working in unison as a team, once again, you know, but we've got to stop the, the, yes, but I did this like, no, no, no. That's not part of what I'm doing. What we're doing is, OK, it's your turn to speak, right.

And now it's your turn. And cause otherwise, it's because we don't feel heard at work, that the, the emotions bubble up to explosion. Like, imagine a ball, a beach ball, and you're pushing it underwater.

That's what we're doing, and we're keeping it under water. What do you think's gonna happen? That's what's happening.

So what we need to do is say, actually guys, this is how I'm feeling about the situation, and I would like some help. These are these are gems, these LCD. Soaking it all up, right, next question we've got what do you do when you set and communicated your boundaries, but people still don't understand.

For example, asking to leave on time and people still booking appointments that are not emergencies after the time you're supposed to finish, and when you mention it, they tell you just charge more. I think, I think that used to be very, very common, with me. Oh, Mrs.

Smith only wants to see you. I know you finish at 5, but you could only do 5:15. Like a blatant, like, disregard of your time boundaries.

And it's gonna be so scary the first time, but you need to say, guys, I, we talked about this at the beginning of the day, how I needed to leave at 5. You have now booked this in. Unfortunately, you're gonna have to ring the client back and explain that we're gonna have to move the appointment.

That is like the scariest thing to ever say, because it's like, it causes angst. There's the stress. Reception is busy.

They are crazy trying to sort out appointments, and there aren't enough appointments that too many people calling. I know what that's like. But reception and vets and nurses and practise management, if we have that conversation about respecting each other's boundaries, it really goes back to that, cause this is past.

The issue. The issue starts beginning of the day, what kind of a day are we gonna have? I mean, you know, 5 minutes, right, what's everybody doing today?

All right, you're there, you're there. Guys, can I just remind everybody at 5 o'clock, I need to be gone. Yeah, no problem.

Which means when that call comes in, Ah, no, she said she can't do this. Everybody's aware of everybody else's priorities. And in a big practise, that's almost impossible to do.

But in a team, so in the team of receptionists, in the team of nurses, in the team of vets, we can support each other and say, Listen, CD, I know you said you need to go at 5. I'll do this one. That's what I mean about having the team spirit.

So, I know when you've got a multi, you know, site practise or multi vets and everybody is crazy. Come about 3 o'clock, I don't know what happens. Everybody comes out of the woodworks, and you can't barely see your feet move.

You're going so fast. But if we had that conversation earlier in the day, It's easier to remind. And it's like, I'm so sorry.

Yes, you did say, I'm, I'm really sorry. It doesn't have that resentment of, for heaven's sake, I keep telling people and nobody respects my time. Yes, it happens, but the more conversations we have with our teammates regularly, and it doesn't even have to be, guys, we're having a team meeting.

We go to the pub on Thursdays. Not every Thursday, just right, pub, that's all we say now is pub. Yeah.

We've had a hard week, so we go to pop. And then we can talk about it at the pub, having a drink, relaxing, social distancing, but it's a perfect way for us to de-stress anything that happened, there might have been a little bit of spats between us during the day. We get rid of it, then it doesn't come to work with us the next day.

Mm. That's lovely that you guys do that. I'm sure all practises should do that.

Pop Thursdays. Let's start a thing. It's, it's not easy, but it's, it, and it's not a set thing.

It's just on the day when we all look at each other like, we, yeah, we're going, right? You just need it. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a recognition of, of that need, isn't it, to just decompress. Yeah.

Wonderful. OK, I've got some more coming up, so. How can junior vets help senior vets and how can senior vets share their wisdom with junior vets, new in industry with guidelines?

It depends on the practise and how it's set up. Now, I am. Personally, I am, because of mistakes I have made in the past, like, I am very, candid about the way my life has been in the sense that I've learned from my mistakes.

I've learned from things that I've done in the past, but I didn't even realise I was burnt out when I was doing some of the things I was doing, you know, and I was working all stupid hours. So I thought, when I was supporting my junior vet, I wasn't because I didn't understand. I didn't come from where they were coming from.

I couldn't experience what they were experiencing because I was so in my own mind, stressed out about finances, about new client registrations, about that complaint I need to deal with. I wasn't present, and this is where the meditation comes in, guys. I wasn't present because I was always thinking about the complaint that's just come in and the client that's coming in at 5:30.

Wasn't listening to what they were saying to me, and That changed a lot, so now I am. Very protective of the new grads, of our new nurses, because they are the ones who are gonna help me. And it seems selfish, but it isn't.

That's how we work together. We protect each other. So young grads and new grads can really help their.

You know, they're more senior vets by Picking up the extra boosters and stuff that if you can see that that's running late, just go out and go get the extra booster. Just go in and you think, I'm done with what I was doing, just do that. And then the vet will come out and think, 00, no, she's already been seen.

Small little things like that make such a difference. Yes, it isn't your client, but, you know, just say, is it right, I'm gonna go sort that out. Yeah, perfect.

Sometimes they don't even need you to ask. It's just like, oh, thank goodness, I didn't have to ask to do that. Senior vets can really look at the diary and think, that's gonna be long, that's gonna be difficult.

Can you swap that over for me? She's had a hard day this morning. That bitch spade didn't go well, and she's really struggling with kind of self-confidence.

Don't give her Mrs. So and so who's gonna be really mean to her. That's how, I mean, those are the simple things we can do.

And that's what makes a difference in a day. You know, when your day is going well, fabulous. When it's going badly, you, you really need people to step up and just help you out.

You know, if you feel like you, the computer system is just against you today, get a nurse to come in with you if they're available and say, look, can you just give me a hand here for just the next couple of consults? I'm just struggling. And that's fine, but if you've got a team dynamic where you can do that, it really makes a difference, .

And it, it's hard to get it going, but it's not impossible. It's not impossible. We have, we are part of one of the best professions in the world.

There is no reason why with all the intelligence all of us have, we aren't able to fix the way that we just speak to each other. Yeah. Oh wow, you keep blowing me away.

I just don't want to hear my voice. I just wanna hear you keep talking. OK, I think this is the, the last one unless there's any more that come through last minute.

So the last question says our issue is there are. So many different, so many staff, sorry, with kids or people that are pregnant, that the people without kids do more weekends and overtime and are starting to walk from the career as a result of that. How do you manage this?

Yeah, unfortunately, that is a You know, people don't want to hear this, but that is a leadership issue. We are all equal. There's nobody who is beneath me or above me.

OK. All of us are equal. And I think what happens is sometimes practises make a rod for their own back where they make provision for one person.

And then they have to make provision for another person, and it all ends up a little bit chaotic. But I think what the last 18 months have taught us is we can actually work in different ways, can't we? And maybe it's time we tear up the rule book and figure out how to actually do things differently.

You know, and I just, I have very strong feelings about out of hours and weekends and fairness. And I think the way we all started practise, I mean, I've been in practise 18 years. It's so different, and we can't use those same systems that we used.

You know, when we started practising now, and we're trying to squeeze that in into a very fast. Unrelenting, busy, crazy world. So we might need to seriously reconsider how it is we help each other, each, you know, how practises, like neighbouring practises help each other, how people who've opted out of, out of hours.

And I mean, I've recently opted out of out of hours only because of health issues, not because I don't, and, and, you know, I still go down and help my team out of hours, not because I'm on call, but because they need me. You know, so it's not a case of how can we, the people who are working, do something different. I think us as an industry, all of us together need to put our heads together and say, right, let's rethink all of this.

You know, my father's a, you know, he's a GP. And when I was young, he used to go out with his doctor's bag to people's houses. Doctors don't do that anymore.

Why is that? It became unsustainable, guys, but that's what we're trying to do. So I think this is a much bigger issue than practises.

It is definitely more, what are we gonna do as an industry to try to figure out how we can support everybody in the industry, not just the people doing out of hours, not just the people, the moms, the, the dads, the everybody. It has to be on a fair footing for everybody. And at the moment, it isn't.

It isn't. So I think there's a lot of work to be done there. There's loads of ideas, and any students who are watching this, I need you guys to get your, you know, thinking caps on and really figure out, you guys have amazing ideas that come up.

Anybody who's been doing this for 30 years who's seen so many different things, I need you to get your ideas on. And then, you know, this is what we used to do. I used to work all day, work all night, work all day.

It's crazy. It's not sustainable. It's not.

So I think we need to definitely have ideas in figuring out how we can support our teams, support the animals, support the public. It's not just about the animals and the public. It's about the team as well, because there will be no veterinary profession if there's no team.

Yeah. So I think it's a, that's a very, very good question, but it's a lot more intricate than us trying to figure it out here. But I have some, you know, ideas as to how we can do it.

And we've moved online. We've, there's a lot of things, but it's, I think it's good. It's opened up people's minds as to what we can do.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that that's a great kind of closing, closing statement, really, isn't it? You know, you need to, everyone needs to support themselves, support the team, and support the public and support the animals, which sounds like a lot of support, but that's what we need.

And the whole point of today is, you know, at, at the foremost, at the front is supporting yourself, you know. And looking after yourself. Yeah.

So if you do that, if you support yourself, guys, you can then have enough energy to do all this other supporting. All right? We're carers.

That's what we do. We care. But if you're not caring for yourself, your care is compromised when you're caring for other people and other animals.

Yeah. Beautifully put. Well, as we've said, all the way through, guys, all the copies of the documents and the links which, CD has referred to through will be coming out to you in tomorrow's email.

So do keep an eye out for it in your inbox. And to everyone that has joined tonight, thank you for giving us your incredibly precious time. I hope this session helps you to find a little bit more time just for yourself.

Let's look after ourselves, but please do spend a couple of minutes if you can, just to do the survey that pops up at the end so that we know, what you want to hear about next, and we can, we can support you as well, because that's, that's what we're here for, to kind of help you guys. So, thanks to Dawn, the controller here, making sure everything runs smoothly tonight. And most importantly, thank you so much to Doctor CD Garden Gardner.

I can't even pronounce it, it's terrible gardener, apologies, for sharing your time and your expertise with us all. It really has resonated with everybody. I think everyone's, they're all popping up now saying it was fantastic.

Thank you so much. So very much appreciated. It's so important, you know, that we do all give each other.

The time that we need and support each other and ourselves. So thank you ever so much for this evening and I hope everybody enjoys the rest of your evening and we will see you again soon on another webinar. Take care, everyone.

Bye, everyone. Thank you. Bye.