Put Your Burnout in a Box | Morgan McArthur - Inspirational Speaker, Toastmasters World Champion, Veterinarian

Put Your Burnout in a Box

Morgan J. McArthur, DVM

Frankly, I wasn’t sure if he was still alive.

But thanks to the wonder that is the internet I located a mate that I’d been in practice with several years ago and I sent him an email. We’ve taken radically different career paths since those days. I’m now an industry vet/professional speaker in New Zealand and he’s a very successful feedlot consultant in the USA.

You’ll be interested in hearing some of Scott MacGregor’s philosophy.

Dr. MacGregor told me how he’s thwarted burnout throughout his veterinary career. His secret is based on a very simple model. His approach to career challenges looks like this:

You are good at your task
and you are content.

You are good at what you do but you are bored and burned out.

You are new and therefore bad at a new task. You are also excited and challenged

You don’t do a good job anymore and you have become cynical and unhappy

Recognise the emotions that go with each box? I’ll bet most of us do.

Whenever we take on something new - like beginning in practice, starting a business, or changing careers -we’re out of our comfort zone. Box 1 is filled with that interesting mix of exhilaration/panic that accompanies all truly new experiences.

It isn’t long before competence and confidence are established, however, and Box 1 gives way to Box 2. The this-must-be-it sensation starts to feel kind of good. Ah, but without new stimulation and challenge Box 2 evolves to (yawn) Box 3.

Welcome to The Crossroads.

Whenever we reach Box 3 we must choose going back to (square) 1 and revisiting the rush of new challenge or gravitating to Box 4 and running the risk of being crushed by what we once thought was comfort.

Life is incredibly rich, offering us many opportunities and challenges. People who have reached Box 4 may find that hard to believe. However, anyone can reach Box 1 from anywhere. Sometimes we are forced there by adverse circumstances, only to reflect later that it was the best thing that ever happened to us.

This change and challenge is good. It is stimulating and progressive. As speaker Jim Tunney put it once: “If you’re as good as you were a year ago, you’re worse.”

The take-home message? Keep growing! When your long-lost friends finally catch up with you may they find you very much ALIVE!

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