Self-care is not a frivolous want but vital to personal and professional success

Legend Thurman

I remember standing at JFK airport in July 2018 waiting for the next chapter of my life to begin. It was a moment that I had been working towards my whole life. As a naive, ambitious young woman, I had no idea what lay ahead. This next chapter would be one of the most challenging, demanding and stressful periods I had encountered so far – testing me physically, mentally and emotionally. 

During my first university degree, my general approach had been to work as hard as I could to achieve my goal (which, at the time, was gaining admission to veterinary school) whether that involved losing sleep, working three jobs, or taking as many as 18–20 credits per semester, rather than the average 14. 

Imposter syndrome

The funny thing was that my mindset did not change once I began my veterinary education. I still had the drive and passion for the work, but was also plagued by the feeling that I had to constantly prove my worth and strive for nothing short of perfectionism. 

This is a common facet within veterinary medicine (and other careers), which can affect any veterinarian – from a seasoned professional to a preveterinary student. The clinical term we use for this feeling is ‘imposter syndrome’. While I am no expert in this area, it is the feeling that you are ‘a fraud’ or are going to be ‘found out’, unworthy of your place as a vet student, veterinarian or professional. Combined with these negative aspects mentally, we also face working long hours with challenging cases, while comparing ourselves to others and struggling with what we think is a demand to sacrifice our personal lives, health and wellbeing for the sake of our degree. 

'I had to constantly prove my worth to be here'

I have suffered from some of these phenomena over the past four years, but am happy that I recognised my need to develop a system that would work for me to support me in achieving my long-term goals. Veterinary students often say the clinical years are the hardest, having to maintain your position in the pecking order in order to reach graduation. However, I believe that we should all thrive, no matter what stage we are at in our career and no matter what path we have chosen.

Success coach

Attempting to process the myriad emotions I felt, I wanted to better myself as an individual. Besides attending occasional therapy sessions, I took on a success coach based in Richmond, Virginia, not too far from my home in Washington, DC. While I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and that God puts the people we need in our lives at the right time, I happened to meet my coach, Stacy Wood, at the American Veterinary Medical Association’s veterinary leadership conference in January 2021. 

Stacy’s goals and values aligned with mine, and we made an instant connection. From that point, I joined a ‘Women’s Intentional Leadership Development Group’ (Wildwood) where the ultimate goal was to focus on a combination of professional and personal life development skills for whole-self awareness with the intention of cultivating success on our own terms. 

Since completing that programme, my work has continued with Stacy and her business as we moved into phase two, studying Brené Brown’s bestselling book ‘The Gifts of Imperfection’ and applying the foundations – authenticity, self-compassion, resilience, letting go of a scarcity mentality and more. The key idea though is that the methodology of these practices is unique to every individual and how we achieve these goals in a healthy manner is up to us. 

A number of other aspects helped me too, morning yoga (on a daily basis), regular attendance at a Catholic church in London, singing in the choir at the parish and having an appreciation for active learning. Up to that point I had been someone who studied by memorising PowerPoint slides, believing this would suffice in school – I was wrong. I now understand that coming to terms with my own learning style is what will help me to succeed. Knowledge of neurodiversity – understanding that people experience and interact with the world around them in different ways – is growing within the veterinary profession. Even if finding the correct fit takes time, there are practices that can offer individuals what they want and need.

Cost

A common question I am asked concerns finance. Do these services and programmes cost money? The short answer is, yes. However, the mindset I have adopted is that I am not looking at coaching, mental health and wellbeing as a ‘frivolous want’. Rather, they are an investment in my personal growth and success, and for me they are a lifelong investment. 

'This act of self-care is not to strive for perfectionism, but to be the best version of myself'

I am not alone in having areas of my life that I want to improve, whether they be physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, or so on. Not all opportunities and resources are within easy, direct access. Being an international graduate student required some extra time spent looking into a plethora of assets and believing that I could receive the help I needed to work on things like anxiety, imposter syndrome, body image and more. This act of self-care is not to strive for perfectionism, but to be the best version of myself – whether it be Legend Thurman the veterinarian, the daughter, the friend, the advocate, or one of the several other hats I have the ability to put on at any given moment.

Work to make a difference 

My long-term passion and career goal is to enter the veterinary workforce as a government veterinary surgeon. I believe practising the standards our profession echoes and consistently looks to improve is vital. 

Working to make a difference – through the impact of legislation, public policy, regulatory affairs and more – is a privilege where one is a servant leader advocating for those who cannot speak for themselves, using building blocks that have been laid by those before us. 

One spark can ignite a fire, but if that dies, then all that’s left is an empty framework with no direction for innovation and advancement. 

Veterinary medicine is a chain that connects so many avenues through a One Heath ideology. Humanity is part of that bigger picture that begins with all of us.

Back to Categories