How can I become a more confident vet? It's not how you think!

One of the things I hear again and again from vets and veterinary nurses is:

“I know I can do it. So why don't I feel confident?”

It's a really good question.

Because surely confidence should come with experience?

You've spent years training maybe even spent years in practice. You might have seen hundreds of cases. You've probably done the procedures. You've dealt with difficult clients. You've possibly even got the certificates.

So why can one difficult case, one mistake, one complaint or even one difficult consultation suddenly make you question everything?

The answer is that confidence isn't simply a measure of how much you know or how much experience you have.

And this is particularly important in veterinary practice.

Confidence isn't the same as competence

This is probably the first thing I want every vet who is struggling with confidence to understand.

You can be a very competent vet and still feel anxious.

You can be experienced and still doubt yourself.

You can know exactly what you're doing and still have that horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're about to do it.

Your feelings aren't necessarily an accurate measurement of your ability.

And when we start using how we feel as evidence of how capable we are, confidence can quickly become a problem.

“I feel nervous, therefore I must not be good enough.”

“I don't feel confident doing this, therefore I shouldn't be doing it.”

“I've made a mistake, therefore I'm a bad vet.”

None of those statements necessarily follows.

But our brains are very good at making them feel true.

Why does confidence disappear?

There are lots of reasons veterinary professionals can lose confidence.

Perhaps something went wrong.

Perhaps a patient died.

Perhaps you had a difficult interaction with a client.

Perhaps someone criticised your clinical decision.

Perhaps you returned from maternity leave, illness or a career break and suddenly felt like everyone else had moved on without you.

Perhaps you're a new graduate and you're discovering that knowing the theory and actually being responsible for a living patient are two very different things.

Or perhaps nothing dramatic happened at all.

Perhaps you've simply spent years putting pressure on yourself to be better, faster, more knowledgeable and more capable.

Over time, that pressure can take its toll.

And sometimes the more experienced you become, the more you realise how much you don't know.

That can be a rather uncomfortable combination!

So how do you actually build confidence?

The obvious answer is:

Do the thing more often.

And sometimes that absolutely helps.

But it isn't always enough.

If every time you perform a procedure you're thinking:

“What if I get this wrong?”

“What if something goes wrong?”

“What will the client think?”

“What if I should have done something differently?”

then you're not simply gaining experience.

You're also potentially teaching your brain that the thing you're doing is dangerous.

And that can create a rather unhelpful cycle.

You feel anxious.

You interpret the anxiety as evidence that you're not confident.

You become more focused on what could go wrong.

You notice every tiny mistake.

You forget all the things that went well.

You feel even less confident.

And around we go again.

Start noticing what your mind is doing

One of the most useful things you can learn is that you are not your thoughts.

You will have thoughts.

Lots of them.

Some useful.

Some ridiculous.

Some frightening.

Some completely random.

And some that sound incredibly convincing.

Your brain's job is to keep you safe. It isn't particularly interested in making you feel confident.

It is constantly scanning for potential problems.

So when your mind says:

“What if I mess this up?”

you don't have to argue with it.

You don't have to prove that everything will be fine.

You can simply notice:

“Ah. That's my brain giving me a what-if thought.”

That little bit of distance can be incredibly powerful.

Don't wait until you feel confident

This is a big one.

We often think:

Once I feel confident, I'll do the thing.

But confidence doesn't always work like that.

Sometimes you have to do the thing while feeling uncomfortable, discover that you can cope with the discomfort, and gradually teach yourself that you are capable.

Confidence isn't necessarily the absence of anxiety.

Sometimes confidence is:

“I'm feeling anxious and I'm going to do this anyway.”

That's a very different way of thinking about it.

And it is one of the principles behind the Acceptance and Commitment Coaching approach we use at ACCess CPD.

We don't try to make anxiety disappear completely.

Anxiety has a job.

Instead, we help veterinary professionals understand what their mind is doing, learn how to work with difficult thoughts and emotions, and start taking action based on what matters to them rather than what anxiety is telling them to avoid.

Try this the next time you feel lacking in confidence

When you notice that familiar feeling of:

“I can't do this.”

pause for a moment.

Take a breath.

And ask yourself:

“What would I do right now if I didn't need to feel confident first?”

Not:

“What would I do if I knew everything would go perfectly?”

Not:

“What would I do if I wasn't anxious?”

Just:

“What would I do if I didn't need to feel confident first?”

You might be surprised by the answer.

And remember this

If you're a vet or veterinary nurse struggling with confidence, it doesn't mean you're failing.

It doesn't mean you're not good enough.

It doesn't mean you chose the wrong career.

And it certainly doesn't mean you're the only one.

We've worked with hundreds of veterinary professionals who have felt anxious, overwhelmed, stuck, self-critical or simply less confident than they wanted to be.

The aim isn't to turn you into someone who never worries.

It's to help you understand your mind, work with difficult thoughts and emotions, and develop the confidence to get on with the things that matter to you.

Because you don't need to feel confident all of the time to be a good vet.

Sometimes you just need enough confidence to take the next step.

If all of this sounds too abstract, If you're thinking ok I hear ya but how do I actually do this in the middle of a busy day when I'm panicking, or late at night when I just want to sleep but my mind won't stop worrying about that case? You can learn more about our comprehensive, step-by-step online veterinary CPD courses and how we approach this tricky confidence problem by taking a wee look at our Veterinary confidence courses at ACCess CPD.

Or take a look at our FREE 1 hour webinar on Veterinary Confidence Here ➡️