Take the Personal Growth Initiative Assessment at otovets.com/pgi

Our Inner Work Life Tells a Story

Struggling with feelings of burnout and stress at work are not unique to the veterinary profession. In fact, this is an endemic issue that pervades almost every level of our society. Scientists have begun to classify these internalized thoughts and feelings that are brought on at work as "Inner Work Life."

We've all experienced the power of Inner Work Life at some time. The waxing and waning of motivation throughout the day, that little voice that can ramp up your emotions building relationships or creating conflict, even altering how our subconscious mind perceives the actions of others around us during the day. What Inner Work Life describes is our behind the scene's motivators; the silent judgements we make, the stories we craft that affect decisions made by us and how these interpretations control our own internal thoughts and actions. Our feelings of our own levels of control over these situations, aka autonomy, form a key aspect to how we craft these stories.

So how can we increase autonomy? The first thing we must realize is there are differing types of autonomy. First, there is what I call "Controlling Autonomy" or the ability to schedule your day in a way you desire to control it, letting the individual autonomy decide when tasks and appointments to be done. This simple act of Controlling Autonomy can help us feel more efficient and better able to cope with daily challenges, unfortunately it does very little to progress personal growth and in the long term only minorly improves feelings of autonomy. This is a common and important level of autonomous control within our society given to employees by managers as a way to say they provide autonomy in the workplace. This makes Controlling Autonomy a common scapegoat by managers when they fail to provide a much more empowering type of autonomy; "Meaningful Autonomy."

To aid our employees in this evolution toward increased Meaningful Autonomy we may need to provide some structure and/or identify how they can discover, plan for, and pursue Meaningful Autonomy themselves. Christine Robitchek's Personal Growth Initiative lab has a great model for this; Personal Growth Initiative Scale (PGIS), or a measure that allows us to track the individuals readiness for Meaningful Autonomous growth, ability to plan for effective growth, opportunities and presence of relationships needed for growth, and their tendency towards taking action in areas of Meaningful Autonomy. Listen in to learn more about how PGI can form the framework for your own Personal and Professional Growth Journey.

Take the Personal Growth Initiative Assessment at otovets.com/pgi

OTO Episode 74: Exploring Salutogenesis - Crafting Meaningful Work via Personal Growth Initiative