ou may be familiar with the common signs of burnout, such as an overall sense of exhaustion, reduced enthusiasm or lower productivity. Even your moods can lean toward cynicism, irritability, emotional outbursts and, at times, feeling helpless or defeated. But one uncommon sign of burnout may be displaced conflict.

Displaced conflict means you may find yourself arguing more frequently about things that are not important or not really the issue. It can also happen with people who you genuinely care about, but they are not the true source of your dissatisfaction, yet they get the brunt end of your dismay about life.

Caregivers of any type are at higher risk of burnout and compassion fatigue, especially during busy times like around the holidays, which are chock-full of distractions and attention–grabbers. Below I will share with you some simple tips to help you fully enjoy your holiday season and feel rejuvenated and realigned as we all individually and collectively move into the new year!

By becoming more aware of your thoughts and feelings about yourself, you can identify burnout signs and symptoms that may be unique to you. Shame, denial and low self-worth are other symptoms of burnout, but these are often less talked about because we hold that stuff in, away from the light and from those who care about us. However, it’s important to bring these feelings into the light and aim to make them disappear, thus increasing your confidence and sense of connection with yourself and with others.

Start by defining how you want to experience the holidays, because we each have a different definition of success. What does it look like and how does it feel to show up as your best self? What qualities or characteristics represent you when you show up as your best self? With whom do you see yourself around for those positive experiences?

Now is a great time to give yourself credit for the times you already have shown up as your best self this year—you don’t have to wait for others to give you the recognition you deserve!

One of the biggest areas of distress for pet healthcare providers is client communication. Now, there is a lot involved with the ins and outs of mastering client communication—especially when emotions are running high around the holidays—but a couple of tweaks can greatly improve the quality of your interactions.

For one, use every medium available to educate your clients. This saves a ton of time and mental bandwidth because clients will get the same message across the board, and a lot of those clients will get it the first time. Any changes in schedules or hours, current or future price changes or specials, and policy or procedure changes all can be addressed via email, text, social media, phone, in exam rooms (verbally or on corkboards) and on invoices at checkout.

Using the awareness you have honed in the first exercise, write out your most stressful conversations of the past month. Chances are, this is not the first or the last time that you’ll have that conversation. How could you have handled it differently? Is there a sense of calm or level-headedness that would have eased things? Light joking can prove useful with the right client if you already have a rapport with them.

What are new ways you can establish trust with your clients to ethically influence their decision-making and behavior toward you or your team? Ask your teammates if they’ve been encountering similar situations. If you find that it’s a pattern, policies may need to be changed. And if not, you can share best practices and try them on for size during your next interaction.

Shine some light in the darker corners of your being and admit what your needs are; to yourself for starters, and to others later. Communicating your needs mindfully with care and respect is a sure way to bring this all together and realign yourself to a state of well-being, leaving burnout in the past.

You’ve already gained some self-awareness through the above exercises, which you can use to build your personal roadmap out a bit. Maybe it’s changing your wish-list items/the gifts you’d like to start receiving. Maybe it’s reallocating a budget line to begin investing in your own personal and professional development. Perhaps you start by shifting your time management and reading a book or listening to a podcast. Maybe you’ll lighten up on yourself. Maybe it’s quiet time after the family dinner and before games or movies start. Maybe it’s something totally different. But by asking yourself, you can start making the moves necessary to incrementally experience a different reality.

As you pull these levers, others will switch off, and it will become much easier to put yourself first. Yes, I know it is not how we caregivers have been conditioned to operate, but being kind and compassionate to fill your cup first allows you to effortlessly radiate compassion for the pets and others you care for.

We can often lose ourselves in the commotion of the holidays, with the feeling of “I need a vacation from my vacation.” Set aside time for you this holiday season. Your days at work and days off should meet your now conscious needs, whatever they may be. Set yourself and the ones you care about up for success. But first, define it.