We often assume that receiving our diploma is enough to call ourselves professionals. As students, we spent years memorizing concepts and mastering strategies designed to prepare us for the profession we hoped to enter. Education lays the foundation of what the profession expects of us. But once we are welcomed into the real world, we are confronted with the fact that what we practice is not the same as what we learned in school. Suddenly, all the lessons become less about remembering the right answers and more about making the right decisions, and these decisions carry consequences that no lecture could ever prepare us for.
This experience is no different in the veterinary field. Veterinarians are often given the narrative that passion alone is enough to sustain them. But no matter how prepared someone is, mistakes and unexpected situations are inevitable, even when there is no room to be wrong.
In The Veterinary Business Game Theory, Dr. Geoff Carullo confronts this reality head-on. The book does not romanticize the profession. Instead of portraying mistakes as a sign of incompetence, Dr. Carullo presents them as an inevitable part of professional growth, shifting the definition of success itself. Struggling will happen, and some days may feel like a never-ending fight, but what carries a person through is persistence. He entered the veterinary field not driven by passion but by persistence and commitment. He focused his energy on studying and understanding the field, not on convincing himself he was naturally gifted at it.
It was a hard choice, but he learned how to survive the system by enduring it.
The veterinary field is not just about accumulating knowledge or performing procedures perfectly. It is also about learning from mistakes rather than being defeated by them. Mistakes will always be part of the journey, and skill alone cannot guarantee success. It is an uncomfortable reality, but it teaches lessons that no textbook or lecture ever could. Growth often begins in these moments, and reflection is what transforms mistakes into meaningful learning.
"Success is not about proving you can do everything. It is about placing yourself in a position where you can actually grow and survive." This quote resonates because it is something veterinarians and non-veterinarians alike can take from this book. We wait to feel inspired before we act. We choose based on passion but rarely consider the struggle behind those decisions. For Dr. Carullo, we must learn to recognize and face the uncomfortable. That does not mean letting go of optimism. It is simply a reminder to look at things from a different angle.
In the veterinary field, this also means developing mindsets that were never taught in a classroom. We often think education ends after graduation, when in reality, it is only beginning. The classroom may teach us how to perform a procedure, but experience teaches us when to question it, when to adjust it, and when to admit that we still have more to learn. Those lessons cannot be measured. They are earned.
Perhaps that is what makes this book different. It does not promise that the profession will become easier, nor does it claim that mistakes will disappear with experience. Instead, it reminds us that growth comes from how we respond to difficult moments. Every setback becomes an opportunity to reflect. Every challenge becomes a chance to think differently. Every difficult day becomes another lesson carried into the next.
Whether you are a veterinarian, a student, or someone still finding your footing in a profession, there is something to take from Dr. Carullo's perspective. Success is not about knowing everything before you begin. Sometimes it is simply about having the courage to keep learning long after the classroom has been left behind.
Maybe that is what professionalism truly asks of us, not perfection, but the willingness to keep learning, adapting, and growing. In the end, becoming a professional is, and always will be, about learning through failure.
By Jamela Manzano