How To Not Use Gratitude (or any emotion) Against Yourself

Stress-Less Physician

Guilty gratitude. We’ve all experienced it one time or another. That thought that invades and tells you you “ought to” feel grateful. But you don’t. So you try to muster it up… but it’s not true gratitude. It’s only a form of guilt, layering a false emotion on top of your real one. Layering gratitude like this is unhelpful.

So what is helpful? Being honest. Not judging yourself for your emotions. Viewing them more objectively. After all, what if some emotions simply feel better than others but that doesn’t necessarily make them somehow morally superior? What if we can learn how to not use gratitude (or any emotion) against ourselves?

“Can you also cultivate being grateful for not being grateful?... For not being perfect maybe? For having this wonderfully messy human life that we have?” – Dr. Sara Dill

What You’ll Learn

• Subtle judgment
• Improper uses of gratitude
• Shoulding
• Staying stuck
• Tolerating
• You are not your feelings
• Don’t cover, be real

Contact Info and Recommended Resources

Podcast Episodes that pair well with this one:

• How to Feel a Feeling
• Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Do
• How to Feel Better

Connect with Sara Dill, MD, The Doctor’s Coach

Interested in coaching? I’ll be starting a new small group in January. Sign up at saradill.com/coaching.

If you have any questions about the various coaching options or about the small group, please email me at [e-mail]. I personally read and respond to my emails.

• Website: saradill.com
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• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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