Do you feel optimistic about work? How do you feel when you think about doing this work for the next week, month, year, or decade?
How do you feel about going into work next Monday morning😒
For many of us, optimism is not the first word we would use to describe how we are feeling about working in healthcare. Optimism seems either unreasonable or unattainable. It’s not for lack of wanting it, we WANT to feel optimistic. We WANT to feel good about the work we do, our patients, our coworkers.
But it’s hard and we don’t even know how to make it better.
There is a way, whether you were born a glass-half-empty or a glass-half-full person. There is a way to train yourself toward optimism.
Gratitude. Reflective gratitude is a path toward optimism.
Let’s start with some definitions so we are all on the same page. Gratitude is noticing positive factors and outcomes in life. Optimism is expecting positive future outcomes (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010). Doesn’t that sound great?
So, how do we get to optimism, to feeling good about an uncertain future?
At the end of a difficult day, are we just glad that it’s done or do we stop and reflect on the things that made it possible, even if it’s just our own fortitude and determination?
What if gratitude is actually a practice and not a moral attitude? What if it is a skill that can have profound effects? What if we were to stop dismissing it as woo woo and actually commit to scheduling it daily, like a daily exercise routine, and not just when Thanksgiving rolls around?
This may sound like a harsh judgement. After all, most of us don’t feel ungrateful. It is important to distinguish gratitude as something we can practice and not a moral attitude. We are so appreciative when a family member helps us when we are in a dark spot, we are so thankful when our children are spared from something terrible or overcome an illness. But what about day in and day out, when we are dealing with the “normal” hardships of our workdays? Many of us are too busy to even really think about it.
Not having a gratitude routine does not equate to being ungrateful. It just means that we are leaving a really important tool unutilized. Gratitude as a reflective practice is easy, it just takes intention, 3 minutes, and some method of writing out a list (colorful gel pens work especially well).
Schedule a time. This is important. Something that can be done anytime often doesn’t get done at all. Pick a time that is easy to remember: before work, afterwork, right before bed. If you want to get the most benefit, if you want to really FEEL optimistic, then you have to commit to a regular routine. Set a reminder on your phone if you need to. Put it on your calendar.
Make a list of 10 things that you are grateful for and continue daily without repeating anything. It may feel tricky as the weeks go on but it will build the unconscious habit of looking for things throughout the day that you otherwise may have missed. It gets easier and easier to notice the good.
This is a bonus step; it really magnifies the effect. Share some of the things on your list with others. Talk about the good things. Thank the people who may have made it onto your list that day. Have the social courage to bring light to the good things in life.
Start noticing your life changing.
There is a growing body of research on gratitude, enough to support that it’s not just woo woo. It’s not even a skill that takes a lot of figuring out, you can start right now and feel better right away. It worked for me this week when we were unexpectedly extremely short staffed the day before Thanksgiving (with a very full schedule and a procedure suite to run). We creatively restructured roles for the day and asked for the support of the staff as we figured it out as the day unfolded.
Here’s what my gratitude list looked like that evening.
People agreed to come in early at the last minute.
The flexibility of the docs and NP to bring in their own patients if need be.
The medical assistants were not complaining as their typical routine was upended. They were really so so good.
The willingness of everyone to cover each other and help out.
The Nevro rep bringing us Starbucks :)
We actually got out on time, all charting and messages done.
All the patients received great care as always- despite the fact we were more stressed.
An upcoming holiday weekend.
The rain stopped for the commute home.
My team at work.
Yes, I was exhausted at the end of the day, but I was exhausted from a job well done. That was what my list showed me. I was exhausted AND grateful.
Granted there are days that work doesn’t quite go as smoothly and my morning coffee and my evening glass of wine make it onto the list, but the outcome for my experience of life is the same. I AM optimistic about my role in healthcare. I am optimistic about continuing to work in pain management and coaching for years to come.
Gratitude is there if you want to use it. Trust me, it’s worth it.
P.S. If you are struggling with feeling optimistic, if you put things like this on the calendar but then don’t follow through, then let’s schedule a free consult call and do this together. Transformations can happen with just 6 weeks of coaching.
Wood AM, Froh JJ, Geraghty AW. Gratitude and well-being: a review and theoretical integration. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010 Nov;30(7):890-905. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005. Epub 2010 Mar 20. PMID: 20451313.
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