how to stay positive when life knocks you down, The burnout doctor podcast by Dr. Jessica Louie, pharmacist work life balance, how do you do it all? with side hustles and pharmacist job and assistant professor

How to stay positive when life knocks you down and you’re facing challenges? 3 actions steps in this episode.


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Mentioned on Ep 020: How to stay positive when life knocks you down.

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Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast with your host, Dr. Jessica Louie. On episode 20 today, we are talking about How to stay positive when life knocks you down. Ok, this is something that comes up throughout the year. And it has been on my mind lately with the fall semester started and students completing their first midterm exams and not feeling so positive afterwards.It’s also something that we’re seeing in the pharmacist profession as layoffs and hours change for some of our colleagues.Or it’s my healthcare professional colleagues who have a poor patient outcome. And finally, I’ve seen it personally with my clients who face life challenges and unexpected life events.  

So what do we do when life knocks us down?

Step one: use the what if protocol. I’m bringing back advice from episode 9 of the podcast – how to reset our mindset. When we’re feeling down and that nothing is going our way let’s really evaluate how true that is. Using the what if protocol we can step-by-step walk ourselves through the process of self-awareness and reflection. This is part of the podcast workbook downloads – sign up today – and basically helps you see if the worst case scenario truly plays out to the end, what will happen to you and your life. Usually we tell ourselves stories about what will happen and how bad it will be. But these are JUST stories we tell ourselves – just as Brene Brown talks about in her books. So let’s reset this mindset using the what if protocol to walk you through it.

Step 2 – practice gratitude. As I tell my clients and students who use go through my burnout programs, it’s all about bringing JOY into each morning and GRATITUDE into each evening. When we walk through our day intentionally finding ways to be grateful, we intentionally seek out what is going well instead of focusing on the negative. No matter what is going on in life, we can find a small area of gratitude. So, tonight, take out your journal or planner and write down one thing you are grateful for. If you’re not used to doing this, ask yourself what did you appreciate today? What are you thankful for?

Write it down

This is part of my journaling questions in my Clarify Simplify Align quarterly journal and planner

Step 3 – what can I learn from this? I know this is going to sound cliché – we can learn from everything in life. If we approach life as a journey instead of a sprint towards some imaginary finish line. We can learn from situations that knock us down. When we are on the dirt and don’t want to get up again. I know we may need to go through the emotions first of anger and frustration before we can get to gratitude and learning from a life challenge. But go through this step.

Don’t skip it

Today we went through 3 action steps to take when you feel life is knocking you down

Now it’s time to take action. Share how you are coping with burnout with me. I will check-in and hold you accountable.

If you’re struggling right now, my coaching program offers 30-minute weekly sessions to check-in for accountability, reflect on progress, answer and guide you through difficulties. Schedule a complimentary call to see if coaching is the best fit for you: DrJessicaLouie.com/coaching.

I have an exciting announcement my friends! I partnered with FabFitFun and together we produced 4 videos on decluttering and simplifying your life!

  • YouTube Announcement
  • Free video to watch now on decluttering your storage space/bathroom
  • 3 videos + article in Fall 2019 magazine available to FabFitFun members

Until next time, spark joy my friends!

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Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.

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how to stay positive when life knocks you down, The burnout doctor podcast by Dr. Jessica Louie, pharmacist work life balance, how do you do it all? with side hustles and pharmacist job and assistant professor