Could gratitude work for you too? Let’s talk about what gratitude does to your mindset and how it can shift it away from all that negative self-talk we parents know so well.
“The Feel Good, Do Good” phenomenon naturally kicks in when we feel good - but how do we bridge the gap from burnout and exhaustion to feeling better? First, we have to assess where we are at and if we have reached our ‘enough is enough’ moment be brave enough to stop and notice the messages within.
And, there are preventative measures we can take. One: train your brain to notice the good with a daily gratitude practice. Two: Identify your Gratitude Anchor or the one thing so rooted in your life’s purpose that no matter your state, you can feel grateful for it. (hint for me, it’s my kids, but for you, it could be something totally different like your dog or nature)
And don’t worry, we definitely touch on toxic positivity in this episode with support from OG gratitude research Professor Robert Emmons and this quote:
“When people are grateful, they aren’t necessarily free of negative emotions—we don’t find that they necessarily have less anxiety or less tension or less unhappiness. Practicing gratitude magnifies positive feelings more than it reduces negative feelings. If it was just positive thinking or just a form of denial, you’d experience no negative thoughts or feelings when you’re keeping a gratitude journal, for instance. But, in fact, people do.”
Other episodes mentioned in this one:
Broaden and Build Research: Episode 13
Links from this episode:
Follow me on Instagram to meet me in real life!
The Mayo Clinic’s Guide to Caregiver Burnout
How We Heal by Alexandra Elle
Intrinsic Motivation Research
The Balanced Parent Podcast with Dr.Laura Froyen
Save the Date for the ‘Parent’s Day of Rest’ on December 21st where parents all over the country will pause and take the day to themselves right amid the hustle and bustle of the holidays.
Follow along for more gratitude and parenting:
Buy my bedtime book: “The Middle of the Night Book “here.
Subscribe and share so you can ALL listen as a parenting expert and author, Stef Tousignant, offers you a sneak peek into her journey to normalize imperfect parenting and discover the gifts a committed gratitude practice can bring to modern family life.
Parenting with gratitude is not the end goal - it's the method. 🎟 It's the means to achieving the goal of parenting differently.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you were raised.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you did 5 years ago.
Our fantastic and giggly intro was provided by the kids of my good friend Alison Montford of Ends and Stems, a family meal planning and food waste expert. More about her here: https://endsandstems.com
