As a child, I hated talking about feelings. Yet here I am, years later, talking about feelings all the time. The reason is because I adhere to the idea that feelings are why we do what we do. Whether we’re motivated by fear, anxiety, grief, love, compassion, connection, exhilaration… whatever it is, we act based on feelings.

Our natural tendency is to mostly avoid feelings, especially negative ones. We push them away or even allow them to override our better judgment. Ultimately, this can yield unwanted and unintentional results, and can create a cycle of feelings that come again and again. But there is a way to help break such cycles. Even in the moment, you can intentionally process your feelings. It takes practice but it is possible. So let’s talk about how to feel a feeling. (My young self would never have imagined I’d say that!)

“Learning how to allow your feelings also gives you a lot more access to them and then authority over them. When you aren’t afraid of them, when you don’t worry that they might take over and never leave you, negative emotions lose a lot of their power.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• 4 ways we respond to feelings
• Resistance
• Reaction
• Avoidance
• Allowance
• Stripping negative emotions of their power 
• Identification, localization 
• Moving into the observer position 
• Intentionally creating feelings
• 1 Minute Emotional Makeover
• Describe
• Name
• Identify
• Change

• Get the book “The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine” by Dr. Sara Dill 
• Want to catch up on episodes of Stress-Less Physician?  Links and Show Notes are all housed here.

Website: saradill.com

Work with me: saradill.com/coaching

Email: [email protected]

Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule

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Want to know more about me and how I learned to stress less? I recorded a trailer for my podcast that includes some of these details. I’ve also included a short bio below. 

Welcome to my podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. Like nearly all physicians, I used to believe the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. I was successful following that pattern but (as is typically the case) I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. 

Compelled by the truth that I’d worked too long and hard to simply accept stress as inevitable, I was determined to find the answer. In order to fully devote myself to discovering a solution, I took a sabbatical from my practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life. So can you! But you don't have to take years or go on sabbatical. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help.

Fear of making the wrong decision. That struggle with the question: Is this choice or that choice the “right one?”... This fear plagues most, if not all of us. And back and forth uncertainty over choosing can leave us living in indecision and suffering anxiety over potentially making a wrong choice. But what, exactly, defines a “wrong decision”?

The encouraging truth is that defining what is a right choice, versus a wrong choice is often in how you interpret the results of your decision. And an even more encouraging truth is that you can coach yourself into being more confident, more effective and more comfortable in your decision-making. In this episode, I offer you some thoughts about how to view your past decisions and how to make decisions going forward.

“Who decides if a decision was wrong?... Typically, what we do is we decide that a decision that we made was the wrong decision if the outcome we got was either unexpected or not what we wanted… [But] what if we just decided that every decision we made was the best decision we could have made at the time, and moved on from there?”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• Is it really a wrong decision?
• The dream stealer
• How to make decisions
• Identify wants, sort underlying emotions
• Know discomfort doesn’t mean stop
• Expect the second-guessing
• Draw on decision-making strengths
• Flip a coin

• Get the book “The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine” by Dr. Sara Dill 
• Want to catch up on episodes of Stress-Less Physician?   Links and Show Notes are all housed here.

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

Want to know more about me and how I learned to stress less? I recorded a trailer for my podcast that includes some of these details. I’ve also included a short bio below. 

Welcome to my podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. Like nearly all physicians, I used to believe the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. I was successful following that pattern but (as is typically the case) I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. 

Compelled by the truth that I’d worked too long and hard to simply accept stress as inevitable, I was determined to find the answer. In order to fully devote myself to discovering a solution, I took a sabbatical from my practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life. So can you! But you don't have to take years or go on sabbatical. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help.

Every physician has had a difficult or challenging patient at some point. And, let’s be real, anyone can be difficult for another person, given the right circumstance. But for doctors, especially, demanding patients can be a source of immense stress. The encouraging truth, however, is that it doesn’t have to be, even when the experience is quite negative. There is a solution to handling a frustrating patient, without the extreme solution of dismissing the person from your practice.

Coaching and mindset work are amazing tools that offer a solution. This doesn’t mean that the pain disappears completely or that, when it comes, it’s less legitimate. It simply means that there is hope that interactions will become less personally distressing. That you’ll bring fewer and fewer irritations home. And maybe even come to the place where you can reduce the urge to convince patients of your viewpoint or replay the interaction over and over in your mind. Speaking of which, your mind is where you can make it happen. Let’s talk about how.

“What makes someone challenging or a problem or difficult is our judgment about them, is our thinking about them… other people can’t make us feel anything without our permission.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• Redefining the difficult patient
• Separating fact from feelings
• An exercise in thought examination
• Emotional Adulthood versus Emotional Childhood
• Where your power lies: responding rather than reacting
• The slow motion replay
• Recognizing that they have freedom but so do you

• Get the book “The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine” by Dr. Sara Dill 
• Want to catch up on episodes of Stress-Less Physician?   Links and Show Notes are all housed here.

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

Want to know more about me and how I learned to stress less? I recorded a trailer for my podcast that includes some of these details. I’ve also included a short bio below. 

Welcome to my podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. Like nearly all physicians, I used to believe the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. I was successful following that pattern but (as is typically the case) I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. 

Compelled by the truth that I’d worked too long and hard to simply accept stress as inevitable, I was determined to find the answer. In order to fully devote myself to discovering a solution, I took a sabbatical from my practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life. So can you! But you don't have to take years or go on sabbatical. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help.

Ever feel like you don’t belong? Like, at any minute, people are going to find out that you’re not as smart or as accomplished as you appear? That your successes are undeserved or illegitimate? That’s Imposter Syndrome thinking. And if you’ve struggled with it, know that it’s more common than you may realize.

The inability to internalize achievements is one, if not the main, source of imposter syndrome. It is as though, despite external, measurable success, a person is unable to shake off feelings of worry, stress and inadequacy. Cognitive dissonance develops between what is true and how a person feels about it. And therein lies the key. It all comes down to how we think. Fortunately, this is not a syndrome in the sense of something that is fixed. It is a phenomenon, and therefore, can be changed. I know. I’ve lived it. And I’ve written a FREE Ditching Imposter Syndrome workbook for you about it. (Available on my website). But first, let’s talk.

“The problem with impostor syndrome or impostor syndrome thinking is that the experience of doing well at something doesn’t change your beliefs. And often the more you accomplish, the more you feel like a fraud. It's as though you can't internalize your experience of success.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• Defining Imposter Syndrome (aka Imposter Phenomenon)

• Signs and characteristics of Imposter Syndrome Thinking

• The cost of Imposter Syndrome Thinking

• Why is it so common?

• 5 steps to permanently ditch Imposter Syndrome Thinking 

• VeryWell Mind: What is Imposter Syndrome?
• Get Dr. Sara Dill’s FREE Ditching Imposter Syndrome workbook: saradill.com/pl/2147578172 
• Get the book “The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine” by Dr. Sara Dill 
• Want to catch up on episodes of Stress-Less Physician?   Links and Show Notes are all housed here.

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

Want to know more about me and how I learned to stress less? I recorded a trailer for my podcast that includes some of these details. I’ve also included a short bio below. 

Welcome to my podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. Like nearly all physicians, I used to believe the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. I was successful following that pattern but (as is typically the case) I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. 

Compelled by the truth that I’d worked too long and hard to simply accept stress as inevitable, I was determined to find the answer. In order to fully devote myself to discovering a solution, I took a sabbatical from my practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life. So can you! But you don't have to take years or go on sabbatical. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help.

Being on high alert, looking for what’s wrong, constantly staying attuned to anything that could go wrong – those are typical tendencies of any physician. And that only gets reinforced as we go through our schooling and training. This programming results in what I term Doctor Brain, a condition that intensifies stress and anxiety when we need to remain calm and focused. Unfortunately, this nearly unbearable high level of stress results in physicians who quit or even commit suicide. Perhaps the most sobering part is that managing stress is achievable. And it all starts with retraining our minds to reframe stress.

“Learning to combat anxious, stressed-out thinking is what I believe actually makes us better physicians.” – Dr. Sara Dill

This topic is so important that, as promised in Episode 1 of my new podcast, Stress-Less Physician, I’m dedicating an entire podcast to defining and explaining Doctor Brain. I coined this term because, as a board-certified dermatologist, pediatric dermatologist and Life Coach for physicians, I live the stress-inducing physician life. But I learned how to think differently, and thus control my response to stress. I even wrote a book that talks in-depth about Doctor Brain.

If you want to learn more about my background as a physician and the journey I took to find the answer to dealing with stress, I invite you to listen to the trailer for my podcast. I’ve also added a little about myself at the bottom of these notes. Finally, if you missed any of my previous episodes, I encourage you to visit my website to listen to them. In episodes 1-3, I discuss how to feel better, I identify some myths about stress, and I give you insight on how to believe new things.

• What is Doctor Brain?
• Where did it come from?
• Why it isn’t actually helpful
• 5 programmed thoughts that result in Doctor Brain
• Natural negative human bias
• How to tame your Doctor Brain:
• Step #1: Awareness and reprogramming your patterns
• Step #2: Get it all on paper
• Step #3: Separate fact from interpretation
• Step #4: Practice the new you

• Get Dr. Sara Dill’s FREE Curing Doctor Brain Workbook: saradill.com/pl/2147574533 
• Get the book “The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine” by Dr. Sara Dill 

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

A bit about me…

I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. I went through life getting straight As, following the rules, and getting into the right schools (Harvard, UC San Diego, Brown). I believed the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. 

But while I was successful, I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. I was always looking for that perfect work-life balance, which never appeared. So I became determined to solve this problem. I had worked too long and hard to simply accept being overworked and stressed out for my whole medical career! 

I took a sabbatical from practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life and stopped being just one more overworked and stressed out doctor. So can you! But you don't have to take years and read hundreds of books to figure it out. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help. Using a combination of coaching tools and mindfulness, I coached myself back into a thriving dermatology practice I truly enjoy. With the rest of my time, I coach other physicians on how to stress-less and enjoy their work and life more.

We get to believe whatever we want. It may sound wild and irrational but it’s true. Of course, this is not to suggest that we ignore proven facts, such as in science. Yet there are many areas wherein we can choose what we believe. We can rewrite what we believe about ourselves, about our abilities, about our capacity to decide how we think, how we feel, and the life that we live. 

Much of why we think the way we think is based in our past. It was formed by people, experiences or events. The good news is that what was previously shaped can now be reshaped. Intentional action must be taken but it is possible.  

“We get to believe new things; especially if we are not happy or satisfied with the current circumstances or state of our life.” – Dr. Sara Dill

I’m very excited to share with you the 3rd episode of my brand new podcast, Stress-Less Physician. It’s hard to believe we’re already on Episode 3! I’m your host, Dr. Sara Dill, board-certified dermatologist, pediatric dermatologist and Life Coach for physicians. I’ve shared a little about myself at the bottom of these notes and I recorded a trailer for my podcast, if you’re interested in getting to know me a bit better. Through this podcast, I hope to share more about myself and, most importantly, to share with you what I’ve learned about stressing less. 

If you missed my first and second episodes, I invite you to go to my website and listen to them. In those episodes, I give you insight and ideas on how to feel better and I tackle some myths about stress. Now, as promised, let’s consider how to believe new things.

• Step 1: Awareness
• Execute a thought-download
• Choose a thought path
• Step 2: Defusion
• Create space through curiosity
• Techniques for detaching from a thought

• Step 3: Believing new things
• Find new thoughts
• Ladder or bridge thoughts

Byron Katie’s The Work

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected] 
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

A bit about me…

I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. I went through life getting straight As, following the rules, and getting into the right schools (Harvard, UC San Diego, Brown). I believed the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. 

But while I was successful, I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. I was always looking for that perfect work-life balance, which never appeared. So I became determined to solve this problem. I had worked too long and hard to simply accept being overworked and stressed out for my whole medical career! 

I took a sabbatical from practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life and stopped being just one more overworked and stressed out doctor. So can you! But you don't have to take years and read hundreds of books to figure it out. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help. Using a combination of coaching tools and mindfulness, I coached myself back into a thriving dermatology practice I truly enjoy. With the rest of my time, I coach other physicians on how to stress-less and enjoy their work and life more.

Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Everywhere Else

We all describe our lives and careers as stressful. In so many different phrases we hear it over and over. But what if believing certains things are stressful is nothing more than a myth?

Welcome to the 2nd episode of my brand new podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m your host, Dr. Sara Dill. As a board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist, I was very familiar with stress. So much so that I took time away from my practice and embarked on a journey to find that elusive “work-life balance”. I longed to find a solution and free myself from a potential lifelong career filled with never-slackening stress. On that journey, I learned that stress is a symptom and thoughts are the root cause. In other words, what we think about situations and circumstances and how we respond to them determine how stressful they are.

Armed with this and more freeing knowledge, I became a life coach for doctors to help others learn what I have. The goal of this podcast is to reach more people with these truths, starting with how we think about things. By the way, if you missed Episode 1, I encourage you to go to my website and listen to it. In that episode, I discuss how to feel better.

Defining terms around stress

• Physiological versus emotional
• A loose definition of stress

Myths and Misunderstandings of Stress

• Origins
• A motivator
• Management of effects rather than cause
• Inevitability

The Caveat

• No blame or shame
• Working toward awareness

Ability and authority to change your response

• Altering perceptions
• Observing other people’s responses

Book Recommendation by Dr. Sara Dill: 

The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

A bit about me…

I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. I went through life getting straight As, following the rules, and getting into the right schools (Harvard, UC San Diego, Brown). I believed the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first. 

But while I was successful, I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. I was always looking for that perfect work-life balance, which never appeared. So I became determined to solve this problem. I had worked too long and hard to simply accept being overworked and stressed out for my whole medical career! 

I took a sabbatical from practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life and stopped being just one more overworked and stressed out doctor. So can you! But you don't have to take years and read hundreds of books to figure it out. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help. Using a combination of coaching tools and mindfulness, I coached myself back into a thriving dermatology practice I truly enjoy. With the rest of my time, I coach other physicians on how to stress-less and enjoy their work and life more.

As physicians, we’re typically pretty good at assessing how others feel, both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, we’re often less adept at identifying how we personally feel, especially emotionally. When we’re in doctor mode (which is pretty much all the time), what I call “Doctor Brain” kicks in. We’re constantly on high-alert, looking out for danger. We’re so focused on everyone around us, stopping to check on our own emotional health isn’t natural. Thus, stress and unhappiness become our normal.

Welcome to my brand new podcast, Stress-Less Physician. I’m your host, Dr. Sara Dill. I’m a board-certified dermatologist, pediatric dermatologist, and life coach for doctors. As a dermatologist, I was happy with my success but miserable overally. I couldn’t shake that overworked, non-stop stress that plagued me. I couldn’t obtain the elusive “work-life balance” others talked about.

So I set out to find the solution, and I did. In my coaching practice and through this podcast, I share with other physicians what I’ve learned and how to change their outlook like I did. I learned that stress is a symptom and thoughts are the root cause. And I’m here to help others learn what I have. Let’s start with how to feel better.

• Recognize emotions
• Four basic emotions
• Note bodily sensations
• Don’t just work harder
• Pinpoint your emotional flavor
• Reinforcement of emotions
• How long emotions last (at first onset)
• Perpetuating the cascade
• Meaning makers can direct their feelings
• How to feel better
• Reframe where your emotions originate
• Find the cause
• Know and name your feelings
• Describe your physical response
• Believe new things
• Embrace emotional adulthood
• Happiness blocks
• Frequency of emotions
• Negativity bias
• Doctor brain
• Feeling better practices: How to…
• Set daily intention
• Ask upward spiral questions
• Conscientiously cultivate gratitude

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Facebook
• Instagram

I’m Sara Dill, MD, board-certified dermatologist and pediatric dermatologist. I went through life getting straight As, following the rules, and getting into the right schools (Harvard, UC San Diego, Brown). I believed the way to be a good and successful doctor was to work hard, always say yes, and put patients (and everyone else) first.

But while I was successful, I felt perpetually stressed out, overworked and unhappy. I was always looking for that perfect work-life balance, which never appeared. So I became determined to solve this problem. I had worked too long and hard to simply accept being overworked and stressed out for my whole medical career!

I took a sabbatical from practice and studied life coaching. I completed two life coach training programs, numerous other courses, read 100s of books, and used coaching to transform my own relationship to work.

What I learned was that stress is a symptom. It all has less to do with the actual hours you work than with your thoughts about your work.

With this knowledge, I took control of my life and stopped being just one more overworked and stressed out doctor. So can you! But you don't have to take years and read hundreds of books to figure it out. I did it so you don't have to. And I’m here to help. Using a combination of coaching tools and mindfulness, I coached myself back into a thriving dermatology practice I truly enjoy. With the rest of my time, I coach other physicians on how to stress-less and enjoy their work and life more.

The Stress-Less Physician Podcast teaches busy practicing physicians how to reduce your stress levels, create a better balance between your medical career and personal life, and have a sustainable and enjoyable clinical practice. Learn how to feel better now while designing a life and medical career that feel good to YOU.

Dr. Sara Dill is an Ivy-League educated, practicing dermatologist who has worked in academics, managed care, private practice, and as a consultant in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Dill combines her breadth of clinical experience and depth of coaching expertise to help you feel better and discover how improving your wellbeing can be simpler and happen faster than you think.

Using her unique combination of coaching tools, mindfulness, and the latest in the sciences of positive psychology and neurobiology, Dr. Sara Dill will share practical and concrete tools that will have you quickly feeling better and in control of your life and career. To explore if coaching is right for you, visit saradill.com.