Lack of sleep can affect multiple facets in both our physical and mental health. Studies have linked sleep deprivation to weight gain, chemical imbalances, thinking of food as a reward, and slower mental processes. It has been proven over and over that getting better rest is integral to lowering stress and increasing our ability to function in optimum health. But how do we actually achieve better sleep?

Having struggled to get adequate sleep myself, this topic touches me personally. I’ve researched and worked to improve my own rest, and learned a lot of information, tips and ideas revolving around sleep. In this episode, I share them with you, including several physiological factors. I discuss ideas and tips for changing our thought processes around rest, correcting mistakes we might be making regarding sleep, and implementing ways to increase our restorative sleep. I hope the information I share helps each of you sleep more and function better.

“Without enough sleep, we tend to be more irritable and our brains just don’t function as well… We make more mistakes, things take longer to do and we are just not as bright and as capable as we can be. However, even though we know all that, most of us continue not to get enough sleep.” – Dr. Sara Dill

• Sleep linked to various diseases, especially obesity
• Overeating and sleep deprivation
• Listening to your body
• Signs you’re not getting enough sleep
• How to get more rest
• Changing how you think about sleep
• Mistakes we make regarding rest
• Ideas and tips for improving sleep

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, PhD
• Oura Ring: 
• ouraring.com 

• How to Beat Burnout
• How to Drop Your Manual
• Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Ever Do
• Believing New Things

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• It’s not too late to join my Physicians Only Small Coaching Group! If you want to get in, sign up at saradill.com/coaching.
• I read all my own email and I’d love to hear from you! Please write to me at [email protected]. 
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Whether we realize it or not, rules influence every aspect of our lives. Especially those unwritten rules that everyone seems to know and abide by anyway. But what exactly am I talking about when I say rules? It’s not things like obeying speed limits or following proper procedures. I’m talking about those rules that affect how we think, what we believe, and ultimately, how we act. Those unwritten rules that keep us stuck.

In this episode, I dig into this concept of rules and how they dictate our lives, particularly as physicians. I explain what I mean by rules and give multiple examples. I also touch on a concept by Vishen Lakhiani called BRULES. I think you’ll relate to many of the unwritten rules I bring up and I hope it causes you to question and rewrite some of your own.

“So often in coaching, clients will just tell me the rules, like they’re true. And I know I did the same thing, and I still do in some areas. We all have these blind spots.” – Dr. Sara Dill

• The BRULES concept (credit to Vishen Lakhiani)
• Common unwritten rules
• Questioning your rules
• Rewriting your rules

The Code of the Extraordinary Mind by Vishen Lakhiani

• How to Beat Burnout
• How to Drop Your Manual
• Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Ever Do
• Believing New Things

• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• It’s not too late to join my Physicians Only Small Coaching Group! If you want to get in, sign up at saradill.com/coaching.
• I read all my own email and I’d love to hear from you! Please write to me at [email protected]. 
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Burnout is a frequently used term in our society. But what exactly is it? What goes on inside your brain and your body when you experience burnout? What are some signs that you’re burned out and need to make changes?

In this episode, I open up about my experience with burnout. I had pushed myself and my mind to the point that I had to get away. I needed a sabbatical. And even though it wasn’t easy to make happen, I took that time. And within it, I discovered the power of mindfulness and coaching. I learned that you can, in fact, retrain your brain. You can heal the damage from burnout and even prevent it in the future. Let me share with you what I’ve learned about how to beat burnout.

“Can you start to choose thoughts that reinforce a sense of your own empowerment, your own ability to respond to the world and the events in it?... Maybe it’s something like: This too shall pass… This won’t last forever… I can do hard things… Those are just some examples… in which the way I think about it can cause me to feel less stressed out, less burned out.” – Dr. Sara Dill

• Definition and signs of burnout
• My experience
• Your brain on burnout
• Recovery from (and prevention of) burnout
• De-escalate stress
• Retrain your brain
• Focus on what you do control
• Alter your self-talk
• Change your thinking
• Examine your willingness to suffer 

The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal

• What You Can Control (and what you can’t)
• Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Ever Do
• Believing New Things
• Some Myths About Stress
• Why Self-Care Matters (and isn’t selfish) 

• My Small Physicians-Only Group starts MONDAY, AUGUST 8! Join at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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We all have a life expectations manual. It’s the unwritten one that dictates how we feel life should be. Our manual outlines internal expectations for how others should think, how they should behave, and what they should understand. We often don’t even realize our manual exists but it’s there. 

The problem with this manual is that it is often unrealistic. The truth is, adults have the ability and freedom to behave however they choose. I’m not saying that just because people can choose that any and all behavior is acceptable. Not at all. But outwardly harmful or not, all behavior is inwardly harmful to us when we deny the reality that people aren’t always going to act how we wish. The empowering reverse of this is to grasp hold of the control we do have, which is over ourselves, not over others. Let’s talk about all this and how to drop your manual. 

“No matter what people do or how they act, or what they say, we don’t have to give others the power to determine how we feel. Ever. I think this is amazing. I think this is a superpower.” – Dr. Sara Dill

• Realize your manual exists
• Use your superpower
• Abandon trying to control others
• Change your focus
• Clarify proper expectations, in appropriate situations
• Execute the step-by-step to drop your manual
• Identify your manual
• Pinpoint your suffering
• Let yourself off the hook
• Turn around your rules

Get the How to Drop Your Manual worksheet: https://www.saradill.com/pl/2147607703

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

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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How we experience emotional pain in life is connected to the source or cause of the pain. This birthed the concept of clean pain vs dirty pain. But what exactly is clean pain? What is dirty pain? And do the differences between them hold a key to how we work through each type of pain?

In this episode, I want to share the powerful concept of clean pain vs dirty pain. I have personally experienced empowerment in how I handle emotional suffering by understanding and framing pain through this concept. The core difference lies in how concrete the source of the pain is. Is the pain something specific you can name that happened? Or is the pain in how you are thinking about what happened? Let’s examine this together.

“We think that sometimes by spending a lot of time worrying about something or thinking about something, we can somehow solve it. Or even prevent ourselves from feeling the discomfort or pain. But what it does is prolong it.” – Dr. Sara Dill

• What is clean pain?
• What is dirty pain? 
• Defining pain
• Responding to pain

• Balance Your Brain with Jill Bolte Taylor: drjilltaylor.com
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Dr. Steven C. Hayes, PhD: stevenchayes.com

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
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• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Does your To Do List cause anxiety and overwhelm? Are you having a physical reaction just from reading that last line? If so, you are definitely not alone. Taming your To Do List is, perhaps, one of the biggest sources of stress in our lives. It seems to never end. The moment you cross off one thing, another – or maybe even two things – take its place. 

Now, I admit, I love to make lists because I thrill at crossing off done tasks. But if you’re finding yourself more anxious than accomplished, I offer some hope. I have a 5-Step method taming your list and getting things done, while still having time for the things and people you love. And it all starts with leveraging your calendar.

“If you are coming from time scarcity, from the feeling of not having enough time… you cannot do enough to solve the problem of not having enough time. Because that is a thought problem, not an actual time problem… You have to change how you think about your time… Can you decide when you want to do something, put it on your calendar, and then get it done as scheduled?”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• 5 Steps to Taming Your To Do List
• Leverage your calendar
• Make that huge list
• Execute the 3 Bs
• Don’t leave things off
• Honor your calendar
• Life application
• Take notes
• Carve out chunks
• Live life one thing at a time
• Address time scarcity

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Throughout our lives and careers, we face times we’re stuck… things we wish we could do over… big and small ways we long to go back and choose over again. But despite those inner yearnings, the “I have to” factors of life interfere. The question is… Should they? What if you could make different choices, while still maintaining the things you don’t want to change?

More than once, I’ve asked myself this life-altering question: Should I quit everything and choose again? As I’ve worked through the deep self-examination necessary to answer this question, I’ve discovered some truths and methods I’d love to share with you. So if you’ve been struggling lately, just feeling blah, and restless like I have, I hope these thoughts and insights help.

“Whenever we’re trying to escape or we feel urgency, we tend to not make the best long-term choices. And that’s often because we don’t see our choices. And we don’t see many options... [That’s why] this idea of potentially quitting everything and anything – even mentally – I find very powerful… The question you can ask yourself is, ‘Would I choose it again?’ Now. In your current life. Not choosing again in your past. Right? But choosing it again as it is now.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• Quitting everything on paper
• Choosing again in your mind
• Examining the reasons for each answer
• Noting the obstacles
• Working out solutions
• Loving and creating what is now

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Focusing on what we can’t control increases anxiety and stress. And there are certainly plenty of things we can’t control right now. That’s why I want to help us to all focus on what we can control. Focusing our energy on what we can do something about is empowering and freeing.

In this episode, I explore how we cannot control circumstances but we can choose what we think about all that is happening. By choosing how we think about things, we can help ourselves choose our emotions. And that has the positive effect of helping us choose how we react. When we can choose how we react, we can shape our experience. As added encouragement, I sprinkle in some quotes regarding control and our thoughts. I hope my recommendations help you change how you think as we face these rapidly changing times together.

“Know and remember that the most power you have is in your ability to make decisions… In times of chaos and uncertainty and stress, we often forget that we have the ability… We feel stuck or confused or powerless. But notice where you can make a decision… Start seeing all the choices you do have.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• What we can control and what we can’t
• React versus respond
• Resist versus accept (Note: accept does not mean approve)
• Blame versus understand
• How to perform a thought download
• Separate circumstances from thoughts
• Process emotion
• Ask yourself questions
• Consciously choose
• Put energy into what you can control

• Brooke Castillo – thelifecoachschool.com/brookecastillo 
• Viktor Frankl – viktorfrankl.org or viktorfranklamerica.com 

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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Byron Katie’s teachings have made a huge impact in my life. Once I was ready to take in everything she teaches, and ready to investigate my own personal belief patterns, how I look at life and other people, and how I think about all of that, I really have grown. And I want to share them with you. So in this episode, I relate some powerful concepts and quotes from Byron Katie. I include my thoughts about each and a bit about how they have helped me. 

I invite you to be curious, to open yourself up to these insights. As we’ve discussed many times, how we think and respond to life are paramount to our experience. As you listen to how Byron Katie frames things, I hope you gain a nugget or two that aid you in your personal journey to joy and peace.

“I really like the idea that any emotion I’m feeling is sort of like a signal… that I just should check in with what I’m believing... What if stress is just an alarm clock that lets you know you’ve attached to something? Or you’ve attached to a thought or a belief that’s just not true for you or perhaps is not useful for you?”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• The past
• Forgiveness
• Loving What Is
• Other people
• Thoughts we think
• Communication

I encourage you to also listen to:

• Episode 3 - Believing New Things

In 1986, at the bottom of a ten-year spiral into depression and self-loathing, Byron Katie woke up one morning in a state of joy. She realized that when she believed her stressful thoughts, she suffered, but that when she questioned them, she didn’t suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Her simple yet powerful process of self-inquiry, which she calls The Work, consists of four questions and the turnaround, which is a way of experiencing the opposite of what you believe.

Her books include the bestselling Loving What Is, also available in the revised edition, I Need Your Love—Is That True?, A Thousand Names for Joy, and A Mind at Home with Itself.

Learn more about Byron and get her books: https://thework.com/.

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• I read all my own email, so write me at [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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I 100% believe in thought work but it must be acknowledged: There are times it’s actually counterproductive. In my previous episode, titled Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Ever Do, I shared many of the benefits of thought work. Now, as promised, I offer you the flip side.

Before we begin, I want to reiterate that I think everybody benefits from developing the skill of metacognition. Understanding your own thought processes allows you to better relate to yourself and others, fostering more compassion and love. That said, I also firmly believe knowing when to leverage thought work and when to back off is integral to its success. In this episode, I’ll address questions which naturally arise from this position such as: When can thought work be ineffective? When can it be holding me back more than it’s helping me move forward? How do I know when it’s simply not serving me? Let’s examine the answers to those questions as we explore when NOT to do thought work.

“When you’re doing thought work… [and] you’re self-coaching… but it feels painful and you feel almost worse, then I would say you’re sort of doing it wrong… It should feel like an exploration, maybe like an opening or an ‘aha’... not like a boxing match, not like you’re attacking yourself.”  – Dr. Sara Dill

• A recap of thought work and its benefits

• 5 times when thought work doesn’t work

During…

• Strong emotion
• Resistance
• Stubbornness
• Self-affliction
• Rationalization

• 4 times thought work can be unproductive

Trying to…

• Force an agenda
• Swap your thoughts
• Over-investigate the why
• ‘Fix’ yourself

I encourage you to also listen to:

• Episode 18 - Thought Work: The Most Important Work You Can Ever Do.
• Episode 8 - How to Feel a Feeling.

• Join my Small Physicians-Only Group, starting soon! Sign up at saradill.com.
• Website: saradill.com
• Work with me: saradill.com/coaching
• Email: [email protected]
• Get a FREE consultation with Sara! Sign up here: saradill.com/schedule
• Get Dr. Dill’s book The Doctor Dilemma: How to Quit Being Miserable Without Quitting Medicine
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