The importance of gratitude to your research career

0:00 Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast, where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. As clinicians, we spend a decade or more as trainees learning to take care of patients. When we finally start our careers, we want to build research programs, but then we find that our years of clinical training did not adequately prepare us to lead our research program. Through no fault of our own, we struggle to find mentors, and when we can't, we quit. However, clinicians hold the keys to the greatest research breakthroughs.

0:40 For this reason, the Clinician Researcher podcast exists to give academic clinicians the tools to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. Now introducing your host, Toyosi Onwuemene. Welcome to the Clinician Researcher podcast. I'm your host, Toyosi Onwuemene, and it is an absolute pleasure to be talking with you today. Thank you so much for tuning in. I am excited to bring you today's episode titled, The Importance of Gratitude. You may be thinking, wait a minute, how is this related to research or being a clinician or medicine in any way?

1:26 But we're going to talk about gratitude. It's always relevant to every area of your life, and it's particularly important as you are growing in your role as a clinician researcher. Why do I want to share this episode at this time? You may have experienced along your career path times when you feel tired. You're like, I've been writing a lot of grants, I've been submitting a lot of manuscripts, and there's all this stuff going on with my clinical work. And yes, we're in the midst of an election season that feels contentious, and there are wars going on all over the world. And sometimes you get to a point where things begin to really weigh you down.

2:10 And you really do need to do whatever is necessary to give you the strength to keep going. And some of that is saying, I'm not going to focus on all the things that are happening outside of me that I have no control over. I'm going to focus on the things that I can focus on. And why is that important? It's important because if you don't do that, there will always be something that will come and derail you, office politics, national politics, international politics. That will always be something that will come and potentially overwhelm you. And so I want to talk about one practice that's been so helpful for me and I think will be helpful for you as well.

2:51 And it really is the practice of gratitude. And I want to say, one of the things I've heard from a mentor that I respect very much is that gratitude is a discipline. It really is. And I recognize that it's a discipline and it's a practice. And the more you practice it, the better you get at it. And to be honest, it can be hard any time because especially as physicians, but just as humans in general, we are wired to focus on the things that are not working. And so to be able to discipline yourself and say, okay, it may have felt like it was a rough day, but what actually did work? What things happened that I would say that was a win? And I really think it's a discipline. It's a practice.

3:31 And so I want to share some of that practice with you and some of the benefits of that practice. So the very first thing I want to share is that gratitude helps you have resilience. And it is important because honestly, the stuff we do as clinician researchers, as scientists, as clinicians, it's not so hard. I mean, the actual doing is not so hard. The challenge is that we keep getting knocked down. To be honest, we're really resilient people. We stand back up again, we shake it off, we dust it off, we do it again, and then we get knocked down again.

4:12 And we're like, okay, okay, okay, I'm going to get back up and we do it again. And sometimes we can keep doing the getting knocked down and getting back up again, and then three weeks will pass and then we're okay, right? Because the rotation is over or the weeks on service are over or the clinic itself, it's over something. You are able to kind of muscle through because you know that there's an expiring date. But sometimes you get to this place where finally you get knocked down and you're like, you know what, how about I just don't stand up? Or what I just stay laying down on the floor, curled up in a corner and I don't move because if I'm laying down, they won't try to knock me down again, or there's just nowhere else I can go, so I'm just going to lay down.

4:57 And I believe you've probably experienced some of those days. I feel like I've experienced some of those days very recently. And to be honest, this podcast is later than it should be because it's one of those days where I'm like, I don't even want to show up today. But when you are lying down, maybe you're curled up in a corner and you start to think about, okay, what is going on that's right with the world? It feels like everything is against me. It feels like nothing is working. But what is working? What are the things that actually are working? And when you start to think about that, you realize you're like, wait a minute, it's not all bad. Things are actually working.

5:39 There are some things that are not going so well, but there are other things that are. You know what it does? It gives you the courage to get back up again. And it gives you the courage to go again. It gives you renewed zeal. We need courage. It just gives you the oomph, the energy you need to move forward. And so gratitude matters because it gives you resilience. It reminds you that you can. It reminds you why you can't. It reminds you of the things that are working, that are going right. And it gives you the strength to get back up again. So gratitude matters because it increases your resilience. Number two is that gratitude is so important for your mental health.

6:25 All of the things I mentioned weigh on you. And sometimes they're like a thick, heavy, not comfortable blanket that just weighs you down. And it's like, oh my goodness, I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know who's going to do this. I don't know what's going to happen with this grant. I don't know what's going to happen with my transition. I don't know what's going to happen with how much clinical work I have to do. There's so much that we're always thinking about. And I have to tell you, it can be overwhelming. I don't even have to tell you. I bet you know. It can be overwhelming. It can feel like you're being weighed down. It can just feel like everything is just not working. And when you start to think through the things that are working, it probably releases some endorphins because there's a happy mood that comes over.

7:11 And you're like, wait a minute. It is working. Because some of the things that get us down are the feelings that we're not enough or that we're putting in so much effort and nothing is coming out of it or that nothing's been accepted. We've published no managers. We've had no grants go through. For example, I feel like I'm in such a state. We have a grant that's going to be reviewed on the fourth. But after that grant, there's not another grant going to be reviewed. So now I feel like, oh, I lost my mojo. I mean, actually, I did try to submit a grant. It didn't quite work out. But that's a story for another day. But now I don't have like, OK, this grant's being reviewed. And then the next grant is coming.

7:51 Then where to submit another grant? And so it feels like, oh, I'm doing nothing. You know, weighs on me. But when I think about it, I'm like, wait a minute. You submitted this grant last time. And this one was funded. And this one got a good score. And this one you're going to put in next time. I realized that, you know what? There's a lot of opportunity here. And things are moving forward even when they don't feel like they are. And so it improves my mood. It re-energizes me. And it helps my mental health. And so imagine if I did that every day, right? And this is not me saying anything negative against antidepressants.

8:32 If you take them, please do take them. Don't stop taking them. But what I'm saying is that it really does. It's a booster to your mood. And so if you're going to think about, how can I think about gratitude? Think about it like medicine for your mood, medicine for your feelings, to help you just to remind you of why, of why you keep going. Because things are working. Because you are moving forward. Because you are doing work that matters. So practice gratitude to improve your mental health. The third reason to practice gratitude is that it connects you with people. Here's the thing about gratitude that's really important to know.

9:14 You are more thankful for people in your life than you are for things in your life. And even when you're thankful for things, you realize that people brought you those things. And so in reality, your life is an amazing collage of people's contributions for good and for bad. But we're talking about gratitude. So really talking about good. For example, if I had a paper that was published, yeah, it may seem as if I'm grateful for the paper that was published. But you know what? When I go all the way back, it was the mentee in my lab who said, OK, let's write this paper. And someone who wrote the outline. And there were collaborators who reviewed the manuscript and made it better.

9:59 There were reviewers who actually took time to review the manuscript and then to approve it and give us feedback that helped us make it stronger. There are people throughout the process. OK, maybe it was that I got a raise. OK, it may not have been a big raise. Maybe it was a bonus. It was a small bonus, but it was still a bonus. Somebody said, I'm going to pass this all the way through. I'm going to make sure it comes out on time without being delayed. These are the things that people contribute. And so yes, at the end of gratitude, you feel a stronger connection to those people who've made a significant difference in your life. And they've made the difference because they are supporters.

10:43 They've made the difference because somehow they care about the work you do. Maybe they don't even care about you, but they care about the work you do. And so they support your work. And that's a powerful and important thing. And so when you exercise gratitude, you also make connections with people because they are the source of your gratitude. And it makes those connections stronger. All right. Number four is increased innovation and creativity. There is nothing like feeling sorry for yourself that zaps your creativity. You have no energy to move forward. You feel like nothing is working. Why bother? Why should I try?

11:23 But when you start to get in the space of gratitude, you're like, wait a minute, I did this and that worked. I did that and that worked. Oh my goodness. I moved this forward and this has turned into this and it energizes you to get creative again. It takes energy to be creative. It takes time. It takes you. It takes you investing time and energy to really create things. And so if you're feeling bogged down because you're not aware of all the wonderful things that are happening in your life and how you're really killing it and doing a great job, and you probably are not very creative as far as moving things forward. Or maybe you're in a place of criticism and you feel bad about yourself because you're like, well, if you would just get it together, you would have done this and you would have submitted this grant and you would have done that manuscript.

12:11 And you have no creativity. But the moment you start to realize what has been done, what is working, what is evolving, it gives you energy to go again. And so you can be creative. You can go do more. You can go incorporate more people into your team to do more. So many wins come from celebrating the things that you have won in and you have won. You're like, I haven't won in anything. Yes, that's why it's a discipline. You got to look closely because your mind is more likely to focus on the things where you're not winning. There will always be at least one thing, one thing in which you're not winning.

12:51 One of the funniest things I heard recently, the story of Adam and Eve and how they weren't allowed to eat anything in the... Well, they weren't allowed to eat from one tree in the garden and the garden had so many trees and how is it they focused on just the one they weren't allowed to have? And it tells you about the human tendency to focus on the thing, the one thing that's not working even when everything else is working. And of course it fills your creativity and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because well, you said it wasn't working. You killed your creativity and you stopped moving forward and all of a sudden you started to create the environment where things are not working because you're not moving forward. And so gratitude allows you to get back to creating.

13:32 It gives you the energy you need to move forward. All right. Number five is that it boosts your motivation and it helps you be persistent. Now you may know already, but if you don't know, I'll tell you that the only way you succeed as a researcher is by persistence. No, it's not because your grants are beautiful. It's not because your writing is amazing and yes, your writing is amazing. It's not because your ideas are amazing, even though your ideas are amazing, it's really about persistence because no matter how amazing your ideas are, there's always reviewer number three who comes and derails the grant. And then you're like, okay, I'm going to resubmit next year and reviewer number three shows up as reviewer number two. And then you're like, ah, I'm going to submit the grant again and all this while the grant is getting better.

14:17 And you finally get to a point where reviewer number three, now reviewer number one says, you know what? This person has been submitting the same grant for the last three years. Let's give them a pass. I don't want to read this grant again next year. Okay. So it doesn't happen exactly like that, but persistence pays off. It is the only thing that really pays off. And so for you to count your wins and to realize that, you know what? It may feel hard, but a lot of things are working. It gives you the motivation to persist. It gives you the motivation to keep going. It gives you the motivation to put the next foot in front of the other, to submit that grant again, to just write up the manuscript again or revise it and resubmit it. It gives you strength to keep going.

15:00 And so it boosts your motivation and it helps you persist. Number six is that it gives you job satisfaction and fulfillment. Sometimes we hate our jobs and we don't hate our jobs because our jobs are awful. We hate our jobs because in that moment, there's this one thing that feels overwhelming and we just can't think of anything else. And when we finally start to think about the things that we appreciate, the opportunity to write, the opportunity to work with great collaborators, get feedback from great colleagues, it really just makes you appreciate the things in your job that keep you coming back, the things on your job that keep you motivated and excited.

15:43 And for that reason, it really helps you appreciate your job. And no, you might not like every one of the job. No, you may have challenges, but it does help you appreciate what is before you and it helps you keep going. It does bring a measure of job satisfaction. So please embrace gratitude because all of a sudden you start to love the job you have, where before you might've really hated it, but it really does help you to move forward in a way that perhaps you didn't think that you could move forward. All right. And then what it also does is improves your health and your wellbeing. I've kind of alluded to it a lot. I'm going to say it again.

16:24 When you were tired and exhausted, you don't want to go to the gym. When you hate your job, you just don't want to do anything. And when you practice gratitude and you see how things are working and you see how your efforts are paying off, it allows you to do the right things, avoid the cookie jar, go to the gym, go for a walk, take breaks, stand up, stretch. It gives you opportunity to do the things that actually help you be healthy. And the more healthy you are, the better you feel. The easier it could be to practice gratitude. So gratitude has so many benefits and I want to summarize them again.

17:08 It gives you enhanced resilience, improves your mood, your mental health. It gives you a stronger connection with your colleagues who are related or connected to your reasons for gratitude. It increases your innovation and creative muscles. It boosts your motivation and persistence that you can keep going. It gives you greater job satisfaction and fulfillment and it improves your health and wellbeing. Yes, it makes you less stressed and a healthier person all around. So I invite you to take out a journal right this moment and practice gratitude.

17:49 Write down three wins that you've had today. I'm going to do it too. As soon as I'm done recording this episode, what are three things, three wins that you are so thankful for? Write them down. Yes, it's got to be three. And then celebrate. Celebrate yourself. Celebrate the person you are and celebrate the opportunity you have to lead the work that you do. And as always, if you're looking for a coach, happy to be a coach to you or maybe recommend someone that I can support in your circle. At the very least, I invite you to share this episode with someone else who could benefit from a little bit of gratitude today.

18:32 All right. It's been a pleasure talking with you today. I look forward to talking with you again next time on the Clinician Researcher Podcast. Thank you for tuning in. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clinician Researcher Podcast where academic clinicians learn the skills to build their own research program, whether or not they have a mentor. If you found the information in this episode to be helpful, don't keep it all to yourself. Someone else needs to hear it. So take a minute right now and share it. As you share this episode, you become part of our mission to help launch a new generation of clinician researchers who make transformative discoveries that change the way we do healthcare.

19:22 Thank you. Bye.