246: Thanksgiving Week Reality Check: Gratitude Without the Guilt

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 Thanksgiving Week Reality Check: Gratitude Without the Guilt

Gratitude without guilt for overwhelmed entrepreneurs. Cindy Gordon shares how to practice real gratitude during Thanksgiving week without performing or proving you're grateful enough.

In this episode of The Overwhelmed Entrepreneur, business coach Cindy Gordon breaks down why entrepreneurs feel guilty about gratitude - and how to practice gratitude without ignoring the hard stuff or faking cheerfulness you don't feel.

You're allowed to be grateful AND exhausted. You can love your business and still feel tired. You can be thankful for clients and still crave a break. That's not ungrateful - that's human.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why gratitude doesn't mean ignoring the hard stuff (you can see both without shame)
• The 3 psychological reasons entrepreneurs feel guilty about gratitude (comparison culture, pressure to perform gratitude, achiever's trap)
• How to stop saying "I should be more grateful" and start actually practicing gratitude
• The difference between performing gratitude (Instagram posts) and practicing gratitude (real actions)
• How to celebrate your lane instead of comparing to highlight reels
• Why gratitude and ambition can coexist (you can be thankful AND want more)
• The 3 gratitude shifts: celebrate your lane, express gratitude in action, rest like you mean it
• Real ways to express gratitude in action (not just social media posts)
• Why rest is respect for everything that got you here
• How to acknowledge what's hard without guilt or shame

Episode Highlights: "You're allowed to be grateful and exhausted. That's not being ungrateful - that's being human."

"Gratitude doesn't mean ignoring the hard stuff. It means seeing both - what's good and what's draining - without shame."

"You can be deeply thankful and still hungry for more. That's not contradiction - that's balance."

"Gratitude isn't a post - it's how you treat people."

"Rest isn't laziness - it's respect for everything that got you here."

"I wasn't practicing gratitude - I was performing it."

"Real gratitude includes you. You did the hard things this year. That deserves acknowledgment."

Take Action: Ready to practice gratitude without guilt this Thanksgiving? Write down 3 things you're genuinely grateful for in your business (not what you should say, but what's real). Write 1 thing that's been hard. Write 1 way you'll rest this week - guilt-free. Both can be true at the same time.

🎯 You don't have to figure this out alone! The Growth Collective is your $1/day business support community with weekly office hours, strategic frameworks, and entrepreneurs who get it. Less than your coffee, more than a mastermind. Details at https://exclusivelycindy.thrivecart.com/the-growth-collective/

💡 Don't forget to subscribe for more quick productivity tips for overwhelmed business owners and female entrepreneurs!

💌 Join 1,400+ entrepreneurs getting exclusive overwhelm solutions and productivity strategies straight to their inbox - sign up now! https://cindygordon.myflodesk.com/countmein

Connect with Cindy Gordon - Reality Check Method Coach for Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs:

• Website: ExclusivelyCindy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exclusivelycindy/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cindygordon

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Let's get real for a second.
You are allowed to be gratefuland exhausted.
You can love your business andstill feel tired.
You can be thankful for yourclients, but still crave a
break.
You can be proud of yourprogress and still wish you were
further along.
That's not being ungrateful.
That's being human.
Hi, I'm Cindy Gordon and you arelistening to The Overwhelmed

(00:22):
Entrepreneur Podcast.
Before we dive in, if you arenot getting my weekly
productivity tips yet, grab themusing the link in the show
notes.
They are the behind the scenessystems that I use to stay
productive while running mybusiness.
If you've ever caught yourselfsaying, I should be more
grateful, I should have donemore, I have so much to be

(00:42):
thankful for.
Why am I so stressed?
This episode is for you.
This is something that comes upagain and again with my clients,
especially this time of theyear.
You scroll through Instagram andyou see people posting record
months or so blessed highlights,and suddenly your normal feels
not enough.
You start to feel guilty forbeing tired, guilty for wanting

(01:05):
more, guilty for not beingcheerful enough, but here's your
reality.
Check gratitude doesn't meanignoring the hard stuff.
It means seeing both the goodand the bad and what's draining
without shame.
You don't have to have fakecheerfulness or post gratitude
declarations on social media toprove that you're thankful.

(01:25):
You just have to tell the truthabout how you're feeling.
We've been conditioned tobelieve that gratitude and
struggle can't coexist, butthat's not how humans actually
work.
There are three big reasons wefeel guilt around gratitude as
entrepreneurs.
First comparison culture.
You scroll social media and seeeveryone's highlight reels.

(01:48):
Record months, dream vacations,the perfect work life balance.
And your brain instantlymeasures your reality against
their carefully curated version,and suddenly your actual winds
feel tiny.
Second, the pressure to performgratitude.
We've all been told to focus onthe positive, and while that's
powerful, it can turn toxic.

(02:09):
When it makes you feel guiltyfor being a human, like you're
not allowed to acknowledgewhat's hard because you should
just be grateful for what youhave.
Third, the achiever's trap.
We are so wired to grow andachieve that.
You struggle to slow down and begrateful without instantly
shifting into what's next.
Your brain treats gratitude likea checkbox instead of an actual

(02:32):
feeling.
The truth is gratitude andambition can coexist.
You can be deeply thankful andstill hungry for more.
That's not a contradiction,that's balance.
Here's a couple ideas of how topractice gratitude without
feeling guilt this Thanksgivingweek.
Just three simple mindsetshifts.

(02:52):
Start with celebrating yourlane.
Forget about those highlightreels.
Look back at January and askyourself, what can I do now that
I couldn't handle a year ago?
Maybe you set better boundaries.
Maybe you finally hired help.
Maybe you stopped saying yes toeverything.
That's growth worth celebrating,even if it doesn't look

(03:13):
Instagram worthy.
Next, express gratitude andaction.
Gratitude isn't a post.
It's how you treat people.
Send a quick thank you text to aclient, voice note, a business
friend who supported you.
Tell your va, Hey, I appreciateyou.
These small real moments mattermore than perfectly created,

(03:33):
thankful captions that took you20 minutes to write the game
changer.
Rest like you mean it.
Gratitude isn't just aboutsaying thank you.
It's about honoring your body,your mind, and your business
that carried you through thisentire year.
If you are truly grateful forwhat you've built, protect it.
Take that nap, close the laptop.

(03:55):
Let something wait until nextweek.
Rest isn't laziness.
It's respect for everything thatgot you here.
So let me show you how to makethis little gratitude shift
stick.
When the guilt creeps in, first,make one small, powerful mindset
change.
Instead of saying, I should begrateful.
Say I am grateful.

(04:16):
And here's what's still hardright now.
That little word swap fromshould to am removes the guilt
and brings you back to thepresent.
Second, write it down.
Don't keep the gratitude in yourhead where it gets tangled up
with guilt.
Write down three things you aregenuinely grateful for in your
business.
Not what you should say, butwhat's real.

(04:40):
Then write one thing that's beenhard.
Acknowledge it without judgment.
Both can be true at the sametime.
Third.
I want you to remember this.
You don't have to earn the rightto rest or celebrate.
You've already earned it byshowing up all year long.
Every time your brain says youshould be doing more, remind

(05:01):
yourself that doing less rightnow is what your grateful
business needs.
So let me give you a little bitof the behind the scenes from my
own journey from this.
There were years when I ranthrough Thanksgiving week, like
a marathon, still working, stillchecking emails, still trying to
get ahead before the holidays.
Every year, I would tell myself,I'm just so thankful to have

(05:22):
this business, but deep down, Iwas exhausted.
I wasn't practicing gratitude.
I was performing it.
I was proving to myself andeveryone else that I was
grateful enough, hustlingenough, and doing enough.
Then I made a different choice.
Now, every Thanksgiving week, Iactually pause and reflect.
I look at what went well, whatdidn't go well, and what I need

(05:44):
to do differently next year.
I send three gratitude notes,one to a client, one to a
business friend, and one tomyself, because real gratitude
includes you.
You did the hard things thisyear.
You showed up.
You kept going even when it washard.
That deserves acknowledgementand not just an Instagram post

(06:04):
that says hashtag Blessed.
That shift from performinggratitude to actually practicing
it changed how I end.
Every year, I step into Januaryenergized instead of burnt out
because I honored my businessand what my body actually
needed.
This is what I want you toremember today.
You can be grateful and stillneed space.

(06:26):
You can be proud and still befiguring things out.
That's what being anentrepreneur really looks like.
It's human, it's messy, and it'sworth it.
So your challenge for thisThanksgiving week is to write
down three things that you aregenuinely grateful for in your
business.
Not what you should say, butwhat's actually real.

(06:47):
Write one thing that's beenhard, acknowledge it without
judgment and write one way thatyou are gonna rest this week.
Guilt free.
You don't owe anyone a highlightreel this Thanksgiving.
Real gratitude means seeing boththe good and the hard without
the shame.
And if you want more supportlike this, kind of work with

(07:07):
building systems and a mindsetto help you enjoy your business,
instead of surviving it, comejoin me inside the Growth
Collective membership.
It is our dollar a daymembership, 365 for the year for
weekly office hours courses.
And a community that gets it.
Lock your rate in for Life.
Link in the show notes.

(07:28):
If you're on Instagram, hit thefollow button on exclusively
Cindy.
Now go protect your piece andenjoy your week guilt free.
Now go protect your peace andenjoy your week guilt free.
And remember, friend, you've gotthis.

Speaker (07:43):
Thanks for spending these few minutes with me today.
Remember, overwhelm isn'tpermanent.
It's simply your brain's way ofsaying pause and take a little
reality check.
If this was helpful, you'll lovemy weekly email tips where I
share the systems that keep meand hundreds of other
entrepreneurs on Track Link inthe show notes.
If you got value in today'sepisode, please share it with

(08:05):
another entrepreneur who needsthat reminder.
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For more resources and toconnect with me, visit
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Until next time, remember you'vegot this.