No matter what is going on your life, you have a lot to be grateful for. Sometimes though we just get too covered up in chaos and clutter to see it clearly. This is why making gratitude an actual daily habit is essential to our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. It is also critical to our success in business and satisfaction in life. Individuals who act from a place of gratitude are 10X happier than those who do not.
Here are five (my own magic number) quick and easy practices you can adopt to ensure that gratitude becomes a winning habit in your life and in your business. Give it just 21 days to see some rather remarkable results from a boost in your attitude to a boost in your bottom-line. Gratitude makes the world and you a richer person.
1. Make your gratitude practice daily. Every morning, I write just a page about my day, set my intentions and perhaps most importantly say thank you for five people in my life, or five things I have, five feelings I know, or any five of anything I am thankful for. It sets your day on a positive note. You can do this on an index card and carry it with you for the day. Write a new one each day and keep them in a box, it's your very own box of gratitude and it will grow with each passing day.
2. Say your gratitude aloud. As you write your gratitude down, speak aloud the names of the people, places, things and more you are grateful for. As you say it out loud, feel the feeling of thank you flooding your body, your heart, and your mind. Bask in that feeling, it will carry you through any crisis that arises and allow you to jump hurdles that come your way.
3. Write your gratitude down. Now, I know you already are doing the index cards, this is a step farther and so often missed in our busy lives ruled by technology. Send five thank you notes a day randomly to people in your life. It could be to your mother, a dear friend, your pet sitter, a business associate, a client, whoever it is about letting them know how grateful you are they are in your life.
4. Share your gratitude. Saying thank you is such a seemingly small act, yet so often forgone today. Share your gratitude with everyone you come into contact with, from the maid in the hotel to the grocery store cashier, from the receptionist for that hard to reach CEO you've been chasing to your son for doing his homework. Thank you recognizes people for their best and it multiplies when you share it.
5. Use your gratitude. Whenever I am feeling blue or things aren't going as I'd like them to, I take a minute, a deep breath and look at how incredibly lucky I am. I'll say thank you for my car because there are many who don't have one. I'll say thank you for my house because there are many homeless . I'll say thank you for the food I eat because many go hungry . I say thank you for my health because many suffer illness. What can you say thank you for to lift your spirits, make you realize how fortunate you are, and put you back on the path of gratitude?
Gratitude giving is a game changer. It lifts black moods, repairs broken spirits, and generates more prosperity and abundance than you can ever imagine. There is absolutely no way forward without gratitude. Make it a practice every day and in every way.
