Gratitude is amazing. It is a gateway to what we want most.
Renowned psychologists and researchers Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough found that people who regularly practice gratitude (compared to people who don’t):
- Exercise more regularly
- Feel better about their lives
- Are more optimistic
- Move closer to their goals
- Are more alert, enthusiastic, determined, attentive and energetic
- Give and receive more help
(The ability to ask for and accept help is a key factor of success for entrepreneurs, so this one’s especially important.)
Gratitude also lowers your resistance, which allows flow in your life. Think of something you’re truly grateful for. Did you feel your body relax and your breathing slow? Did your shoulders drop? Felt good, didn’t it?
Psychologist, storyteller and author Brené Brown says, “When I’m standing at the crossroads of fear and gratitude, I’ve learned that I must choose vulnerability and practice gratitude if I want to know joy.”
Tweet: Having a practice of identifying five things you’re grateful for every day can change your life.Infusing Your Year with Gratitude
Knowing the power of gratitude, I decided to create a way to infuse it into my year. I use this myself and I LOVE it!
If you’re reading this at some time other than the beginning of the year, don’t wait! Go ahead and do it now, whenever “now” happens to be. This is too good not to implement right away!
Here are the three steps:
- Write a letter to yourself dated a year from now.
- What did you do?
- What was great about it?
- What are some of the steps you took to have that happen?
- What did you have to overcome or get past in order to do it?
- What are you most proud of?
- Go through your letter and make a list of things you’re grateful for.
- Make a weekly (or even daily) practice of reading your gratitude list.
The Super Secret Power Activator:
Ok, maybe not super secret, but this does make a HUGE difference: When you’re reading your list, FEEL your gratitude. Actually feel grateful.
Worried that you can’t feel grateful for something that hasn’t happened yet? Not a problem. Fake it. That’s right, just pretend. It’ll still work.
Your emotions are a key part of your energy supply, so USE them! Pour them into this exercise. Where in your body do you feel gratitude? What does it feel like? Does it have a color, sound, smell or shape?
Don’t worry if you have no idea about that part. Just see if you notice any physical sensations when you’re feeling grateful.
- I’m grateful for and embrace all the opportunities that come to me in 2016.
- I’m grateful for all the challenges I’ll encounter, everything I learn from them and the ways they help me expand.
- I’m grateful for all the times I’ll do something awkwardly or poorly, because they’ll show that I’m trying new things, reaching out further and learning in the process.
- I’m grateful for each and every person I’ll serve this year, the difference I’ll make and the difference I’ll experience.
- I’m grateful for the love, joy and money that flows to me and from me to others.
- I’m grateful for all I’ll gain from the Leadership program, and all the ways I’ll go out of my comfort zone, even embracing discomfort and a willingness to change.
- I’m grateful for all the help I’ve received – including the support, the guidance and the accountability I ask for and get.
Feel free to use them as part of yours if you’d like.
I’d love to know some of the things from YOUR list, so please share in the comments below.
Wishing you all the very best this and every year.
