Leading a multi-week conference call series, the assignment between sessions was to focus on gratitude throughout the week.
Reported one participant, Jose, “The more I focused on gratitude and what I was grateful for, the less negative self-talk was taking place in my head.”
All right, Jose! (and I literally mean, “all right!”) 🙂
Makes sense, doesn’t it? Shine a light and darkness disappears. When we shine the light of gratitude on the darkness of ungrateful thinking, the harmful sniping and self-talk practically disappears and we are happier.
After all, the mind cannot simultaneously hold two opposing thoughts. You simply cannot focus on gratitude…and feel miserable.
In my program, “Master Your Traits – Master Yourself” I devote one entire section to “Gratitude.” And, it’s the very first trait of the 13 in total. Why? Three reasons:
#1 Gratitude is the foundation for all the other traits. Like the physical foundation that allows a high-rise building to stay standing tall and sturdy, unfazed by strong and unrelenting winds, gratitude is the emotional foundation upon which all of the other traits/characteristics can flourish.
#2 Your level of gratitude determines your level of happiness, as well as your potential for success. It’s difficult to be happy without gratitude. Let’s face it, constantly focus on the negative and living life just doesn’t feel very good. When you don’t feel very good, it’s difficult to be successful. Sure, people who are angry, resentful, depressed, etc., can still make money (though, not as often and not as easily as they otherwise would), but are still not “successful” in terms of feeling good about themselves and what they’ve accomplished.
#3 Gratitude keeps you closer to the Source Who provides us the many reasons to be grateful. According to Wallace D. Wattles, in his classic, The Science of Getting Rich, the nearer we are to the Source of all good, the more good we will receive. He says,
“…a soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with the Creator than one who never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment. When good things come to us, the more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme Power, the more good things we will receive – and the more rapidly they will come. The reason for this is simply that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the Source from which the blessings come.”
And, this could actually be a fourth reason; being grateful is physically healthier than not being grateful. In her excellent book, Ready, Set…Grow, Dondi Scumaci referred to a number of studies that showed a direct line between gratitude and health, summing it up by saying:
“Gratitude is a powerful thing. It produces resiliency and hope. Gratitude encourages the heart. Gratitude heals.”
So, a suggestion for the coming week? Be like Jose and focus on gratitude; 24/7 if you can. To help you do this, write the word “Gratitude” on a yellow “sticky note” and put it everywhere you can see it during the day; on your computer, on your walls, on your bathroom mirror, on your telephone. And, every time you see it, ask yourself, “For what do I have to be grateful?”
Remember: it doesn’t have to be anything more than being grateful for your sight, hearing, senses of touch, taste or smell, ability to walk, breathe without a respirator, having a roof over your head, food in your stomach or that delicious first cup of coffee in the morning, etc.
So, in cultivating the Habit of Happiness, it all seems to come down to Gratitude. And, despite external circumstances, an “attitude of gratitude” is always within our control.
Enjoy this post? Receive an update when our next post is published by entering your best email address below and clicking Get Updates.
Great post, Bob! I’d like to add that just as our bodies need nourishment (or Sunday’s Dunkin Donuts), it’s also helpful to boost our gratitude levels by setting aside time for daily contemplation.
I find it valuable to use early morning time for meditation, reading, affirmations and quiet reflection. (Or even just one thing.) It clears the mind for positive thought, and my day seems to flow more smoothly too. Whenever I feel too rushed to set aside that morning time — even if it’s just fifteen minutes, then the rest of my day seems out of balance. (Of course, I can go back later in the day, but that’s harder to do.)
Your “gratitude sticky note” is a wonderful reminder of how important our self-talk really is.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom! Keep it up… 🙂
Great point, Lynn. At times, we simply need to “make an appointment” to focus on the many things for which we are grateful. Thank you for sharing.
Another good book on this topic is Happiness Is a Serious Problem, by Dennis Prager
One of my favorite posts. Thanks for the reminder to be grateful in all things. There is always something to be grateful for even in daily “drudgery” If I have to do something distasteful I try to ask myself what limitation would prevent me from completing the task. So for example I am grateful that I am healthy and can get out of bed and I have a house to clean and a family to clean up after and it goes on 🙂 And it brings happier thoughts instead of negative thought which makes me a happier person!
I am grateful for your blog.
Thanks Bob!
Kimberly, what you’re talking about is known as a “re-frame” and it’s one of the most positive actions that we as human beings can take. I try (when I’m “consciously awake” enough to do so) and do something just like that whenever I’m faced with doing a task I’d rather not be doing. So, instead of focusing on the displeasure of the task, I find a reason to be grateful for the ability to do it. Again, though, I certainly don’t use the re-frame as much as I could. You gave me a good reminder.
Cheryl, thank you. I’m grateful to have you as a reader.
Bob, you have hit the bullseye in my heart. Reading your post on Gratitude brought a tear to this 38 year old mans eyes. Funny how things happen when we are grateful.
Tonight, as I went to bed, I had an uneasy feeling about not taking enough action in my business today. I prayed in this way. I said I am grateful for my wife, my children, my health, my opportunity to be more everyday.
Then I woke up and typed Bob Burg into google after watching a youtube video of yours and have been reading for the last hour. Now I read this and just thought I’d respond to the importance of being grateful.
Bob, The doctors diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis when I was 25 and paralyzed suddenly, and when I thank source for what has been given to me, the Dis Ease dissapears. I am a fulltime network marketer with a nutritional company and now I know that it is of great importance to let everyone I know to be grateful, so that they can allow abundance their way.
ok, bed time now, it’s 2:17 a.m.
You are an awsome teacher and human being, so I am grateful and Thankful to you.
p.s.- The Science of Getting Rich is the first book I ever read and continue to read almost everyday, as I know it is a life guide to every form of abundance.