I have a plaque on my mudroom wall at home that starts out with: Thank you for the dirty dishes; it means that I have food to eat and have dishes to wash. Thank you for the long grass that needs mowing because it means I have a house and yard. Thank you for the income taxes I have to pay because it means I am employed….You get the picture.
I attended a First Business Bank Seminar that Roger Seip, author of Train Your Brain for Success, presented at. Roger spoke about how your mind creates your life. He talked about how important it is to practice gratitude; at meetings, at home, with friends, and so on. The fastest way to elevate attitude and have good interactions is to think about what we have to be grateful for.
There’s a saying that gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy and bringing more of what you want into your life. Be grateful for what you already have and you will attract more good things. If you want to be successful, you need to feel more gratitude; for clients, colleagues, work teams, etc. Gratitude is like a muscle: The more you use it, the stronger and more resilient it becomes.
Practice Gratitude. I think the best time to practice gratitude is at night. Take a few minutes to think about your day. Record the events of the day that created positive emotions, either in you or in those around you. Did you help someone solve a problem? Write it down. Did you connect with a colleague or friend? Write it down. Did you improve a process? Write it down.
What you’re doing is "programming your brain" to view your day more positively and elevate your attitude. Focus on what went well and shrug off what didn’t.
Get into the habit of practicing daily moments of gratitude and you’ll be well on your way to programming your brain to notice more reasons to feel gratitude. You’ll quickly discover that even a "bad day" is full of moments that are worthy of gratitude.
Remember what I said about my plaque in my mudroom? Trust me: You will appreciate life more fully.
Over time, you’ll attract more success into your life, not to mention greater numbers of successful (i.e., grateful) people. You’ll also find yourself thanking people more often. That’s good for you…and it’s good for them.
Speaking of gratitude, thank you for taking the time to read this post. And if you share it with others, send them a note of gratitude along with it. You’ll be amazed at how good it makes you feel.
