Your attitude about your life and how much gratitude you show on a daily basis can greatly impact your success. In fact, the more grateful you are for what you already have (however minimal it may be), the faster you can achieve the success that you are looking for.
If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard the expression “what you focus on, expands”. Whether you realize it or not, that is a very true statement. Let’s look at some examples.
Let’s say you stub your toe in the morning, and you get all upset and think “Just my luck.” You then head into your kitchen and pour yourself some cereal for breakfast, and spill the cereal all over the floor. You then say, “could my day get any worse?”
That negative attitude has now been put in motion, and the rest of the day seems to keep getting worse and worse. And it’s all because of the negative energy and attitude that you started having right after you got out of bed.
If you want to avoid days that seem to keep getting worse and worse, all you have to do is change your attitude. Instead of getting upset when you stub your toe, just laugh and say “At least I had a toe to stub this morning. Some people don’t even have legs.”
And when you pour your cereal all over the floor, just laugh again and say, “well, that just slipped out of my hand, but boy I am so thankful that I have something to eat today. So many people all over the world are starving today.”
Do you see the difference in how your attitude can totally change how your mind perceives what happened to you that day? Your mind is so powerful, that it keeps looking for more and more things that are like the thoughts you already have going through your mind.
So if you want to super-charge your success, work hard to focus on being grateful all day long. In the rest of this article, I’d like to share 3 strategies you can use to be grateful as you go about your day.
Strategy # 1 – Go On A Rampage Of Appreciation
A great way to express your gratitude is by going on a rampage of appreciation. This means to look around your environment for things to be grateful for.
Here are some examples: Suppose you are driving in your car to work or some other destination. Look around and see things that you are grateful for. You might say things like:
- I’m so grateful that cars were invented so I can drive from place to place so easily
- I am so grateful for that grocery store so I can buy delicious food for my family
- I am so grateful that these roads have been paved so people can easily travel from one place to another
- I am so grateful that I have freedom in my country so I can choose where I live and where I work
While you are on your “rampage of appreciation”, you literally look for a dozen or more things to be grateful for. Even if you’re struggling in your personal life, find things around you to be grateful for, and you will be amazed at how it puts you in a better mood.
Try going on a rampage of appreciation once per day if you can, and especially any time that you’re feeling a bit depressed or sad.
You’ll be amazed at how it immediately will put you in a better mood. In fact, it’s impossible to be in a bad mood at the same moment that you are feeling grateful. Try it and you’ll see that this is true.
Strategy # 2 – Say Thank You Over And Over Again
Another strategy you can use to increase your level of gratitude is to say “Thank You” over and over again in your mind. I often do this when I walk out to get the mail, or if I’m walking into a building.
You just say “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you” with each step that you take.
I have personally made a habit of doing this when I walk in parking lots and out to get my mail every day. But it took practice for me to start doing this every day.
I would recommend that you just start by saying thank you on some occasions when you’re walking somewhere, and then try doing it more and more frequently until it becomes a habit.
This strategy will also put you in a good mood almost immediately, and will set the tone for the rest of your day.
Strategy # 3 – Write Down What You Are Grateful For
Another great way to show your gratitude is to write down what you are grateful for on a piece of paper. You can do this when you first get up in the morning, or right before you go to bed at night.
You just take out a piece of paper and write down 3-5 things that you are really grateful to have in your life, or that exists in the world.
If you’re in a really tough place in your own life where you just can’t find anything to be grateful for, focus on things in the world around you that you are grateful for.
This can help put you in a better mood yourself so that you can start to improve your own situation.
No matter where you are at in your own life, you can improve your situation dramatically by just focusing on being grateful on a regular basis. This has worked wonders in my own life over the years, and it can for you too.
Give it a try, and let me know how it works for you.