"Be thankful for what you have, you'll end up getting more." +OprahWinfrey
I've believed for a long time that Gratitude is one of the keys to success. I think most successful people have attributed some (or most) of their success to it. +Gratitude
But when I've tried to start the practice, it was uncomfortable. It was frustrating. I never felt like I was doing it right. I was in such a bad place, such a place of fear and lack, that I just didn't want to experience gratefulness.
After all, I was in a bad place, but I was comfortable there. I'd been there a long time.
I'm happy to say things are different now. Today, I maintain 4 Gratitude Practices throughout the day. One is enough. Oprah said all she did was write down 5 things each day, they could have been as simple as someone holding a door for her. But I'm doing 4. A little bit of overkill but it feels great! +GratitudePractice
GRATITUDE GOOD MORNING
I start with a simple "Thank you" when I wake up. I follow it up by remembering a few things I'm thankful for before getting out of bed. +GratitudeGoodMorning
Focusing is usually a little difficult because no matter how good a night sleep I had, I'm hazy in the morning. This is exactly the reason why I do it. That haze is called the Alpha state and its what hypnotists are trying to induce when they tell you to relax. It's a mental state where the subconscious mind is more open to suggestion than in our wakeful, alert state. +AlphaState +Hypnotism +Subconsciousmind
I've been doing this practice (consistently) since late summer.
GRATITUDE TEXT
During the day, I go for a walk. Each day, I send a Gratitude Text for at least one thing I'm grateful for to my Ever-note account. There's lots of ways I could make this better (how about texting a friend to say thank you) but I'm OK with texting myself for now. +GratitudeText +Evernote
I've been doing this practice (off and on) for over a year.
GRATITUDE JOURNAL
Each night before I go to sleep, I write in a Gratitude Journal. The base of my Gratitude Journal comes from fitness trainer Craig Ballantyne. He has a version he sells, but making my own was better because I made a few additions. +GratitudeJournal +CraigBallantyne
- I write down 5 achievements from the day. Some days these "achievements" can be pretty small. It doesn't matter. You'll see why in a bit. +Achievements
- I write down one thing I feel Gratitude for (I'm going to change that to 5 after listening to Oprah's advice). I try to make this one thing something different each day. Making it different is like exercising a gratitude muscle, according to James Altucher. +GratitudeMuscle +JamesAltucher
- I write down at least one Opportunity I'm grateful for. +Opportunity
- I write down at least one Thing I Did I'm grateful for.
- I write down at least one Thing I'm Going To Do I'm grateful for.
- I write down the People I was grateful for that day.
and
- I finish the page off with a list of questions I want my mind to work on overnight. "How can I show my wife I love her?" is always on the list, but so are things like, "What's the best way for me to study to get an A on my next exam?" or "How can I make time tomorrow to do something really fun?"
I keep my Gratitude Journal in a 6x8 notebook. It's a little nicer than the typical notebook I would buy for school to show respect for the process. I'm glad I did that. Writing in my Gratitude Journal each night is something I look forward too.
There is often redundancy and overlap in the things I write. I'm ok with that. It's better to write something twice than get frustrated and quit. Even an imperfect gratitude practice is better than none at all.
I've been doing this practice (consistently) for about a month now.
POSITIVE FOCUS REVIEW
The last thing I do each day, I actually do a day later. I take the 5 achievements from my Gratitude Journal the night before and complete a Positive Focus Review. +PositiveFocusReview
This habit comes from Strategic Coach Dan Sullivan. The purpose of the Positive Focus Review is to get people focused on what they're doing right and expand upon it. +StrategicCoach +DanSullivan
The Review consists of four question:
1. What are my 5 top achievements?
2. Why did they matter?
3. How can I build on them?
4. What specific actions will I take to build on them?
I wrote the questions in plural form here, but in practice I take each "achievement" one by one. I put achievement in quotes because some days (especially at the beginning), my achievements weren't things that were worth writing about. That's the beauty of the Review though. I did that thing on that day for reason.
Every action we take is designed to move us closer to something we want. By considering what we're doing each day, we consider if we should even be doing that thing at all. And if we should, what can we do to make it more effective. Remember, a 1% improvement each day results in a 3,396% improvement over the course of a year.
An example of a common entry in my Positive Focus Review:
- Walked 2 miles.
- This mattered because even something as simple as walking has been proven to lower the risk of heart disease and Alzheimer's.
- I can improve on this activity by remembering to breathe deeply as I walk.
- Tomorrow, I will (at least once), take in a deep breath for 4 paces, hold it for 4 paces, exhale it for 4 paces, and wait to breath again for 4 paces.
CONCLUSION
So those are my four daily Gratitude Practices. They're starting to become Gratitude Habits. I wouldn't recommend doing all four, at least not to start, I didn't. I added them slowly. +GratitudeHabits
he thing that got me started last year (broke me out of my gratitude deficit) was just noticing one thing I liked about the people I passed on my daily walks in the park, maybe a funny shirt, a nice smile, funky hair, cool shoes, whatever, just one thing about that person I could appreciate. When I find myself in a bad mood, I still do the "one nice thing" about people I pass habit. It's easy and it works.
I hope you try these and one of them works for you.
Related Posts --------------------------------------------------
How I Started Gratitude Journaling
http://www.bubblews.com/news/9621789-will-this-gratitude-journal-work
A Habit Tracking Bonus
http://www.bubblews.com/news/9644660-a-side-benefit-of-tracking-my-habits
This post 4 Gratitude Practices For You To Try by me originally appeared on Bubblews. wordcount=1142
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