Gratitude: My Secret Ingredient for Success
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Gratitude is one of the cornerstones of the good life and the bedrock on which true success rests. By focusing on what you’re thankful for, you will dispel negativity and transform all aspects of your life. Here’s how:
Gratitude Must Be Expressed, Not Just Felt
It’s vital to not just feel gratitude, but to express it too. In Japanese there’s a term called on which means a sense of gratitude combined with the desire to repay others for what we’ve been given through words and deeds. Being grateful but not expressing it is pointless – unexpressed gratitude is just the same as ingratitude! I built a fortune in real estate by sending my clients thank you notes and I built my next fortune teaching business professionals the benefit of gratitude. Today, Buffini & Company provides over 10 million thank you notes a year to those we train in the sales and service industries. Gratitude is big business but, better than that, it’s a great way to live.
Write Down What You’re Thankful For
Sometimes, a situation can be so demanding or aggravating that it’s tough to see any reason to be grateful. When you feel frustrated or disheartened like this, get a pen and paper and start listing all the small things that you’re thankful for. Making a list like this is a smoothie for the soul. It quickly eliminates the urge to complain or be cynical and it helps you to realize that, no matter life’s difficulties, there’s always something to be thankful for. As author Melody Beattie said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
Gratitude Is an Attitude of the Heart
Gratitude brings energy to the spirit and does wonders for communication between people. In today’s world, there’s a constant barrage of news and information that often sensationalizes and dramatizes the negativity of life. It takes real energy to be positive, grateful and happy. Gratitude is the difference between having an abundance or a scarcity mentality, between focusing on what’s possible or obsessing about the negative and between being optimistic or pessimistic.
There is a real power and strength in gratitude. The more you focus on gratitude, the more you’ll see not only a change in those around you, but also a profound change in your own attitude and heart. To learn more, listen to the latest episode of “It’s a Good Life.”