In all of the years I have been speaking, talking and engaging around the topic of gratitude with clients and audiences, the one aspect that seems most challenging for people is having gratitude for themselves.
When asked to come up with a list of things a person could be grateful for about themselves, it is the rare person who creates a hearty list. We are mostly taught that thinking good things about ourselves is egotistical or selfish or any number of negative things. Yes, there can be people who exhibit those negative aspects, but they aren’t coming from a place of gratitude.
Think of one thing you are grateful for about yourself. Right now- no one is looking! Write it down. Now, WHY are you grateful for that? How does that help you to live your life in a better way? How does that thing you are grateful for even possibly make you a better human in connection with others? Keep going- what’s the next thing?
If you haven’t started a gratitude practice yet, I encourage you to begin today. A handwritten practice, right before bed ideally, but anytime will do. Start with just three things each night and make one of them about you. If you are in a flow, write more. This is how we create a habit around remembering to turn to gratitude in our lives throughout the day. That is one of the reasons I love the gratitude challenge- because you are committed to writing each day, you are immersed in thinking about and looking for things you might write down later i.e. things you are grateful for.
When you remember to turn your thoughts to gratitude throughout the day, life becomes a little more vibrant and magical. That hard situation you were just dealing with? When you paused to think about what you might be grateful for in it, it wasn’t quite so bad. In fact, from that mode you were able to create a solution or bring patience, etc- something that helped the situation rather than contributed to it. This is a GOOD feeling!
This is the kind of thing that makes you feel good about yourself, that is helpful and real. Not egoistical. It helps you to see the power you have within yourself to help situations and your self belief grows.
This week, start to notice your gifts and talents in a bigger way. When you notice one, write is down as a gratitude for yourself. Be proud of yourself, this will give you confidence and energy to positively impact others. Self belief is important to living a full and meaningful life and having gratitude on purpose for yourself and a big part of this foundation. This practice will grow you from the inside out. The more you shift and change- seeing more good, more opportunity to make a difference and feel more gratitude for yourself, the better your life gets.
What’s your biggest takeaway from this blog post? Write it down. What are you willing to do with that between now and next week? Write it down, make a plan and get it into your calendar right now.
Have a great week ahead!
I am grateful you read my blog post today. Thank you!