I have recently been working on creating daily habits that will really drive home structure and balance in my life. It’s been an important addition to my daily routine, and I’ve designed it to not be intrusive. This all started because my accountability partner asked me what my big goals for 2018 were and I realized I had not formally sat down and structured my year. Let’s face it, the holidays kind of happen to must of us and before you know it, we are thrown into the new year with one of 2 mindsets:
- Feeling totally prepared and ready to achieve all our resolutions
- Feeling totally overwhelmed and have no clear vision on what we need for our year
Sure, maybe there is some grey area, but often, you are pulled more so in one direction. I decided to focus my thoughts around this topic by going through Darren Hardy’s “Living Your Best Year Ever” book; A Proven System for Achieving Big Goals. One of the first steps he has you go through is an exercise on gratitude. While that was helpful, it was the quote by John F. Kennedy that inspired this blog:
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy
Wow.
Let me explain. After the exercise I felt elated that I had so much for which to be grateful; my family, my health, my dogs, my career, you name it…I felt truly blessed. The eye-opener was if it took an exercise to have me remember my gratitude, how many opportunities do I lose EVERYDAY to not just acknowledge all the wonderful people and things in my life, but really show them my appreciation through my actions? I started playing out the day before in my mind, and the day before that, and well you get the idea. Let’s just say the study of my encounters resulted in some personal disappointment.
My daily habits I mentioned above are great for self-care and keeping me consistent with how much water I’m drinking or my workouts – but they didn’t include anything to really ground me in gratefulness.
That had to change. I implemented a SIMPLE practice you can do in less than 3 minutes. At night, I jot down a few things I am truly grateful for in my day and I end with 3 succinct bullet points to sum it all up. Each morning, I re-read what I wrote the night before and remember that I have an opportunity to embrace each moment, and each interaction.
The conclusion? I’ve felt a major shift by just re-focusing my energy to the positive and being intentional with my interactions and thoughts.
I encourage you to do the same! Inventory all you’re grateful for and ask yourself if you’re really living out that appreciation daily. If not, you’ve got some work to do – and let me tell you, it’s worth the small amount of work!