The 1-Minute Habit That with Transform your Mood, Mindset, and Energy
Ever just wish you could snap your fingers and transform your mood, mindset, and energy? A simple mindset shift that will immediately make you feel calmer, more at peace, more focused, and more in love with your life?
Then this episode is for you!
Today, we’re doing a deep dive into gratitude and the gratitude practice. Before you click away – I’m going to show you how something so simple as listing things you’re grateful for, can completely transform your life.
I’ll share my journey with a gratitude practice, which I resisted for a very long time, and how it not only changed my mood, but also how I experience my life each and everyday.
Why I Resisted Gratitude for Over 15 Years
I remember first learning about having a gratitude practice over 15 years ago. I struggled so much with finding gratitude generally in my life. I felt so unhappy. I was rooted so deeply into what was wrong. I felt like a failure, like nothing was going my way, and my dreams were completely out of reach.
When people told me to start writing down the things I was grateful for, absolutely nothing came to mind. I was so steeped in “woe is me” that the actual idea of finding something to be grateful for sounded absolutely ridiculous.
My Beginning: Gratitude for a Cup of Tea
When I finally decided to sit down, I started to write: “I’m grateful for my cup of tea,” because at that point, that was the only thing I was grateful for. That was the beginning of my gratitude journaling journey.
It took me so many years to fully understand the sheer power of a gratitude practice because in my eyes, it wasn’t solving my immediate problem. It wasn’t driving a necessary mindset shift. I couldn’t see how being grateful was going to be beneficial. It felt unnatural, like somebody was forcing gratitude on me. It was a lot of effort, and I couldn’t see the tangible transition from where I was to where I wanted to be.
How to Find Gratitude When You Only See the Storm Clouds
The way I look at gratitude now is so different. There was a mindset shift that happened where now I see it as turning your head slightly to see that the sun is peeking out of the clouds, but you’ve been looking at the storm clouds the whole time. If you seek gratitude out, it’s there.
Everything changed when I looked at gratitude differently. I had to ask myself: Why is it so easy to focus on the bad and not having enough, instead of focusing on all the good?
We have been taught and drilled into us to desire bigger and shinier and newer things. This constant concept of “more and different” is force-fed into us. When you’re constantly looking for more, you’re not really present in your own life. This feeds the belief that what you have and who you are isn’t enough.
The Healing Power of Gratitude for Your Energy
That thought pattern and mindset—the feeling of “I’m not enough”—triggers a physical and emotional reaction in us. It makes us frustrated, angry, and envious, and all these emotions rob us of our energy and our peace.
Gratitude and being thankful is a very peaceful, heartwarming, and healing energy.
It gives our body relief from being in fight or flight mode and stress mode all the time.
It is an immediate calming effect.
It brings us back to the present, rooting us into where we are now.
The Power of Choosing Your Filter
Our thinking is based on filters that we put over our thoughts. If we lead with the filter of lack and struggle, that’s all we see. It won’t be enough because we’re trained to wear that “not enough” filter.
We need to actively put on the “there are things that are good right now” type lens every day.
We can actively choose to shift our thoughts and choose how we want to see things. The gratitude practice, just asking yourself what you’re grateful for, is the easiest way to make a quick shift in your energy and how you’re seeing the world.
A Quick Note: If you are in the midst of a meltdown or an acute emotional moment, this is not what you focus on. You sometimes just have to have that breakdown. But once that emotion fades, then this is the perfect time to start a gratitude process.
Two Stories: Personal and Client Impact
A gratitude practice is part of your journey to experiencing a very joyful, satisfied, thriving life.
My Personal Gratitude Expansion
My practice started with just being grateful for my tea. It was the smallest little change I could make. Then, it started shifting when I began including why I was grateful for the things I was writing down.
For example, I could be grateful for my car because it gets me to work, even though I was frustrated I couldn’t afford a newer one.
The depth of the why part really helped me understand myself and how that thing impacted me. This was my eye-opener: Two things got to be true. I could be grateful for my job and still want another one.
This rewiring happening in my brain shifted my defeated energy. I got a break from feeling like there was no hope, and it was like opening my eyes to see that I had so much I had dreamed about having now.
As the years have gone on, my gratitude practice has expanded. I find myself grateful for not just tangible things, but for my creativity, new possibilities coming my way, and money that’s flowing to me.
A Client’s Story: The Immediate Shift
I have a client I’ll call D. She felt so stuck in her struggle—unhappy with her 9-to-5 and wanting time freedom with her baby. She was so focused on how miserable and unhappy she was.
She knew and I knew on the call that her mindset shift needed to happen fast. She was in her own way and needed to stop giving her energy to unhappiness.
I gave her two journaling exercises:
Wake up and ask herself what she was grateful for.
Write down how she was already abundant.
Within a week of doing this, things started picking up. She was approached at work to work on a project that was actually more aligned to the business she wanted to start. That internal energy shift was not only felt by her, but it was felt by others. She took back control of her energy, her thought patterns, and ultimately, her life and dreams.
How to Start Your Gratitude Habit Today (It’s Not Complicated)
The only way we can experience the feelings we desire is to keep bringing ourselves back to the present. This radical mindset shift is the key. Gratitude brings us back into our own lives, back to our heart and soul, and the things that light us up.
The power of gratitude is that it doesn’t have to be complicated. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.
Every morning, I just spend a few minutes brain dumping all that I’m grateful for and why. I allow it to flow, and I limit myself to 1 or 2 minutes of writing it down.
It could be simple, like:
-
Your warm, cozy bed or your morning coffee.
-
The shower you’re about to take.
-
I’m so grateful I don’t have a migraine today.
It can also be expansive:
-
I am so grateful for the future husband that is going to come into my life.
-
I’m grateful for the divine guidance I get every day.
Your first step is to dive in. Grab a pen and paper. Set aside as much time as you can commit. Don’t judge yourself, and let that be just how you start your day. It will put the most empowering filter over your thoughts and guarantee a powerful mindset shift for the day.
Gratitude and Abundance Journal Prompts:
-
I am grateful for… (Write everything that comes to mind, simple or expansive)
-
I am already abundant because… (Write down what you already have: limitless fresh air, hot mugs for coffee, time in the world)
You can download The Becoming Quarterly Journal and Planner, which has daily journaling pages that include prompts about gratitude and abundance here.
Thank you all for listening! I’d love to know if you have your own gratitude process, or if you are going to start one after listening to this episode. Reach out and let me know how it’s changed your life.
Articles you may find helpful:
Next Steps: Reclaim Your Momentum
If reading this resonated with you, if you’ve felt that pull of being lost in the hustle , or if you’re tired of pouring from an empty cup, I want you to know you don’t have to figure this out alone.
It’s time to reconnect with yourself and rediscover what truly fuels you. I invite you to book a free 30-minute Momentum Call with me. In this call, we’ll work together to help you get unstuck, gain clarity on what you truly want, boost your confidence and mindset, and create a clear direction and strategy for moving forward – one that ensures you’re living and being, not just doing.
Let’s uncover the missing piece in your picture and build a blended life that feels free, fulfilling, and fully aligned, for you.
