Develop the Attitude of Gratitude

Whatever the state of your finances may be, I believe that the first step to true self-esteem is to be grateful for what you have. By expressing gratitude you start to shift negative energy and thinking. For this reason, one of the first things I ask students on my personal effectiveness training to do is to write out 50 things that they are grateful for.

So, and this is homework, the first step to your new self-esteem is to write out your own gratitude list.

But I suggest you write a list not of 50, but of 100 (yes 100) things in your life that you are grateful for.

To make it easy, include everything. So, not just material objects, but also places (eg where you live), people and, what I call “nominalisations”, which are not physical things that you could put, for example, in a wheelbarrow, but which are of real value to you, such as love (stating the source of the love, e.g. from your partner, family, spouse). And it could also be health, independence etc. Anything you cherish. It could even be a smile you received !

Include everything, great or small. Here size does not matter! Trust me on this. And, taking “people” as an example, for a moment - even if you have no family or friends, think of someone who has been friendly, kind or of particular service to you, maybe someone who has helped you along the way. There is always someone to be grateful for, if only me for having you realise and acknowledge it!

Now you may be thinking why should I be grateful to someone I don’t know!?

The answer is you can learn from them or their experiences, and that learning in turn can help you to break out of your current situation.

By the way, if you have not yet started your list or are hesitating for any reason, ask yourself: what have I got to lose, other than maybe half an hour of my time? If it takes longer than that, or if you lose count after 80, congratulate yourself for having so much to be thankful for!

When you have completed your list and have checked that you have 100 items or more, add the heading “What I am grateful for in my life” at the top of your page, and sign your name at the bottom. And you can add to the list as you think of more things.

The final piece is to read it out aloud to yourself once after completion and then again every day for the next 30 days. Psychologists tell us that to reinforce new behaviour, we need to maintain that behaviour for at least 30 days.

There it is! You may find this to be a great way to build yourself up.

So, give it a try.

And have fun with it.

Incidentally, the more grateful you are, the more you attract to be grateful for! That’s the law of attraction, of which more later.......

And finally....