Express Your Gratitude Formally and Informally

A Key Component of Gratitude Is Expressing This To Others 

Gratitude on the micro, day-to-day interaction level is equally important in achieving satisfaction and contentment along your life journey. 

One of the laws of the universe clearly seems to be that the more grateful you are for the people and little things in your life, the more people and little things will come your way to be grateful for. 

Here is how a few motivational speakers have defined this concept over the years:

There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way. ~Jim Rohn

The more you recognize and express gratitude for the things you have, the more things you will have to express gratitude for. ~Zig Ziglar

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life. ~Christiane Northrup

Like the ability to expertly tell a joke, being able to express gratitude (on a more micro level) is becoming a lost skill. 

Too few people stop to say thanks any more, either formally or informally. People will dash off an email to voice a complaint, yet few will take the time to be courteous with a single note of thanks.

Perhaps because expressions of personal gratitude are so rare, especially formal written ones, they are even more greatly appreciated by recipients. 

In reality, it takes so little effort to sincerely say thank you to everyone who does something for you. 

This is probably one of the easiest habits to form, and yet we somehow let opportunities slip past us, and others to be handled with unfelt, insincere utterances of "thanks" rather than a robust, and heart-felt "THANK YOU."

As William Arthur Ward, the author of Fountains of Faith and one of the most quoted writers of inspirational maxims wrote, "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." 

As you continue to make 2016 your personal Year of Gratitude, remember that a key component of sincere gratitude is expressing this to others, both formally and informally.

Please share other ideas you have in the comments section below. Thank You! 

This article is partially excerpted from our best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available today in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon. 

Create Your Gratitude List

Tips for making Gratitude a present condition and state of mind

Here's an exercise you should do at least twice a year ── get a sheet of paper and list all of the things for which you are grateful. This should be things, people, events, emotions, feelings, and thoughts that you are truly grateful for today.

If you write something in the past tense, edit it into the present tense. For instance, rather than being grateful for the great family vacation you had last year, write that you are grateful for the wonderful memories you have of that vacation and the deeper bonds and love between family members that abounds today as a result.

Likewise, instead of writing that you are grateful for the excellent advice of your mentors and teachers over the years, write that you are grateful for the opportunities you have today to put their advice and lessons to use.

Gratitude should be a present condition and state of mind. 

Too many people express gratitude in the past tense and then do not bring their gratitude with them into their experiences and interactions today. 

Being happy and thankful about past experiences is fine, but the fact is you live in the present and the chances of Living A Determined Life in the future are not great if you do not start with an abundance of gratitude today.

This should be a macro-level list, such as you are thankful for:

a)     having (name of person/s) in my life

b)     my specific talents in _______________ and being able to use these talents in pursuit of _______________

c)      my fitness level (if appropriate)

d)     my health status (if appropriate)

e)     my opportunities to contribute to the causes / community concerns that I am passionate about (list these)

f)       the challenges and opportunities given to me in my roles as mother/father, sister/brother, spouse, partner, grandparent, etc.

g)     my desire and willingness to start Living A Determined Life

Your gratitude list should be at least ten items long. 

If you cannot find ten macro-level things you are grateful for, come back to this exercise after you have read and contemplated chapters 5-9 of Project You: Living A Determined Life. 

A re-reading and internalization of the two previous blog posts on attitude may also help. 

We wrote earlier about making 2016 Your Personal Year of Gratitude. Knowing what you are grateful for, and ensuring that these are written in the present tense, will help you achieve this goal. 

Kindly share other ideas you have for creating Gratitude Lists in the comments below, as we'll be most grateful! 

This article is partially excerpted from the Amazon best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life. Get your copy today in paperback or Kindle formats at Amazon. 

Gratitude Produces The Most Contented and Happiest People

Being Grateful Increases Personal Peace and Satisfaction 

It is interesting to observe that the most contented and happiest people are those who fully embrace both their good and bad experiences. Such people know and understand that the hurdles, problems and even the awful events they have experienced were all important and crucial aspects of their personal journeys.

As spiritual beings temporarily trapped in the human form our purpose in this life is to experience what is needed for our spirits, the spirits of others, and indeed the universe, to grow and expand. 

At different points in our respective life journeys, each of these spiritual needs will be experienced and fulfilled (but not always in ways that our mental and emotional selves desire).

It is important to understand that your life experiences are for your spiritual growth, not your human, mental, or emotional growth. 

When you fully grasp this concept, it is a whole lot easier to have gratitude for everything life throws at you, rather than just the things, events and people your human aspect considers good.

At a macro level the more you are honestly and deeply grateful for: a) being alive, and b) the experiences you have at each particular point along your own path, then the more satisfied and at peace you will be when it is time for you to pass beyond this particular world. 

This article is partially excerpted from the Amazon best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life. Get your copy now in Kindle or paperback format at Amazon. 

Make 2016 Your Personal Year of Gratitude

Be Truly Appreciative and Thankful Has Many Benefits 

Throughout the ages, philosophers, thinkers, gurus, sages, and leaders of every spiritual and religious tradition have taught that the cultivation of gratitude is a key to experiencing deeper levels of fulfillment, self esteem, well being and authentic happiness on an individual level.

Gratitude has also long been seen as necessary for creating a more robust, friendly, co-operative society on a tribal or collective level.

In fact, some thinkers have put gratitude at the top of their attitude lists, including these two:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others. ~Marcus Cicero

Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life changing. ~Zig Ziglar

Whether it is first or not, gratitude will certainly unlock your character and create more fullness in your life.

Gratitude, from a Project You Life Journey approach, takes place on two levels: 

a) the macro view of being thankful for the opportunity of life, and 

b) at the micro, day-to-day dealings with people.

Gratitude is not simply being thankful or feeling blessed for the positive events in your life and for the range of happy and satisfied emotions you feel. 

Rather, it is about being truly appreciative and thankful for being given the opportunity to experience this world as a living, breathing, thinking, and feeling sentient being.

As we are only mid-way into January, it's not too late for all of us to make a commitment to make 2016 your Year of Gratitude. Feel free to share your ideas on how to do this in the comments section below. (We'll be most grateful!) 

This article is partially excerpted from the Amazon best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, which is available in paperback and Kindle formats. 

Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude

Your Attitude Determines How Well You Succeed 

Some final thoughts as we conclude this series of blog posts on attitude. 

Albert Einstein said, "Out of clutter, find Simplicity. From discord, find Harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies Opportunity." 

You do not need to let events, heartaches, disappointments, and worries control your life. 

John Maxwell uses a sailing analogy to demonstrate this: "The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."

No matter which way the wind is blowing, you can always sail in your desired direction. As Maxwell adds, "Our attitude at the beginning of a task will affect its outcome more than anything else."

Highly successful college football coach Lou Holtz puts it another way, "Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you can do. Attitude determines how well you do it."

You have probably come across the phrase "your attitude determines your altitude." Although the origins of the phrase are in dispute, there is no arguing the merits of the quotation and the thinking behind it.

This is not to suggest that simply having some wide-eyed, highly optimistic attitude will get you what you desire, or is the only tool you need on the path to success. Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football, probably said it best: "The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital."

There are two key aspects to a winning attitude: 1) not being afraid to fail, and 2) thinking positively. 

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, has spoken about both of these aspects:

I never look at the consequences of missing a big shot. When you think about the consequences, you always think of a negative result.

The bottom line is, while you may not be able to change the world, or the events in the world directly or indirectly impacting upon you, you can always change yourself, and your likelihood of success, by adjusting your attitude and your thinking. 

This article is partially excerpted from the best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. 

A Successful Attitude Helps Create A Successful Life

You Can Always Change Yourself By Adjusting Your Attitude 

Your attitude is the summation of your personal philosophy on life. 

As Jim Rohn says, "Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out." 

Hence, your attitude, being the summation of your personal philosophy, can be considered the greatest determining factor in how you shape your life and control your destiny (i.e. how you Live A Determined Life).

Look at these personal philosophies and you can tell exactly what kinds of attitudes these highly successful people have:

The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you. The world is what you are. ~Thomas Dreier

My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.  ~Oprah Winfrey 

Positive self-direction is the action plan that all winners in life use to turn imagination into reality, fantasy into fact, and dreams into actual goals. ~Denis Waitley

People who stay on top, who are winners year after year, have one thing in common – a winning attitude. They know that complacency breeds mediocrity, so they give 100 percent. They always are the best they can be, and they never spend time thinking about what they have done, because it steals from what they’ve yet to do. ~A. J. Foyt

Man is unlike any other animal on the planet in that we can create our own motivations and attitudes. 

This wasn't the common thinking for thousands of years when men thought they were merely at the mercy of pre-ordained destinies. William James, the 19th Century philosopher, was most influential in spreading the understanding that man could control his destiny. He wrote: "The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing their inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

While that was extremely revolutionary thinking at the end of the 19th century, it is certainly the accepted thinking today, at least in those parts of the world which have advanced beyond the basic poverty level. 

The bottom line is, while you may not be able to change the world, or the events in the world directly or indirectly impacting upon you, you can always change yourself by adjusting your attitude and your thinking. 

This article is excerpted from the best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. 

Motivational Quotes on Attitude

Your Attitude is an Extension of What You Believe 

If you fill your mind with new learning you will never stagnate. 

Have an attitude of courage and you will be able to face life's varied situations with greater confidence and strength. Likewise, if you load your mind with optimistic attitudes you will always have hope.

But only you can determine how to fill your mind and what attitudes you will allow to dominate your personality. And remember, your attitude is an expression of what you believe, the values you carry within and the expectations you have for the future.

Here's what some leading thinkers have had to say about attitude:

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens. ~John Homer Miller, American author

Whatever life has handed to us, whether it is one talent or a hundred, it is our responsibility to do something with what we have been given! That is how we change pennies into fortunes and obstacles into opportunity - by taking all that we have and all that we are and putting it to work. ~Jim Rohn, motivational speaker and writer

You've got to love what you're doing. If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time.  ~Gordie Howe, Hall of Fame hockey player

Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life, I find. ~ John F. Kennedy, American President

Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers. ~Anthony Robbins, author, speaker and peak performance expert

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. ~Harry S Truman, American President

The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur. ~Vince Lombardi, famed American football coach

It is not what happens to us, it is what we choose to do about what happens that makes the difference in how our lives turn out. ~Jim Rohn, motivational speaker and writer

There are two ways to face the future. One way is with apprehension; the other is with anticipation. ~Jim Rohn, motivational speaker and writer

Motivational quotes are one way to fill your mind with an optimistic attitude. There are numerous such motivational quotes in our book Project You: Words of Wisdom, which is available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. 

If you have your own favorite quote or quotes on attitude, please share them with us in the comments box below. 

This article is partially excerpted from the best-selling book Project You: Living A Determined Life, available at Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.