Five simple ideas to fix “gratitude gaps”

Taking someone for granted is easy.

We become experts at home.

In our circle of love.

We start by taking small things for granted.

Then, we move on to taking bigger things for granted.

Soon, taking for granted becomes our second nature.

Once that happens, we become blind to the fact that we are taking someone and/or something for granted.

You might relate to this.

If you do, remember that you can force an intervention by periodically taking a break just to count your blessings.

Here are five simple ideas to move from “taking for granted” to “being grateful” – in the process you will fix a few “gratitude gaps” in your life:

1. Send heartfelt thank you notes

Sending thank you cards may have reached a “cliche status”, but it still works!

Three of my friends – Jason Womack, Holly Duckworth and Sally Peru have all been doing this for years. Interestingly, all three of them are extremely busy people. If they can do it, you can do it too.

I send thoughtful cards every now and then and it has made a huge difference in my life.

Sending a thank you card not only

2. Be mindful when  requesting someone’s mindshare

Mindshare is one of the most scarce resource someone has in this super busy world.

Think about it..

You don’t normally feel comfortable asking money from someone.

You don’t hesitate to request someone’s attention or mindshare.

When you observe closely, investing their mindshare on something that creates value is what is making money for them.

When they invest their mindshare for your cause, you reduce the mindshare they have available to invest in something that creates value.

In other words, if you are not thoughtful, you become an opportunity cost for them.

3. Explore “What went well” journals

I observed my friend Susan Bender Phelps posting a short status update every single day on Facebook titled “What went well today..” It was Susan’s reflection of what went well on that day and why she is grateful for something or someone. Just reading her reflections made me reflect on what went well in my life on that day. It brought back gratitude to the forefront every single time I read those updates.

You could start your own method or writing or reflecting on “what went well” on a particular day. Since there is a good chance that others participated in manifesting “what went well” for you, it will be impossible to shy away from feelings go gratitude when you engage in such a practice.

4. Audit your recent outreach to get clues

Since I know that you are a human being, I know that wherever you are in your life, you need help.

You have reached out for help to one or more people either in person, phone, email or on social media in the last thirty days.

And, you probably have gotten that help you asked for from more than one person.

Question: Have you taken the time to thoughtfully thank them back?

If yes, congratulations!

If not, it’s not too late yet.

5. Focus on the journey rather than a destination

When you are doggedly focused on a particular destination or the next milestone, it is common to experience a blur on things that don’t occur in your line of sight – your destination or that milestone. Even when someone helps you to make progress along the path, your focus stays on the gap between where you are as compared to where you should get to.

You forgot to enjoy the journey and the people that are making meaningful contributions along the way.

Stop to smell the roses and you will have time to be grateful.

Launching the Gratitude book

Today happens to be the world gratitude day. In my opinion, the world gratitude day should be every single day. But, I will play along. Hence,

I have chosen to unveil my book “Gratitude” on this day.

Please take a look.

If the topic resonates with you, consider supporting me by one or more of the following:

1. Buy the book for yourself or gift the book to someone.

2. Buy multiple copies of the book to share with team members, friends, colleagues, customers, prospects or partners.

3. Share this blog post with your network

More at www.gratitude.pub !

Thanks in advance.