How to Cultivate Gratitude in Leadership and Life

I love talking about gratitude!  As promised, below are three activities to cultivate gratitude in our lives. 

I remember reading an article about gratitude several years ago. The author talked about keeping a gratitude journal. This idea intrigued me and I decided to commit to keeping this journal for a full year. Each day I listed at least five things for which I was grateful, big, or small. Some days the list was a dozen, other days I struggled to come up with five! Then something happened…I soon realized that I was receiving more of whatever it was that I was grateful! Abundance did indeed flow. Blessings surrounded me in my life; work, health, play, and love became much more rewarding than ever before. To this day, I still reflect on gratitude in my journal and continue to be blessed beyond belief. Keeping a gratitude journal has also enhanced the lives of many of my clients.

Cultivate and live in a state of gratitude. A state of gratitude is an attitude manifested in our behavior and thoughts. Be conscious of your thoughts, always shifting from fear to love, scarcity to abundance. Soon enough, gratitude will become your SOP or standard operating procedure! To tap into gratitude and abundance, presence, awareness, and mindfulness are requisites. Think gratitude. Cultivate an abundance cycle with an attitude of gratitude. The gifts already surround you; with presence, you will become aware of their existence. Your resulting joy will only serve to bring more to you of whatever it is you are grateful.

Move your thoughts into action. Tell those employees, family members, and friends that you are grateful for their presence in your life. And make sure to tell them why you are grateful. I recently had the tremendous honor to thank two very influential people in my life. It felt great to thank them, and even better to see the looks on their faces and feel the love in their hearts. What I gave them by expressing my gratitude; I truly received back in my heart tenfold.

What are some of the ways you cultivate gratitude in your life?

With gratitude and love,
Maria

PS - This is an excerpt from my new book!