Success Starts With Gratitude

Unlocking the power of appreciation

Cathy and Louise work on the same team. Cathy makes an effort to look good in front of the boss. Louise focuses on helping her colleagues. Cathy takes other’s ideas and calls them her own. Louise looks for ways to get others to contribute to projects and shares credit. Cathy says that one day she will be in an executive suite. Louise says we’re all on the same team and is just grateful for the job she has. In meetings, Cathy is short-tempered and talks a lot. Afterwards, she criticizes others for not being as bright as she is and wasting her time. Louise is patient and encourages everyone to share their views, then thanks them for their input.

This year, the company had to lay-off several of its employees due to an economic downturn. Louise got a promotion. Cathy is looking for a new job.

Choosing to look at your life through a gratitude filter, like Louise does, will make everyday richer, happier and more fulfilling. Be grateful for what you are experiencing, and how it is preparing you for your next big life event. Live with humility. Remember that your success grows not just out of your own efforts, but also those who have guided, supported and taught you. As you give from your experience and expertise, you will not only be helping others but also developing your own abilities.

Pride makes us artificial, and humility makes us real.

Thomas Merton

It Takes a Team

As you begin to find success, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that your accomplishments were not achieved in a vacuum, believing that your success is all your own doing. Feel proud of your development and accomplishments, however, also remember that you had help in navigating your trials and achieving success. One person recommended you for a position. Another taught you a vital skill. And don’t forget about those who encouraged you when you were feeling down and defeated. All of these people and more invested their energies into you and helped you to find a better version of yourself. As you work your way out of situations of anxiety and despair, these people are beacons of hope that light the way as you continue to grow.

Remembering these contributions will enhance your ability to be humble and motivate you to continue when it seems failure is inevitable, or your goals appear unachievable. Keep reaching, knowing that you stand on the shoulders of those who want you to succeed.

Living with gratitude and humility makes life an eternal gift.

Develop Your Sense of Humility

Humility does not mean groveling and living in a state of being unworthy. Instead, humility is the ability to share credit for success. Having humility keeps you grounded, remembering where you came from and how your success was achieved. Even if your success is just making it through the day, a gracious thank you to those who supported you will enhance your ability to win tomorrow too.

One way to develop humility is to take an inventory of the contributions to your success. Make a list of people and skills that helped you achieve success. Who had a hand in your achievements? What did they do? Once your list is complete, make an effort to appreciate those folks. You could write a letter, email or text; give them a call or video chat; or even say a prayer for them.

Another beneficial gratitude exercise is to make a list of things and people you are grateful to have in your life. Then, review the list when you wake up in the morning this will help you to start your day on a positive note.

These things all create positive energy that transcends your own sense of accomplishment and helps your gratitude to grow. I believe expressing gratitude transforms selfishness to benevolence. It also abates feelings of contempt and jealousy. You will also make more friends through gratitude than you ever will by being self-centered. When you live with gratitude and humility, you will experience an abundant life with limitless opportunities for everyone.

Pay It Forward

Just as others have helped to support you through the darkness of your struggles and growth, you can carry the torch that lights the way for the next person. Slowing down and taking time to recognize when those around you need support or offering assistance will help you live a deeper, more meaningful life. You can make a big difference in the life of another by the simplest act of kindness or support.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer

Live a Life of Gratitude

Living with gratitude means waking up thankful every day: grateful that you are able to live another day and take another step forward in reaching your goals and aspirations. Be thankful for the opportunity to contribute in whatever way you are able. Feel gratified that, on this day, you can be the difference. When you are living and acting with gratitude, you experience life as a divine gift that needs to be shared. You have a choice in how you face each day. You can start by finding what’s wrong with the world. Or you can focus on what makes it right.

We start each day with a blank slate. Begin with appreciation for some element of your life and continue to find reasons to be grateful as the day goes on. Look for joy and minor victories throughout your day and nurture them. Look for opportunities to help and take action. Don’t focus on what you get today. Instead, concern yourself with how you are developing an abundant future where there is enough for you and your neighbors too.

Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude.

Nick Vujicic

Summary

Living with gratitude and humility makes life an eternal gift. More active recognition of that will transform your view of opportunity from something that is limited and out of your reach to something that is abundant and achievable one step at a time. You will find that your life is manageable with the help of a support circle and a feeling that you are not in this fight alone. You are being supported by friends and strangers. As you grow, you can provide that support to others too. This way everyone wins.