This past weekend I observed another example of the power each of us has to change our mind to more effective thinking. At a mastermind group of business owners who were sharing best business practices, a young business owner won an award for the best practice idea.
He had recently taken over the business when his senior partner retired. Owning the business was a long time dream. Then the stress and worry of being in charge began to impact him. He became stressed out with all the things he had to do; all the things he wasn’t sure how to do; and the weight of his new responsibilities. This stress began to impact the way he worked with his staff and his customers. He became snippy, cranky and short tempered.
One evening on the way home, he began to change his focus. He realized he was living his dream so he pulled to the side of the road and began to list all the things that had gone well that day. As he mentally listed each of these, he expressed his gratitude for each of them. He told the group that it was such a powerful experience when he felt his energy shift. At that moment, he committed to living with an attitude of gratitude and to a daily exercise of consciously shifting his focus from stress to gratitude.
When he took this attitude of gratitude into his office, he realized that he saw the challenges he faced differently. They became opportunities for creative thinking rather than stressful problems to overcome. His staff also began to express gratitude for all that had gone well during the day which created a totally different energetic in the office.
It is possible that the phrase adopt an attitude of gratitude has been expressed so often that it has lost its impact. But like any platitude, it’s meaning and value become useful when it’s used.
Are you feeling stressed, overworked, overwhelmed and out of sorts? If you systematically take time every day to explore and express your own attitude of gratitude, you will turn that stress into enthusiasm, confidence and empowerment.
From this place of more effective thinking, you will be able to trust your decision-making. You will then bring into play your passion and imagination creating the potential for a more effortless, creative approach to your work and life.
Clarity has some great tools to help you choose powerful thoughts:
Get Clarity, The Lights-On Guide to Manifesting Success in Life and Work
SHIFT, A Guidebook to Above-the-Line Positive Thinking
Consciously expressing gratitude,
Gary
