More Impactful Gratitude: The Final Key To Abundance – Part 4

Here’s part 4 of our “Opening Up To Abundance & Prosperity” newsletter, based on Chapter 12 of my forthcoming book and some of the concepts I teach in my Mindful Balanced Life Coaching Program.

What You Appreciate, Appreciates

The final thing I want to address is gratitude, because what you appreciate, appreciates. When you are grateful for all that you have in your life, from the big things to the little, you’ll get more of those things showing up regularly.

You can be grateful for big things like:

• Your two legs that allow you to move around throughout the day,
• Your beautiful house,
• The job that supports the lifestyle you are living,
• Or your best friend.

You can even be grateful for small, simple things like:

• The fresh, slightly sweet smell of a flower,
• The perfect shade the oak tree offers your kids to play under in the backyard,
• Five minutes to quietly sip your coffee while it’s still hot,
• Or the way your child’s whole face lights up during a big belly laugh.

When you are in a state of gratitude, you are saying to the Universe, “Thank you! Yes, yes, yes, please, to more of these great things because I love them so much!”

Think about it: If you brought your husband home a gift every day, but he never said thank you or seemed excited about the gifts you bought or the effort you went through to obtain the gifts, don’t you think you’d eventually stop bringing gifts home to him? But if you saw how much he lit up every time he opened something new, wouldn’t you want to keep lighting him up that way?

Beyond aligning with universal energy, gratitude has been proven to change our mood. People who have a regular gratitude practice experience less stress and describe themselves happier overall than those who don’t regularly practice gratitude, says Shawn Achor, a Harvard researcher and psychologist that studies happiness. According to his research, a regular gratitude practice physically changes your biology and the structure of your brain to bring about these feel-good emotions.

Daily Gratitude Practice

If you don’t have a regular gratitude practice in your day, it’s time to build one! Get a journal that’s meant to record the things you are grateful for. Commit to listing 3 to 5 things you are grateful for every morning or every night, whichever time works best for you.

A morning gratitude practice is something you can easily add to your morning ritual after your meditation. It will ensure you start the day feeling happy and abundant.

The benefit of practicing gratitude at night is that your life originates from your subconscious, and your subconscious does most of its work while you are sleeping. If you write your gratitude list before bed, you will drift into sleep with those things on your mind. While you’re sleeping, your subconscious mind will go to work blueprinting your next day to bring more of the things that make you feel good to your life.

Making a small list in my gratitude journal every day for many years made regular gratitude a part of who I am. I no longer make a daily list in the morning or night because I am appreciating experiences, people, and things all day long. However, if I’m in a funk, can’t settle my brain before bed, or about to coach a client or enter a room with a lot of people, I list what I’m grateful for in my head or on paper to shift my energetic state, and be 100 percent present and connected to those in front of me.

3 Ss For More Impactful Gratitude

As someone who has studied productivity and efficiency for years, I offer these suggestions, these three S’s, to you to make your gratitude practice pack a more potent punch.

1. Specific.

Be grateful for the toothless smile on your son’s face that lights up your heart and fills your body with joy (specific), rather than grateful for your son (general).

 2. Savor.

Practice savoring, the art of living in the present moment when you experience something. Notice how all five of your senses are experiencing it. Slow down and take it all in. Express out loud how much and what you are specifically enjoying.

3. Someone Else.

The other factor that contributes to a longer, happier life is our relationships. Expressing appreciation for someone else will tie these two powerful life uppers together.

I’m grateful for YOU!

Lots of love, your coach,

Sara

P.S. If you missed part 1 of this series, read it here.

Part 2 is right here.

Part 3 is here.

If you want to shift to an abundance mindset and heal your money story through coaching, explore my Mindful Balanced Life coaching program here!