[Money Mondays - 21 Ways to Express Gratitude in January] – The Final Three Ideas (#19-21)

Embracing gratitude to create more abundance and clarity in January will require creating new habits, commitment, and focus.

Here are the final three ideas for maximizing your efforts, to make your new lifestyle as joyful and stress-free as possible. 

19. Keep it Short

With everything new you are doing, don’t be over-ambitious. Take a realistic look at yourself. If you’re someone whose only habit is not creating new habits and aborting challenges, then it is especially important to keep all your new methods and gratitude/mindfulness practices short.

Don’t force yourself to meditate for an hour, if you’ve never done it before, for example. Don’t make yourself run a mile if you get tired walking across the room. Don’t force yourself to write fifty things you’re grateful for—start out with a number you can easily achieve. (It should almost feel TOO easy!) Write down three things you are grateful for (not thirty). Do five minutes of meditation—not fifty. Spend the whole 21 Days simply doing four breathing exercises, before you join up for a Tai Chi class.

Less is more, when you don’t mind doing it every single day.

20. Write Testimonials

Write testimonials for everyone in your life. Note what they contribute to your well-being or business, personality traits you admire or enjoy and at least one detailed example of how they put their skills or values into practice.

Even if you don’t plan to share these ‘testimonials’ yet, you will affirm or re-affirm their value in your own eyes. And it will show up in your interactions—as well as being ready-at-hand should a former client or contractor ever ask you for an actual testimonial.

21. Pass Your Gratitude On

Getting into the habit of passing on your gratitude—doing or saying things that show people how much you appreciate them, or sharing positive things that you are thankful for and love—can be catching. It can transform relationships, shift negative office atmospheres to positive ones and change lives—and businesses—for the better.

Gratitude has a habit of spilling over into every aspect of your life—especially when you honor your body and mind with exercise, good food, rest and mindfulness. It’s like sunshine on a dark day, when it is genuine and really lived.

And pretty soon you will find that people are grateful for you!

Kae Wagner