“Grateful is our mindset.”
Our Core Values are something I think about and try to be true to all the time. Hopefully, you do too. Incorporating them in my life even outside of TLC has helped me find even greater respect for them and new ways to execute them.
I occasionally find myself evaluating the order in which the core values are displayed. When we launched our core values with Ryan Lesperance’s help, we never really numbered them or discussed how they should be arranged; we only knew that the seven core values were us, and we wanted the world to know!
Grateful is our mindset is number 5. If you count out the core values left to right and top to bottom, sometimes I wonder if maybe it should be the first one listed. I only started thinking this in the last few months because of a new routine I have incorporated into my personal life that I have shared with many of you.
I now start each day by documenting five things I am grateful for. I say documenting instead of writing because I type them on my phone and save them for future reflection instead of writing them on a piece of paper. This is my preference but writing them down is great too! I encourage you to do either ASAP!
Every morning I challenge myself to come up with five things I am grateful for. Sometimes they are simple things, and sometimes they are a little deeper in meaning, but I make it a point to document 5. During this time, I have noticed that my days are much more enjoyable, productive, positive, energetic, and fulfilled. It seems starting the day with a grateful mindset is the best thing I can do, and I am pretty sure it’s true for you as well.
Please understand that I have always had a grateful mindset but sometimes I forget how grateful I was for days or even weeks because I was just so busy, and sometimes I didn’t stop and reflect on all the great people and great things around me that I have been blessed with. A small change in my priorities made a significant change in my life, and it can do the same for you!
They say hindsight is always 20/20, meaning when you look back at things, it’s always clear why it took me so long to figure this out? I had occasionally written down what I was grateful for, and sometimes multiple days in a row, I had done so, but it was not the same impact. It was doing it first thing in the morning that made all the difference.
I have always known that if I was going to commit to something, I needed to do it early in the day. Then I would have a good chance of achieving it. Working out as an example is essential to me but something I need to put on my schedule early every day, or it might not happen. Scheduling meetings with others is also something I know I need to do early in the day or risk having to cancel or move later because things don’t always go as planned.
You might be like me as well, but writing down five things we are grateful for only takes a couple of minutes or less, so we can always squeeze that in later in the day if we forget or get sidetracked, but I am telling you that first thing in the morning for this list is important!
Your day MUST start with a reminder of the things you are grateful for. I not only advise you to do it, but I also beg you to do it! When your day starts with these reminders, it seems your whole day is set up for success. When your mind and heart are filled with these grateful thoughts and emotions, everything is better.
The person that cuts you off while driving to work doesn’t bother you anymore. The co-worker that does not respond when you say good morning suddenly does not ruin your day like it used to. Even watching or reading the news and being reminded about some not so great things that have happened seems not to affect you like it does others. The lens that you suddenly view the world through is one of gratitude, a lens that you cleaned and made sure was crystal clear before you started your day, and all you see and feel is gratefulness.
I have found that since I started my days with my list of 5 things I am grateful for, I am happier and healthier. When I have a challenge or frustration during my day, I quickly remind myself about what I am grateful for. The simple things! The air in my lungs, the family and friends I have that love and support me, the body I have that is healthy, and the eyes that I have that allow me to see the beautiful world that I am blessed to be a part of. The things I listed and some I did not list are not guaranteed, and they may seem small, but I have them, and I am grateful!
My list is different every day. I sometimes look back and never list the same 5 things down on a different day, but I have listed a few things many times throughout the last few months, and one of those is how grateful I am to serve all of you and my TLC community. I am grateful for the joy and happiness that serving all of you brings me daily, and I am constantly reminding myself how grateful I am that you all allow me to serve you. THANK YOU!
I look back at TLC over the years, and there is so much to be grateful for. Jack Fallon was always grateful for the little things that went well, and he was still grateful even for the things that did not go so well. This was something that I became better at as the years went by with Jack’s constant reminders, and now it’s time for me to pass that message on to all of you.
Be grateful, and you will be great! This is my promise to you! Start your day with gratefulness and watch how great your days will be!
I am grateful for you, and I have a challenge for all of you this week. I would like to hear about five things you are grateful for! If you can share those with me, I would be grateful, and if you can share them with me in the morning, I can start my day with 10,15 or even 100 grateful thoughts instead of my standard 5. I have a feeling I have some great days ahead because they will begin with being grateful!
Thanks for reading, and remember, if you want to be great, you have to be grateful!
