Tag: gratitude

Embrace Your Attitude Of Gratitude!

By Emma Anderson, Eagle “U” Alum and Team Leader

With Thanksgiving behind us, it’s the perfect time to think about gratitude. It seems that in the excitement over food and family, the effort to be thankful is not so great. We tend to list a few things (family, friends, food) that we’re grateful for before rushing to carve the turkey.

Then what? We move on with our lives, seldom pausing to be truly thankful for all we have. This is fine, it’s normal. Everyone does it! But what successful people understand is that sincere gratitude is a powerful tool and nothing should be taken for granted. Because most people are happy to accept life’s gifts without a second thought, real thankfulness stands out. People are impressed by it and when you are appreciative for what they give you, they are likely to give more in return.

One of my favorite parts of attending Eagle U was the “I Appreciate” notes. At the beginning of the week we were each given a pad of papers reading “I appreciate _______ Because ________.” Right off the bat, Steve emphasized the importance of gratitude and challenged us to hand out all of our “I Appreciate” notes. At first, I was skeptical. I thought this gratitude would be forced and insincere. As the week progressed and I looked for things to be thankful for, I realized something BIG: All around me there were people, services, events, and even objects that I was thankful to have.

Using “I Appreciate” notes was an opportunity for me to see everything I had to be grateful for, and I still have every note I received from all of the past Eagle U programs I attended. When someone gave me a note, I felt loved and acknowledged-like I was “doing some good” in the world. Receiving these notes made me want to know the people who gave them to me even better and help them in any way I could. In a similar way, those I delivered my notes to were impressed and overjoyed with my gratitude towards them. I have applied this concept outside of Eagle U by writing thank you notes to mentors and others who have helped me in various ways. The times I have forgotten to do so, I have really regretted and the times I remembered I was blown away by the positive repercussions.

Gratitude truly is powerful and implementing it regularly will change you life!

Build Your Own Success Dream Team!

 

What if I told you that you could have your own success dream team?  There are successful people out there waiting for you to soak up their genius!  These four actions will help you develop meaningful relationships with those people who are out there already doing what it is you want to do!

ASK.

You will be surprised at how willing people are to help you if you simply take the opportunity to ASK them.  Identify people who are doing what it is that you want to do, and ASK them if they will share their story with you.  You can use this as a basis for identifying who might make a meaningful match for you as a mentor.   Once you’ve made that connection, ASK if they would be okay with you following up with them for guidance and advice.

Follow Up.

Okay, so you took the step to ASK someone for advice, support, or guidance. It is now your responsibility to follow up with that person.  Don’t wait for them to reach out!

Create a specific plan for follow up with your mentor so that you know you are respecting their time and personal workload.  Do not overflow their inbox with messages or questions.  Instead, develop an agreed upon communication plan to keep in touch.

Reflect & Take Action.

Take time to reflect on the advice or guidance given to you by your mentors.  Make sure you carefully consider how their wisdom can be applied to your specific situation.   To skip the trial and error process so many of us make, copy the genius of those who are doing what it is you want to do and avoid the potential setbacks.

Set a goal for implementing your mentor’s advice.  Is it a short-term or long-term action item?  Make sure you create a time frame for your goal that makes sense, and then take actions that align with that goal!

Show Gratitude.

By simply being interested in someone else, you are giving the ultimate compliment! However, it is important to follow up your mentor sessions with a message of gratitude or appreciation to further show them how valuable they are to you.

The art of the handwritten thank you note is not dead! Yes, this might seem like an ancient practice in our tech-driven society, but stop and think about it for a quick second…when you receive a hand written note, how special does it make you feel? It takes a few quick seconds to send an email, but writing a note, stamping it, and mailing it to someone requires personal effort on your part.  It shows that individual that you value his or her time and advice.

You can use this process to attract mentors into your life who you want to “copy” in some way, whether it be their professional path, their relationships, their spirituality, or more.

Challenge:

In the next week, identify ONE mentor you’d like to have in your life and ASK them to share their story with you.  Once you get the process started, you are on your way to building your own success dream team!