GRATITUDE! (and why it WILL change your life)

[Kevin Snyder, Ed.D.]

By Kevin Snyder, Ed.D. ([e-mail]; Motivational Speaker/Author)

I heard the following quote one day that changed my life:
‘You cannot attract anything more into your life until you become truly grateful for what you already have.‘

Perhaps it was timing and/or perhaps I was just in the right mental state to appreciate that quote then, but those words resonated with me and helped provide significant reflection for my life at that time.

Although I had attained many goals and was quite motivated on future achievements, my focus was not on GRATITUDE. Rather, my focus was always onto the next big goal to accomplish. I was rarely living in the moment because my mind was so fixated onto the future. Something was missing in life and that quote was able to surface my emotions spot on. Can you relate?

While there is nothing wrong with a mindset focused on the future, you have to be living in the present. When I heard that quote, I realized that I was not as fulfilled as I should be in the moment. I had become robotically conditioned to set a goal, accomplish a goal, and then move onto the next challenge before ever truly appreciating the initial achievement.

What good is something if you don’t appreciate it? When you invest your time in something, whether it be your work, a hobby and/or a relationship, you should enjoy its presence and be grateful that it’s in your life to begin with. If you don’t you might lose it. What good is it when it’s gone?

So I decided then to intentionally become more grateful for what was in my life – my family, relationships, health, career, education, etc. Even things that we’re 100% positive or on track, I wanted to appreciate them in the moment like never before.

One way I helped keep focus on gratitude was by keeping a ‘Gratitude Rock’ in my pocket, one in my car, and another in my bathroom. These simple rocks were reminders for me to be grateful for what I had in my life. Every time I touched them, saw them, or even thought about them, I would remind myself of what I could be grateful for in that moment.

Maybe you have heard about a ‘Gratitude Rock’ concept before and thought it was a bit ‘weird’ or ‘New Age-ish.’ Well, I also did the first time I heard about the idea. But guess what … once I gave it a chance, it worked. Best of all, that time ended up being the best year of my life.

My entire attitude shifted and my moments of living in the present (while still having future goals/expectations) were magnified like never before. I attracted more positivity and opportunity in my life as if it was a motivational sun-cloud above my head. I had so many amazing occurrences that I dedicated an entire chapter, Chapter 6, of my first book Think Differently to what happened that year. It was truly amazing and unbelievable … I frequently receive emails from readers who applaud Chapter 6 and it's intentional example of leadership by GRATITUDE.

Again, that year was PHENOMENAL because of GRATITUDE ... my paradigm of so many things shifted and as a result, my successes exploded.

Here's a simple way of looking at it: People want to be around other grateful people. No one enjoys being around ‘Debbie Downer’ except for ‘Sulky Steve’ and ‘Apathetic Amy.’ Think about it …

So what do you need to change your thinking about right now? What do you need to be grateful for?

By being grateful for what we already have, we create ripple effects of positive change in our life and others.

Author Bio: Dr. Kevin Snyder is a professional motivational speaker who has presented over 750 leadership keynotes and workshops in all 50 states. He is the CMO (Chief Motivating Officer) for Inspir-Active Solutions, Inc.) which provides speakers, coaches, and consultants for executives in all types of audiences and industries, from high schools and colleges, to the American Marketing Association, and even to the Association of Circuses.

Kevin most recently served as the Dean of Students for High Point University. As a student, he studied Marine Biology from the University of North Carolina and earned his doctorate in Leadership from the University of Central Florida. He is also an author of five(5) books, frequent magazine columnist for several publications, a certified skydiver, scuba diver, sailing enthusiast and former game show winner on ‘The Price Is Right!’

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[Diogenes Ruiz]

Lots of truth in this post. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes we don't slow down until we are broadsided by a life event. We each have met the characters you describe and they are no fun.

[Rick Nipper]

Kevin, I saw a tweet with a link to this article posted on ComeonInside syndicate. Because you don't have any reference to yourself as the author inside the article, I didn't know who wrote it. I came over the Inside919 to see if I could find it. Others won't do that. You wrote a great article, but you aren't getting credit for it on the syndicated version. Just thought I would let you know.

[Yoga w/ Olga]

Very well said, Kevin. This is one of my favorite quotes: Thankfulness is generally very therapeutic.  A thankful heart turns sorrow into joy, drudgery into pleasure, pessimism into optimism, depression into hope, hatred into love.  Thankfulness is a choice! G. Mollner