Transcripts
1. Introduction to Gratitude: Gratitude is more than
just saying thank you. It's about recognizing and appreciating all of the
good things in your life. In this course, we'll explore
what gratitude truly means and how you can
incorporate it into your daily life to
experience more joy. Gratitude is important
because it can help you to reduce stress and improve
your overall well being, and who doesn't want that? They can help you to
achieve these things through regulating your mood, increasing your compassion and your relationships and
encouraging you to be present and in the moment for all of the
important moments in your life. The best part is that gratitude is a skill
that can be polished, and that's exactly what we're going to learn
in this course. It has now started
to downpour outside. There's a storm going on, and I couldn't think of a
better way to do this course. So I'm going to introduce
myself quickly. Hi, I'm Romina, and I'm
a creative entrepreneur who is interested in the
pursuit of self actualization. I love helping others meet their potential and upgrade their lives through
personal development. I've seen firsthand the benefits of practicing daily gratitude. Previously, having a storm
going on while I'm trying to record would have sent me
into a frenzy of rage, but now it's something
that I can appreciate. I've reduced my anxiety, which used to be horrible. I'm now better at being present and living
in the moment and experiencing those important
memories in my life. And first of all, I have better focus
now with my work, which I love to do. So I want you to also
experience these benefits from the strategies that I'm going
to teach you in this course because I truly believe in
the power of positive change. So if you're ready, L et's dive in to
some simple ways to practice gratitude daily.
2. Daily Gratitude Practices: Welcome back. I'm grateful
that you are still here, despite the storm that
is going on outside. Let's get ready to explore some strategies for practicing
gratitude every day. We can start off with
morning gratitude. You begin the day
by creating a list. Write down three things
that you are grateful for. This can set a positive
tone for your day. Personally, I prefer
to do this at night. I know it's a little
contradictory since I just dubbed this
morning gratitude. But I prefer reflecting back on my day and
thinking about all of the little moments that I noticed and appreciated
throughout my day. And that helps me to
sleep peacefully. But doing it in the
morning can really help you to set the tone for
the rest of the day, like I said, and be able
to have a positive note. And when you step outside, you will be filled with
all of this gratitude. But you can you can do
both or you can do either. It's okay. The idea here is to create a list of three
things that you are grateful for every day that
you can either do first thing when you wake up in the morning or right before you go to sleep. Gratitude journal. Keep a notebook
that's just for this. I'm sure that you have a ton of notebooks lying around
that you've never used. Maybe you bought them
because they were pretty, or maybe there were gifts
or maybe there were swag from a conference
that you went to. I know that's the case for me, and so one of the things
that you can do is have a notebook that is
dedicated just to gratitude, and you can record and
it daily by having a journal entries or by making a list of the things
that you're grateful for. This helps to reinforce
positive thoughts. The idea behind having a dedicated journal is when
you open up this notebook, you're already
sending a signal to your brain that it is
time to be grateful, and it is time to be positive. It is time to recognize and appreciate all of the things that you love and
that bring you joy. It creates a ritual of sorts by having this dedicated
space just for gratitude. By doing this, you're also
practicing mindfulness. You're exercising that
muscle that will help you to be more present in
your everyday life. Because you're
thinking about all of these things that you're grateful for as you're
writing them down. The great thing is that whenever you're not recording something and writing it down, you can just flip through
this beautiful book of beautiful moments
that can help you to boost your mood
when you need it or to help you maintain
that positive perspective. So if you need some help with getting started with
your gratitude journal, here are a couple of prompts
to help you out with that. Recall a recent experience
that brought you joy. Reflect on a person who made
your life better and why? Think of something
simple you usually take for granted, but
appreciate today. These are just some things
to help you get started, and you can work off of that or come up with some
other prompts for yourself. This is a free for, and you can do this in whatever way feels
comfortable for you. So if you want to write poetry, then write it as poetry. If you just want to make a
bulleted list, then do that. That's what I do. It's really whatever is comfortable for you. And helps you to get into
the zone of gratitude. This next one is fun because
you can incorporate others, and that is the gratitude jar. You can have a jar or a bucket that you
have out in the room, and you write things
down on slips of paper, and these are
things that you are thankful for that you appreciate that
you're grateful for, and you put them into the jar. Now, something that
is super fun is once you have this jar
and it's filled up, you can incorporate your
family or your friends. And have a night where
you just pull things out of the jar and
read them out loud. This is something that can
be super fun if you're open to having your grateful
moments read out loud. It can also serve as a bonding experience
when people start to see that you're recognizing the things that they
do for you for love. I think that that's a
wonderful thing, like, Hey, You know, I never
knew that you even noticed that.
That's really cool. So little things like that. This is a really
fun way to do it. Plus, you can have
a nice looking jar and it can motivate
you to fill it up, especially if it's like
a glass jar and you can see little papers filling up. Now, if you're a little
bit more private and sharing the things that you're grateful for in a group setting scares you a little bit, then maybe you might want to opt to doing a gratitude walk. Obviously, you can do
this with other people. But the idea is to
take a walk and mentally note things you
appreciate in your surroundings. Write them down in
a journal later on or if you're Text Abby and
want to record yourself, you can do that to easily create a voice memo
on your phone. The idea here is to take
the time to look at all of the things that are around you and really appreciate
the fact that they exist. The leaves on the
ground, the air, the sun hitting your skin, maybe the sound of a
dog barking somewhere. Think about the things
that bring you joy, focus on the things
around you that are making you feel like you are a part
of your surroundings. And make sure to write them
down because you are going to want to reflect on those later. For me, right now, part of my surroundings is
the fact that I have a storm going on outside and I can hear the rain
as I'm speaking to you. And I'm grateful for that
because I know that it's going to cool down the
temperature outside, and it's going to help
the plants to grow. This last one is for my foodies
out there, mindful meals. Before scarfing down a meal because I know there's so many of us who just can't wait
to take that first bite. Take a moment to appreciate the food that is
in front of you. And by appreciate, I mean, think about the people
who prepared it. Think about all of
the ingredients that had to be harvested and collected and prepared in order
to be put into this meal. If you cooked this meal, then include yourself in this in this process of creating this meal
that's in front of you. And it doesn't have to take long because I know you're
not going to want your food to get cold or
start melting if it's cold. But You want to
take a few seconds. Before you're about to just take a second and
think about that. Think about where
your food came from. Think about how this
is your favorite food, how you're just going
to savor this moment. Then when you take that
first bite, really savor it. And you say thank you,
because this is gratitude. With that, you now have techniques to practice
gratitude daily. Next, we'll dive further into
using gratitude journals.
3. Using a Gratitude Journal: Now you have this
gratitude journal, but what exactly are you
going to do with it? Well, that's what this
lesson is all about. First, let's talk
about the benefits of having a dedicated
gratitude journal. A gratitude journal can help set your mindset into a
grateful mindset. I touched base on this earlier. Having a dedicated notebook for just gratitude can send signals to your brain that it's
time to be grateful. This is both when writing
in it and reading it. As you are filling
up this notebook and you are reflecting
back on your entries, you'll start to notice
a shift over time. This gratitude is going to
come to you instinctively. It's going to be something
that you don't even think about because you're not
instigating it anymore. You're creating a
gratitude mindset. Having a dedicated
notebook can shift your perspective to focus on the positive
aspects of your life. A dedicated notebook
can help to keep things separate and
focused and consistent. When you have other
things in your notebook, other types of thoughts and feelings can creep in
while you are journaling. This is totally normal. It's not something that
needs to stop happening, but it's better to keep those feelings and
those thoughts separate when you're trying to foster and grow a gratitude mindset. We remember things better by recording them by
writing things down. But how exactly do
you get started? And how do you keep this up? Here are some
strategies for that. Like I mentioned earlier
on in the course. You can write three things down at minimum every
morning or evening. It helps to create consistency by choosing a regular set
time to do this every day. Like I said, it can be
immediately after waking up or maybe it's part of
your bedtime routine. You can have a set
list of prompts. Maybe you can use the ones that I gave you in
the previous lecture. Or you can think about
a person you love, a song that you heard or an
event from the past week. You can have these prompts, you can print them out or
you can write them down, and you can save them
inside of your journal so that whenever you
need a little kickstart, you can reference
that list of prompts. You can also make your
journal inspiring. This will help to kickstart your journaling
experience because When you decorate the outside, it can help you to want
to fill up the inside. So you can decorate it
anyway that you want or buy a notebook that
means something to you or is something
that you love, maybe an image or an
illustration that inspires you. You can also make it
your own and make it personal if you want by adding photos or drawings of your list of things that you're grateful for that
you're thankful for. The important thing here
is to make it yours. The sight of seeing your gratitude journal
should bring you joy. It should inspire you
just by looking at it and put it somewhere where
you can see it every day. Because even if you're not working on it and you're not writing
in it or reading it. Just seeing it will start to inspire those feelings of
gratitude and thankfulness. You'll see it and remember,
Hey, I'm thankful. I'm thankful. There
was a season in my life that was difficult. I lost a lot of things in my life that were
important to me. I had a hard time
finding a place to live. I wasn't getting any work. I felt like my career
wasn't going anywhere. I had a lot of debt
and I was having a love hate relationship
with my financial situation. Amidst this dark
season of my life, I began a gratitude journal. Previous to this to this, I had never had a
gratitude journal, and even in this in
the darkest hour, I started this, and it helped
me to see through the fog. And it kept me going. I just started to write
down the things I was grateful for every
day on that day. This can really
help you to start noticing more the things
that truly make you happy. The things that are really important for you in your life. Remember to look back
on your past entries. This can help you
to remind you of all of the good things
you have in your life. Because even in your
darkest moments, there is still hope. There is still something
that brings you joy. It could even be the
smallest of things. But it's very important to
keep doing this over time, and you will start to
see positive results. When you start to notice the
little things that bring you joy and that you are
thankful for every day, then the big things are
just the cherry on top. It's important to notice
all of the little things. Now, I bet that you are probably feeling super
grateful right now that you are taking
this course and maybe you are even excited and
anxious to get going. Let's hop over to
the next lecture, and we are going to explore some more ways to
express gratitude.
4. Expressing Gratitude to Others: Expressing gratitude to others can strengthen
relationships and create this
positive ripple effect. In this lesson, you'll
learn some ways to do that. And you can turn gratitude from an introspective experience
into a shared experience. And this can strengthen
connections between people and create
positive interactions. So here are some ways
to express gratitude. This is probably
the simplest one, and I'm sure you've
done it before, and it's to write
a thank you note. Write a simple thank you note. It can be for a specific act
that someone did for you, or you can just send a random
thank you note to someone, letting them know
that you appreciate them and the relationship
that you have with them. Next is verbal appreciation. Call someone or let them know the next time you
see them in real life, that you appreciate them, and maybe that you
thought about something that they did for you
once in the past, and that you're
thankful for still. Let them know, acts of kindness. Do something
randomly thoughtful, like a small favor or
giving them a gift. If you see something randomly and it makes
you think of someone, then buy it and give it to them. Public acknowledgment,
praise or thank someone in a group setting like
a meeting or in public. Unless they don't like being
the center of attention, then maybe don't do that and just give
them a call instead. Social media shout outs. In this modern age, I can't leave out the
social media posts. Because you can post a
message of gratitude online. I've had this happen
to me before where someone randomly post
something on their timeline, giving me thanks just for
being me or for doing something positive for
them sometime in the past, and for some reason, they just decided to
post about it randomly, and I just get a notification. And that feels wonderful. So don't underestimate
the positive impact of any of these suggestions
because These actions, they build stronger, more positive relationships with
the people around you, and it encourages others
to express gratitude too. So again, that brings that ripple effect that I
talked about earlier in lesson. And overall, this creates
a supportive environment. And who knows? It could make someone's
day or even their life. I have people who come to me
years later telling me that my expression of gratitude or thanks was something that was so meaningful for
them back then. Doing this can really give
you a sense of fulfillment. Why does all of this matter? It matters because It improves trust and
connections with others. Trust. Very important. And it increases
happiness and joy, and that will then reduce
stress all around. It spreads kindness. That is a wonderful thing. Gratitude can help us be better friends and
better loved ones. Now, let's take a look
at some tips to make gratitude a daily
consistent habit.
5. Incorporating Gratitude into Your Daily Routine: Incorporating gratitude
into your daily routine doesn't have to be complicated. You just need to create
a habit so that it becomes a part of your
lifestyle and your mindset. So how do we make this habit? Here are some ideas. Set an alarm, either on your
phone or with your calendar. Letting you know to be grateful. It can either let
you know to fill in your gratitude journal or
maybe say, thanks to your mom. You can use sticky notes
around your house, reminding you to practice
your gratefulness. Maybe you could put one in the kitchen to remind you
while you're cooking. Incorporate it into your bedtime
or your morning routine. We've already talked about that earlier in
previous lessons. But again, make it a
part of a routine that already exists to help incorporate it into
your daily life. Fleck right before a meal
or right after a meal. You already have to eat. I'm assuming that
you're going to be eating multiple times a day, and it'll be easy to
make that your trigger, M that your cue to be grateful. You can do it right before you eat or right after you eat. Like I said before, attach it to existing routines like
making coffee, for example. Share what you're doing with a friend so that you
have accountability. Join a gratitude
group or start your own because it might be a little bit
difficult to find one. And you can hold each
other accountable. Having like minded people
aiming for the same goal can help to strengthen that ambition and get you there faster. If you start a journal, then keep it where you
can see it regularly. This will inspire you, and it'll also remind you
that you have to work on it. Review what you've logged
regularly to inspire you and motivate you and
reinforce that behavior. Lastly, celebrate when you've been practicing
gratitude for a while, pat yourself on the back, take yourself out to your
favorite cafe, or restaurant, have your favorite treat, and celebrate the fact that
you've been able to keep up this practice to reinforce those habits that
you are creating. By doing any or all
of these things, you can make gratitude
into a lasting habit, and it can eventually
just become a part of your everyday life and
even a part of who you are, hopefully if this
course is successful. Let's continue to build
on that foundation to have a happier and
more fulfilled life. Now, before we wrap
up this course, I'd like to give you a
little bit of homework. I'd like you to write a short gratitude list of three things you are
grateful for today. So you can make this as
creative as you want, or you can just make
a bulleted list of the three things
you're thankful for and explain how gratitude has impacted your day
when you did this. When you have your
list, share it with me. Thank you for having me
join you on this journey and for your commitment
towards gratitude. I'm so thankful for
you for being here and taking this course and thank
you again for being here, and I'm here for you as well.
Romina, Creative Entrepreneur
