Living With an Attitude of Gratitude

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Gratitude is one of the biggest things that can make you a happier person. That’s because when you are grateful for the things you have, you don’t spend as much time feeling unhappy about the things that you don’t have. Here are some tips on how to live with an attitude of gratitude.

What Does Gratitude Mean?

Basically, gratitude simply means counting your blessings in life. For example, let’s say that you have a job that provides a good living and meets all of your financial needs. Sure, you’d like to make more money. Who doesn’t? However, instead of letting yourself get consumed by negativity and thoughts of envy, you are grateful for a job that supports you.

What Are You Grateful for?

If you are like most people, then you should have many reasons to feel grateful. However, you might have to learn how to do a better job of spotting your blessings. Think about something nice that someone did for you. Are you grateful for their act of kindness? If you are healthy, are you grateful for your good health? What about your friends and family? Are you grateful to have them in your life? Take a moment to make a list of all the things in your life that you are thankful for. Then, whenever you are feeling down, get out the list to remind yourself of the good things you have in life.

Developing the Mindset of a Grateful Person

For most people, gratitude doesn’t come naturally. That’s because it’s human nature to feel envious and want what we don’t have. Here are some tips that can help you develop a mindset of gratitude:

• Start a gratitude journal to write down good things that happen to you.
• Be grateful for a new day when you get out of bed each morning.
• Express your gratitude to others by telling them “thank you” when they do something nice for you.

How Gratitude Can Make You More Successful

The most successful people in life tend to often be the most optimistic. For example, they don’t let negative events and setbacks keep them from getting what they really want. Learning to be more grateful can help you become more optimistic. Furthermore, those who become successful tend to be more grateful: Making the most out of what they have to help them achieve success - instead of making excuses by dwelling on the things they lack. Therefore, by adopting an attitude of gratitude, you increase your chances of becoming successful. You will learn to take what you have and use it to your full advantage.

The 10 Habits of a Grateful Person

Lastly, if you want to live with an attitude of gratitude, then you must adopt the habits of a grateful person:

• Don’t expect life to give you everything that you think you deserve.
• Don’t set preconditions to your happiness.
• Learn to take the good with the bad in life.
• Find hope.
• Let go of bitterness and grudges.
• Understand that gratitude takes work.
• Embrace positive thinking.
• Learn to be more flexible in your thinking.
• Never stop learning.
• Define your self-worth by your dreams, not your failures.

In short, learning to live with an attitude of gratitude will likely be one of the most challenging endeavors that you have ever undertaken. That’s because you will need to completely retrain your mind on what your self-worth and happinesses really means. For example, you must stop thinking about your short-comings and start thinking more about your blessings in life. Furthermore, you need to express your gratitude to others - especially when people go out of their way to do something nice for you.

Evan Crosby is a freelance writer of several eBooks on money, including 101 Ways to Make Money Online.