Get started with a Gratitude Journal.
Expecting things to work out is not wishful thinking, it is choosing to be positive no matter what the consequences. That positive mindset, your thoughts and how you act in the world can be the greatest asset or the greatest obstacle to freedom. That freedom is the product of gratitude.
Gratitude can be expressed in several ways. The easiest is through a Gratitude Journal. During my own journey I bumped into an App that puts a Gratitude Journal on my phone. But I’m a pencil and paper gal. I like taking the time to sit in a quiet place and write. My journal starts each week’s entry with “This week I am grateful for _________”
When I was going through some tough times those little words of gratitude helped lift my spirits and create a different mindset, a mindset of positivity. I would write down all the negative things my inner critic said about me. Those were all the messages we received in childhood that resurface as adults. Many of them start with “you always” or “you never”, and there were always the “you should have”.
Positive mindset should help change your self-talk to break the record and create a new track of positive messages. To change the recording to one of positive gratitude. To do that you need to change your expectations we are wired to accomplish. Happy people expect things to go well; unhappy people have expectations of failure and when they fail, they won’t try again.
Where are you? What are your self-expectations,especially in the current environment?
Developing a habit of gratitude releases you from those negative expectations and teaches you to focus on the positive. Writing a gratitude journal is key to helping change that self-talk.
There are several lovely journals available to purchase. Some of you may want to record their journey on a digital journal here’s a link to a physical journal that you might enjoy.
If you’re ready to have a new adventure from home, Nick James has written a nice Ebook on Starting up an Online Business and has given me the file you can download for free.
You’ll find the Gratitude Journal and Nicks Book here.