Send us a textWhat if embracing gratitude could transform not just your personal life, but your professional world too? Join us as we chat with Steve Foran, an electrical engineer who turned his career towards advocating for grateful leadership. Together, we unravel our personal gratitude rituals—like my daily practice of sending out gratitude lists and Steve's habit of emailing his daily gratitudes. We explore the ripple effects that sharing gratitude can have, not only uplifting ourselves b...

Show Notes

Send us a text

What if embracing gratitude could transform not just your personal life, but your professional world too? Join us as we chat with Steve Foran, an electrical engineer who turned his career towards advocating for grateful leadership. Together, we unravel our personal gratitude rituals—like my daily practice of sending out gratitude lists and Steve's habit of emailing his daily gratitudes. We explore the ripple effects that sharing gratitude can have, not only uplifting ourselves but also spreading positivity to those around us. 

We dive into how the simple act of recording gratitude can bolster personal growth and even reshape our brains. I share my own journaling technique that follows a daily theme, while Steve and I discuss framing gratitude as both personal benefit and recognition of others' sacrifices. This dual perspective helps us appreciate our interconnections and the present moment. We also reflect on the challenges of weaving gratitude into the fabric of busy lives and workplaces, where it can enhance human connections and shift perspectives, ultimately creating a thriving workplace culture.

Finally, we talk about the role of gratitude in professional networking and the delicate balance between public expression and intimate sincerity. Sharing personal stories of vulnerability, including my own journey through loss and Steve's experiences with overcoming alcoholism, we underscore the courage required to share openly. Tune in to discover how gratitude can fortify bonds, encourage vulnerability, and offer insights into what truly matters, inspiring you to kickstart your own gratitude practice and make genuine connections in all areas of life.

Steve Foran
Steve@gratitudeeatwork.ca
http://www.gratitudeatwork.ca

http://linkedin.com/in/steveforangratefulceo

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Show Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:03.488 --> 00:00:05.432
Welcome to the Successful Life Podcast.

00:00:05.432 --> 00:00:08.869
I'm your host, Corey Barrier, and I'm here with Steve Foran.

00:00:08.869 --> 00:00:09.351
What's up, buddy?

00:00:10.119 --> 00:00:13.670
Yeah, enjoying my day and looking forward to this conversation with you, Corey.

00:00:15.263 --> 00:00:16.949
I am looking forward to it as well.

00:00:16.949 --> 00:00:35.329
So, steve, I'm really excited about everything that we're going to talk about today and I think first, if you don't mind, just share a little bit about some of the things you've done and who you are, and give everybody a quick snapshot of who we're talking to today.

00:00:35.548 --> 00:00:42.862
Okay, and maybe, and even a thanks to Ryan Schutt, our mutual connection, who put the two of us together.

00:00:42.862 --> 00:00:44.284
I know he's a guest on your show.

00:00:44.284 --> 00:01:15.006
Previously, I like to say I'm an electrical engineer who had a bit of an aha moment and now I'm a believer in grateful leadership and I just teach the simple benefits of having a grateful life and how to do that Like it's a real simple thing to do, but really it's a game changer.

00:01:15.085 --> 00:01:15.807
Is that a good yeah?

00:01:15.807 --> 00:01:19.414
For sure, I'm like I'm exploding just to start asking questions.

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You go.

00:01:23.881 --> 00:01:24.022
One.

00:01:24.022 --> 00:01:27.207
I totally agree with you and that's really why.

00:01:27.207 --> 00:01:29.533
That's why ryan connected us.

00:01:29.533 --> 00:01:39.921
He said he sent me your book, which I appreciate, and he said, cory, I think you need to interview this guy.

00:01:39.921 --> 00:01:44.269
He's I've known him for about 15 years and I said, okay, tell me.

00:01:44.269 --> 00:02:07.433
He said I've been reading this guy's gratitude list for 15 years and, ironically so, I have a practice every morning that I send out about was close to 100 text messages and I write my gratitude list out for the day and Ryan's one of the people on that list and and it I don't know how common it is.

00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:14.082
Maybe it's more common than I think, but I don't believe it's probably that common that people send that out.

00:02:14.082 --> 00:02:32.045
And I did it for a couple of reasons Selfishly, I did it because I like to start my day out with gratitude, like to start my day out with gratitude, and my hope is, when people read it, that maybe they think about what they're grateful for.

00:02:32.045 --> 00:02:36.981
It's not about them reading my list necessarily Actually, it's really not that at all.

00:02:36.981 --> 00:03:09.677
It's hopefully to set them up for that mindset, because me, I haven't always been a grateful person, I've been very selfish, and it sets my day up to look at things from a through a different lens does that make this whole idea of gratitude is a perspective offer.

00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:16.413
It offers us a different perspective, or a deeper perspective on the world around it and how we make sense of it.

00:03:16.413 --> 00:03:23.219
And I do something similar, and Ryan said he's been reading my gratitudes for 15 years.

00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:27.110
It's been about 15 years that I started.

00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:37.711
On weekdays, I send out three gratitudes from me by email and a guest, and so after we're done here, I'd love you to be a guest for a week.

00:03:37.711 --> 00:03:50.036
And there are two main habits that I teach to help people really level up their mindset that, if they want if you want a world class mindset.

00:03:50.036 --> 00:04:00.275
Two simple habits make a list of what you're grateful for and consume other people's gratitudes, read or listen to them.

00:04:00.275 --> 00:04:10.705
And the second one I don't know anyone that teaches it what you're doing, though you are teaching it by what you're doing.

00:04:11.407 --> 00:04:17.824
I tripped into it by accident probably, I don't know 13 or 14 years ago.

00:04:18.045 --> 00:04:33.086
It was after I'd started setting my list out, but I subscribed to somebody else's gratitude blog and what I realized was on the days that I didn't feel like making my list, as we all have, don't we?

00:04:33.086 --> 00:04:57.103
Yeah, reading what someone else is grateful for is a nonjudgmental way for me to adjust my mindset, because no one's saying, like the folks that get your gratitudes, they're not saying Corey is telling me I should be grateful for blah, blah, blah.

00:04:57.103 --> 00:05:06.564
But when I'm having a crappy day or I'm having a great day and I read what Corey's grateful for, I got that too.

00:05:06.564 --> 00:05:07.245
I didn't.

00:05:07.245 --> 00:05:09.427
Maybe I've been taking that for granted.

00:05:09.427 --> 00:05:21.004
So it's not like I'm boogieing along, it's like, oh my goodness, how could I have not thought of and it's done in a nonjudgmental way.

00:05:21.004 --> 00:05:26.024
So that practice that you're doing, it just send them ripples out and it's helping start people on the right day.

00:05:26.024 --> 00:05:27.286
So good on you.

00:05:27.286 --> 00:05:37.675
And that's my take on this idea of recording them for ourselves but not sharing them with others so that they can benefit from it.

00:05:39.622 --> 00:05:43.672
You said something really important there.

00:05:43.672 --> 00:05:46.889
You said the ripple, the ripple effect.

00:05:46.889 --> 00:05:57.372
It is mind-blowing to me and I would have never anticipated the ripple effect, but it's a.

00:05:57.372 --> 00:06:11.153
It's amazing when you get back somebody else's gratitude list and maybe they've never done a gratitude list and the impact that it has on people's lives.

00:06:11.153 --> 00:06:13.588
I would have never anticipated that.

00:06:16.221 --> 00:06:27.259
When I started just want to build on your thing when I started, I had the idea I want to send out an email and I'm going to put and it was just me at the time, cause I, when I started, I had the idea I want to send out an email, and it was just me at the time.

00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:30.790
When I started, I didn't have the idea of having a guest in every week.

00:06:30.790 --> 00:06:38.273
I believed this is important, but you know how you can dote.

00:06:38.273 --> 00:06:39.379
It's important.

00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:48.819
You tell you the things in your head and for you listening or watching, right, you know that this solution is going to be the best solution for the client.

00:06:48.819 --> 00:06:56.290
But you wonder, oh geez, are they going to be interested in paying a little extra for this, or it's a little more complex to operate?

00:06:56.290 --> 00:07:08.802
And we start telling ourselves these stories that eat away at what we know is the right solution, or the best thing at what we know is the right solution or the best thing.

00:07:08.822 --> 00:07:11.305
I'd put a little yellow sticky note on my computer so that I would see it every day.

00:07:11.305 --> 00:07:20.266
This is important, like that's when you feel, like when you make a decision and you're all excited about it.

00:07:20.266 --> 00:07:26.362
That's when I wrote it and what it did was on the days that I didn't feel like writing it or whatever.

00:07:26.362 --> 00:07:39.410
Like I remember someone saying, character is not how you feel when you make the decision, it's how, six months later, a year later, what shows up when you don't feel like doing it, and that I just used it as a reminder.

00:07:39.410 --> 00:07:49.872
So it is absolutely important and these ripples that go out, like you said, what did it feel like when you get something back from someone else?

00:07:49.872 --> 00:07:50.694
Oh to the blue.

00:07:50.694 --> 00:07:53.069
And you might be thinking what difference am I making?

00:07:55.223 --> 00:07:56.430
You can't buy the feeling.

00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:59.386
Yeah, you can't buy the feeling.

00:07:59.386 --> 00:08:19.610
It's really, and I think and I think people could here's what I thought when I my my girlfriend, my partner, is the person that started sending it to me, and it was really long, and I thought why in the world does she send all this stuff?

00:08:19.610 --> 00:08:23.225
I don't have time to read all this selfish, I don't have time to read all this.

00:08:23.225 --> 00:08:53.144
And then I started sending it back, all this, and then I started sending it back to her, and then I started sending it to other people and what I found is it it's a, I think, the feeling that I get, not just sending it out, but the feeling from when people send it back you've made a difference, you've changed something about their day, and that's really important to me.

00:08:53.144 --> 00:08:54.267
It's impact.

00:08:55.450 --> 00:08:56.532
Yeah, it, it.

00:08:56.532 --> 00:08:58.226
It really isn't.

00:08:58.226 --> 00:09:10.633
I don't think you did it for that reason, Right In the first place, like if you, and if you do it to get something back, that's the wrong mindset, right, Wrong intention.

00:09:10.633 --> 00:09:13.486
You just do it to.

00:09:13.486 --> 00:09:16.346
If it helps someone, great, If it doesn't, great.

00:09:16.346 --> 00:09:18.283
And that's a beautiful.

00:09:18.283 --> 00:09:21.773
That's just a really beautiful approach to it yeah.

00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:27.331
I do wonder, though, if people people think, should I send it back?

00:09:27.331 --> 00:09:29.524
Does he really care what I'm grateful for?

00:09:29.524 --> 00:09:34.380
But they don't really understand how amazing it is to get that list back.

00:09:34.380 --> 00:09:38.187
Yes, I know it is, it's tremendous.

00:09:38.187 --> 00:09:43.895
So when you're writing your gratitude list, what?

00:09:43.895 --> 00:09:50.386
When you think about what it is you're going to write, is it something that is it do you?

00:09:50.386 --> 00:09:54.360
So this is how I do it, and let's just you see what you get out of this.

00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:58.629
I just think about I sometimes I'm grateful for the challenges.

00:09:58.629 --> 00:10:07.413
Lots of times in life, I'm grateful for the gifts, I'm grateful for the challenges and I'm grateful for the challenges, and I'm grateful that I can look at it that way.

00:10:07.413 --> 00:10:18.791
And so lots of times, my lists are around some of the challenges and being present, and so when you make your list, how is it you go about doing that?

00:10:20.822 --> 00:10:24.302
Over the years it's evolved and what I've noticed.

00:10:24.302 --> 00:10:31.711
I've mixed it up over the years, and I remember a few years ago I would I do three.

00:10:31.711 --> 00:11:05.264
Just in terms of my recording, I record three, and I remember I used to do family work, community, family work community, and currently, and probably for the past three or four years, I've just each day, I just find a theme, and so I take a theme and just build on a theme.

00:11:05.264 --> 00:11:31.264
So the other day, one of my themes was plan B, because things went sideways, and even if you don't know what the plan B is, I know you can create a plan B, and so I'll create a bit of a theme and then, okay, what's been happening, and sometimes the theme it usually is what's bubbling up in my life, things that are going on, and I typically do my.

00:11:31.684 --> 00:11:35.513
I record my gratitudes at night, at the end of my day.

00:11:35.513 --> 00:11:42.494
Typically, I start my day by consuming, reading other people's gratitudes.

00:11:42.494 --> 00:11:47.484
That's how I tend to start my day consuming reading other people's gratitudes.

00:11:47.484 --> 00:12:00.013
That's how I tend to start my day, and one of the key things here, though, that I think is really important for folks, for you listening or watching, is I want to encourage you not to just think about what you're grateful for.

00:12:00.013 --> 00:12:07.976
Take the extra step, grab a pen or use a gratitude app and record it.

00:12:07.976 --> 00:12:13.346
That physical, the kinetic it's a little tougher but it does.

00:12:13.346 --> 00:12:20.563
It has a greater impact on the neurotransmitters and the neuroplasticity in your brain and it rewires your brain.

00:12:20.563 --> 00:12:21.085
It's.

00:12:21.085 --> 00:12:35.214
You can think of it like if you go to the gym and you're doing curls with free weights and you don't put any weight on them right, pretty easy, but you don't get the results.

00:12:35.214 --> 00:12:39.466
Make them 20 pounders and it gets a little tough.

00:12:39.466 --> 00:12:45.927
And I'm a 20 pounder guy, not a 70 pounder guy on the biceps, but you put more weight on it.

00:12:46.288 --> 00:12:48.232
It's harder, but you get more results.

00:12:48.232 --> 00:12:52.429
I just want to encourage you to record them.

00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:58.465
I mix it Back to your original question.

00:12:58.465 --> 00:12:59.828
I mix it up.

00:12:59.828 --> 00:13:01.726
I look at what's going on in my life.

00:13:01.726 --> 00:13:03.645
Is there a theme to it?

00:13:03.645 --> 00:13:05.846
Sometimes I know my theme.

00:13:05.846 --> 00:13:10.047
My wife would be looking at me and she'd say you're stretching it there, buddy.

00:13:10.827 --> 00:13:13.374
You know, bud Makes sense.

00:13:13.374 --> 00:13:17.812
Now, when you say record it, I think of a voice recording.

00:13:17.812 --> 00:13:24.052
You mean you either write it down or type it in a note or something like that.

00:13:25.061 --> 00:13:36.514
Write or type and involve another sense, and so if you can't do that, speak them out loud, like that is better than just thinking about it.

00:13:36.514 --> 00:13:39.445
Because you have a conversation with somebody.

00:13:39.445 --> 00:13:44.822
How cathartic it can be how you get to them, you know what you're going to do.

00:13:44.822 --> 00:13:52.826
If you're facing a problem and you just talk to a friend about a challenge you're having, all of a sudden the ideas start coming, so you hear what you say.

00:13:52.826 --> 00:13:55.447
So that's another way to get that out as well too.

00:13:56.990 --> 00:14:01.932
Yeah, and for people that are auditory, it's really good for them.

00:14:01.932 --> 00:14:11.966
Kinesthetic, you could do either of the three Auditory speech and honestly that's interesting, so I type mine.

00:14:11.966 --> 00:14:17.105
Yeah, I type mine, yep, so that is recording.

00:14:17.105 --> 00:14:26.248
Now, do you go back and look at the list and do you ever go back and look, I don't really go back and look, I don't really go back and look, I don't.

00:14:26.629 --> 00:14:27.250
I don't either.

00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:28.803
I know people that do.

00:14:28.803 --> 00:14:35.370
I do Every now and then I did once because I record them on my website and people do.

00:14:35.370 --> 00:14:43.509
And there was this idea that I'd like to chat with you about here, and this is the reason I went back to look at my list.

00:14:43.509 --> 00:15:02.330
I went back and looked at I know there was like 16 000 gratitudes and we categorized them in one of two categories benefits to self or sacrifices to of others.

00:15:02.330 --> 00:15:06.294
Okay, right, do you get, because gratitude is two.

00:15:06.294 --> 00:15:07.841
There's two sides of a coin here.

00:15:07.841 --> 00:15:19.832
Like I could be in this instance, I could be grateful to be on this podcast, right, and I could be grateful because, core, you put your reputation on the line.

00:15:19.832 --> 00:15:22.445
This is your space.

00:15:22.445 --> 00:15:26.491
Right, you are putting your reputation online every time.

00:15:26.491 --> 00:15:30.206
You, and I'm just like I'm grateful for you for that.

00:15:30.206 --> 00:15:33.754
That is the sacrifice of somebody else.

00:15:34.677 --> 00:15:37.202
Yes, I could also be grateful for man.

00:15:37.202 --> 00:15:41.951
I'm gonna get lots of exposure and that right benefit to me yeah, yeah.

00:15:42.513 --> 00:15:45.085
Two sides of the same two, two sides of the same coin.

00:15:45.105 --> 00:15:47.409
Now for someone.

00:15:47.409 --> 00:15:49.360
You're watching, you're listening right.

00:15:49.360 --> 00:16:01.254
When you go to meet a customer, a potential customer, I'm going to ask you what are you grateful for about that meeting and nothing can be a benefit to you.

00:16:01.254 --> 00:16:21.647
And when you start thinking that way, how do you think you're going to show up in front of your customer Like Corey, how would you want me to show up on this podcast, thinking how much exposure I'm going to get, or really honoring the gift that you've given me here and again I go back to my website 16,000 gratitudes.

00:16:21.647 --> 00:16:29.596
We're four times more likely to frame our gratitudes as benefits to ourself versus sacrifices of others.

00:16:29.596 --> 00:16:43.985
So one of the things that maybe, even if you were to look at yours and that's why I looked at mine and I mix up how I frame my gratitudes I make sure sometimes I talk about benefits to me, my gratitudes.

00:16:43.985 --> 00:16:57.115
I make sure sometimes I talk about benefits to me, but if I'm always doing that, I'm losing sight of all the, because gratitude really recognizes our interdependence with others.

00:16:57.174 --> 00:16:58.480
What do you think of that?

00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.802
Yeah, I think you're, I think you're totally right.

00:16:59.802 --> 00:17:11.625
And now I need to go back and look to see, because because I don't I would never want it to come across a self that's.

00:17:11.625 --> 00:17:18.532
That is defeating the purpose a bit like in.

00:17:19.134 --> 00:17:23.963
I live in canada and on november 11th we call it remembrance day.

00:17:23.963 --> 00:17:25.547
But I know what do?

00:17:25.547 --> 00:17:28.592
Do you call it on November 11th in your country?

00:17:28.592 --> 00:17:32.548
No idea, is it Veterans Day Memorial?

00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:34.144
No, I think it's Veterans.

00:17:34.144 --> 00:17:35.589
One of those.

00:17:39.663 --> 00:17:41.951
So I'm grateful for my freedom.

00:17:41.951 --> 00:17:52.061
I'm grateful for my freedom.

00:17:52.061 --> 00:18:05.855
On November 11th, we really turn our eyes to those who've enabled our freedom and the sacrifices that they and their families have made, and that's because, to me, there's nothing wrong with benefits to self, but it's just mixing those two things up is really to me.

00:18:05.855 --> 00:18:10.888
Me, it was a game changer when I realized that too that's really interesting.

00:18:10.949 --> 00:18:14.382
It really makes me yeah, I've definitely got to go back and look and see.

00:18:14.382 --> 00:18:20.641
Um, yeah, I need to go back and look and see, because I think a lot of it might be.

00:18:20.641 --> 00:18:29.143
It might lean in towards the self, if I'm being honest, right, because lots of times it is things that I'm going through or.

00:18:29.143 --> 00:18:31.487
But I also look at it.

00:18:31.487 --> 00:18:44.851
I look at as an example if it's a challenge I'm having in at work or I am grateful for that because I'm going to learn something from it, right.

00:18:45.991 --> 00:18:48.236
Right, so that's benefit to you.

00:18:48.236 --> 00:18:53.065
So imagine like a challenge provides a benefit.

00:18:53.065 --> 00:18:55.332
When I talk to people about we do this exercise, people share their challenges.

00:18:55.332 --> 00:19:03.294
They're also grateful for all the people around them who tends to there's some support that they've had.

00:19:03.294 --> 00:19:04.644
It benefits them.

00:19:04.644 --> 00:19:08.761
Tends to there's some support that they've had.

00:19:08.761 --> 00:19:09.182
It benefits them.

00:19:09.182 --> 00:19:10.285
But it's other people's sacrifices that really happen.

00:19:10.285 --> 00:19:18.576
Because, um, people talk about what they learn from challenges, the person they become, but they what they've learned about themselves.

00:19:18.576 --> 00:19:25.133
Like what you've learned about yourself, that that you didn't realize that you had in you before, like all these types of things.

00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:30.926
But it helps you to be a better person.

00:19:30.926 --> 00:19:31.808
To other people.

00:19:31.808 --> 00:19:33.692
It could be a benefit.

00:19:33.692 --> 00:19:48.213
Yes, there's a benefit to the challenges, but also I think those benefits to self with the challenges helps me to recognize where I can do better with other people, no question.

00:19:48.213 --> 00:20:02.853
So you work with business owners on this process and what have you found and how do you go about doing that?

00:20:05.681 --> 00:20:08.931
It's a very simple process.

00:20:08.931 --> 00:20:20.669
It's not easy, though, because life happens, we have businesses to run and people to all these things, and it really is just helping people.

00:20:20.669 --> 00:20:48.212
What I do at the very beginning we do a simple training that helps folks see their life, in their work, their role, like just see it in a completely different way, through the lens of gratitude, and then give some real simple tools that we talked about, like simple making a list of what we're grateful for reading, listening to what others, and that is is there's no magic to it.

00:20:48.212 --> 00:20:52.124
Like, in some ways, I almost wonder why do people even hire me?

00:20:52.124 --> 00:21:00.863
This is so simple, but bob emmons he is, he would not, he would probably disagree with.

00:21:00.863 --> 00:21:07.519
He's the leading scientific researcher on gratitude, he's at a UC Davis, and.

00:21:07.881 --> 00:21:15.615
But Bob says the number one barrier to a gratitude practice is forgetfulness.

00:21:15.615 --> 00:21:22.413
We forget because things just got crazy at work.

00:21:22.413 --> 00:21:27.903
Something happened to my aunt, my wife, my child, like life gets in the way.

00:21:27.903 --> 00:21:32.513
And the other thing we forget are the tailwinds in life.

00:21:32.513 --> 00:21:46.550
When headwinds are on us, we notice them, but when we have tailwinds tailwinds like living in this society in which we live today we just adapt to it.

00:21:46.550 --> 00:21:52.490
We don't even realize that it is just pushing, boosting us along.

00:21:53.211 --> 00:21:59.163
So these things can, these tailwinds, forgetfulness can get in the way of it.

00:21:59.163 --> 00:22:05.334
So it really is not a come in once and let's do some training on it.

00:22:05.334 --> 00:22:10.893
But how do you build that into your culture the same way you would safety quality?

00:22:10.893 --> 00:22:18.453
And so really I don't do that for my clients, but I coach and support them in that so that they can make gratitude.

00:22:18.453 --> 00:22:26.693
How do you do it when you've got a crew of trucks out on the road and you want to, the same way you do safety or quality?

00:22:26.693 --> 00:22:32.113
You just find ways to integrate it into how you operate as an organization.

00:22:33.601 --> 00:22:41.295
And if I had to guess, the leader is typically the chokehold on whether that gets implemented or not.

00:22:41.295 --> 00:22:42.781
It is.

00:22:44.085 --> 00:22:52.567
And if you're sitting there and you're thinking my leader doesn't do it, I don't want to accept that as an excuse for you.

00:22:52.567 --> 00:22:58.970
Not to do it, because you can still do this In spite of this is just going to be a challenge for you, right, corey?

00:22:58.970 --> 00:23:03.644
Yeah, it's going to be a lot harder though.

00:23:03.644 --> 00:23:09.692
Yeah, no question, but it begins and ends with leadership, but that doesn't mean it has.

00:23:09.692 --> 00:23:13.036
It can't happen without leadership, right?

00:23:14.820 --> 00:23:27.036
I think you can imagine a work of contractors and if they would start their day out like this, they would have a whole different perspective on life.

00:23:27.036 --> 00:23:29.566
It's what it's done for me.

00:23:29.566 --> 00:23:36.272
It's forced me by doing that list and sending it out every day.

00:23:36.272 --> 00:23:39.210
It forces me to sit down and really think about.

00:23:39.210 --> 00:23:41.808
Sometimes it's really small things.

00:23:41.808 --> 00:23:46.328
Sometimes it's things like I'm really just grateful for waking up.

00:23:46.328 --> 00:23:48.467
I do an ice bath every morning.

00:23:48.467 --> 00:23:50.467
Do I love the ice bath?

00:23:50.467 --> 00:23:52.386
A hundred percent do not love it.

00:23:52.386 --> 00:23:57.971
However, I am grateful that I'm, that I get into it every day.

00:23:57.971 --> 00:24:02.050
I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to get into it.

00:24:02.050 --> 00:24:18.211
And it's really small things because we don't think about we don't think about the things that we take for granted until they're missing and right it's.

00:24:18.211 --> 00:24:21.569
I don't want to have that feeling.

00:24:22.740 --> 00:24:51.344
I don't want to have the feeling of if I, I just and I think this is a way to get past that- it is, and it's one of these things that the things that we take for granted are, for most of us, the things that are closest to us, the things that are most important to us, to us, the things that are most important to us.

00:24:51.344 --> 00:25:03.744
And so a gratitude practice what it does is it just helps elevate our awareness of what we have and it enables us to be more intentional about how we're going to respond to it.

00:25:03.744 --> 00:25:11.505
Not guilt when I realized just the privilege that I have in this world.

00:25:11.505 --> 00:25:13.529
I don't want to accept it with guilt.

00:25:13.529 --> 00:25:15.493
Why me and why not someone?

00:25:15.493 --> 00:25:16.863
But I don't know why me.

00:25:16.903 --> 00:25:17.505
But do you know what?

00:25:17.505 --> 00:25:18.607
What a gift.

00:25:18.607 --> 00:25:19.990
Accept it with gratitude.

00:25:19.990 --> 00:25:36.173
And when we do that, when you're grateful, you want to say thank you, you want to reciprocate, we want to do things, and that's that ripple that you talked about earlier, because that helps create a better world.

00:25:36.173 --> 00:25:49.884
One little smile, interaction at a time, like how we act at the supermarket or grocery store, when we're interacting with whoever's checking us out.

00:25:49.884 --> 00:25:57.015
To me, that is an excellent time for me to say thank you, just by how I interact with the people that I deal with.

00:25:59.102 --> 00:25:59.785
Yeah, I agree.

00:25:59.785 --> 00:26:04.328
And that person in the supermarket, to your point, people.

00:26:04.328 --> 00:26:10.008
That may be the first time I like to ask people how they're doing, how their day's going.

00:26:10.008 --> 00:26:12.073
How much longer do you have to work?

00:26:12.073 --> 00:26:13.340
Because I don't.

00:26:13.340 --> 00:26:17.509
I believe that they probably don't get a lot of that interaction every day.

00:26:18.491 --> 00:26:18.771
They don't.

00:26:18.771 --> 00:26:28.249
I do the same thing and it takes it from a transaction to more of a human connection and I remember how are you doing?

00:26:28.249 --> 00:26:31.829
And everyone says a lot of people say how are you doing?

00:26:31.829 --> 00:26:36.160
And then I'll just look them in the eye and say how's your day going.

00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:38.905
I did this once, this one woman.

00:26:38.905 --> 00:26:52.800
She looked back at me and then she just broke down, corey, and she said man, I'm just actually.

00:26:52.800 --> 00:26:58.372
It's happened several times because people have a lot of stuff going on in their life and they're holding it together and it just is.

00:26:58.372 --> 00:27:05.930
There's some solidarity in human connection and it's just a real, I think it's a real beautiful thing that you're doing.

00:27:05.930 --> 00:27:06.892
So keep doing it.

00:27:08.842 --> 00:27:09.282
Thank you.

00:27:09.282 --> 00:27:43.413
I appreciate that and I think four years ago we got to experience such a lack of human connection and it made me realize how important it was, because it was just all of a sudden it was not there and the masks and you couldn't see people's facial expressions, and I think I can't even imagine what kind of damage that probably did.

00:27:43.413 --> 00:27:51.519
But it made me realize this is important, it's really important, and I'm in recovery.

00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:57.951
I'm a recovering alcoholic, so I go to meetings and I need that human connection.

00:27:57.951 --> 00:28:02.602
Otherwise I'm left to my own devices, which is not great.

00:28:02.602 --> 00:28:09.213
But it also gives me an opportunity to hear.

00:28:09.213 --> 00:28:18.734
If this, I don't know, this sounds terrible, but sometimes it really shifts my perspective.

00:28:18.734 --> 00:28:34.428
If I hear somebody talking about what's going on in their life, that maybe is not that great, it doesn't make me feel like I'm better than them, but it does take me back to the times that weren't that great for me and then I can really be grateful.

00:28:34.428 --> 00:28:36.032
I'm not in that spot.

00:28:36.032 --> 00:28:37.196
Yeah, it is.

00:28:37.217 --> 00:28:39.982
And we hear people that we can.

00:28:39.982 --> 00:28:46.595
It's natural to compare as a human and I

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