#54 Gratitude As A Hack

Hello,

The last 7 days have been full of revelation for me. The books I am reading, the podcasts I am listening to, the YouTube I’ve been watching, and even the conversations and reflections I have been having all have been pointing to nearly the same theme. I am not ready to share the full theme yet. However, I want to share a part of it with you; Gratitude.

The mind is a very interesting subject. If you paid close enough attention, you will agree with me. And even if you haven’t paid much attention, chances are high you have noticed its remarkableness as well. If you reach a conclusion in your mind, your body and functional system start to do all things humanely possible to bring your conclusion to life. Little wonder a phrase like “as a man thinketh, so is he” is a common one.

What does Gratitude have to do with the mind then? As powerful as the mind can be it has its weaknesses as well. Just as it can bring something out of nothing if used as such, it can also bring all things to nothing. It has both the power of creation and destruction. No matter how useful you may be, if you think you are useless far too many times and too long, soon, you will become useless indeed. Gratitude is the nutrient to perpetually keep the mind positive and put in a creative state. Yes, Gratitude.

I won’t write more about that but I will give you an assignment. Happy for you to drop me a message (comment or email) once you have done the assignment.

The assignment:

Starting from tomorrow, for the next couple of days start your day with 10 things you are grateful for. First thing in the morning. And end your day with also 10 things you are grateful for. As you go to bed.

Let’s see how different your day will be on days that you do this and on days that you don’t. If you are like me that like ease, write those 10 things out. What you are grateful for doesn’t have to be different on each of those occasions. What is most important is that you have something to be grateful for.

Let me share 5 things I am grateful for with you:

1. I am grateful for my journey. I moved to Lagos with a “zero” salary and by the time I left I was earning close to N600k per month. In 3 years.

2. I am grateful for my writing skills. From when I couldn’t put words together to having thousands of people reading from me weekly.

3. I am grateful for my family. The wife that I married and the kids that we will be blessed with.

4. I am grateful for the friends I have and that I can count on.

5. I am grateful for all those who have been blessed by the work of my hand.

Make your own list. Repeat it in the morning and at night. Do it for as long as you can. See how different your day can be just because of that ritual. Note gratitude doesn’t mean a lack of troubles, problems or difficulties. Neither does it mean an arrival. I know you have not arrived and I am far from arrival. But being grateful does something to your mind that I want you to experience. Try it. I dare you to try it.

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Things I am exploring right now

1. I am learning about Hypnosis and how it and used to control the mind, maintain focus and unleash human creativity. - An introduction to hypnosis here.

2. I am still reading Richer, Wiser and Happier. I wrote the short thread below from one of my reflections.

   David Alade @DavidAlade__

   In life and in investing, we try to maximise our outcomes. Increasingly though, I think being unfragile requires us not to maximise outcomes. Maximising outcome means acting to get the most out of a situation. Such behaviour brings us close to the edge.

3. Something I learned from GaryVee

   David Alade @DavidAlade__

   Let me share something I learned from @garyvee that I can't seem to get off my head. Never go about life aiming to win 10 of 10 attempts. Rather, go about life to win 40 of 100 attempts. The secret here is more attempts, more shots, more iteration.

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See you next week!