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You know how they say you don’t know what you’ve got till you lose it? …even more so I believe you don’t know what you’re missing until you get it. 

Several years ago I was in a pretty miserable place so far as my business, my financial situation, my lack of free time and even my health.  I say even because health has been something I’ve prioritized for a lot of years now, so for my health to be suffering means the situation was absolutely UNfun, to say the least.

There’s one thing that got me through that part of my life – yes I had some awesome supportive loyal clients and friends… however in one word, what really got me through and what makes life so so soooo much more fun today is:

Gratitude.

Gratitude will let you see the best in every situation and conversely a lack of gratitude will mean you focus on the worst in any situation.

That’s reason enough in itself, especially given what you focus on expands as we covered in healthification show 001, however there is a secret super benefit to gratitude and that is what really got me through that most UNfun ever period of my life.

It’ll help you through any UNfun period too.

That benefit?

It’s that whenever you focus on what you’re feeling grateful for you CANNOT FEEL FEAR.

Now that’s gotta be gold right?

Let’s take this notion for a spin, first off I’d like you to think of something that makes you totally fearful.

For me it was hemerraging money each month to the franchise I was part of…fearing that I wouldn’t have enough money to pay my team or the facilities rent or vast number of other ever increasing expenses. I feared the whole business failing – and I feared that meaning I was a failure.

Now, of course I now know that you are never a failure so long as you never give up on yourself….that’s a whole show in itself though…. So back to that fear of YOURS, whatever it is.

I’d like you to picture yourself in the midst of that fearful situation. What are you feeling? What is your self talk like. Really imagine you are right there in that situation that truly makes you feel fearful.

And now, I’d like to to think of someone or something that you are truly grateful for.  Someone or something that you are just so grateful to have as a part of your life.  As you think about that person, or that thing, and exactly how you feel when you’re with them… Where has the fear gone?

It’s disappeared right?

It’s a fact that your brain cannot process both fear and gratitude at the same time.

So the more you make gratitude a part of your life, in fact a part of your daily routine, the less fear you will experience.

Let’s run through some common daily examples specific to your health goal:

1. Getting out of your cosy warm bed to do your exercise first thing is not something to feel resentful about….it’s a chance to feel gratitude for that safe, cosy bed…and that you have the physical ability to get up and exercise.

2. How about that first meal of the day – and even the water you have with it…the fact that you have your choice of enough food is certainly worth big gratitude.

3. What about the fact that we now live in a society with 24/7 access to support and information to help you achieve your goal…often for free, that’s totally gratitude worthy to me.

Once you cultivate this attitude of gratitude you’ll find feeling appreciation for even the tiny things becomes natural.

Even if you’re in the middle of a hugely challenging and highly UNfun time the ability to feel gratitude at this most testing of times will mean that when it is a more enjoyable time of your life again you’ll feel even that much more aware of everything you have to feel grateful for.

As I discovered when I eventually sold that nightmare of a business… even the tiny little things like my first coffee of the day, that fav podcast that just added a new episode, that first laugh of the day with a colleague is just so much more enjoyable.

Time for today’s actions step: each night before bed, write down 3 things you feel grateful for.

As always let’s end the Monday Motivation show with a quote, today I’ll hand over to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.

If you liked this you’ll also like: How gratitude, focus and that one little thing will help with weight loss.

Thank you so much for your support! To rock even more – and share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.