Being Grateful Does Not Mean You Can't Aspire

Gratefulness is something that every "Happiness Expert" will tell you that you should practice and that it can be the biggest contributor to happiness.

What is Gratefulness?

Grateful is defined as 'feeling or showing an appreciation for something done or received'.

Basically looking at what you have right now and appreciating what you have. When was the last time you turned the tap on to get some water and thought to yourself what a privilege it is to be able to do that? Shockingly 33% of the world population does not have access to clean drinking water.

The fact that you are able to read what I am writing on your smartphone, laptop or PC means you are in a better position than the average person on this planet.

Those are just basic examples. I reckon if you challenged yourself to think about it you could come up with many more examples of things in your life that you should be grateful for.

How can I practice being Grateful?

Just take some time. First of all, spend 5 minutes with a pen and paper (or your phone if you prefer) to write down a list of things in your life right now that you are grateful for.

Once you have this magic list, create a habit where you spend the first couple minutes reading your list and closing your eyes to think about those things you have written down.

It is such a simple thing but can make a huge difference to your frame of mind.

Don't knock it till you have tried it. Rate your mood before you start and then rate your mood when you are done and I guarantee you that your rating will go up when you're finished.

Keep adding to your gratefulness list. Revisit the list once in a while as the magical thing about gratefulness is that you get better at noticing things in your life.

The TedTalk below is one I always remember watching a few years back and one that has so many interesting points within it.

Does Being Grateful Mean I Can't Aspire To Achieve?

This is one thing I asked myself. I would consider myself to be an ambitious person and am always looking at what the next goal is.

Does that mean I am ungrateful for what I have? No. I am very grateful for what I have and often think about what I should be grateful for but it does not mean I shouldn't look to improve aspects of my life that I believe will give me a sense of fulfilment.

My theory is that as long as I am aspiring for something for the right reason then I should go for it. It is very easy to aspire for something for the wrong reason, e.g. I want a bigger house because my friends have big houses. That is the wrong type of aspiration. However aspiring to get promoted so I can lead a bigger team and share my team ethos and develop others is, in my opinion, the right way to aspire.

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Thanks for reading,

Gav