On the 21st September it was World Gratitude Day!
As much as ‘gratitude’ can sound like one of those woo woo terms that’s chucked around as the magic recipe to make everything better in an instant…
It’s actually a very good grounding tool.
I’ve spoken about my mental health challenges at length, and when I feel overwhelmed, Oh wow can the negative self talk start ramping up.
The louder it gets, the more I doubt myself, the less I do.
For example… today, it’s raining hard. It’s cold. It’s taken me 4 hours to research a 300 word post and I’ve been sat in a way that makes my back crunch horribly. I’ve been chasing my tail on a lease renewal that’s taken far too many emails for my liking AND I just can’t understand why it’s going to take Barclays 10 days to send me my mortgage statement.
Admittedly, I’m in a good mental state, so whereas sometimes even a hint of bad can get me down… today it’s not really festering.
But all of the above can be frustrating and it can make you feel like you aren’t achieving enough.
And then the end of day comes… and I take 5 minutes out to write down the 5 things I’m grateful for (one per minute) and my mindset changes. Yes, I had a productive day. Yes, yet again I smashed it. Yes, I can feel good about logging off.
- I smashed my KPI’s for last semester at the Uni
- I signed off on the final Architects plans for Jersey City
- I’ve put together a schedule of works for one of my properties in Bath and have the renovation booked in for late January
- Yes, I did finally get the lease renewal signed… another 2 years with the tenant at a good rent
- I ordered a salmon and cream cheese sandwich for lunch (With a side salad) and I loved every single mouthful… how amazing that I could take myself out for lunch and just chill out whilst researching (you see it wasn’t that bad!)
In honour of World Gratitude Day, I’m passing the buck to you. Every day this week, take 5 mins (Set your alarm so you don’t run over) and write down the 5 good things that have happened, or the 5 things you’re thankful for.
I leave those 5 things at the end of each day of notes in my day book… so that I can see what I’ve actually achieved when I flick back through.
It’s a habit that keeps everything in perspective. I’m doing just fine, and I suspect you are too!
