A short motivational talk by Brian Tracy about cultivating an attitude of gratitude to improve happiness and relationships. Tracy encourages listing things you're grateful for and practicing the "Four A's": Appreciation (thank others for actions), Approval (praise efforts and accomplishments), Admiration (compliment traits and achievements), and Attention (listen patiently). He links these habits to higher self-esteem, better relationships, and increased personal happiness, and closes with practical calls to act and share.
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Even in the midst of the greatest difficulties you will experience in life, you can always find things for which you are truly grateful. Hello, I'm Brian Tracy, and today I want to talk to you about gratitude and its effects on your overall life and happiness. There's a natural tendency in this world, especially if you grew up in an environment where people complain a lot to think adults complain a lot. It's amazing how many conversations then become pity parties where people talk about what they like to call ain't it awful Ain't it awful I got stuck in traffic, Ain't it awful my kid didn't get good grades, Ain't it awful I didn't get that job promotion, Ain't it awful this and Ain't it awful that? The most common phenomena in modern psychology. So, instead of thinking this way, think about the things for which you are truly grateful. Think about every little thing you have in your life that you are blessed to have. Think about the fact that you woke up this morning. That's good a lot of people didn't think about the fact that you have a roof over your head. Civilian people that don't. Think about the fact that you have a future set before you. Think about all the opportunities that await you in this lifetime, which are virtually unlimited. No matter what your current position is in life, there are always good things if you look deep enough. Even thinking about something as small as the breakfast you ate this morning or of a friend that you're looking forward to seeing can have an enormous impact on how you feel on a minute to minute, day to day basis. Yet no matter what your current position is in life, if you think positive thoughts, it's going to get better. Even in the midst of the greatest difficulties you will experience in life, you can always find things for which you are truly grateful. One of the most important things that you can do in life is to take a piece of paper and write down all the things for which you are truly grateful. And by the way, you're going to need more than one piece of paper. If you take the time to write these things down on paper, you'll be amazed at what you come up with. I always like to tell people to develop the habit of practicing the four A's. The first A stands for appreciation. Take every opportunity each day to thank every person for everything that he or she does, small or large, in the process of carrying out their duties in your home or at your work. Every time you develop an attitude of gratitude and just say thank you to a person. Three wonderful things happen first, their self esteem goes up. They feel better and more valuable. They even feel more motivated to do more of the things for which they received appreciation in the first place. One of the best people building child building, marriage, relationship building tools of all is just to say thank you all the time. Now. The second A stands for approval. Give praise and approval on every occasion for every accomplishment of whatever size. Give praise for every good effort. Give praise for every good suggestion or idea. Just say that's good. Especially praise people when they do something that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Praise immediately. Praise specifically praise regularly. Whenever you praise people, they experience it actually physically and emotionally. Their self esteem goes up and they feel happy inside. They like themselves and feel more valuable and whatever you praise gets repeated. In fact, the definition of self esteem is the degree to which a person feels himself or herself to be praiseworthy. The third A stands for admiration. Continually compliment people on their traits such as punctuality and persistence. Compliment people on their accomplishments both at work and in their private lives. Every time you admire something about another person, you raise that person's self esteem and make them feel happier. The fourth and final A stands for attention. This simply means that you listen patiently, listen quietly, listen calmly, listen thoughtfully, and listen without interrupting. True listeners hear what's being said to them. By expressing your gratitude to others in this way, you'll unwittingly increase your own happiness. The habit of feeling and expressing gratitude to those around you and to life in general has a wonderful effect on your personality and overall life circumstances. Remember, you become what you think about most of the time. An attitude of gratitude, which is the highest way of thinking, causes you to be more sensitive and aware to people around you. The more gratitude you have, the more gratitude you express, the better and more positive your personality will be. The higher your self esteem becomes, the more popular and liked you will be by all the people around you. Before we wrap up, I'd like to leave you with a thought to share with your friends and followers. Here it is. Even in the midst of the greatest difficulties you will experience in life, you can always find things for which you are truly grateful. Those are just a few things you can do to begin developing an attitude of gratitude. If you haven't seen my other videos about increasing your happiness and satisfaction in life, take a look now. I'd love to hear from all of you. So my question to you today how do you make it a point to express gratitude on a daily basis? Leave a comment below and I'll be sure to follow up with you. Thanks for watching. And remember, if you want to change your future, take action and take action now. If you enjoy this video and feel it was valuable for teaching you how to express gratitude, subscribe to my channel and share this video with your friends or anyone else who might benefit from this information. For more resources on how to live your best life, Visit my website, www.briantracy.com.
