Sally Curtis lost her sight in her twenties and started an accessibility consulting firm helping businesses make software blind-friendly, creating jobs for millions. She argues gratitude, not happiness, drives fulfillment. The conversation explores how recognition and awards boost confidence and professional growth.
Chapters
Because it's not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness. So if you can thoughtfully reframe your perception, you can improve your happiness and your success. You see, being exposed to these incredible people taught me one of life's most valuable lessons. Happiness is not a feeling. Happiness is a choice. Happiness is not an emotion. Happiness is a decision that we make every single day when we wake up. We either choose how we're going to look at things or we allow random circumstances to affect our happiness. Now the fact is, I went blind in my early 20s. And look, fundamentally, there were 2 stories that I could have told myself. Story number 1 is that I went blind because I've got incredibly bad luck, right? Or story number 2 is that I went blind because I'm one of the very few people on this planet with the strength and the toughness I had to overcome that and use it to help other people. At home, we teach our kids this skill by going around and having a nighttime session where we all share things that we're thankful for. Because it's not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness. I turned my disadvantage into an advantage by establishing a consulting business where I helped government agencies and businesses make their software compatible for the blind. And this created job opportunities for millions of blind people It's not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness.
Awards are very tangible, Sally.
They're not like some airy-fairy OSEO and digital stuff that's happening. They're very tangible. You can physically put your hands on your trophy and give an acceptance speech, and we've seen people I've seen people literally grow on stage as they give these acceptance speeches in their self-confidence. Now they're confident to be out there on Instagram and on live video and speaking and talking about their business and, and really promoting what they do. So, so awards have really changed my life in terms of my attitude towards reflecting on what you've done and standing up for that recognition. But also in the ability to grow self-confidence and grow personal brand.
Videos—there's so much that you can do from a book, and I say it that.
