Top Motivational Speaker Suggests Developing The Gratitude Habit
My mother drilled into me the importance of saying “please” and “thank you.”
So, when I would eat or sleep over at friends’ houses and utter these magical words their moms would poke them by saying: “Do you hear how polite Gary is?”
It was a little embarrassing, but there was some proof in their responses that my mom’s indoctrination had positive effects.
I still try to say please and thanks, and I like to think it’s less of a reflex and more voluntary than it was way back when. In any case, it is a good habit to cultivate.
Management guru Peter F. Drucker said so many things that I’m starting to get Drucker fatigue. I should probably desist in quoting him for a month, though this is hard to do inasmuch as he left his mark on me as the most frequent professor in my MBA program.
He said: “Good manners aren’t about content. They are lubricating oil, making social relations smoother.”
So, adolescents and others that chafe at the idea of being pleasant when they don’t feel like it are missing the point. “Manners aren’t about sincerity,” Drucker went on to say on numerous occasions.
Expressing gratitude is crucial in life, and being grateful may even be better. According to literature that I have been researching, being grateful can stave off depression, help us to handle disappointments, and even lessen sensations of physical pain wrought by ailments of various kinds.
Being happy with what we have, with whom we know, with our jobs, families, and even with the passing scent of flowers in the breeze, can heighten our enjoyment of life.
Perhaps the niftiest application of gratitude is finding a way to be thankful in the midst of our most trying times, when we have lost jobs, are fighting addictions, and are wallowing in worry and stress.
Throughout my adult life I’ve sought secrets into motivation, so I could stay positive while encouraging others to do the same and to perform at peak levels. Never have I found anything quite as practical as counting one’s blessings, and saying thanks for them.
At the same time, when I’ve descended into the deepest emotional craters, now I can look back and see that I stopped being grateful. Indeed, I lost sight of the good. Instead of seeing it, and praising it, I saw holes, empty spaces, voids, and dissatisfactions and complained about them, if only to myself.
I don’t remember why I forgot to be grateful or how it was exactly that I became ungrateful. But I know it happened. And I don’t want it to happen, again.
Want a better life? Say thank you, over and over. And even if nothing seems different on the outside, miraculous changes could take place, within.
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top-ranked negotiation speaker, telemarketing speaker, and customer service speaker at Google, and a distinguished, sought-after sales speaker, motivational speaker, and attorney. President of Customersatisfaction.com, he is a frequent TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,700 articles that appear in 25,000 publications. President of Customersatisfaction.com, Gary conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant’s “Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing.” His web site is:http://www.customersatisfaction.com, and professional speaking, seminar, and consulting invitations can be addressed to:gary@customersatisfaction.com.
