a GRATITUDE PRACTICE you'll actually do

Nov 8

In today’s post we’ll chat thru…

① The POWER of gratitude for my GOAL GETTERS.
② Let’s SIMPLIFY gratitude
③ 5 SIMPLE ways to exude gratitude DAILY

LET’S DIVE IN. 🖤

Hey hey SISTERHOOD! I’m so pumped to be here with you today. If you’re reading this in real time we are approaching the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the United States. And this time of year is such an interesting one because one part of me wants to slow down and soak in the nostalgia and traditions of the holidays, but there’s another piece of me fighting. The goal driven part of me that wants to achieve the things and make it happen...all before the ball drops, right? It’s end of year and even though I’m tired and I’m ready to go inward and enjoy Home Alone, flannel jammies, and Chex Mix on repeat…there’s things to do. There’s goals to be met. And so I’m caught in the tension. Please tell me you get this.

I’m working on this…bc I’m a recovering DO-MORE-A-HOLIC. When I was working in my health + fitness coaching biz the end of the year often brought up feelings of not being enough. And my “go to” default if I’m not feeling like I’m DOING enough or that I AM enough is to DO MORE. I would see all the goals I hadn’t achieved clearly laid out and I would simultaneously beat myself up for not "being there” and then hustle harder “just in case” I could make up the difference. And I’ve shared it before, but it’s worth repeating…

I would end up SICK by the time the year was over. Like every year, ya’ll. Sick.

And looking back I know it was my body’s way of saying “I’ve had enough, Britt. I need a break.”

And I know you might be like “what does hustling at the end of the year have to do with gratitude” and to that I say “EVERYTHING.” This ain’t your mama’s blog post about gratitude. Today I’m gonna get real with all my GOAL GETTERS about how ESSENTIAL a gratitude practice is in your life. As ambitious women it's easy to focus on the gap between where we are and where we desire to be; constantly focusing on what's missing. And even worse, it's really easy to get caught up in the "I'll be happy when..." trap. Glennon Doyle says “there’s no THERE there” and she’s spot on. You will never be ”happy when” bc when you get “there” you’ll already be looking at the next target…the next goal you want to achieve. It can be a vicious cycle.

Every mountain top that you come to (aka goal you achieve) is simply going to point out all the other mountains there are to climb. You will climb your mountain. Get to the top. Take a breath and look around. And you’ll immediately see every other peak. If we’re not careful…we’ll end up only focused on the goals. We’ll forget there’s so much more to the journey.

A parking lot that holds us safe.
Valleys in between each mountain where we get still. We get ready. And we wait for the next climb.
Moments on the next climb that test every ounce of strength we’ve got.
Breaks we have to take.
The ease of the downward descent.
And, of course, the mountain top “I FREAKING DID IT” moments.

It’s ALL part of the journey. I’ve gotten this wrong so many times. I can get so focused on moving from goal to goal that I forget to enjoy the journey. I forget to look around and be GRATEFUL.

I know I’m speaking in a metaphor right now but I hope you get it. The mountain top is the goal. The steep climb is the hard work it takes to get there. The parking lot is that safe space you return to + re-calibrate. The valley in between is that waiting period as you decide where to climb next + make preparations. I could keep going…

But today I wanna talk about why GRATITUDE is essential for my GOAL DRIVEN LADIES and I also want to help simplify it into a practice you’ll ACTUALLY do…bc you know me…I want you to leave our time together each week and take some freaking action.

You ready?! Let’s dive in. 🖤🤟🏼

1. The POWER OF GRATITUDE for my GOAL GETTERS.

When we put our heads down and get laser focused on a goal, it's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of success and the actual OUTCOME that we can forget all about gratitude. Like I said before…as ambitious women…it’s easy to focus on what we lack, what we're striving for, or the gap between where we are now and where we desire to be. But what if I told you that embracing gratitude can be a secret weapon for all my goal driven ladies seeking to achieve their dreams and aspirations while ALSO being fulfilled along the way?

I know. I know. It sounds super woo-woo. But one of my FAVE entreprenuers always reminds me that sometimes the best things happen when the WOO meets the WORK. There is POWER in a regular gratitude practice that goes beyond going around the table at Thanksgiving and sharing a few things we’re grateful for. Let me break it down.

GRATITUDE SHIFTS YOUR MINDSET. At the heart of gratitude is a fundamental shift in your mindset. When you cultivate a grateful attitude, you begin to see the world through a more positive lens. Challenges become opportunities. Setbacks become stepping stones. And your overall outlook becomes one of optimism. This shift in perspective is essential for goal setters because it enables you to navigate the inevitable hurdles on your path with resilience and determination.
GRATITUDE IS A GREAT MOTIVATOR. When you’re pursuing a goal I promise you that you’ll face moments of self-doubt, frustration, and exhaustion. If not, you’re probably not doing anything meaningful enough to STRETCH you. Amen? Gratitude can act as a powerful motivator in these uncomfy moments bc it’s essentially a LOOK BACK at all you’ve already ACHIEVED, all you already HAVE, and all that you already ARE. In this moment. Without one more step. Without one more thing checked off. This is PROGRESS and it feels freaking GOOD, right? By appreciating the progress you've made, even in the face of setbacks, you fuel that drive to keep pushing forward. Gratitude reminds you of all that you’re capable of bc if you did it before…why would you NOT be able to do it again.
GRATITUDE STRENGTHENS RELATIONSHIPS. Let’s be real. No one achieves their goals entirely on their own. Whether it's through the support of a mentor or coach who has given you tools and resources and support to achieve your goals, a circle of girlfriends cheering you on + helping to remind you of how capable you are on the tough days, your spouse or partner taking on the load at home so you have the capacity, time, and space to work on your fitness goals or a side hustle, relationships play a crucial role in success. I love naming people in my life who I’m extremely grateful for. It not only strengthens the bonds I have with them, but also reminds me that I can’t do this journey alone.
GRATITUDE GROUNDS US TO THIS MOMENT. Ya’ll. Life is PRECIOUS. I know we’re so focused on where we’re going but if we aren’t careful…we’ll miss what’s happening RIGHT HERE. RIGHT NOW. Gratitude encourages me to live in the present moment. To be thankful for my life exactly as it is…knowing that I’m working towards something even more magical. By practicing gratitude, you learn to acknowledge and savor the present…and this helps you live more INTENTIONALLY + FOCUSED…making your decisions and actions on the day to day more deliberate….which we LOVE around here, right? Bc every choice in the direction you desire is a freaking WIN, sis.
GRATITUDE REMINDS US THERE IS JOY IN THE JOURNEY: While achieving your goals and getting to those mountain top moments is NO DOUBT a BIG FREAKING DEAL, it can sometimes feel frustrating or even defeating when the next goal is really far away. But friends. The journey is where we are GROWING into the type of women who can handle the success + achievement on the other side. Gratitude allows you to find joy IN the pursuit of your dreams. It reminds you that the process itself, the small victories, and the daily efforts are just as important as the destination…the PROCESS becomes the PRIZE. Gratitude reminds me that true fulfillment is not just about reaching your goals but about finding contentment and purpose along the way.

I used to HUH. SULL. for my dreams friends…and in that space it was super easy to overlook the practice of gratitude. But I promise you I’ve learned the hard way that getting to the mountain top and hustling on to climb the next is a recipe that has left me burnt out…over and over and over again. Being GRATEFUL along the way provides a positive shift in mindset, boosts motivation and builds grit, strengthens relationships, grounds us in the moments that we don’t want to miss, and ensures true fulfillment on your journey TO the goal. And that’s important friends. It changes everything.

2. Let’s SIMPLIFY gratitude…

I hope so far this helps you see that gratitude isn’t just a warm and fuzzy feeling that we can conjure up around the holidays…it's a powerful tool we can use DAILY to help us stay focused, motivated, and fulfilled WHILE pursuing our goals. And I get it. Sometimes we make something so SIMPLE so complex. Or it’s so simple that we simply FORGET, right?

In all the things that consume our daily lives - juggling work, family, and personal ambitions - it can feel like you don’t have TIME to sit and do a “TEN STEP DAILY GRATITUDE ROUTINE.” So. I want to SIMPLIFY it for you. Yep. A gratitude practice that's not only effective but also manageable for the busiest of women.

5 SIMPLE ways to exude gratitude DAILY:

① PILLOW TALK.

Anyone else’s mom used to listen to radio stations that turned to “pillow talk” after 8pm?! 🤣 I swear it wasn’t sleazy…it was simply slower, more relaxing music and this radio host who had the smoothest voice that was like melatonin before melatonin was cool.

"Pillow talk" is my silly way of reminding you that whenever you find your head meeting the pillow…you can use that as a moment to the practice some gratitude. A little pillow talk, if you will. It's an easy way to start or end your day on a positive note. Here's an idea of how to incorporate it:

If it’s in the morning, take a few minutes after your alarm goes off and before you get out of those comfy sheets to think about the highlights of your previous day or what you’re grateful for up ahead today. If it’s at night before you fall asleep, reflect back on the day and think about any moments or people you’re grateful for.
Express gratitude for the specific events, people, or moments that made your day special. You can even combine this with a little prayer if that feels good for you.
You can do this silently in your mind or share your thoughts with a partner, if you have one. I love to ask Charlie what his favorite part of the day was as a way to connect and get our minds framed around what filled us up vs what drained us as we wind down.

② KEEP A DAILY JOURNAL or a jar.

Keeping a gratitude journal or a gratitude jar is an effective and tangible way to practice gratitude daily. I personally like to write down a few things I’m grateful for every morning and the WIN THE MORNING journal is a helpful place to start if you want to get in a morning practice of making that happen. I’ve also heard of people keeping gratitude jars on their counter and while I haven’t done that as a habitual practice, I love that idea. Here's how to do these:

Set aside a few minutes each day to jot down three things you're thankful for.
You can use a physical journal or even a digital note-taking app.
And if you’re using a gratitude jar…keep scrap pieces of paper and a fun marker or pen near the jar and write a quick note with your daily expressions of gratitude.
And my FAVE part of writing it down…every so often I’ll go back and review my journal (and this would be a fun monthly, quarterly, or yearly activity with the jar) to see the accumulation of positivity in your life.

③ TSA RULES.

Okay you know how when you’re in the airport, TSA sometimes comes over the PA and says, “if you see something, say something?” This is what I want you to think of when it comes to all things gratitude, compliments, and positivity. Keep the mantra: “If You See Something...Say Something” close to heart. And a step further. If you THINK something (like how grateful you are for your husband’s skills when it comes to bringing your DIY’s to life (just me?!), or how hard you can tell your girlfriend has been showing up to her fitness goals lately) SAY SOMETHING.

Whenever you witness, experience, or think about something that elicits feelings of gratitude, immediately express it to the relevant person. Here's how to implement it into your daily life:

If someone does something kind or helpful, say "thank you" right then and there. Don't wait; let them know you appreciate their actions in the moment.
Be specific in your appreciation. Instead of a general "thank you," explain what you're thankful for. For example, "I really appreciate how you supported me when I was starting my business; it made a huge difference whenever I felt like throwing in the towel…so thank you."
If you experience a moment of gratitude when you're not in the same location as the person, send a text, email, or handwritten note expressing your thanks. Snail mail is my FAVE bc I love when someone actually takes the time to WRITE THEIR WORDS of APPRECIATE to me. It feels good right?! And so I try to pay that feeling forward.
Don’t just recognize the outcomes but also the efforts . If someone is putting in hard work acknowledge it. We all like to be SEEN.
And. Don't just limit this practice to people you know. If you see your waitress doing an amazing job or if a stranger's kindness touches you…take a moment to say something and express your gratitude.

By adopting the "If You See Something...Say Something" TSA rule, you ensure that gratitude is not only felt but also shared with the people who make a positive impact on your life. It's a simple and powerful way to strengthen connections and spread positivity.

④ PAIR IT WITH SOMETHING ELSE.

In seasons when I’ve often been on the go, integrating gratitude with something else I’m doing has helped my self talk be one that’s more positive. Think: daily commute, while walking, doing the dishes, or even when you’re feeding your newborn baby instead of scrolling...all of these moments are ones where you can go inward and tell a different story than maybe you typically do. It takes being quiet + mindful, but that’s something we’re all about in this space right? Here's a few ways I’ve done this in my life:

Use your DAILY COMMUTE to reflect on the things you're grateful for. When I was a teacher I would commute home without my radio on or music so I could take a moment and get quiet about my day.
Go on a GRATITUDE WALK. This is an awesome way for me to take a break mid-day and it doesn’t have to be long. Even walking from my classroom to the copy machine would be a moment I could pivot my mindset from the to-do’s + stresses to things I was generally grateful for. Shoot even STANDING at the copier and considering what I’m grateful for could be an option. Find a way to pair it with something else when your brain is normally running thru other tasks.
Pair it with something you normally GRUMBLE thru. There was a season where we didn’t have a dishwasher when we lived in California. Ya’ll. First world problems. I know. And I HATED it. The dishes were a never ending task and at that time I was the partner in our home who typically carried this load. One day I had an epiphany…instead of grumbling silently or having a mental breakdown about how much I HATED that task…I could use that time to go thru all the things I was grateful for and even use it as a time to pray. It seriously FLIPPED the way I viewed that task and became a positive moment for my mindset vs a downward spiral.

⑤ make it a part of your weekly or monthly reflections.

Okay. I get it. Not every day is going to be perfect. I don’t lay my head on a pillow always envisioning all I’m grateful for. I don’t always drive in meditative, positive silence. Some days I’m just doing my best. Amen? That’s why we have to remember that all of our tools are here to HELP us…not TRAP us when we’re not perfect. Gratitude is a tool. Not a trap. While daily expressions of gratitude are amazing and so powerful, it's ALSO totally okay to use it as a reflection tool on a weekly or monthly basis. Here's how to do it:

Dedicate a specific time each week or month to review your recent experiences. I love to do a MONTHLY + QUARTERLY REFLECTION which I’ve shared about before.
Reflect on the people, places, things, + memories that brought you joy or taught you valuable lessons. I love living my life out loud on social media for this very reason. I go back thru my archive of stories and posts and see what I can be grateful for. It jogs my memory bc it’s like a daily diary I kept.
Express gratitude for the overarching themes in your life during that period. Thinking about my life as “seasons” is really helpful for me. I can think about the summer as the time we packed up our Dallas home and moved to Tampa and I can be grateful within that time period for all the people I got to spend time with and meet and the memories that were made along the way.

Friends. So much of the conversation we have here in this space is centered around being our BEST SELVES. And with that, I know you’re often looking at those “mountain top moments” or goals on your list.

I hope today’s episode showed you the POWER of gratitude along that journey.

What a sad place to get to if you don’t have anything or anyone to be thankful for along the way. What a bummer it would be if you never actually TOLD the people that matter to you that you were so thankful for them WHILE they were helping you along, right? And what a disservice I would be giving you if I didn’t remind you OFTEN that the best moments aren’t only the ones on top of those mountains. I’ve had AMAZING moments right here in the mundane, simple, slow, in-between, un-sexy pieces of my journey. Gratitude has taught me to look for that.

It’s not just about the goals, friends. It’s about the JOURNEY. You’ll hear me preach that time and time again around here.

For my fellow GOAL GETTERS, finding JOY in the JOURNEY and GRATITUDE along the way can be the secret sauce…leading to a more fulfilling and successful life. Enjoying the freaking process, right? Bc WHY NOT?

So let’s make it simple on ourselves. It's not some woo-woo practice; it's the WORK…a fresh mindset + energy that can help us stay motivated, resilient, and connected on our journey to those dreams we’ve got laid on our hearts.

I’m rooting for you. I believe in you. And I can’t wait to hear how this episode is speaking to you in your life and your journey. I challenge you this week to embrace gratitude as a simple daily habit…whether it’s pillow talk, a little gratitude on the go, maybe the TSA rule, or simply journaling it out…whether that’s on the day to day or in a monthly reflection. I dare you to show up and see how gratitude works its magic in your life and on pursuit to your goals. And then do me a solid and TAG ME on social and share. Take a screenshot of this episode and tell me what you’re loving + learning along the way. I love seeing how this content is moving in your life. 🖤

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