Shownotes
Welcome to Day 1528 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
The Advantages of a Gratitude Mindset – Ask Gramps
Wisdom - the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. Today is Day 1528 of our Trek, and our focus on Fridays is the future technological and societal advances, so we call it Futuristic Fridays. My personality is one that has always been very future-oriented. Since my childhood, I have yearned for the exploration and discovery of new technologies and advancements for the future. I grew up with the original Star Trek series, and even today, as I am now on my 65th revolution around the sun, I still dream of traveling in space. Each week we will explore rapidly converging technologies and advancements, which will radically change our lives. At times, the topics may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but each area that we explore is already well on its way of becoming a reality over the next couple of decades.
To keep with our theme of “Ask Gramps,” I will put our weekly topics in the form of a question to get us on track. This week’s question is, Hey Gramps, we have explored having a futuristic and exponential mindset, but you also mentioned a gratitude mindset. With all that is going on in the world today, what are the advantages of a Gratitude Mindset?
The Advantages of a Gratitude Mindset
Do you know the advantages of a Gratitude Mindset? What might be holding you back? I am using some of the information in today’s episode mentioned in Peter Diamandis’s blogs and book “The Future is Faster Than You Think.”
One of the significant challenges we all have today is a pervasive sense of being “overwhelmed.” An increasing abundance of opportunities and a dizzying technological progress rate can often blind us to many of the simple joys in our lives. What was once a miracle we now take for granted.
In part, this is because technology allows us to do so much more, faster, cheaper, and easier. But it wasn’t always this way.
It was not uncommon during most of history to work 80+ hours a week just to survive. This amount of work was a necessity to get access to basic food, water, and shelter. All of our technological advancements are giving many of us a vacation from basic survival.
Being grateful means feeling and expressing thankfulness and appreciation for just how far we’ve come and for what we have. God’s providential grace has allowed us to live in a time of abundance never before experienced.
From a basic “standard of living” standpoint, each of us now has access to more fresh food, clean water, educational content, and medicines than kings and queens had just a century ago.
From an entrepreneurial standpoint, each of us has access to more communication capability, more knowledge, and more computational power than the heads of Fortune-100 companies had just a couple of decades ago.
From an impact and Purpose-Driven standpoint, each of us now has the privilege to work on some of the world’s biggest problems, a capability previously only addressable by heads of governments or the preeminent philanthropists.
Problem-solving itself has been democratized, and we’re all better off because of it. We should be grateful for every day of life.
A Gratitude Mindset involves regularly making the shift from expectation to appreciation and thankfulness.
A Gratitude Mindset means always recognizing that we’re living in the most extraordinary time ever in history. Today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow will be better still.
I believe that a Gratitude Mindset is essential for entrepreneurs. We have so many expectations for the future and our role in creating it that we get impatient. We are prone to ask ourselves, “why isn’t it here yet?!”
A Gratitude Mindset is 1 of the six critical Mindsets that I mentioned in our Futuristic Friday episode a few weeks ago.
In addition to giving glory to God which includes thanking and praising Him for allowing us to live in such a time as this, here is a summary of WHY you should develop a Gratitude Mindset:
With a Gratitude Mindset…
(1) You know that being grateful enhances your mood and makes you feel genuinely happy. Expressing gratitude causes our brain to release dopamine and serotonin, the two crucial neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions. They make us feel “good.”
(2) You recognize how providentially blessed you are on both a personal and professional basis, and you take the time to feel and express thankfulness and appreciation.
(3) As a leader (and all of us are leaders in some facet of life), you understand the power of encouraging your team to be grateful. You know that being thankful and appreciative improves the relational well-being of both individuals and the overall group.
(4) You invest in relationships. You may have heard that “time is money.” The fact is that time is not money. “Relationships are money.” You have to develop and nurture your relationships. Every day, you try to be as useful as possible to those around you. In your leadership role, you focus on what positive results you can create for others.
(5) You have created daily routines that allow you to reflect on how providentially blessed and thankful you are. You share those reflections with others in your life in a way that brings you joy, and uplifts those around you.
In addition to the points that I have mentioned, I want you to implement the following habit. When you are getting ready for bed every evening, recall the 3 things you are most grateful for from that day before you drift off. It will change how you view the next day, and every day after that.
So, how would your life change if you had a Gratitude Mindset? What are the three things you’re most grateful for in your personal life? In your work life?
As a Christ-follower, we of all people have so much to be thankful for. Our lives should exude a Gratitude Mindset as we overflow each day with the joy that only God can provide.
From his abundance, we have all received one gracious blessing after another.
That is a wrap for today’s question. Join us again next Futuristic Friday as we look at another exciting exponential technology area on our ‘Ask Gramps’ episode. Our next trek is Meditation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. So encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’
If you would like to listen to any of the past 1527 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, but most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.
As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday!