Episode Summary:

Leading a business or ministry often feels heavy. The human brain is wired for survival, meaning we default to detecting threats rather than seeing blessings. In this episode, Jim dives into why gratitude isn't just a mood—it is a spiritual safeguard and a leadership strategy.

Jim breaks down the science of the "negativity bias," the theology of thanksgiving as warfare, and the four major pressures every leader faces that gratitude can disarm. If you are struggling with anxiety, feeling like you haven't "done enough," or carrying the crushing weight of outcomes, this episode offers the shift from an "Owner" mindset to a "Steward" mindset. Learn how to reframe your daily grind, guard your heart against entitlement, and build a memory bank of God’s faithfulness.

Key Takeaways:

• Velcro for Negativity, Teflon for Positivity: Our brains naturally hold onto negative experiences and let positive ones slip away. Gratitude requires intentional practice to rewire this default setting.
• Obedience, Not Emotion: We often think we need to feel grateful to be grateful. Biblical gratitude is an act of obedience that aligns us with God's will, regardless of our current mood.
• The Owner vs. Steward Shift: This is the cure for entrepreneurial anxiety. Owners carry the weight of the outcome; Stewards only carry the weight of obedience. When you realize you are the manager, not the owner, the pressure lifts.
• Disarming Entitlement: Leaders don't usually lose their joy from exhaustion; they lose it from entitlement. Gratitude reminds us that everything—our gifts, our calling, our wealth—is received, not manufactured.
• The Gap vs. The Gain: Anxiety looks at the gap ahead and says it's too big. Gratitude looks at the ground covered and sees how far God has already brought you.

Favorite Quotes:

• "Our brain is the Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for the positive ones." (Rick Hanson quote)
• "Gratitude is obedience, not emotion."
• "You cannot be anxious and grateful at the same time."
• "Owners carry the weight of the outcome. Stewards... only carry the weight of obedience."
• "Gratitude builds, where comparison steals."
• "A grateful heart sees people as stewardship, not stepping stones."

Scripture References:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Give thanks in all circumstances; this is God's will.)
• Philippians 4:6-7 (Pray about everything, thank Him, and His peace will guard your heart.)
• Psalm 46:10 (Be still and know that I am God.)
• Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (Beware lest you say... my power has gotten me this wealth.)
• 1 Corinthians 4:7 (What do you have that you did not receive?)
• Psalm 103:1-5 (Forget not all His benefits.)

Action Steps & Reflection Questions:

• The Daily Reframe: Instead of asking "What did I produce today?", ask "What did God provide today?" (energy, strategy, wisdom).
• The Memory Bank: Start a running record of answered prayers and moments of provision. When you hit a low valley, read the record to remind yourself of His faithfulness.
• The People Blessing: Once this week, call or text someone and thank them for who they are, not just for what they do for you.

Resources:

• Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
• Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast

Connect with Jim

• 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
• 🎙️ Ask a Question: leadwithjim.com/ask
• 📱 Instagram: @leadwithjim
• ▶️ YouTube: Lead with Jim
• Facebook: @leadwithjim

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Gratitude shifts your eyes from scarcity to God's provision.

And that's what we're going to talk about on the show today.

This is the Unshakable.

Hey, friends, welcome to the Unshakable Life podcast.

I am so grateful that you're here today.

And if you heard from the intro, we're actually going to be talking about gratitude in light of Thanksgiving.

But regardless of when you actually hear this episode, gratitude is something that should be every day, not once a year.

And so in today's episode, we're going to unlock, or at least dive deep into how thankfulness shapes the way to build, lead, and live.

And with that being said, let's dive in.

We live in a world that is heavy, is uncertain.

And if you are a leader, a creator, an entrepreneur, then you understand that the decisions you make have a weight to them, that the thing you're building doesn't necessarily equate to success, but it will equate to uncertainty until you reach success.

And because we live in these realities, these constantly shifting places of I am just unsure or I feel heavy in the weight of this, it's hard to show gratitude because, quite frankly, our brains are wired to maintain the negativity while reflecting the positive.

I mean, there was a famous quote by Rick, Rick Hansen, who said that it says our brain is the Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for the positive ones.

And because our brains are built for negative bias, gratitude requires intentional practice.

So, in other words, you have to make the decision to be grateful.

It's not a feeling.

It's not something that we just work up.

We decide, and we're intentional, to be gratitude, to be grateful.

And when we look at the Bible, right, because this is a Christian podcast, so we do talk about the Bible.

When we look at the Bible, we understand that biblical gratitude is not a mood, it's an act of obedience.

It really keeps us grounded and aligned to God.

In the middle of whatever assignment he has you on, it doesn't matter what you're building, doesn't matter where God is taking you.

We stay grounded through gratitude.

And the enemy wants you to obsess.

Now, for you guys who are newer Christians, we understand that the Bible talks, that there is an enemy, and that enemy is always out in a spiritual warfare trying to take the saints away from the focus on God.

And with that, you got to understand that he wants us, the enemy, to obsess over things.

And one of those things is to obsess over how far we have left to grow, how far we have to go instead of how far we've come.

And I bring this up because gratitude forces you to turn around and look behind you and see how, how far God has brought you from.

While your anxious thoughts looks ahead and decides the gap may be too big for you to cross.

And, and there's parts of us, because we are biased, negative, is that we think that his grace is not sufficient enough to get us through the gap, but we don't realize because how far we've come.

And if the enemy can get you obsessing with what's ahead of you and never looking at what's behind you.

Now remember, looking at your past is not a bad thing.

It's living there that becomes the challenge.

But when we are obsessing over what we have to do, where we have to go, the assignment three years from now, I need to build this, that makes this, that does this.

And we don't look at a minute ago and say, or even whatever and say God loud, look how far you've brought me.

One year ago I was broke and not doing anything.

And today I'm actually doing something I love and I'm making money of it from it.

And so we have to make sure, you and I, if we're going to operate in gratitude, that we're looking at where God is taking us.

And we're constantly reminding ourselves that God has been with us since the beginning and that even though we're not where we want to be, we're a lot further than we think.

And if you're somebody today on the show that you've ever felt I'm not good enough, I've not done enough, it's because you've looked to your, to the gap and you've, you've obsessed with the gap so much that you're looking at a future version of yourself that doesn't exist.

Or you're comparing yourself to somebody who's an expert in your field and you're saying, I should be doing this, but if you just take a step back and we're going to say, hey, let me, let me just be grateful or operate in gratitude.

That deep heart connection that says wow, and that appreciation that says, wow, look at all that I've accomplished.

I never thought I would be here.

And that is where we start getting over or start fighting that never good enough phase.

And this is why it matters.

This is why for Christian emerging leaders and entrepreneurs and content creators, why it matters.

Because gratitude is obedience, not emotion.

I don't know where we've gotten this thing in Christianity where if we feel something, it must be true, or if we don't feel something, then we didn't have an experience with God.

And that's not what the Bible teaches us.

The reality is, is that a lot of what we do comes from knowing and obeying.

And emotion comes later.

In 1st Thessalonians 5, 18, it says, Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in, in Jesus Christ for you.

And we don't have to wait to obey, but we.

We just obey and we're grateful.

We're giving thanks in all circumstances.

Now, there are two things in this of why it's important with the obedience and not why it's not.

Obedience, not emotion is number one.

It says, give thanks, be thankful in all situations.

Not when you're on the top of the mountain, not when you're doing this, all these great things, and not when you're in the valley where you're fighting through all these things.

But at all times, it's not one or the other.

It's all times, be grateful, give thanks.

For this is the will of God.

And so if you're somebody who struggles, what is God's will?

For me, what does God want me to do?

Here's one thing.

This is why reading the Bible is so much more important than what you feel about the Bible.

It's because it says it right here.

This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you to be good, to give thanks in all situations, in all circumstances.

It says it right there.

You want to know the will of God, there's the will of God.

And gratitude plays a foundational, pivotal role in this because it's give thanks in all situations because as we spoke before of the importance of it, it's.

It's a place of remembrance.

It's a place that we're.

We're not going to forget all the benefits God has done.

We're not going to forget all the things that God has brought us through.

Now, as people, we tend to forget.

I mean, in the Old Testament, we see this a lot.

The people of God forgot a lot.

But leadership as a leader, in whatever area you're leading, we can move so fast that we forget that God is our leader.

And we can move so fast in doing whatever we're trying to do and accomplish whatever we're trying to accomplish that we try to do it without God.

And we call it God.

And this is where we get the challenge.

And gratitude links us back to the process God has us on.

You know, you can go read Psalm 103:1 through 5.

And it really kind of enters into that.

But it just comes to this place of God is with us.

God is walking with us.

And we can't begin to move so fast because of our impatience that we lose God or get disconnected from God.

Remember, if gratitude is obedience, gratitude is also in the remembrance.

So we have to take times of remembering.

And then it comes into gratitude as spiritual warfare, spiritual protection.

And you know, I like giving you guys scripture.

So Philippians 4, 6 and 7, don't worry about anything.

Now, I know that's the hardest thing for us ever to say, don't worry about anything.

Other versions say, don't be anxious, so don't be.

Don't worry.

Instead, pray about everything.

I mean, right there alone, it's a protection because here's why it's.

The rest of this verse says, tell God what you need, honestly, forthright, tell him what you need and thank him for all that he has done.

Then you know, you will experience the peace that passes all understanding, because his peace will guard your hearts and minds.

So it becomes a protective shield in spiritual warfare, because gratitude, giving thanks in all situations.

And we're praying through it, praying about everything, asking God to intervene on everything, even the biggest to the smallest, that the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds.

And if you go back to Proverbs, we hear, guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.

So if, if we understand this giving thanks get, we get the peace of God.

Our heart and mind are guarded.

You see how that works in and why gratitude can be spiritual warfare.

So let's switch gears a little bit and talk about four pressures that every leader faces.

And it doesn't matter where you are leading, it doesn't matter if you're leading a business, leading your house, leading a ministry, wherever you're leading, there are pressures that we face.

We're going to talk about four of them.

We're going to do it quick, but we're going to also talk about how this, how gratitude disarms them.

And the first pressure is confusing your calling with your identity.

And so I find that this is something in the, in the coaching world in, in most places that we attach our identity to what we do, that the more we can produce, the better we feel about ourselves.

The more people like us or see us have value, the better we feel that this is an identity lie.

Because you are inherently not someone who is, who is going to get value from what you do you have inherent value in who you are?

And out of who you are in Christ, you produce.

And so your identity, your gifts, your calling are all received from God, not manufactured.

There's nothing you're going to do to manufacture this stuff.

And what happens is, is when we're grateful, it dismantles the illusion of self reliance and self production.

And so we start to divorce ourselves from the results, understanding that we do have to live in excellence.

We do want to produce something of value, of great excellence, but we are not tied to our identity.

So if the product fails, we are not a failure.

You can go to 4th 1st Corinthians 4, 7 to kind of look at that.

And Paul even kind of says, he says, everything you received you got from God.

So why are you boasting?

You know, that's really what it comes down to.

The second pressure that we face is the cognitive load.

Like when your mind is overstimulated or there's so much on your brain.

The struggle with this is that an anxious mind really struggles to recognize as God's presence.

Like when you live in the anxiety of your mind, you are so full of fear.

Now, we do want to recognize that some anxiety is due to some illnesses and some life events.

We want to recognize that and not ever diminish that.

We also have to in, in conjunction with that, understand that when we live in that anxiety, even though we may experience it, if you're not constantly fighting against it, you know, dismantling it, an anxious mind will struggle to recognize God.

Stillness.

Anxiety is the antithesis of stillness.

There is a constant striving to be safe when you're anxious, where stillness says, you are safe, so rest in God.

And you know, we can use gratitude to help return us to the heart of God.

We can use the.

Because I heard this one time, and I think this was a popular psychologist who said this, and I'll have to look up who this was, but he said, you cannot be anxious and grateful at the same time.

I thought that was an incredible way to look at it.

So as you enter into anxiety and we all face it, we all face wary, we all face anxiety as you enter into it.

There are split second choices that we can train our brains, you know, give every thought captive to Jesus, but we can train ourselves to in that split second.

Can I, can I quickly move over to gratitude?

Or am I still going into the anxious and so.

And it's going to take A lot of time, it's messy, but the Holy Spirit is with us so we can get through it.

But it does break the cognitive load and brings us into a heart of gratitude that connects us and grounds us to what God is doing, not the falseness of what anxiety is telling us, is what's wrong.

So this brings us into pressure.

Three entitlement and bitterness.

And we know in the way culture is, there is so much entitledness and so much bitterness happening.

And here's the thing.

As leaders, we lose joy not from exhaustion, but from entitlement, from pride, from.

From the bitterness.

It steals our joy.

And there's so many people out there in the Christian entrepreneur space that want to say, hey, God, you know, Deuteronomy 8:18, God has given us the ability to.

To create wealth.

And is that true?

Absolutely.

But we run into an inherent problem.

8:17 is connected to 8:18.

And we.

And there's so many people that ignore 8:17 to just focus on the promise.

But it's a conjunction to 8:17.

What that says is, beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.

And then it conjuncts into, remember, it is God who helps you or gives you the power to build wealth, not you.

The two have to go together.

And we've got to stop taking scripture out of context, because here's what it is.

The entitlement and bitterness starts with the whole first part of this.

Beware, lest your heart said.

When our heart begins to say, my power, my.

My right hand, my ability, and we leave God out of it, then we try to, you know, glory Jack and make that all about us.

And we leave him everywhere else.

And then we wonder why God doesn't show up.

You know, the second thought or a truth about this is it confuses God's provision with personal achievement.

I did this.

This was all me.

When in reality, we're always constantly partnering with God and through His Holy Spirit to accomplish anything.

I love how Paul says.

He says I can do nothing apart from Christ.

I think that's how our business should be.

That's how our life should be.

That's how your creative endeavor should be.

I cannot do this without Christ.

And every morning and every opportunity, I'm going to thank God for being with me in the midst of this, whether it be my finances, whether it be my health, my relationship.

I thank God for where I currently am, and I thank him for where he's bringing me to.

And you know, the last truth about the entitlement is it steals our joy because joy comes from receiving, but entitlement comes from grasping.

And if you're constantly grasping, you're not going to be receiving because you're.

You're the person trying to get, get, get, get, get, and never giving.

And there's no reciprocal relationship.

So there's no joy.

And if there's no joy, there's no connection.

If there's no joy, there's no strength.

If there's no joy, there's a lot of things missing, and therefore it steals everything you're trying to build.

And because here's some way, here's a way to think about it, here's a.

Here's an interesting way to think about it.

Owners.

You may be a business owner, you may be, you know, in charge of a ministry, but if you have the owner's mentality, owners carry the weight of the outcome.

Stewards, which we are called stewardship, only carry the weight of obedience.

Hear that one more time.

If you have an owner mindset, you are carrying the entire weight of the outcome.

If you have a steward mindset, you are just being obedient to each step.

And you're leaving God with the ability to do only what God can do because he is in charge of the outcome, not you.

So we are a branch manager.

We are not the owner.

And the pressure, if we put it on us as owners, then we become God of our business.

This is where we have to break anxiety and understand that I don't own my business.

If my business makes a million dollars, thank you, Jesus.

If my business made 500 bucks, thank you, Jesus.

If my business makes $0, thank you, Jesus.

My only step is to take the next step and say, God, where do you want me?

Oh, you want me to start a podcast?

All right, let me do this.

And we'll just step this each way with you to see where it goes.

And I'm going to trust you that you have the financial provision for me to take care of everything that needs to be taken care of in.

Even if I don't know where it's coming from.

Because you're the owner, I'm the steward.

So if I'm going to steward this properly, I need your resources.

So thank you, Jesus.

And when we operate in these places of gratitude, you see, we're connected in a proper biblical way.

And our business grows, ministry grows, relationship grows, health grows, all of that grows because we're stewards, not owners.

And the last pressure, it goes, we lose sight of people.

Now, this is near and dear to My heart because I am 100% people person.

Because here's what we understand is that a grateful heart sees people as stewardship, not stepping stones.

I was on a podcast earlier today and I thought this was, this was great.

They had asked me a question about retreats and leaders and retreats.

And one of the things was, was what was one thing you had would say to somebody about the retreat that would make the retreat better.

And I said if they're a leader leading this treat retreat, then they have to make it about the other person.

Because if we make it about us, then it becomes about us and everybody else loses out.

But if we make it about them as leaders, we make it about them and their growth and their pushing through and them getting all that God wants, then we also gain because we're in a no lose situation where nobody loses because I'm giving and serving and they're giving and serving back.

And it becomes a reciprocal relationship where we're giving thanks to God because it is just about serving and who you serve will ultimately come back and fill your cup up.

So we need to not lose sight of people, but to make people the focus.

Because God made people the focus.

And with that all kind of being said, I do want to make sure that we, we really bring into the, the practical ways because as we're building spiritual authority, as we're building, you know, all this places of gratitude, there are some practical things we can do as leaders to grow our gratitude.

Number one, I would highly suggest that you have a daily reframe.

We're going to stop asking what did I produce?

What did I accomplish?

And we're going to start asking what did God provide today?

Did God provide you energy, strategy, wisdom, rest?

Let's take our gratitude and focus in on what God's doing in the midst of it.

And as we evaluate what we're doing in light of that, we can see where we can change, where we can increase what wisdom we can use.

But make sure you're daily reframing it.

Where did God show up?

The second thing is do a weekly review, right?

I think this is actually an interesting, I challenge you to do it like for 7 to 14 days, track what drains you and then track also what gave you life.

Give God thanks for the patterns he's showing you.

Because if you're trying to grow your business, there's drainers and there's, there's fillers, Remove drainer, add fillers.

And so if we do that, we can thank God for revealing what are, what is taking our or stealing our energy and time.

And we can thank them for get placing things in there that is giving that time and energy back.

Another thing, and I've got like two more.

Another thing is, is I would put in a memory bank.

And now in the Old Testament it was really often said, you know, do stones of memory because these stones of memory would be remembrances for generations to come.

And because you and I forget often because you and I are totally out there some days it is so great to get a journal of some sort and write down answered prayers, write down where you saw God, write down what provision he gave you, write down what wisdom he gave you.

Write down everything you saw God come through in that day and throughout.

Take a running record for from now till the day you go to meet him.

And whenever you're in your lowest portions, whenever you're in your lowest places, go back and say, hey, this is where God moved here.

I know he's going to move here, right?

And just keep doing that every time you feel low or even when you feel high, like, like you're excited, you're joyful.

Let's celebrate and praise by go looking what God done, God did.

And the last thing is have a people blessing time.

Now this is not something that you're just going to go and, and give money away to people, although that could be a thing and that's easy.

This is going to be somewhere once a week where you call somebody up and you intentionally start to encourage them, pray for them for who they are, not what they did.

You, you can sit there and say, I love that you're this type of person and you show up in this way for me.

Thank you so much.

Do that with one person a week.

I promise you your joy will come, really coming, flying back in.

And because gratitude builds where comparison steals, let that sink in your heart.

And if.

Let me just end with this is your assignment is a real part of your life, the pressures in it are real.

But so is gratitude and so is God's grace.

And if you're constantly in a place where you're, where you're yearning and pushing into places of gratitude, places of I'm going to give thanks to God in whatever situation because that's what he tells me to do.

You're going to find that your soul is anchored.

And no matter what storm you go through, you will always be placed on the rock because you are anchored.

And the glue of that anchoring is gratitude.

So let.

We're not going to make light of your situation.

We're not going to make light of your calling.

We're not going to make light of your trauma.

We're going to focus on thanking God through it.

Not that we that not that we experienced it, but that it didn't destroy us.

Not that we have to deal with it, but that God is healing us through it.

And all of those things are things that we can practice for gratitude.

So I want you to go ahead and choose one area of gratitude to practice this week and just practice it for the next seven days.

And then if you if you want, hit me up leadwithjim.com There's a forward slash ask.

Send me a note or a voicemail.

Let me know how that worked out.

But with all that being said, I'll see you on the next episode.

Thank you for spending this time with me on the Unshakable Life podcast.

My prayer is that today's conversation helps you to build resilience, reclaim peace, and step with courage into your God given calling.

If this episode has encouraged you, challenged you, or impacted you in any way, could you do me a favor?

Share it with a friend, leave a review and hit the follow so you don't miss what's next.

And if you want more tools and encouragement for your journey, head over to leadwithjim.com you'll find resources to help you grow as a healthy, authentic Christian leader, entrepreneur and creator.

And until next time, remember your foundation is Christ, your calling is unshakable, and your life can make eternal impact.

Action no Strife.

Break free from the burnout.

Find your true north with your God.

Jim Burgoon Stepping forward.

This is the Unshakable life.