The Power of Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving

It’s a few days after Thanksgiving, and it was for the memory books!

I started the day with a gourmet breakfast with my wife and mother. A special thing that we did to show gratitude to my mother. Later in the day I spent time with my close friends and mentors for an epic Thanksgiving dinner.

We had an extraordinary time! One of the highlights was one of our Thanksgiving traditions of sharing the top things we’re grateful for. It was great to hear all of the specific things that happened for all of my friends. All of them had amazing successes over the year.

Minus the food, Black Friday shopping, family bonding, and travel; I believe that the essence of Thanksgiving is, well, giving thanks.

A Year of Thanksgiving

Over this past year, one of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned is the power of thanksgiving. In fact, developing an attitude of thanksgiving has changed my life. I’ve found that being grateful leads to greater happiness,fulfillment, and ultimately success.

It’s almost like magic. The more thankful you are for what you have, the more you can create what you don’t have. The moments I’ve found myself stuck, shifting to an attitude of thanksgiving has been the greatest solution.

It’s easy to forget all of the amazing things that happen in your life. It’s easy to forget the great things that people do for you, and the experiences and successes that you have. It’s easy to forget how fortunate are, especially if you live in America.

Thanksgiving is a skill

I’ve found that thanksgiving is a skill. A skill that if developed, can cause you great success and great fortune inside and out. Having placed myself on an intentional tract to develop this skill, here are some secrets that I’ve learned.

1. Be specific. When I began the practice of thanksgiving, I tended to be vague. I found that the more specific I became, the more being thankful impacted my life. It’s easy to say “I’m thankful for my family”, “I’m thankful for God”, or “I’m thankful for my friends and family”.

It takes more thought and digging to say specifically what you’re thankful for. It takes even more thought to say specifically what you’re thankful for within a specific time frame.

2. Write it. I’ve become a big fan of journaling and writing things down. I’ve found that writing what I’m thankful for causes me to experience it in an even greater measure. One of my mentors has always told me “what’s written is real.” When you write down what you’re thankful for, you add an extra level of seriousness.

3. Feel it. The practice of thanksgiving is mostly emotional. Yes, it does take some logic to think through specific events but where the power lies is feeling those specific events. When you’re writing out what you’re thankful for, feel the emotions associated with the event. Feel the joy, love, and happiness associated with the person or event.

4. Ritualize it. I’ve had the opportunity of reading and hearing from some of the most successful people of our time. Without fail, they point back to a ritual of being thankful as one of their secrets to success.

By ritual, I mean having a set time everyday to write and feel what you’re thankful for. Making thanksgiving more than a once/year habit but an everyday habit.

5. Remember the small and great. Often, the “small” things that happen in our life can be the source of the greatest power. When writing down what you’re thankful for, include the big but don’t overlook the small things that happen on a daily basis.

6. Elaborately thank others. When writing out the list of what you’re thankful for, invariably, people will be involved. Our successes in life are connected to other people. It’s great to be thankful for someone, but letting that person know is the greatest expression of thanksgiving there is.

If there’s someone that you’re thankful for, make sure that they fully understand how thankful you are. An email, card, gift, or anything that can convey your message is worth the investment. The act of elaborately thanking others will not only benefit the other person, but it will benefit you as well.

7. Make it a way of life. Thanksgiving changed me when I made it a way of life. In everything that I do, I make every effort to be thankful. I say thank you. I remind myself of what I have to be thankful for on a daily basis. I ensure others know that I’m thankful. Of course I’m not perfect but I make the effort and in result I’m happier, people look to help me more, my dreams are closer, and my life is much fuller.