Welcome to the 30-Day Gratitude Challenge!
Just typing that word "challenge" makes me a little anxious. Does it stress you out to read it?
Maybe you're excited about the challenge! The timing is perfect, and you were just thinking the other day how you could use a little gratitude in your life. If that's the case, awesome! Welcome aboard!
Maybe you're thinking, "Great, a 30-Day Challenge. One more thing to add to my list. I probably won't even make it past the first week." If that's the case, awesome! Welcome aboard!
Maybe you're here because someone you care about (or someone you haven't spoken to since high school graduation) posted a link on their Facebook feed. If that's the case, awesome! Welcome aboard!
I know it might sound a little crazy... but I want to make you a promise: Regardless of why you're here, what attitude you arrived with, or the trials life has handed you, if you have the guts to spend the next 30 days immersing yourself in gratitude YOUR. LIFE. WILL. TRANSFORM.
It scares me to make a promise like that, especially without knowing you or your life circumstances. But I stand by it. That's how much I believe in the power of gratitude.
How To Get The Most Out Of The Challenge
To get the most out of this challenge, I have a few suggestions. They are simple and powerful. If done regularly, they will help you along this month-long journey... and you will be glad you did them.
- Read every post from the 30-Day Challenge. Whether that means you visit the blog ever day, or you get the messages delivered to your email, read every post. Some of my favorite people will be sharing some very personal and very powerful stories with you. It is my belief that personal stories are incredibly powerful teaching tools. They allow us to see ourselves in others in the most honest, beautiful, and sometimes terrifying ways.Use these stories as a mirror.Open your head and heart to being taught from the experiences of others.
- Write down your daily gratitudes. Get a journal. It can be a spiral-bound notebook, a deck of 3x5 cards, a moleskin notebook, a journaling app... you decide. Every day, write down something or many things you're grateful for. Challenge yourself. Dig deep. Start with easy stuff if you have to, but don't be afraid to look for reasons to be grateful for the tough things in your life, like that breakup, the death of a loved-one, an insecurity you've struggled with your whole life, or the betrayal of a friend. As you train yourself to see the good in everything (and yes, I mean EVERYTHING), you will see that everything in your life becomes good.
- Express your gratitude for others. Everyone loves to feel appreciated. When people express gratitude for me, I feel full. I get this ball of energy in my gut, and it shoots through my chest, and floods my arms and legs and head till it fills my entire body. When someone I love tells me how much I mean to them, it makes me feel like I can conquer the world. I get a desire to be my very best self for them. It makes me want to do more and be more.
Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action
said, "There are only two ways to influence human behavior: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it." My belief is that gratitude is one of the purest forms of inspiration. Express gratitude this month and watch those around you begin to live as the very best version of themselves!
- Join the Facebook Group. If you want to share your story, or if you want some extra accountability or encouragement, there's a Facebook Group for that. The people in this group are fantastic. They are the best kind of people. They will be there for you just as you will be there for them. If you want that extra push, join the group and interact. You'll get out of it what you put into it.
Thank You
Before I wrap up, I wanted to thank you... and not just the collective "you" that is the internet, but you. The you that is reading this right now at this very second.
Thank you for reading to the end of this post. Thank you for participating in this community. Thank you for making The Loveumentary what it is. Without you, all of this - hundreds of blog posts, days worth of podcast recordings, countless Facebook updates and emails - would be completely empty and meaningless.
Without you, I wouldn't have crossed the country in search of so many amazing people with such incredible lessons. These amazing people wouldn't have shared their stories. And I would be working a desk job wondering what to do with my life.
Thank you for giving me purpose. Thank you for giving me meaning. Thank you for showing up and making a difference. By reading this today, you have given me something that I could not have given myself. For that, I love you.
Now, go be grateful! Choose what you love then love love love love love what you choose. Love it with everything you've got!
Love,
Nate
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