My Gratitude Walk

We're all on our own version of a High Performance Journey.  For the majority of us, we're trying to achieve more in our lives.  While on that journey, there's areas where we excel, and there's areas that we're still developing.  Many of my clients expect me to have everything figured out, so they're often surprised when I share my own obstacles that I'm working to overcome.  Just like you, I'm also striving to improve and some days are easier than others.  

A couple weeks ago, I had a pretty rough day.  Multiple things didn't go as planned, and while I'm normally very good at intentionally bringing a positive energy to situations, on this day, I left a lot to be desired.  I quickly regretted my actions and started seeking ways to improve next time.  I thought that a good night sleep would help me reset and my mind would be better the next day, but I unfortunately woke up with the same negative mindset as the day before.  I knew that if I went through my day with another negative mindset, there was no way that I would accomplish what I wanted professionally or personally.  So, while on my normal morning walk, I decided to try something new.

I had never heard of a Gratitude Walk before, but I had successfully changed my mindset in the past with positive affirmations.  The universe challenges at all of us, that will never change!  What CAN change, is our reaction to how we deal with those challenges.  Despite what life throws at you, we all have things that we can be grateful for in our lives.  On this day, I decided that I would take my entire 2 mile walk and continuously recite to myself things that I was grateful for in my life.  So, for the next half hour, I dug deep and kept coming up with one thing after another, after another.  Anyone can identify a couple items to be grateful for, but to do it for 30 minutes straight is next level and forces you to grow!  I was convinced that this was the fasted way to cure my negative mindset and to ensure that I lived a productive, positive and fulfilled life that day.  Guess what?  It worked!  When I got back home, I felt great and went on to have an awesome day!

On a side note, I was so excited that I had invented something new.  Unfortunately, a quick search online revealed that people have been doing Gratitude Walk's for years and finding amazing benefits in their lives as well.  So, next time you are facing a challenge in your life and that negativity bias that we all have starts to talk over, you may consider talking a walk and adding in some positive affirmations.  If walking isn't your thing, I'd love to hear what you do to change your bad mood.