BUSINESS BUILDING BLOCKS: How Gratitude Can Grow Your Business!

Every morning I wake up and practically pinch myself I am so grateful to be here, alive at this time in history! I live in a beautiful home that I worked hard to earn, I work with talented design professionals to grow their businesses, and I share my talents with wonderful clients to transform their homes and their lives. That is just the start of a long list of people and things I am grateful for.

What are you grateful for?

There are 5 simple ways to implement the Habit of Gratitude in your life, and the rewards from this action will astound you. When you take your focus off of the negative news, off of the media hype, when you distance yourself from toxic personalities and surround yourself with those who are taking responsibility for their results and continuing to grow their lives and their businesses, you will experience a significant positive shift in outlook and opportunities. See the simple steps here:

A Gratitude Journal: Now, if you don’t journal, this can be simplified to a gratitude post it note or even a thank you shout out loud! The point is to keep track of all of the people and things you are grateful for during the course of each day, each week, each month and so on. Too often we focus on the negative and forget how fortunate we are. If you are stuck, think about being grateful for the mailman who brings you fun catalogues, postcards from friends, and reminders of the generous life you lead (bills). Be glad for the trash collector that comes and takes your trash rather than you hauling to a dump site. Look out the window and appreciate the weather.
A Scrapbook of Success: Life is often filled with mementos of events, pictures of people we care about, and treasures from experiences had. Create a scrapbook of these pieces as a permanent and growing reminder of all the wonderful experiences you have had and are having. This is an invaluable reminder during times of stress that sunny days are ahead as there have been many in the past.
Rave Reviews: Every project you begin with a client deserves a photo finish. Be sure and keep your camera handy and get a picture of the client either with you or with their family in the home you just designed, or in the room you just redecorated. This is a happy moment and one well worth cherishing. Each time business feels tight, revenues aren’t flowing, pull out these nudges that will bring your focus to being grateful for wonderful clients and a knowing that more are always around you.
Measure in the Moment: Sometimes a talisman or pocket reminder is helpful to keep us on the gratitude track. It can be as simple as a small stone you picked up, or perhaps if you enjoy those that can be purchased with a single word carved on them to remind you to stay focused on the positive in your life. Keep this in your pocket or your purse (we’ve all seen these hanging from rear view mirrors!) It is about what works for you and what will keep you in a present state of positive focus and graciousness.
Giving the Gift: Do you have charities you give to on a regular basis? Do you contribute to your church (if you have one)? Giving to others on a regular basis is an easy reminder of how fortunate we are and how many others are not as fortunate. Whenever I get blue (and I do) I think of the friend that has conquered breast cancer, or the colleague that just donated a kidney to her stepson, or the neighbor in foreclosure. There will always be those that deserve our help and our goodwill, stop complaining and start giving.

Implementing just one of these methods will refresh your outlook, refocus you on what you can accomplish and conquer, and put you back on track to connecting with those deserving of and able to invest in your talents, services, and expertise. For every person you encounter that blames outside forces for their failure, there is someone else that is taking responsibility for and initiating the necessary steps for their success. Which one are you? Success is a choice, will you choose it?

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Want to use this article in your blog or ezine? Just include the text here: Ready to grow your business to six figures and beyond? Melissa Galt is The Six Figure Professional and Interior Design Business Systems Specialist. Interior Destinations is a weekly business publication devoted to growing your design business, you can sign up at www.melissagalt.com. For more free biz building tips, check out www.sixfiguredesigners.com.