"It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude." -Wallace D. Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich or Financial Success Through Creative Thought

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." -Melodie Beattie

In my workshops and classes, I talk a lot about the importance of gratitude. Why is this so important? Well, simply, when we infuse all we do with gratitude and are grateful for what we have, we draw more things to us to be grateful for.

I mention gratitude at the end of each of my Persuasion Factor calls and my Elite Coaching Club because gratitude should be our constant companion not just a Thanksgiving Day foot note or brief prayer on Sunday. It should permeate all of our interactions.

Experiencing gratitude does not have to be limited to when someone gives you a gift or does you a favor. True gratitude is about looking deeply at our lives and understanding how truly lucky we are to be alive at this moment in time.

This is something I think about all the time. I keep a list of things to be grateful for, and my list is probably quite similar to yours -- family, friends, students, colleagues, employees, financial success, health, my home, my pets. I'm grateful when it rains, I'm grateful when the sun comes out. I'm even grateful when it snows a few days out of the year because I get to watch my children play in the snow.

I express this gratitude for simple things and complicated things. And I make it a point throughout my day, to stop and consider other people's situations, whether they be more challenging or easier than mine, and I am even grateful for the struggles I have had to endure as well as the things I accomplish with ease These are the things that have made me what I am and brought me to this point in life which is exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Gratitude can be powerful especially if something about our life is not quite right. For instance, if your health is not as good as it could be, instead of cursing our bodies for what they are not, try being grateful for what you can do.

There's an old Irish proverb that says, 'Count your joys instead of your woes; count your friends instead of your foes.' I love this. It's all in where we place our focus. It's all in what we choose to highlight and what we choose to minimize.

When you begin to take notice of all that is good in your life, this gratitude will turn your life around.

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Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.