Daily Gratitude: “Consistency is the ultimate key to success. The compound effect is the strategy of reaping huge rewards from small, seemingly insignificant actions. Small choices + consistency + time = significant results.” This is from James Clear’s review of the book “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. How often have you started some practice that you think will make a difference in your life? How long did you stick with it? Even if you spent 5 minutes every morning doing one thing that you think is important, AND you keep doing it every day, it definitely will make a difference. The trouble is that often when someone doesn’t see results in the period of time THEY decide, they give up and go on to something else. What if women decided that they should be delivering their baby at 4 months gestation? How well do you think that would work? We humans have this thing about controlling everything. The universe has its own laws by which it operates and no matter what we think, those are the laws that guide things. I have gotten into the habit of doing a daily gratitude journal. All I do is list 3 things I’m grateful for each and every day. It takes just a few minutes. It’s such an important part of my life that I even do it during races. It’s small but I do it consistently and it has changed how I look at life. Did that happen after I’d done it for a few weeks? No. Could I have stopped then? Yes but I’m glad I didn’t. Think about the compound effect next time you think something in your life isn’t working….yet.

Daily Gratitude: What’s your definition of winning? I heard a great definition of a “winner” – “A winner is a person who is constantly and continuously striving to become better at what they do.” So you can see it’s not about the outcome which is what a lot of people think. However, what’s most important is that you develop your own opinion as to what winning is. Why? Because you are the one who is playing the “game” not someone else. I think this quote has hit it right on the head by saying that it’s not giving up. I don’t see how you can possibly lose if you never give up. Each and every day you should practice keeping going. There’s always something going on that you can practice with even if it’s just being stuck in traffic with a ton of things on your to do list. What can you do to keep your mind in a positive mode in your circumstance? It’s so important that you weed out any negative thoughts that tend to creep in if we’re not constantly vigilant. So if you’re stuck in traffic spend that time saying your gratitudes, saying mantras you’ve created for yourself, plan out what is going to happen when you finally get where you’re going. This is called pre-paving. It works wonders. Plan it down to the smallest detail. I used to do that with all the meetings I had when I was working. Pre-paving sends the vibrations into the universe and that tends to bring it into existence. Next time you have a meeting try it. I know I’ve gone off in a few directions today but i personally think they are all related to winning and not giving up. My goal for the rest of 2024 is to develop the habit of keeping all my thoughts on something positive!

Daily Gratitude: This is so important for retired people to pay attention to. And often it’s important for others who are still working but aren’t happy. No matter your age, you can and should have a purpose. Once you have that purpose, you’ll find yourself happier and willing to do things you never thought you’d do. The older we get, the more we do have to help and tell others. The wisdom that comes with age must be shared with others. That’s the primary way to not have history repeat itself – by telling others what you’ve learned. Don’t let anyone, or yourself, make you think you’re just taking up space. The universe has put you here for a reason. You just may have to work a bit to find out what that purpose is once you stop working and think your “important” life is over. No it’s not over. And don’t ever let people try to convince you of that. I went through that last year when I turned 75. Fortunately I finally got past that and pray that it won’t happen again. I have worked hard to figure the things I still have to “say” and they will keep me going. What about you?