The Mechanics of Gratitude: Tools for Unlocking Clarity Motivation and Courage
Tap into this overlooked superpower
True Gratitude is way too often misunderstood and underutilized in Western society.
“Be grateful for what you have” is one of those terms you heard thrown around by friends, and family when you were growing up.
The same sentiment was probably echoed by teachers throughout your childhood.
And it’s reaffirmed in a ton of books on happiness, spirituality, and self-help.
Even religious books like the Bible stress the importance of gratitude, both directly and indirectly.
The idea of gratitude is prevalent in so many parts of our lives, but at the same time, it’s often brushed over.
People typically use the word gratitude as a throwaway platitude.
They practice gratitude because it makes them feel like a good person, it looks good to other people, or they just feel like it’s something they should do.
But gratitude isn’t just something you do because you’re meant to.
When you practice it mindlessly, you miss the transformative power that comes with it.
The Mechanics of Gratitude
We live in one of the most abundant societies there has ever been.
Just having an internet connection and clean water already puts you in the top percentile of all human beings across time.
The fact almost anyone with an internet connection can now build a legitimate business and connect with individuals across the world is crazy.
We take this for granted in the West.
But the truth is, you were born with nothing, not even language.
But along this journey of life, you started to accumulate possessions, friendships, connections, insights, and just about everything you have right now.
You came with none of them and they were not owed to you. There is no contract with the universe stating you deserve to have anything.
But never the less, you’re still breathing, seeing, experiencing, and growing …..
Everything you’ve ever had or experienced is an addition to your life. So you can only gain and never lose.
This is the basis for true gratitude.
Gratitude for every breath that circulates throughout your body, every movement you get to experience a new aspect of life, and every second you’re blessed with family and friends.
Gratitude for every time your heart beats and you get the pleasure of rolling into a warm bed at the end of the day.
When you can tap into this deeper layer of gratitude and live through it consistently, your life will change.
Limitless Motivation
When you receive a gift that you’re genuinely grateful for, you don’t just rip the wrapping paper off and throw it to the back of your cupboard.
Naturally, you want to make the most of it.
In this case, motivation isn’t even a factor. You’re gonna use that gift as much as you possibly can.
No one has to motivate you to drive the new car you’ve been gifted, or to wear the brand-new jacket your partner got you for Christmas.
It’s the same when you’re truly grateful for every aspect of your life from the ground up.
Motivation becomes less of a factor and you become naturally excited to work on your business, body, finances, and relationships.
When you’re truly grateful for the opportunities you don’t need external motivation to get at it.
You can’t wait to test new angles in your business and socalizing when you don’t feel like it becomes less of a core
It’s tough to keep away from the gym when you’re truly grateful for your body and the opportunity to sculpt it as you please.
When you tap into gratitude you don’t need to read a bunch of motivational books, take ice-cold showers, or recite a daily mantra for extra drive.
I’m not saying that any of these things are bad, just that they shouldn’t be necessary to give you the drive to work on your life.
The same way bees don’t need motivation to pollinate flowers. Fish don’t need motivation to swim and find plankton.
Lions don’t need motivation to hunt. And beavers don’t need motivation to build dams.
Learning, building, and growing are in your nature as a human being. You have built-in mechanisms to drive you forward.
Clarity & Insight
This is the second superpower you can sprout with high enough levels of gratitude.
I’ve used gratitude to battle confusion, and brain fog countless times.
More recently with my copywriting business.
There are so many new models, new ways of conducting business, and savvy marketers are constantly trying to promote their products.
This means there are some great resources, but it also creates a ton of confusion about the best way to move forward.
It’s the same when it comes to religion, politics, philosophy, and relationships.
There is so much information from so many different “gurus,” that society is becoming polarized and it’s hard to decipher the truth.
Gratitude is a little trick I use to ground myself back in truth and what’s happening right now.
It takes you out of your mind that’s trying to process a million things a minute and brings you back to the reality of right now.
This creates clarity and insight that wasn’t there before.
Recently, I was confused about which approach to take for one of my freelance copywriting projects.
It’s something I’d been going back and forth on in my mind for days.
The truth was, I could keep playing the decision on repeat in my mind, but I’d never know the best route to take without testing.
Grounding myself back in gratitude for what I had right now, pulled me out of my mind (where the confusion was) and back into present reality.
I was able to look objectively at what I had and cut out the noise.
What I needed to do became self-evident given where I was at that moment in time.
It was a level of clarity triggered by a genuine appreciation of the options I had available to me at the time.
True gratitude clears your mind and focuses your attention on what you have right now.
This creates a high level of objectivity in your situation and replaces fear of making a wrong decision with appreciation you even have the options.
More objectivity and less fear naturally lead to more mental clarity and an environment where fresh insights are born.
Courage
When you become more deeply aware of the fact you were born with nothing and everything you have was added, It’s easier to have courage.
Because you didn’t start with anything it feels like you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
And when you’ve got nothing to lose, you’ve got nothing to fear.
But when I say nothing to fear, I don’t mean this in a careless way. It’s a type of fearlessness that comes with genuine appreciation and care.
When you cherish a gift, you’re gonna do your best to keep and protect it. Although you’re not scared of losing it you’re still fully engaged with it.
In fact, your lack of fear allows you to be even more engaged and get the most out of it.
Think about a time when you felt like there was a lot to lose. Maybe it was a big exam or you were betting money.
You have more nerves and this makes you withdraw away from the thing.
But when you’ve got nothing to lose, for example when playing a game, you get way more engaged.
Think about how competitive and involved people get during game nights, or when playing playstation.
Their lack of fear of the consequences is actually what allows them to get so involved.
Gratitude is a doorway into that fearless space.
The periods of life where I’ve felt the most grateful, have also been periods where I’ve had the most courage.
When you feel like there’s nothing to lose, there’s no reason not to go and speak to that cute girl, try that business idea, or put yourself out there in any other domain.
You have a mentality of why not, but not from a wreckless or careless point of view.
It comes from a genuine appreciation at what you have and an authentic desire to make the most of it.
It comes from the same free and loving standpoint of an artist trying to fill the canvas with as much beauty as they can.
They’re fully engaged, but at the same time know it’s just creation.
And that’s where most of the magic happens, on the precipice of courage.
We often go looking for the answers to having more courage, clarity, and motivation externally.
We can spend so much time and effort trying to make ourselves better.
But most of the time, we already have the things we’re trying so hard to find, hidden deep within us.
It’s like a monkey trying to read books and look up motivation on how to climb trees and eat bananas.
These are things it’s already naturally programmed to do.
And it’s the simple things like gratitude, that help us tap into the wellspring of latent potential that allows us to be better naturally.
Without the hustle, grind, and struggle.
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