Ten Gratitude Exercises

Positive psychology is focusing more and more on gratitude and how to find it in your life to not only counteract depression but simply increase happiness. Here is a list of exercises I found on the Self Help Magazine Blog that Joanne found somewhere.

Ten Gratitude Exercises

1. Gratitude Journal

· Daily recall of 3 to 5 occurrences

· Association with “gift”

2. Remember The Bad

· The worst day of your life, but you made it through

· Counterfactual: “it could have been worse…”

3. Three questions

· What have I received from _________________?

· What have I given to ______________________?

· What troubles and difficulty have I caused__________?

4. Prayers of Gratitude

· From your own religious background

· From Native American or Buddhist traditions

5. Come To your Senses

· Body-related gratitude; the 5 senses

· Breathing

6. Use Structures (Visual Reminders)

· Reminding and becoming aware

· Post-Its, beepers, signs, objects, social support

7. Practice Gratitude

· Vowing to perform an act increases the likelihood that you’ll do it

· Write it down, repeat daily

8. Watch Your Language

· Whorfian hypothesis (language determines the nature and content of thought)

· The words we use create reality

9. Go through The Motions

· Pencil experiment

· Express gratitude as a habit

10. Think Outside The Box

· Be grateful to those who do you harm

· Be grateful to someone whom you benefit

 

28 Principles Of Attraction for Coaches

This are some Best Practice thoughts for new coaches. I thought it might be helpful for ICA students who haven’t read the book yet.  28 Principles of Attraction1. BECOME INCREDIBLY SELFISH. WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NOTHING, AND ATTRACTION ISN’T POSSIBLE. 2. UNHOOK YOURSELF FROM THE FUTURE. ATTRACTION WORKS IN THE PRESENT, NOT IN THE FUTURE. 3. OVERRESPOND TO EVERY EVENT. BY OVER-RESPONDING INSTEAD OF OVERREACTING, YOU EVOLVE, WHICH IS VERY ATTRACTIVE. 4. BUILD A SUPERRESERVE IN EVERY AREA. HAVING ENOUGH IS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH FOR YOU TO BE IRRESISTIBLY ATTRACTIVE. 5. ADD VALUE JUST FOR THE JOY OF IT. WHEN YOU ADD VALUE BECAUSE YOU ENJOY IT, PEOPLE ARE NATURALLY ATTRACTED TO YOU. 6. AFFECT OTHERS PROFOUNDLY. THE MORE YOU TOUCH OTHERS, THE MORE ATTRACTIVE YOU’LL BECOME.7. MARKET YOUR TALENTS SHAMELESSLY. IF YOU’RE EMBARRASSED ABOUT WHAT YOU DO WELL, YOU WON’T BE VERY ATTRACTIVE. 8. BECOME IRRESISTIBLY ATTRACTIVE TO YOURSELF. HOW CAN YOU ATTRACT OTHERS IF YOU DON’T FEEL IRRESISTIBLY ATTRACTIVE TO YOURSELF? 9. GET A FULFILLING LIFE, NOT JUST AN IMPRESSIVE LIFESTYLE. A GREAT LIFE IS ATTRACTIVE; A LIFESTYLE IS USUALLY SEDUCTIVE.10. DELIVER TWICE WHAT YOU PROMISE. WHEN YOU CONSISTENTLY DELIVER MORE THAN WAS EXPECTED, NEW CUSTOMERS ARE DRAWN TO YOU. 11. CREATE A VACUUM WHICH PULLS YOU FORWARD.BEING PULLED FORWARD IS ATTRACTIVE; PUSHING FORWARD IS NOT. 12. ELIMINATE DELAY.TIME IS EXPENSIVE AND THUS IS VERY UNATTRACTIVE. 13. GET YOUR PERSONAL NEEDS MET, ONCE AND FOR ALL.IF YOU HAVE UNMET NEEDS, YOU’LL ATTRACT OTHERS IN THE SAME POSITION. 14. THRIVE ON THE DETAILS. SUBTLETIES, DETAILS AND NUANCES ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN THE OBVIOUS. 15. TOLERATE NOTHING.WHEN YOU PUT UP WITH SOMETHING, IT COSTS YOU. COSTS ARE EXPENSIVE AND THUS UNATTRACTIVE. 16. SHOW OTHERS HOW TO PLEASE YOU.DON’T MAKE THEM GUESS. 17. ENDORSE YOUR WORST WEAKNESSES.WHEN YOU CAN ACCEPT AND HONOR THE WORST PART OF YOURSELF, YOU ARE MORE ACCEPTING OF OTHERS. 18. SENSITIZE YOURSELF.THE MORE YOU FEEL, THE MORE YOU’LL NOTICE AND RESPOND TO THE MANY OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PRESENT. 19. PERFECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT.THE ATTRACTION OS IS A SOPHISTICATED SYSTEM WHICH REQUIRES A FIRST-CLASS ENVIRONMENT. 20. DEVELOP MORE CHARACTER THAN YOU NEED.INTEGRITY IS NOT ENOUGH TO BECOME IRRESISTIBLY ATTRACTIVE. 21. SEE HOW PERFECT THE PRESENT REALLY IS.ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS CLEARLY NOT. |22. BECOME UNCONDITIONALLY CONSTRUCTIVE.HIGH LEVELS OF RESPECT ARE VERY ATTRACTIVE. 23. ORIENT EXCLUSIVELY AROUND YOUR VALUES.WHEN YOU SPEND YOUR DAYS DOING WHAT FULFILLS YOU, YOU ARE ATTRACTIVE. 24. SIMPLIFY EVERYTHING.ABANDONING THE NON-ESSENTIALS LEAVES MORE ROOM FOR YOU TO ATTRACT. 25. MASTER YOUR CRAFT.BEING THE BEST AT WHAT YOU DO IS THE EASIEST WAY TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL. 26. RECOGNIZE AND TELL THE TRUTH.THE TRUTH IS THE MOST ATTRACTIVE THING OF ALL, BUT IT REQUIRES SKILLS AND AWARENESS. 27. HAVE A VISION.WHEN YOU CAN SEE WHAT’S COMING, YOU DON’T NEED TO CREATE A FUTURE. 28. BE MORE HUMAN.WHEN YOU ARE GENUINE, YOU ARE ATTRACTIVE. Copyright 1997 by Thomas J. Leonard. All rights reserved.

Reflections on the Class about Diversity

Respect is the key to communicating with people from all cultures. We share the same human feelings or emotions like love, sorrow, passion, insecurity, empathy, pleasure, sympathy, pity. etc. but the beliefs , perspectives and assumptions we carry around with us differ from one culture to another. Culture is sometimes compared to an Iceberg: the part you see above the water (clothing, cuisine, traditions, music, sites) are not all there is. The more significant things like values, religious beliefs, ways of thinking, are all  deep below the surface and you don’t necessarily see them at first sight.