Recently Dawn and I were asked two interesting questions. One person asked, “Your parents do so much for you guys; why do you think they are so giving?” A couple weeks later, someone asked the second question: “You and Dawn do a lot for your parents; how come you do so much for them?” Until recently I held these questions separately in my mind. I now see they are part of the same question. Why do we all do so much for each other? The answer is that we are in what I call a “Love Cycle.”

You cultivate three things in the process of building a Gratitude Chain™: awareness of what and for whom you are grateful, curiosity about what makes something you value possible, and memory of what is good. And when you link together your Gratitude Chains™, you experience a powerful appreciation of the important people and things in your life.

Our brain automatically tries to keep us safe. We are wired not to hurt or kill ourselves. The challenge is that the brain has an alarm system that can be hypersensitive. We often receive physical and emotional alerts to warn us of problems that pose no real threat. As a result, we are left to respond to psychological and physical false alarms. [...]

Gratitude is a bridge to your positive future:  It is your passageway to success.
 
Think about a bridge crossing a river.  It must have strong supporting foundations on both banks.  Without the foundations securely anchored, …

Focus + Humility + Questions = Momentum©
Let me check something out with you.  Pretend for a moment that your friend, child, spouse, employee, or your boss said to you: “I would like to learn from …

Be clear on what’s expected of you in your job.  Agree on what success looks like.  Don’t be shy.  Ask how you’re going to be judged.  I learned how important this is when I interned …

Show me the trunk of your car. Hand me your luggage. Step back. I’ll find a way to fit it all in. I’m a good packer.
 
No car, no mini-van, no SUV scares me. I …

I reached for the one on top. It was a letter. It was addressed to Dawn. I read the first two lines. “Thank you for your recent visit to our facility. Your digital mammogram shows no evidence of cancer.” Then I had what I call a “gratitude moment.”

It was 1977 and I was in the sixth grade. I joined the Boy’s Choir. I really didn’t like singing in choirs, but I joined anyway. All my friends had signed up, so I did …

It was 1976. I was in the fifth grade. The fifty-yard dash record for Lake Bluff Elementary School in Shorewood, Wisconsin was set in the mid 1950s. I had a chance …