Wise Advice to Unhappy Doctors, Bankers and Hippies

If you were told to give one universal piece of advice to everyone you’ve ever met… What would it be?

Please don’t answer this fast. There are many good universal advices… like drink more water, make more love, stretch, breathe deeper, laugh more, et cetera et cetera.

Yet i’m not talking about the kind of stuff you read on any $5 magazines. I’m talking about a genuine chance to give your best shot at giving advice to EVERYONE you know. What would you tell ALL THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW without any doubt, fear or shame to really help them live a better life? If you had this golden chance to reach out to all the people you know, how sagacious would this advice need to be?

Recently i’ve found myself trying to answer this question and my issue was that my network is very diverse. It’s a big list of open minds and hard heads, deep thinkers and shallow egos, wise and fools, some poets, yogis, lawyers, singers, millionaires, billionaires, doctors, janitors, philanthropists, a nobel prize contestant, politicians, models, CEOs, interns, artists, gurus, athletes, writers, unemployed parents, drug addicts, cops, teachers, The Iceman Wim Hof, investment bankers, hippies, potheads, consultants and even a mystic or two.

What could I possibly say to positively impact such a challenging diverse group?  Something that for the majority isn’t obvious and for many is a much welcomed reminder for using in times of need.

My answer involves a certain habit. Probably the EASIEST and most SIMPLE habit a person is able to immediately create in life. It’s simplicity is proof of the “geniusness” of human nature. In fact, it’s a habit of putting ourselves in our most natural state of existence!

My advice: Create a daily practice of gratitude. (daily practice + time = habit)

Gratitude is our most natural state of existence.

The Best-seller author Melody Beattie precisely quotes: “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.”

Tony Robbins simplifies it: “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.”

Even the famously depressed philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was able to recognize and admit the power of gratitude in one of his rare moments of joy: “The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”

I have never met an individual that is truly happy who doesn’t express consistent gratitude towards life. It’s one of those simple logics: The moments worth living and remembering are the ones we are grateful for. Therefore, the more you practice gratitude, the more you will align yourself with future moments to which you’ll be grateful for. It’s 2017, do we really have to go over the law of attraction?

This is how to implement the advice:

The simplest way: Every morning immediately when waking up you must think on 3 things from which you are grateful for. Every night before sleeping you also think on 3 things that you’re grateful for. You obviously don’t have to limit yourself to 3 things. They can be as simple as being grateful for a soft bed at night or for opening your eyes in the morning. With enough time, I caught myself falling asleep counting people, things and moments I felt grateful for and then falling asleep in this amazing state of gratitude, waking up already feeling appreciation and continuing to count things I felt grateful for automatically… It becomes natural! I think it’s a good thing to practice and to teach kids.

 But if that’s not your style there are other options:

Gratitude Jar:

Tear up a piece of paper and write down something you felt grateful for in your day. Put this piece in a jar and repeat every day. In the end of the year open the jar and read everything you felt grateful for in that year.

Gratitude Journal

You may opt to start a gratitude diary/journal. Writing things down is powerful and creates a stronger alignment with the body and the rest of our DNA.

These ridiculously simple exercises of practicing gratitude have astonished researchers with their results. It has shown to create new neuro pathways in the brain. The way it works is that a huge portion of our dreams and sleep quality are derived from the last few moments just before we fall into sleep. As soon as we wake up, that’s also the foundation for our day. The moments of most clarity are the few minutes when we wake up. So beginning our days with a moment of gratitude can literally change our brain waves for the rest of the day. With this technique, we are setting the pace at the beginning and end of our days.

In case you want to turn pro:

Gratitude Letters. Showing appreciation for other people also has deep impact into our well being. Write someone a letter of gratitude with all the reasons to why you feel gratitude towards them. Set up a lunch with this person and give them the letter or read it to them. This small act of grace will make you happier and certainly put a smile and possibly tears into your friend’s face.

Another option is communal gratitude. Verbalize your gratitude to people around you. Friends and family. The power of gratitude within a group can create a magnanimous experience for every individual there.

The moments worth living and remembering are the ones we feel grateful for.

Thank you for reading. Please share in the comments what would be your universal piece of advice!

In case you need a scientific paper from Harvard to back up all you’ve read: http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/in-praise-of-gratitude 

Cheers and namaste!