How to Start Changing Your Life with Gratitude?

What if there were a simple and easy practice that could improve your life? Something that would work like magic? This magic, presented by Rhonda Byrne, the author of "The Secret", in her book "The Magic", is gratitude. Practising gratitude regularly can create magic in your life. It can make you happier and help you focus on the positive aspects of life and on what you can do to change negative aspects or to accept what you cannot change. You can improve any area of your life using gratitude. The Magic teaches you how to implement this tool in your life to achieve important improvements. (Rhonda Byrne: The Magic, Simon & Schuster, 2012.)

The book "The Magic' describes in detail a 28-day Gratitude Challenge in which you cover all important areas of life and all roles you play in it. Every day, you focus on a well-defined aspect of life and give thanks for its different elements, such as things, experiences, people or relationships related to that aspect of life. If you haven't done a Gratitude Challenge or practised gratitude, this is an excellent way to start because you have detailed guidelines on what to do every day.

Before I present the book, I must make a disclaimer and underline that gratitude is an important tool for changing your life, but often it is not enough. You must combine it with other tools and techniques that help you, for example, to set goals, manage your time, change limiting beliefs and habits, depending on what you need to address to change your life. 

The introduction prepares the reader to recognise the importance of gratitude through an inventory of famous people's opinions - philosophers, writers, artists, scientists, politicians, representatives of different religions - on the importance and beneficial results of practising gratitude.  

According to Rhonda Byrne, creating magic through gratitude has a formula consisting of three steps:

"1. Deliberately think and say the magic words, 'thank you'.

2. The more you deliberately think and say the magic words, 'thank you', the more gratitude you feel.

3. The more gratitude you deliberately think and feel, the more abundance you receive."

The book covers a 28-day practice with daily gratitude topics and exercises combining general and specific aspects of life. You start with counting your blessings, and this exercise is repeated over 28 days. Every day, this general gratitude list is supplemented with a topic from different areas of life, such as health and body, family and relationships, work, career, money, personal dreams, material aspects and attitude toward life. You will constantly use two gratitude tools in the process: the gratitude journal and the gratitude stone. Depending on the topic, you could be asked to do an additional exercise, such as using affirmations, writing a gratitude letter, writing thank-you notes on your bills, etc.

The exercises are easy to use and won't take up more than 30 minutes of your time every day. When you do this "gratitude challenge" for the first time, you must read the relevant chapter on the previous evening. When you start the challenge, you might have to remind yourself to do the exercises every day using a calendar reminder or a phone or computer notification. The more you practice, the easier it gets, and by the end of the 28 days, you will develop the habit of being grateful and saying thank you for everything in your life. 

This is the way to use the book effectively:

• Commit to reading and doing the exercises for 28 days without interruption. You can write and sign a commitment letter.
• Prepare your gratitude journal and gratitude stone.
• Read the chapter concerning the following day's exercises in the evening and, if needed, prepare the "tools" you have to use, for example, photos.
• Do the suggested exercises in the morning and during the day.
• In the evening, before you go to bed, write your gratitude list and whatever else is necessary to be written down related to the topic of the day.
• Be consistent and do not skip one single day.
• Do the 28-day gratitude challenge with joy and ease, not as a burden, as something that you must do.
• Repeat the entire process periodically, for example, every 3 or 6 months. Between the challenges, you can write a daily or weekly gratitude list. If you write a weekly gratitude list, use your gratitude stone during the other days and be grateful for the small joys of life.

Note: Do not forget to take action toward your goals. Practising gratitude is not a substitute for taking action and doing the work. However, it can help you be more motivated, joyful and energised while taking action and rejoicing more and being more satisfied with the results and your life, or learning from mistakes and setbacks.