what's your gratitude motivator?

We live just on the edge of a city. Although it may not quite be the countryside, we're blessed to be near nature with a canal directly behind us and fields nearby.

So, I try to get out a walk every day - it helps that I need to pick grass for our bunnies daily (it always helps to have a motivator).

I always find that, whilst I love walking, there are quite a few days where I just can't be bothered heading out. However, when I do go out, planning to only harvest grass, I end up walking much further than I intended because the fresh air on my face simply feels amazing. If I didn't have to return home to feed the bunnies, I suspect I would disappear for much longer.

Isn't it funny, though, that something I know I enjoy immensely, something I know makes me feel amazing, I could so easily talk myself out of doing if I didn't have in place that great motivator of harvesting grass to keep our bunnies healthy?

Isn't it funny how our mind works, how we put off doing things we know we actually benefit from? There's always tomorrow. And yet tomorrow never comes...

That's why it's so important to create a habit out of something you know will benefit your life, like gratitude. And because any habit can be difficult to incorporate into our lives until we've created a routine around it and practised that habit enough that it feels as natural as breathing, it helps to also create a motivator - a reason for performing or practising that habit each and every day.

A motivator can come in one of two forms. It can either be something that gets you excited, something that leads to a positive reward after you've practised your habit. For example, my motivator to get me out walking is to harvest grass that keeps my bunnies happy and healthy. Alternatively a motivator can be something that highlights what you'll lose out on if you don't practise your habit everyday. For example, the motivator that gets you out of bed on a cold, dark, wet, and dreary Monday morning so you can go to work will be money, your salary. If you don't practise getting up each morning to go to work, you'll lose your job and lose the money that keeps a roof over your head.

Since we're talking about creating a habit of gratitude and incorporating a daily gratitude practice, I would suggest choosing a motivator that gets you excited. As positive emotions such as excitement carry a positive and high vibration closer to the vibration of gratitude.

Whilst a motivator is helpful even when you've established gratitude as a habit, it's particularly important when you first begin your gratitude practice. If you don't establish a motivator that encourages you to put in the work at the beginning and be consistent with a gratitude practice until it becomes natural, tomorrow may never come, your life may never change for the better, and you'll not have the opportunity to reach your highest potential.

Even with a motivator, however, there will still be days when the mind will win and convince you that you have more important and pressing things to do than practice your habit of gratitude. We are all human, after all. None of us is perfect. However, with the help of a motivator, the days you practice gratitude should far out-number the days you don't, gradually leading you to feeling and understanding the positive impact gratitude has on your life.

What motivator will you create to enable you to establish a habit of gratitude?

The easiest and simplest motivator is simply a daily prompt inviting and reminding you to perform a different type of gratitude exercise each and every day over a period of time. However, it can be challenging to create, for example, a year's worth of prompts and exercises. So before you even begin your practice, you may fall at the first hurdle.

I have you covered, however. I've done the hard work for you. In my year-long experience I have created for you daily exercises to follow, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. When you commit to following these exercises every day, you'll gradually create a habit of gratitude. Each and every morning you have your motivator waiting for you in the form of a pre-prepared exercise.

Viv xx