FFN 083： The Power of Gratitude
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
208.76459
Summary
In this episode of the Friday Field Notes podcast, I talk about what it means to be a man and why you should be grateful for what you already have in your life. It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the fast-paced world of social media and social media, and it can be hard to slow down and reflect upon what we already have.
Transcript
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You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart
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your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time. Every time.
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You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged. Resilient. Strong. This is your life. This is who
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you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done,
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you can call yourself a man. Gentlemen, I hope all is going well today. You are listening to
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the Order of Man podcast and specifically our Friday Field Notes where you get to hear some
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of my thoughts from throughout the week. But if you are new, you may not know that we also
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have an interview show where I interview the world's most successful men, find out what
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makes them tick, and then of course we're delivering those conversations straight to you each and
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every Tuesday. So if you're not already subscribed to the show, make sure you do that so you never
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miss this Friday Field Notes or our interview shows again released each Tuesday. Man, we
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have got so much going on over the next couple of months and I'm not really sure that I want
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to bombard you with all of it. So I think I'm only going to share with you two things prior
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to getting started and getting into the meat of the show today. First, make sure that you
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have a look at our live meetup that we're doing in Nashville, which is going to be held
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January 26th and 27th, 2018. It's going to be an incredible two days of instruction, activity,
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brotherhood, and it's going to be a book launch party as well. I've got a new book coming
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out in February. I'm going to be releasing the title here in the next probably three
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weeks or so. And when you register for the meetup, you'll get a signed copy of the book
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and participate in the Q and a among other things that we're going to be hosting. So
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if you're interested in learning more and getting registered, head to order of man.com
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slash Nashville. Again, that's order of man.com slash Nashville. And also before we get into
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get 25% off when you keep all five items in your box. That's stitchfix.com slash order
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of man to get started today. Stitchfix.com slash order of man. Guys, with that said, let's
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talk about gratitude this week. I wasn't going to talk with you about gratitude this week because
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everybody's going to be talking about it with Thanksgiving. And it seems to be, of course,
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this time of year, a little played out, but that thought goes against what makes gratitude
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so powerful in the first place. I have truly so much to be grateful for. And regardless
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of your station in life right now, so do you. And when we overlook, like I was about to this
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year, all that we have to be thankful for, we forget that we already have so much in our
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lives. And frankly, life is good. It's easy for high achieving men like you and like me and
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thousands of other guys on the planet to forget to hit that pause button from time to time
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and just reflect, reflect upon what we already have. Frankly, we've already got our eyes fixated
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on the next prize to think too much about what's already come and what's gone, but that doesn't
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really serve us. And it doesn't do anything for those who have stepped up to help us along
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the way. And as fixated as I can be on what's next, I do really believe that it's good to pull
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back the reins and just slow down occasionally. I think that a lot of what we see in society today
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is this constant need for gadgets and gizmos. And of course that's been perpetuated by the
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media and big business because they're constantly striving to get your attention and your money.
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But have you ever considered that what you currently have is already enough? You know,
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I look around in my house and to be completely honest with you, at times I'm a little disgusted
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at my level of consumerism. I bought things I've only used once or never. I don't treat a lot
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of what I have with probably the respect that it deserves. I watch my kids fight and bicker over
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toys that they have when they have closets full of toys that they haven't even touched for years.
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The times that we as a family have the most peace in our home is when we are with each other and
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that's it. You know, going on walks, hiking, camping, playing basketball, just doing things together.
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And it's unfortunate that we've been conditioned to always want more and bigger and shinier and more
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expensive. So with that said, I've really made a conscious effort to show appreciation for
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everything I have in my life currently. And I'm learning to be more satisfied and content and
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happy with what I have. This isn't easy because we're constantly on the mission for keeping up
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with the Joneses and falling into the comparison trap with those that we see in our neighborhood or
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on TV or social media. But if you look around at what you currently have and the standard of living
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that we all enjoy, it truly is pretty amazing. I'm sitting here using technology to reach millions
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of people around the planet with a simple push of a button. If I'm a little cold, I turn on the
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heater. If I'm a little warm, I turn on the air conditioner. I have this incredible machine of
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machines that gets me from point A to point B at 80 miles per hour in my vehicle. Most of you have
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families that love you and support you as mine does for me. If I'm having a bad day, my kids try to
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cheer me up. My wife has the opportunity and frankly, great blessing that we've had over the
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past nine or 10 years to stay at home with our children and make this house we live in a home.
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I have a job that's engaging and uplifting to me and I get to help you and millions of other men
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step more fully into their role as husbands and fathers and business owners, community leaders.
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I get to work from home. I get to travel. I get to do things I enjoy. I get to worship the way that
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I see fit. I get to pursue interests simply because they interest me. It truly is incredible
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how blessed we all are and yet we consume ourselves, consume ourselves with negativity and drama and
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bickering and finding the most trivial of things to be worried about or upset about. To me, the most
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powerful part of expressing gratitude comes in the form of perspective and this is what we need,
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a little perspective in life. Perspective shows you that what you've been consumed with really
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isn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and I don't want to discount your problems
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and challenges. I know we all have them, but I wonder how many of these trials that we face would
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melt away if we stopped focusing on them and decided instead to focus on the positives of our lives and
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what this actual life has to offer. Would it make us more positive? Would it make us more productive?
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Would it make us more profitable in businesses? I know that's certainly been true for me.
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In my experience, we attract what we focus on. If we focus on what we want and negativity and scarcity,
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I believe we'll experience more of that in our lives. If on the other hand, we focus on what we have
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and positivity and abundance, I believe that we have the power to attract more of that in our lives.
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And this is not wishful thinking or a misguided belief that we can simply
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will things into existence. It's just showing gratitude for all that we are blessed with
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and all that we will be blessed with in the future. As you can see, I've been thinking a little bit
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about this topic this week. In fact, I'm talking with the guys in our exclusive brotherhood,
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the Iron Council, all about gratitude this week. If you're interested in learning more about it,
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I know you've probably heard about it by now. You can check us out and join at orderofman.com
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slash Iron Council. But earlier this week, I issued a challenge to all the guys inside of
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the Iron Council that I want to issue you today because I think it's very powerful.
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It's a powerful exercise to go through. Reach out to one person who you are grateful for
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and just let them know specifically why you were grateful for them and say, thank you.
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That's it. No ulterior motive, just a thank you and see how you feel when you do that. See how they
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feel when you do that. I guarantee that you're going to feel uplifted and you're going to feel
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more powerful. Gentlemen, as I close things down today, I do want to take a quick minute and thank
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you. This is very important for me to say. I started this project, this movement, this mission
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two and a half years ago, and I never would have thought that we'd be where we are today.
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That could not have happened without you tuning in and engaging the way that you have. So I want
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to thank you for allowing me to turn an idea into a movement. I honor you for how you show up and
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recognize the role that you have to play in making me, me personally, a better man. So from the bottom
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of my heart and also from my family as well, we want to thank you. So guys, I will catch you next
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week. Go out there, take action and become the man you are meant to be. Thank you for listening to
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the Order of Man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you
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were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at orderofman.com.