Just Start: Saying It (week 3)

Dear Andre, (3 min read)

"I'm grateful to be here."

This was a phrase that I started using not during a high, not during a time when life was going well. It was something that came to me during a real low point in my life.

So, what happened? Well, I'll get to that in a second.

This is the third week talking about enthusiasm, and the last two weeks have covered different aspects of it. If you want more practical things, go ahead and check out last week's. (just start: Acting Enthusiastically)

If you want the overview of enthusiasm and why it's so life-giving and can add so much value to your life, check out the first week. (Just start: the best virus)

And the one other thing is I have a "How to Make a Great First Impression" Google Doc that you can go ahead and make a copy of for yourself. Okay now back to work.

The Worst Day at Goodwill

Here's how "I'm grateful to be here" became a thing.

I was going to work at Goodwill, and I really did not want to be there. I didn't want to go to work and have conversations. There was nothing about it that I was looking forward to or was excited about.

But I didn't want to lie that I was doing good if that wasn't true.

So I asked myself a really important question: What could I say that was true and helpful?

I realized I could say, "I'm grateful to be here." Even if I didn't want to be at work, I realized something simple: I was grateful to be alive. I was grateful to have a job. And I was grateful that even when I didn't feel like it, I could still show up.

All of those things were still true, even if I couldn't say I was good, or phenomenal, or excellent.

True AND Helpful

It's not about being fake or saying something that's not true. It's simply about using your words in a way that helps you become the person you already want to be.

If you're reading this, my assumption is that you want to be an enthusiastic person. You want to have energy in life and enjoy the life that you're living.

For me, the thing that I really wanted was to have this be a mechanism to help me feel better even though I wasn't that thrilled about what was happening. That's exactly what I did, and I'm really grateful all these years later that I've been able to say "I'm grateful to be here."

In fact, I have a youtube video from almost four years ago now that's on this same exact subject.

Create Your Own Line

You don't have to steal this exact line, but I would encourage you to think about what you're going to say on days where you don't feel amazing that is still true and helpful. That way you can have higher energy, more optimism, and more hope.

Don't allow a bad moment or a bad day to spill over for too long.

You can also have a bad morning that doesn't make a bad day, or a bad moment that doesn't create a bad day. You can shift that momentum.

The Hard Days

Sometimes you just have a bad day and you just need to go to sleep and reset. Even trying to find the things that you're grateful for is really hard, and I get that. I've had those days too.

Just know that there are moments where you're like, "How do I do this?" It's really hard. It is hard. And it's every day.

So I just want you to know that if you've felt that way, you're not alone, and that creating some sort of a practice around this really matters.

Your Assignment This Week

Ask yourself: What can I say on my worst days that is both true AND helpful?

Create your line. Memorize it. Use it the next time you don't feel like showing up.

And I just want you to know that if you're reading this, I'm really grateful that you are here reading this in your email or through the website. If you're in the future, I hope that this was a very helpful newsletter, that you use it to generate enthusiasm and energy even on days that you don't feel like it.

welp, that’s all for now.

-Daniel