How to be grateful BEFORE the thing happens

Q: Have you ever expressed gratitude for something BEFORE it happened?

This idea was new to me.

I’m really good at being grateful.

I have had various types of gratitude practices over the years.

Gratitude journals, take a gratitude photo each day, speak gratitude often, say thank you, etc.

I even dedicated an entire chapter to gratitude in our book Messy Victories.

Gratitude is a constant tool that I use to live the life I want.

But then I heard my coach tell me that I could be grateful for something BEFORE it happened.

And I thought, “Huh???”

I didn’t know how to do that or why I would want to.

It seemed presumptuous.

It felt very strange and unfamiliar to me.

Then I started to dabble in this pre-gratitude thing.

I wasn’t sure about it but I also wondered what it could look like, sound like and feel like.

Here’s how I do it…

• Each morning I set an alarm that says, “I’m creating miracles today!”

• When the alarm goes off (or sooner if I happen to remember to do it) I look at my calendar for the day.

• I think about each item on the calendar and say, “___________ goes so smoothly today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

• Or I sometimes say, “Thank you so much for how ____________ goes so smoothly today. I’m so grateful for that.”

• Or “I am so grateful for how __________ goes smoothly today. It works out so well. Thank you.”

And in my body, I feel the gratitude in advance for what I want to create that day.

This is stating an intention through gratitude.

I am intending to be grateful.

I am intending for miracles to happen.
I am intending for things to work out.

Intention changes how I go into each thing that happens that day.

I watch for ways to feel grateful.

I look for it working out.

I see how, even when things go wrong, it might still be in my favor.

Pre-gratitude helps me live in the state of thankfulness.

You might think I’m delusional by doing this.

But because I firmly believe that my thoughts and feelings and beliefs about something creates my experience with it, I am not at all delusional.

I am simply creating what I want by choosing the thoughts and feelings I am focusing on.

I empower myself by intentionally speaking my gratitude before something even happens.

What do you think about this?

Is this as foreign of an idea to you as it was to me when I first heard it?

Is it something you already do?

Would you be willing to try it for yourself?

This is the month of thanks and giving.

I invite you to try pre-gratitude.

How can you be grateful for what is coming your way?

How can you deliberately decide to be thankful for something that you normally dread?

How does that change your experience of that thing?

Coleman and I are headed to NYC and Connecticut for Thanksgiving to be with the Halls.

We gather there every other Thanksgiving.

We aren’t there yet but this is my pre-gratitude:

“I am so grateful that we have an amazing time with our family. Coleman loves being with his cousins. We are safe in our travels. We feel connected and close with our family. Thank you for all of this. Thank you.”

I love you, friend.

I’m thankful for you.

I am inspired by you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

I am so grateful that you feel gratitude before you go visit your family or friends.

I am so grateful that you feel gratitude for how loving you are going to feel toward others during dinner.

I am so grateful that you feel gratitude for what is coming your way this holiday season.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Q: Have you ever expressed gratitude for something BEFORE it happened?

This is the year for it.

Sending love,

K