Great + Attitude = Greatitude

The definition of "greatitude" in the urban dictionary is "Having a great attitude; being greatful or full of great." Either way, I'm a big fan of this dad joke kind of pun.

Why I'm writing about g?r?e?a?t?i?t?u?d?e? gratitude

I have a simple morning routine focused around gratitude and intentional thinking that I've been doing for over a decade. It's come up with several people randomly over the years and each time I've shared it people seemed to relate to it. Some folks even told me I should share it more broadly, so here I am :) This is my personal routine which I've crafted for myself, so please take it only as my opinion and not as "the right way" or anything like that - I don't know any better than anyone out there. If this helps make even just one person's day start off slightly happier, I'll be over the moon with joy :)

Part of why I've structured my morning routine around gratitude so much can be referenced in more details in this great TED talk by Robert Grant, in which he covers two key principles to overcoming fear:

1. You can't be fearful when you're feeling grateful.
2. You don't get what you deserve, you get what you expect. So be intentional with your thoughts and decisions.

Some quick background

I grew up as a religious Jew till I was 17, at which age I decided to stop practicing and rather focus on what I think are the main takeaways from Judaism, but more importantly, from what my parents always taught me:

1. Appreciate all the good in life, big and small.
2. Be a good person. To others, and yourself.

One of the reasons I stopped practicing was because I found it harder as I grew up to relate to reading someone else's words when it came to praying, but I always liked one main element of prayer - gratitude. It was built in to everything and became a habit. I noticed that a key time in my day in which I always felt the highest level of gratitude is in the morning, when everything starts all over again and I get to wake up to a brand new day.

About 10 years ago I started to bring together parts from my past that I could relate to and combined them with positive self talk I put together from various sources over the years to create a morning routine which emphasizes gratitude to help shape my day.

My morning routine

Here it goes - this is the exact morning routine/sequence that I do every single morning, some using my own words and some from prayers I grew up with that I relate to personally, broken down into 3 main parts:

1. Morning gratitude of past, present and future

Gratitude for waking up

I place the eternal before me always. I give thanks before you, King living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness

(translation from a Hebrew prayer called "Mode Ani")

Gratitude for yesterday

Thank you for making yesterday an absolutely perfect day

(as I say this I think through all the good things from the previous day)

Gratitude for right now

Thank you for this magical, heavenly, and divine brand new morning and brand new day

(as I say this I think of my wife, my children, my family and friends, the sun that's rising, and other things that I find beautiful like the ocean, for example, and I focus on sounds like birds chirping)

Gratitude for the day ahead

Thank you for making today the best day that I have ever had in my entire life

(as I say this I internalize that feeling you get when everything has gone your way perfectly).

Just before I step out of bed I smile and say "thank you" out loud.

2. Intentional thoughts to shape my day

As I wash my face I emphasize and internalize different thoughts in priority order of importance (for me) - as follows:

My thoughts are always guided only with and by:

Love.

Perfect health.

Happiness.

Success.

Wealth, abundance, and plentiful.

Gratitude.

And then I end with saying "thank you" out loud.

After that I finish off by saying:

I always expect only the absolute and very best, which is why everything always works out absolutely perfect for me in the most heavenly, divine, and magical way. Always better than I could even imagine, dream, or expect.

(as I say this I internalize that feeling you get when everything has gone your way perfectly).

I take a deep breath, look in the mirror, smile and say "thank you" out loud.

3. Admiration of creation

The moment before I drink my morning coffee, I look out the window and quickly say:

How great and many are Your works. In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your riches.

(translation from a Hebrew passage in Psalms).

For me this has become a very empowering way to start my day fresh and energized in a way that isn't time consuming, I can do anywhere, and is in my own words (well, mostly).

Do with this as you wish - adopt it, maybe just parts or it, or none of it at all - whatever makes sense for you. Wishing you a wonderful year filled with "greatitude"!