When things are GREAT, we tend to forget about gratitude.
When things are TOUGH, we tend to forget about gratitude.
Excellence begins and ends with gratitude, even during difficult times, because gratitude is long-term thinking. You don’t get too high or too low, and it is not conditional.
Long-term thinking affects every thought, action, and interaction, everyday. In the long-term, whether things are great or tough, make a daily habit to find two things to be grateful for.
Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing* of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.
--JAMES 1:2-6 (NAB)
Think long-term. Be excellent.
This article was last modified on April 19, 2023 .
Darren Smith
Darren Smith is Co-Founder of the Authentic Leadership Institute. He is a native Texan and a graduate of Dallas Jesuit and Texas A&M University. Over the past 25 years, Darren has visited 35 countries and led 100 strategy programs. He and his wife have five children.
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