Mike Robbins' Appreciation in Action

Welcome to another issue of Appreciation in Action. I hope that you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week. We all have so much to be thankful for! I also hope that you were able to spend some time relishing in the blessings of your life and the wonderful people around you. May your holiday season be filled with joy and gratitude. I am, as always, grateful that you have chosen to be on this email list. Thank you!

What are you grateful for? How often do you ask yourself and others this powerful question? Sadly, many of us don’t take the time to ask or answer this question on a regular basis. Hopefully, you and your family spent some time last Thursday thinking about or discussing this around the Thanksgiving dinner table. However, focusing on what we’re grateful for is something that we can do all the time, not just on special occasions.

There are many reasons we have for not focusing on gratitude. We’re too busy…we’re waiting for things to work out “perfectly”…we don’t want to brag or be obnoxious…we focus on what needs improvement and all of the things we still have to do…we feel funny or get embarrassed…and on and on. These “reasons,” while understandable, are all just excuses.

I saw Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles and co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, on Larry King Live recently. He said that gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life.

Gratitude not only makes us feel good, it also is the greatest attractor of abundance, love, peace, success, connection, and more – the good stuff – that we all want in our lives. The more we focus on what we already have, the wonderful aspects of our lives, and what we appreciate, the more we’ll have to be grateful for.

Create a daily gratitude practice. It doesn’t really matter what you do or how you do it, just that you come up with a simple and meaningful way to focus on what you’re grateful for each day. Below is a short list of some different possibilities for your gratitude practice. Pick one, use many, or come up with something on your own:

Two Great New Books from Richard Carlson:
Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and It’s All Small Stuff, has recently released two great new books. The first one, Don’t Get Scrooged, is all about simple and effective ways to deal with difficult people, especially during the holiday season. This book helps us not let other people’s negative attitudes or behaviors bring us down…very important! The second book, The Big Book of Small Stuff, is actually a 10-year anniversary special celebrating 10 since the original “Don’t Sweat” book was first published. Richard has picked some of his favorite and most powerful chapters from all of the “Don’t Sweat” books and put them into this one. If you’re already a fan of Richard’s and of his “Don’t Sweat” series, you’ll love this new one. If you haven’t read any or many of these books, this one is great because it’s like a “greatest hits.” Either way, you’ll love it. And, both of these books make great gifts for the holidays. For more information or to purchase copies, feel free to visit Richard’s website:
http://www.dontsweat.com/

Challenge Day on Oprah:
As you may have already seen or heard about from me, the November 9^th episode of Oprah featured Challenge Day. Challenge Day is an incredible youth organization that provides life-changing workshops for middle school and high school students across the country and in Canada. They teach young people and adults about peace, love, forgiveness, and connection. Their programs have miraculous results. If you saw the Oprah show on 11/9/06, you saw the transformation that took place at a high school in Michigan that brought in Challenge Day. Keep your eyes out for a re-run of this show, if you didn’t get a chance to see it. It is called “Oprah’s High School Challenge.” It was amazing and you’ll love it! I’m on the board of Challenge Day. My wife Michelle and I have been involved as volunteers for many years. The organization is incredible. For more information, check out the Challenge Day website:
http://www.challengeday.org/

Check out my New BLOG:
In September we launched my new blog. I’m really excited about it and I would love for you to check it out. My blog is a way for me to share even more ideas about appreciation, gratitude, teamwork, communication, personal development, and more. I update the blog every week or so with a new post. Click on the link below to check it out:
http://blog.mike-robbins.com/

About Mike Robbins
Mike Robbins is an expert in success, teamwork, and the power of appreciation. As a former professional baseball player and Internet advertising sales executive, as well as a life-long student of personal development, Mike brings a varied and impressive background to the clients with whom he works. Through his keynotes, seminars, writing, and one-on-one coaching, Mike empowers individuals, teams, and organizations to be more productive, appreciative, and successful. He is the author of the popular audio program, The Power of Appreciation, and the forthcoming book, Focus on the Good Stuff (Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2007). Feel free to contact Mike for more information about his speaking and coaching programs, as well as his products.

You may forward your copy of this e-zine to anyone you think might enjoy it. Please keep the broadcast intact, including contact and copyright information. Thanks!

“Hey there! I know that Halloween was almost a month ago, but I wanted to show off my cool bunny costume. What do you think?”