Espresso Shot 9: BEING GRATITUDE

I know, I know, Nicoa is always talking about GRATITUDE and Being GRATEFUL, but this episode is different. This is BEING GRATITUDE! Another journaling prompt for you this week to pause and reflect on what you really feel when it comes to being grateful. And how where you put your focus creates GRATITUDE in your own BODY which becomes a magnet to a LIFE BY DESIGN you don't need a vacation from! 

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Transcript

Nicoa Coach: 0:02

sometimes don't you just need a quick moment of inspiration. Or maybe you just need a moment of caffeinated contemplation to reflect on life. That's the idea behind my weekly coffee with Nicola espresso shots, I'll be sharing short jolts of inspiration in each clip, in addition to my longer Coffee with Nicoa interview episodes, make sure to subscribe so you never miss an espresso shot, or a full length Coffee with Nicoa interview created just for you. Hey, you guys, welcome to your espresso shot for the week. And thank you for everybody who's been supporting the show and who's been purchasing the journal. And I think we have like two places left on our retreat. For those of you who are listening to this in 2024, I'm referencing the April retreat that we're filling up now at Bald Head Island, I'm sure. If you're listening to this after April of 2024, there'll be another one. So stay tuned. I just want to thank everybody. I mean, it's been a really amazing year. And this podcast is just, it's exceeding all of my expectations. But I wanted to give you a message today about that gratitude. You know, gratitude is something that we talk about all the time. Did you make your gratitude list? Do you have a gratitude journal? How grateful Are you? And at the end of the day, it's really not about gratitude as much as that it's about where are you going to put your focus? And how are you going to feel. Because if you start feeling really good, guess what? It's probably because you're grateful. If you're feeling good about something, it's because you like it. And when you like something, you're grateful, right? I love it, oh, I'm grateful. I'm so grateful to have this experience. But here's the real trick here. It's not about the great the gratitude or what you're grateful for. It's how it makes you feel in your body. And when you can get into that way of feeling, then you're creating a vibrational way of being that oh, by the way, that's what attracts everything you've ever wanted. That is what attracts your deepest heart's desires. So when I think about things like the journal, or the podcast or the retreat, I don't think about them, like, Oh, my God, I gotta get it done. And I got 42 things, and I gotta, I gotta make sure I get it published, or I have to, I gotta get help, or I don't know how to do that, or, Oh, my God, it cost this much money to do this. And when I'm tense and stressed and focused on things that I supposedly love, or really want, and I do that from a space of, of tension, then that then that can't actually produce the gratitude at the level or the ease at the level in which I crave. So gratitude isn't just saying, I am grateful, it's showing up in gratitude. And so let's really dig deep on that, because that means you have to slow down. You got to slow it down, you have to find joy. We talked about that recently, in every step of the journey. It means you have to sit in the anticipation of the outcome with great excitement, anticipation, love, fun, making the list enables the outcome. Right, driving to work enables the paycheck, which enables the mortgage payment, which enables the house which enables the the roof over your head, which enables the warmth in the winter, and enables the dinners with family and enables a good night's sleep. You have to draw the line. And when we sit in that and live in that and where the mind goes energy flows, then we're always in gratitude. We're always in gratitude. That allows the magic to happen, right? The universe doesn't want you rushing and hurrying and striving and, and making list and being pissed off and annoyed and oh my god, the universe wants you to relax. Relax, relax. It took me a long time to learn how to relax. I can remember once getting feedback, I went into a meeting and I was being my energetic, assertive. I'm an executive self. And I guess I wasn't quite the executive at this point. But someone said to me afterwards, you know, you may not realize it. But when you come into a room, the energy that you put forth, can sometimes throw itself across the table. And although it is authentic and beautiful and important and all you I want you to begin to recognize how your energy is impacting the people around you. So what I was blind to when in my early part of my career, was that I was having this impact And my joy filled energy was not relaxed. It was more of a, it was more of a not only am I enjoy, and excited to be here, but I'm trying to make sure I get it right. So I was constantly, how are you today? What's going on with you? Oh, do you need anything? You know, what did I show you this, let's talk about that, like I could not really be that charismatic, grounded leader that I ultimately learned how to be. I mean, I'm much more of that even outside of that corporate career over the past 15 years. But I really think now that I can see that now that I know that it gives me great insight into the power of relaxation. And asking myself the question about what is my way of being? And does that bring me a state bring me into a state of gratitude. Because the more grateful and relaxed I am, the easier my life is, it does not mean that I don't get totally freaked out. Like last week, when I was sick, I woke up to an unexpected charge. In my business account, that threw me for a loop. I had to rearrange some things and make it work. And I was really upset. But I realized I know now that it was, you know, obviously, it was a first world problem. But it was a problem that was exponentially highlighted. Because I was six, I was under stress. Here's the point of this entire conversation. You have the opportunity to embody a way of being by observing who you are. And it's not just about making the gratitude list. It's about observing yourself and saying, What is my way of being now? How do I want to feel now? And even if you do have a stress reaction, like I did last week, which is going to be totally human and totally normal? How can I come back into that space of gratitude for for being able to experience that? And know and trust that it wasn't that I went there? But how long did I stay there? And how well did I recover? And I am so much better at recovering when I have a stress reaction. And I am so grateful. Because when I spend most of my time in a state of gratitude, it is in those moments of stress. They're very short lived, very short lived. And I know how to get back to that way of being. So what is your way of being and how can you move from this space into gratitude with every step of the way? Happy designing. 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