falling for great workbook - contagious...

Falling for GREATRaising your happy with gratitude

With... Jen Trulson and Christy Lambert

I cannot tell you anything that, in a few minutes, will tell you how to be rich. But I can tell you

how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful... It’s

the only totally reliable get-rich-quick scheme.

~Ben Stein, actor, comedian, economist

© Jen Trulson www.jentrulson.com Christy Lambert www.areyouthriving.com All Rights Reserved.

http://www.jentrulson.com


http://www.areyouthriving.com


Table of Contents

About Jen & Christy! 3

I believe... 3

Jen Trulson 3

Christy Lambert 4

Let’s get this party started...! 5

Opening Questions 5

Happiness Set Point 5

What’s Your Gratitude Quotient? 6

Definition of Gratitude 7

Essential Belief 7

What are the benefits of living a life of gratitude? 7

Keys to Maximizing Gratitude Benefits: 8

Gratitude vs Indebtness 8

Practice Gratitude Now! 9

Gratitude Exercise 10

I’m committed! 10

Gratitude Letter 11






Visualization 11

Why Gratitude Works! 12

Benefits 12

Appreciation Notes! 14

-Identify an area in your life where things are going especially well: 14

Gratitude Giving Cycle 14

Gratitude in Times of Trial! 15

Times of Trial 15

Gratitude In Trial! 17

Exercise 17

Extra Inspiration!! 18

Create a Vision Board - pictures or words that evoke a feeling of gratitude! 18

Alphabet of Gratitude 19

30 Day Gratitude Challenge 19

Say THANK YOU daily 19

I’m Grateful Game 19

Notes and Ideas! 19

Gratitude Challenge! 20

by author hal urban 20

Gratitude Challenge! 22






About Jen & ChristyA little about who we are and what we believe

I BELIEVE...

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"

~William A. Ward

Jen Trulson

Hi! My name is Jen and I’m a Certified Martha Beck Life Coach. I am a lover of life with a passion

for people. Inspiring others lights my fire!! I love helping others to create a life they love - to

wake up excited and curious about each and every day.

I’m so glad you are here!! Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I can be reached at

[email protected]

I believe... love is all you need, girlfriends are a MUST, the color of fall leaves are mesmerizing,

laughter daily is a requirement, I am the luckiest mom (I can say that, I’m not at home), my

marriage keeps getting better (is that possible? must be!), people change because they want to,

life is fascinating, curiosity is essential, my dad breathed belief in me, gratitude is one of my four

essential values, music changes my being and I couldn’t live without it! What about you? What

do you believe?


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]





Christy Lambert

Thank you so much for playing with us. My name is Christy Lambert and I could not be more excited to be sharing this journey with you. I love to explore the concept of true joy and what makes us really happy.

Life is amazing isn't it? It's easy to forget that sometimes, but when we really take the time to look around and see the blessings in front of us - it's breathtaking.

I believe in ice cream before dinner, making time for daily inspiration and putting friendship and love before all else. I believe in running as a form of meditation. I believe it's time to stop working so hard and time to start having more fun. I believe dancing is the purest expression of joy and it's up to us to turn on the music and let loose. What do you believe?






Let’s get this party started...When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears ~Anthony Robbins

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.

~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Opening Questions

What does giving thanks mean to you?

How often do you practice gratitude?

What attracted you to this class?

What do you hope to walk away by attending?

Happiness Set Point

What determines happiness?

1) Natural ‘set point’ - born with - 50%

2) Life Circumstances - 10%

3) Intentional Activity - 40%

50% of happiness can be changed, 40% can be changed now. Gratitude is ONE intentional

activity that has been show to increase happiness.






What’s Your Gratitude Quotient?

Leading researchers, Michael McCullough and Robert Emmons developed a simple survey to

asses your level of gratitude. You can use it as a barometer to measure the effectiveness of

different techniques you may choose to use and / or simply compare with others.

The Gratitude Survey

Rate each statement below on a scale of 1 to 7:

1 = strongly disagree

2 = disagree

3 = slightly disagree

4 = neutral

5 = slightly agree

6 = agree

7 = strongly agree

! 1) I have so much in life to be thankful for.

! 2) If I had to list everything that I felt grateful for, it would be a very long list.

! 3) When I look at the world, I don’t see much to be grateful for.

! 4) I am grateful to a wide variety of people.

! 5) As I get older, I find myself more able to appreciate the people, events, and situations

! that have been a part of my life history.

! 6) Long amounts of time can go by before I feel grateful to something or someone.

Scoring Steps

1. Add up scores for your questions 1, 2, 4, and 5.

2. Reverse your scores for items 3 and 6. For example, if you scored a “7,” give yourself a “1”.

3. Add the reversed scores for items 3 and 6 to the total from Step 1.

4. This is your total gratitude quotient . This number should be between 6 and 42.

Although the this test is not an exact science, it does provide a way to assess your current level of

awareness of this positive emotion.

A score of 35 or below indicates you scored in the lowest 25 percent.

A score between 36 and 38 indicates you are in the lower 50 percent.

A score between 39 and 41 indicates you are in the top 25 percent.

A score of 42 indicates you are in the top 12.5 percent.






Definition of Gratitude

What is your definition?

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Oxford Definition: the quality or condition of being thankful; the appreciation of an inclination

to return kindness.

Emmons Definition: a felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life.

Key Components: acknowledgement of goodness in one’s life and recognition that the source of

goodness lies at least partially outside us.

Essential Belief

Your life is full of things you can be grateful for. How true is this for you? ! !

What are the benefits of living a life of gratitude?

Higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism, lower levels of depression

and stress.

Enhance pleasant feeling states. Grateful people do not deny or ignore negative aspects of life.

Specifically Emmons found:

1) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

2) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

3) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

4) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

5) ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !






Keys to Maximizing Gratitude Benefits:

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! !

Gratitude vs Indebtness

Narrative study, people who write about being indebted to other report higher levels of

! ! ! and lower levels of ! ! ! , ! ! ! , and

! ! ! compared to people who write about being grateful.






Practice Gratitude Now“There are many things in our lives, both large and small, that we might be grateful about.

Think back over the events of the past week and write down on the lines below up to five

things that happened for which you are grateful or thankful.”

This week I am grateful for:

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

Gratitude Exercise

A gratitude experiment was conducted.

50% of participants wrote their gratitude list on Sundays.

50% of participants wrote their gratitude list 3x a week.

What were they grateful for? mom, healthy body, having a Valentine, getting tested for only three

chapters for midterm, AOL instant messenger to name a few

Results: effective in producing higher levels of thankfulness and appreciation

Those who counted their blessings became happier!

Compared with a control group who did not practice gratitude - the group who practiced

gratitude reported significantly bigger increases in their happiness level.

You’ll may be surprised at the results for the ‘Sunday only’ group!

Results: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Participants who practiced gratitude 3x a week...

Results: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I’m committed!

I choose to do my own gratitude experiment. I have decided to write down ! things I’m

grateful for ! ! day a week. This day(s) are: ! ! ! ! ! .

Gratitude Letter

Chris Peterson, professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan had students write a

‘gratitude letter’ to someone who had been especially kind to them but never properly thanked.

Deliver in person.

Up to 30 days afterwards - felt elevated or happier

Feeling eventually fades, make gratitude a regular practice!!

Visualization

Giving a gift to someone.

Who? ! ! ! ! What? !! ! ! ! ! !

Imagine the person is not thankful. Not my size. I’d never use anything like that.

How does this make you feel? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

How does this affect your future giving to this person? ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Imagine the person receiving the gift with pure joy and gratitude. They light up with delight!

How does this make you feel? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

How does this affect your future giving to this person? ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Why Gratitude WorksIn our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness

that makes us happy. ~Albert Clarke

Benefits

•Promotes savoring of life experiences. Relishing, taking pleasure of the gifts in your life allows

you to extract the maximum possible satisfaction and enjoyment.

•Expressing gratitude bolsters self-worth and self-esteem. Awareness of what others have done

for you, you for others and your accomplishments you feel more confident.

•Encourages moral behavior. Grateful people are more likely to help others - want to give back

for all they’ve receive / notice AND are less likely to be materialistic (i.e. you appreciate what

you have and become less fixated on acquiring more stuff.)

•Can help build social bonds, strengthen existing relationships and nurture new ones.

•Keeping a gratitude journal can produce feelings of greater connectedness with others and the

world!

•Several studies show that people who feel gratitude toward particular individuals (even when

they never directly express it) experience closer and higher-quality relationships

•Robert Emmons suggests... when you become truly aware of the value of your friends and

family members, you are likely to treat them better, perhaps producing an upward spiral, a sort

of positive feedback loop.

•A grateful person is a more positive person.

•The practice of gratitude is incompatible with negative emotions and may actually diminish or

deter such feelings of anger, bitterness and greed.

•Dissolves negative feelings: anger and jealousy melt in its embrace, fear and defensiveness

shrink. THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU DON’T FEEL YOUR FEELINGS - they are an

indicator to be acknowledged felt and then asked... How do I want to feel?

•Difficult (or impossible) to feel guilty, resentful or infuriated when you’re feeling grateful.

Appreciation Notes-Identify an area in your life where things are going especially well:

-Identify something you really want to show up in your life:

-Identify something that is not going well:

Complete the following sentence for each of the three areas identified above:

I appreciate " " " " " because " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " .


" " " " " " " " " " " .


" " " " " " " " " " " .

Gratitude Giving Cycle

Giving = outwardly showing more gratitude by investing in others.

Gratitude in Times of TrialWe often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~Cynthia Ozick

Times of Trial

•Gratitude helps people cope with stress and trauma. That is, the ability to appreciate your life

circumstances may be an adaptive coping method by which you positively reinterpret stressful

or negative life experiences

•Traumatic memories are less likely to surface - are less intense when they do - in those who are

regularly grateful. Interestingly, people instinctively express gratitude when confronted with

adversity. For example, in the days immediately after September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,

gratitude was found to be the second most commonly experienced emotion (after sympathy).

•When you hear the minutes ticking and you know the buzzer is going to go off any minute and

your time will be up, you see things so clearly. You just know without a doubt where your

values are and why you’re alive, and you’re so grateful for each moment.

•Expressing gratitude during personal adversity like loss or chronic illness - as hard as it might

be - can help you adjust, move on, and perhaps begin anew. Although it may be challenging to

celebrate your blessings at these times, yet it may be the most important thing that you can do.

•In another study Emmons and McCullough recruited adults who had neuromuscular disorders,

often as a delayed result of surviving infection by the polio virus. While not life-threatening the

condition can be seriously debilitating, causing joint and muscle pain as well as muscle

atrophy. People with this condition have a good reason to be dissatisfied with the hand life was

dealt to them. In this study a gratitude condition was compared to a control condition in which

participants wrote about their daily experience. After the 21 day study, participants in the

gratitude condition were found to be more satisfied with their lives overall, more optimistic

about the upcoming week and crucially, were sleeping better.

Gratitude In TrialExerciseStudies show that gratitude helps people in times of trial. As difficult as it can be, gratitude can help you adjust, move on and perhaps start fresh.

Reflect on 2-5 areas of your life that are not what you want them to be. Brainstorm 3-5 things you can be grateful for in these experiences (i.e. lessons, people, new skills)

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

" " " " " " " " " " " "

Extra Inspiration!

Create a Vision Board - pictures or words that evoke a feeling of gratitude!

Alphabet of Gratitude

Play by yourself, with family or friends! Find something you are grateful for that starts with A,

then B, then C - yeah, you get the picture!

30 Day Gratitude Challenge

You will receive questions, tips, tools to get your gratitude on daily starting Friday November

19th!! Interested? We’ll tell you the how, what, when and where next week!

Say THANK YOU daily

Make it a point to say thank you to someone everyday. Be authentic, specific, personal and

reflective!

I’m Grateful Game

Partner up with someone or gather a group. Each person gets a designated amount of time (30

seconds or 1 minute) to make eye contact with you and state what they are grateful for by

completing the statement “I’m grateful for ! ! ” each time. It will sound like this. I’m

grateful for the sun. I’m grateful for warm toes. I’m grateful for bedtime. I’m grateful for Yogi

Tea. I’m grateful for sex. I’m grateful for laughter. I’m grateful for I Love Lucy.

This is a revision to the “I Like” game. Another wonderful game to play with someone and tune

into everything you like! I personally love playing this game with my husband. (said jen).

Notes and Ideas!

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Gratitude ChallengeBY AUTHOR HAL URBAN

I discovered this while reading Seven Levels of Intimacy by Matthew Kelly. He reveals a 24 hour

challenge on gratitude by author Hal Urban (has some great books!). Had to share!!

How often do you complain? You might be surprised!

Take the challenge!!

•For 24 hours agree to no complaining - valid or invalid.

•Carry a pen and paper with you.

•Record each time you complain and what about.

Next day, ask yourself...

What was the purpose of this assignment? ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

What did you learn? ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

I’m Thankful for...

Things

(material)

People

(past and present)

Other

(freedom, spirit, soul)

Read your list 4 times in the next 24 hours: after lunch, before dinner, before going to bed and

when you get up (before going to school, work or starting your day).

When we focus on what’s right vs what’s wrong, life improves considerably!!

Gratitude Challenge

http://www.oprah.com/gratitude/

You complete the statement: I am grateful

for... and submit. Click on snowflakes in the

snowglobe and read what others are grateful

for.

http://www.ehow.com/

how_2124912_practice-gratitude.html

I loved this article. Check out further along in

the article under tips and warnings!

http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/

Gratitude/The-Transformative-Power-Of-

Gratitude.aspx?p=1

I love this story of gratitude in a time of trial!

http://www.famous-motivational-

quotes.com/Motivational-Story-9.html

Another perspective, story, on gratitude. I

love the quote... "I once was distraught because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet." - Unknown

http://www.gratefulness.org/

What determines happiness, and how does gratitude fit into the picture?

http://thanks-o-meter.com/stories/idA great resource to spark your gratitude when you feel stuck! People share their stories of gratitude.

http://happytapper.com/Life Improving iPhone apps - for those of you lucky ducks with an iPhone

http://www.iamthankful.com/WOW - stumbled across this and fell in love! Check out all it’s fabulousness!

http://gratitudelog.com/An online site to share what you are grateful for. You can even link to facebook. I used at one time. Now I simply use my gratitude journal or write directly on facebook. For you techy lovers - this is a fun site!



http://www.ehow.com/how_2124912_practice-gratitude.html




http://www.beliefnet.com/Holistic-Living/Gratitude/The-Transformative-Power-Of-Gratitude.aspx?p=1






http://www.famous-motivational-quotes.com/Motivational-Story-9.html




http://www.gratefulness.org

http://www.gratefulness.org

http://thanks-o-meter.com/stories/id

http://thanks-o-meter.com/stories/id

http://happytapper.com

http://happytapper.com

http://www.iamthankful.com

http://www.iamthankful.com

http://gratitudelog.com

http://gratitudelog.com

falling for great workbook - contagious...

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