249. Gratitude In The Grind

Ever catch yourself saying, “I’ll be happy when I hit the goal”? Let’s break that loop. We dive into gratitude as a performance tool, not a consolation prize—how to be proud of the work you’re doing now while still chasing the next level. I walk through the mindset shift from delayed happiness to daily appreciation, and why that shift keeps you grounded, motivated, and hard to burn out.

We explore the moving goalpost problem: ambition expands your targets, which is healthy, but only if your gratitude expands too. I share personal stories from opening a gym to pursuing franchises, and how respecting the struggle made the wins mean more. You’ll hear how to reframe imposter syndrome by becoming living proof for those a few steps behind, and why specific, timely thanks to your “home team” and work team creates a powerful ripple effect. We talk simple scripts for acknowledging support, recognizing invisible privileges of progress, and using feedback—good or bad—to sharpen your edge.

The fire metaphor runs through the episode: each new level has its own heat, and fewer people choose to walk through it. That’s your advantage. Learn how to read the current season with perspective, audit the actions and inactions that built your present results, and draw a clear line between wanting more and doing the work that makes more inevitable. Gratitude in the grind won’t make you complacent; it gives you the capacity to carry bigger goals without losing yourself.

If this resonated, tap follow, share it with someone who’s in the thick of it, and leave a quick review with one thing you’re grateful for today. Your words help more driven people find the show and keep the ripple going.

Chapters

• 0:19 Gratitude After Thanksgiving
• 1:11 Gratitude In The Grind
• 3:44 Avoiding The “I’ll Be Happy When”
• 5:18 Being Grounded In The Messy Work
• 7:24 Past You Dreamed Of This
• 9:54 Moving Goalposts Without Burnout
• 12:25 Imposter Feelings And Living Proof
• 15:11 Change The Lens On Problems

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:19

What is up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Mindset Cafe Podcast. It's your boy Devin Gonzalez. And I just want to say, you know, I hope all you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Um, and that's what I kind of wanted to talk about today is you know, thankfulness, gratitude, right? And I'll kind of jump around on the topic a little bit, you know, um from what gratitude really kind of is, what most people think it is, but then also sometimes how to remember to practice gratitude, not in the cheesy sense, right? You know, where you you know just text a bunch of people saying I'm grateful for you and so forth, meaning that cheesy uh sense. While it does play an effective role, you know. Um what I want to kind of start off with is the topic today is you know gratitude in the grind. And the reason for that is a lot of times, and I'm guilty of this as well, and this is you know kind of why I wanted to bring it to light, a lot of times we say I'll be grateful when, or I'll be happy when, and that when is usually when you hit your goal, when you reach success. But I think that what most people don't realize is that if you're like myself, or if you're someone that is ambitious, you tend to move the goalpost, and so you'll hit the goal, realize it's not exactly what you wanted, or that you could achieve more, and then you'll set the goal a little further, and that's not wrong, that's not bad at all, but at the same time, remember that phrase that you said, I will be happy when I'll be grateful when I hit this, and so you have to remember that you don't necessarily need to be grateful or appreciative or proud of yourself for achieving a goal, and only then you have to be grateful that you are striving towards that goal. You have to be grateful for the work and and show gratitude to yourself for the work and the dedication that you've been putting in. And often gratitude is really framed as a passive, um, almost peaceful emotion. You know, you you think of it like almost like a monk, right? You know, the every everything's just calm, and yes, I'm grateful for you know the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, you know, a little rhyme and rap there. Um, but you have to you have to be grateful for the messiness of the grind, right? A lot of people that are ambitious tend to forget this part, and this is what is really needed the most. It often grounds you, it allows you to live in the moment and also tell your subconscious that look, you're on the right path, look, you're doing good, keep it up, and so waiting for that breakthrough, it's almost like a trap, right? Most people are are waiting to be thankful or appreciative or grateful after they've made it, and you have to think that the current struggle or the current grind you're in is what your past, a past version of you, was dreaming of. There was a day you were hoping to achieve what you've achieved. There was a day when it was just a New Year's resolution. It was there was a day when it was just a a you know a sentence written on paper, a thought in your head, and now you're living it. Now you're in it, now you're doing it. So you have to be grateful for that. Cause without that, you're going to end up burning yourself out because the goalpost for yourself keeps getting moved a little bit further each time when you realize you have more gas in the tank. And I know I'm speaking from personal experience because anytime I've you know been in the grind, right? And I mean kind of never out of the grind, but there was a day I hoped to open a gym, and I I I it was a dream, it was a goal to open a gym, and then the gym opened, and then the goal was to franchise it, right? And then the goal was to get a franchisee, and then a goal was to get a second franchise, and so like the goalposts could always continue to move, and that isn't a bad thing. That's good. That means you're realizing you're not being complacent, you're not settling, but at the same time, sometimes you have to take a step back and be grateful for what you've accomplished. Be grateful for all the hard work, the days, you know, no days off, the long nights, the not eating out with friends if you're on a fitness journey, you know, the you know, meal prepping and counting your macros, all those kind of things. Be grateful that you've stuck to it this long, that you're in the grind. Not everyone gets to experience what you've experienced because not everyone is at the level that you're at currently. There's other people that are starting and hoping to get where you are, but you have privileges that you may not see, they're almost invisible because you put in the work thus far. And that's where I think you know, even I've heard some people with their fitness transformations tell me that other people look up to them now, and there's almost this sense of uh what's the word, imposter syndrome, or uh, you know, they're like, why are they looking up to me? Like, I'm not at my goal yet. It's like, yeah, but they're looking up to you because you're in the same or similar situation to them at you were at one point, and now you've put in the the hours that no one sees, you've done the work that no one has done yet, and so they're looking at you because they know it is possible, right? You're their living testimony, they're you're their living proof that they can do it too. So you have to be grateful for your dedication to yourself. That's one of the biggest things. You have to think that you know, not everyone has the opportunity to go through this grind, not everyone has the opportunity to face these problems. And when you're able to shift that, it allows you to take a little bit lighter light on the current situation. It doesn't take the situation away or make it any less stressful, but it allows you to view it from a different lens and be appreciative in the moment because time is the one thing we don't get back, so why not be grateful for every minute and appreciate the life that you have? And if you're not happy with the life that you have, then that's that's on you. You get the chance to be appreciative for what you've achieved thus far, but you don't need to settle there, you don't need to be happy in the sense of you know, I'm happy with what I have. That doesn't mean I don't want more. It's okay to want more. This is me giving you permission to want more. But now wanting more and deserving more are two different things, right? Like you've heard me say on the uh the last couple episodes like you have to put in so much work that it is undeniable that you wouldn't achieve that goal. It is undeniable for you not to achieve that goal, and when you're able to do that, you deserve the goals that you get and the results that you get. If you're unhappy with where you currently are, that's a result of all the inactions or actions that you've done for the past you know, three, six, twelve, you know, months plus. So it's your time to be grateful that you've accepted that and now you're ready to change. And so I think that's where the breakthrough really happens for people is when they realize that the grind and the the hustle and the motivation, the ambition doesn't necessarily stop. The goals just get bigger, but they get bigger because of the level that you're at. At the current level, let's say, you know, or the you know, a you a year ago, your goals now would seem astronomical, but for you now, it's just the next stepping stone, right? When you let's say when you run a marathon, you're like, man, I have to pass, you know, what is it, 26 mile markers? And you're like, man, that's a lot. But then you hit mile 25 and you're like, I just got one more. Right? You hit mile 20, and you're like, okay, well, you know, well, I just got to hit you know five more. The next one I'm gonna hit is 21. But when you're at mile one, looking at mile marker 21, you're like, man, that's pretty far, right? So that that's the perspective you have to have on the current grind and the current goals that you're working on. Is like the past version of you hoped one day to have this problem, hoped one day to be in this grind. You've been forged by the previous fires to allow you to be where you currently are. Be grateful for that that you came out on the other side of those fires, and that you've been forged into the person that you are today, right? The other thing is, you know, kind of taking a uh step, you know, a side tangent from that is a side tangent from you know, you can be grateful and not complacent, but also like be grateful for your team. And when I say team, people immediately think like sports or think business, and no, like your family is your team, like my wife is is part of my team, my kids are part of my team. That's my home team, right? And then I have my my Strive 11, you know, Tarzana team, and then I have the my Strive 11 Tampa team, and you know, so there's different you can have different teams, that's fine. You know, your friends, you know, your friends are teams as well, and so be grateful for them in the in the sense of the support that they've given you, right, and the resources that they've given you, and the encouragement that they've given you to not only just allow you to become who you become, but also to be in your corner. Whether it's good feedback or bad feedback, it's still feedback, right? Whether it's a lot of support or a little support, it's still support. And sometimes maybe it's grateful that you can be grateful that they've given you no support, and now you are able to see who's part of your inner circle or not. It's all about just changing the perspective, changing the lens on how you're grateful, right? And even taking that kind of a uh a step further is like be grateful for them while you can. Like tomorrow's not promised. So if someone is a huge motivator in your life, a huge you know, um contributor to you achieving your goals, whether it's through you know motivating you, you know, being that that person event to from work, being whatever, like let them know. Let them know you appreciate them. You don't have to do it every single day, but when something happens, be specific. You know, hey, I was really, I was really appreciative of that feedback. You know, that really helped me do X, Y, and Z. Right? It it takes two seconds, and now it allows them to get the acknowledgement and it brightens up their day. I guarantee you that they're gonna go and you know, tell someone that does something for them or you know, gave them feedback, they're gonna you know give them that sense of gratitude. And it starts to spread a little ripple effect of gratitude.

unknown: 12:42

Right?

SPEAKER_01: 12:43

So, how many times has someone sent you actually yesterday was Thanksgiving? If you didn't send someone a text message or give them a call and say happy Thanksgiving, right? Because I know I'm guilty of this, and someone sent it to you first, right? Immediately you send it back, but then what'd you do? You probably sent it to you know one to you know everyone else in your your phone book, and then that person probably got it, they sent it back, and they're like, damn, I need to, you know, say happy Thanksgiving to these people, and then they send it. And that's kind of the same thing with gratitude, right? It's it's that appreciation, it's that it's that act of kindness that isn't necessarily required, but it goes a lot longer and a lot further than you would think. So I just want you to realize it that wherever you're at in your journey, in whatever journey you're at right now, just be grateful. You don't have to be complacent, you don't have to settle, you don't have to be happy with exactly where you're at, but be grateful for the opportunity that you've got to go through the fires that you've gone through to come out on the other side of where you're at. And if you feel like you're in the fire right now, be grateful that you're in the fire because you're gonna come out so much stronger. The way I heard this quote, you know, I'll kind of end with this. Um, I heard this this quote. It was when you're walking through the fire and you're and you're being forged by the fire, you could essentially look at it two ways. You could look at it as, oh man, this is so tough. Like, you know, why is this happening to me? You know, I you know, and and start looking at it like, oh, basically, like, woe is me, or you know, oh poor me. Or you can look at it as like I feel sorry for everyone else that is gonna try to get to my level because they have to walk through this fire too. Like I feel bad for them. Like I mean that I'm gonna come out on the other side of this. Like I'm grateful for being here because this is what's gonna separate me from the others. Or you can look at it as like, why, you know, and poor me, and why do I have to face this? And you know, because that's what other people are gonna say, right? And that's why every level of a goal, right? Fitness goal, business goal, entrepreneurship, you know, whatever. Um there's levels to it, and at each level, there's less and less people. Let's say influencers, right? You know, same thing with influencers. Like there's each level, there's less and less people that make it to that next level because of the fires that separate basically level one to level two, then the fire from level two to level three. There's another another fire that separates, and some people aren't willing to walk through it. So you've already walked through you know X amount of fires. Be grateful then for that you came out on the other side. And if you're in a fire, if you're in the fire right now and being forged by the fire, be grateful for that, you know, the your your current competitors at the previous level probably aren't going to meet you on the other side. And then be grateful that you're gonna face another fire so that you can get to the next level after that. But I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I just want to let you guys know truly, I truly am thankful for everyone that does listen and support the show. And I just want to let you guys know I appreciate you guys. Make sure you guys share this episode with a friend, you know, help spread the the act of gratitude in the grind. Um, if you know someone else that's going through the grind right now, let them know it's okay to be grateful. But I'll appreciate you guys. I love y'all. I'll see you guys next week.