The Invisible Advantage: Gratitude as a Success Strategy

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today's topic is going to be the invisible advantage. Gratitude as a success strategy. So let's jump right into it. If you're new, typically within the first few minutes we're covering different life hacks and fun facts. And today I have a few fun facts for you. The very first one is gratitude physically rewires your brain. So these are centered around gratitude and it is scientifically proven that gratitude physically rewires your brain. So neuroscience studies show gratitude activates the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision making focus and long-term planning. That's the same. Part elite performers rely on. Gratitude, a lot of people don't realize like the power and potency of gratitude. And one thing that I can tell you is that it most certainly has been very beneficial throughout the course of my life to just always wake up in a spirit of gratitude, always go back to gratitude whenever I'm feeling down and out. And business is getting crazy. I always have to go back to gratitude. Whenever life just isn't going the way that you would prefer it to go, you always go back to gratitude and it'll help you get centered again. So next we have. Number two, fun fact is top performers practice gratitude more than average people. So high achievers across sports, business and the military report higher levels of gratitude, not because life is easier, but because gratitude helps them handle pressure. Better. So really great share. And during this time of the year, I always encourage people to actually take some time to re reflect on this past year. And I always like to do a yearly highlight reel, if you will. Now, it's not an actual content creation reel, it's more a note in your phone where let's just say you're recapping 2025. It'll be a 2025. Highlight reel, and it's all of the accomplishments, all of the things that you were able to do throughout the course of the year that you're super proud of, things that you were able to accomplish. And one of the best things that you can do is even go through your phone album. For this past year, just if you have Apple droid may have the same feature where you can just put in the year and it'll show all of the videos and photos that you captured throughout the year. And the cool thing about that is you can backtrack all the things that you did. So typically people take photos of let's say really cool things that they probably were doing in that moment. And it's a great way to remember and recap everything that you've done. So I'll take photos from that and insert it into my note. Pad or my journal entry. And then I'll just list out all the things that I was able to do. So right now, for example, off the top of my head, some of the really cool things that 2025 brought was I got to go to Spain and Portugal. It was my very first time in Portugal specifically, and Barcelona. So it was just a really amazing experience that I got to do with my wife. And that was one of the highlights of 2025. So I, I essentially would just take photos. From that trip and put it in the journal entry. Another thing is we had our second annual creators conference, and this year we did it at the world renowned James Museum. And it was really cool. It was a major milestone for us and definitely the biggest, best event that we've had so far. And that was a major milestone. I did a lot of speaking events. I did all kinds of stuff throughout the year, so sometimes you put these things on the back burner and you take'em for granted. So it's super helpful to, again, go back to your photo album, look back at all the photos and things that you did and put that in your yearly recap. It's interesting too because on YouTube and YouTube and also like podcasts they'll do like yearly recaps, what was the most the songs that you listen to the most and things like that. But we never really think to do a recap with our lives. This is by far one of my favorite. Life hacks at the end of every year. And what it does is more than anything, it puts you in a spirit of gratitude and it's just a great way to close out the year, but a great way to open up the upcoming year. So moving forward, we have number three. The number three fun fact is gratitude improves income. When was the last time you thought about gratitude improving your income potential? And basically the way it works is that people who regularly practice gratitude are more likely to set goals, follow through, and build better relationships. Three traits directly linked to higher earnings. And career advancement. So you don't wanna scare away the money guys because it's funny one of my business partners, we always talk about just a certain energy that scares away the money. And we don't mean it in a literal sense, but. There are certain just ways of being that repels money, right? If you wanna attract abundance in your life, there's a certain frequency, if you will, that attracts that. Like you have to be very mindful of the way that you feel if you're adamant about just growing wealth and gratitude. Big part of that because what happens is you're not necessarily attracting your thoughts, you're attracting your emotions, right? Your emotions are energy and motions. So your emotions are attracting more circumstances that bring you more of those emotions. So if you're. In a constant state of gratitude, you're naturally going to attract circumstances that bring you more gratitude. That's essentially the way it works, so very important. Next we have, let's see here. Next life hack we have is gratitude under pressure rule only practice gratitude when things go wrong. That's when it actually builds emotional strength. So this is actually I usually go down the rabbit hole with my research and find different things. Gratitude under pressure. Only practice gratitude when things go wrong, that's when it actually builds emotional strength. So I don't necessarily agree completely with this. I think you should practice gratitude all the time, but it does help when things are going wrong to have that automatic that automatic response where when anything goes wrong or you're just feeling down and out and you don't really have much motivation to immediately switch to a space of gratitude. It definitely helps. And it's interesting too because I mentioned. The idea of having a highlight reel, right? To recap your year. But I also have a highlight reel for my overall life. So whenever I find myself just like in a funk or not having much motivation, I always go to my highlight reel. And. Immediately it puts me in a state of gratitude because this highlight reel encompasses pretty much all of the things that I've done throughout my life. All of the really cool experiences, some of the trips that I've taken the amazing the amazing milestones that really meant a lot to me. And this is definitely one of the best things that you can do whenever you have to. Just give yourself a a pick me uper, if you will. Next, we have trade complaints for curiosity. Every time you feel the urge to complain, replace it with the question, what is this moment training me for? What is this moment training me for? So really good. And I remember Jim Rowan would always say, tr, turn your frustration into fascination. You have to discipline your disappointments. And it's so true. A mindset is everything. And you guys hear me say all the time, your mindset is where your mind sits. So number three is gratitude before consumption, before checking your phone in the morning. Name one thing you are grateful for. This primes your nervous system for intention instead of reaction. So super important. And it's. It's interesting too because I just noticed, like I always say, it's interesting. I was doing a podcast the other day and I realized, I said, I always say I'm curious, and as I'm doing this, I'm like, I'm, I always say it's interesting, but I have a deep. Love of learning they call us Polymaths people who have a deep love for learning and just naturally spend a lot of time learning. I know we attract a lot of people who are the same. I call the Breakfast Club community Personal Development nerds because a lot of people who tune in every single week who the hell is gonna spend Tuesday morning at 7:00 AM. Just learning stuff about life, right? But you guys do, so shout out to everybody all my nerds who are hopping on the Breakfast Club with me every Tuesday. So gratitude before consumption, before checking your phone in the morning, and one thing you're grateful for. And one of the things that I learned years ago too, is having something that you're grateful for, but that's super insignificant. So it may be, for example, having gratitude for. The birds and having gratitude for the beautiful weather outside or having a beautiful tree that shades your home right in front of your home, but having something that's like insignificant that you normally wouldn't express gratitude for, but it forces your brain to think about. What you can be grateful for. Because when you really think about it, there's so many things. Like it can be having paved roads, for example. It can be having just electricity. There's so many things that we can be grateful for that we take for granted that were luxuries just a hundred years ago. So think about it, even the average life expectancy has essentially doubled. In in, in the last a hundred years. So the fact that we could even live past 70 years old is an incredible thing. Now let's jump right into it. And remember today we are covering everything. Gratitude and today's title is The Invisible Advantage. Gratitude as a Success Strategy. Let's jump into it. First and foremost, we have why gratitude is misunderstood. Why gratitude is misunderstood. So when you think about it gratitude is often sold as like this toxic positivity, right? It's it's interesting when. Everybody started getting into like manifestation and just thinking positively and attracting all this positive stuff. It did create this toxic positivity in a sense where people would put on a front, like they weren't going through anything and would just try to. Force positivity on themselves and it's just not necessarily the best approach for everyone. So it's always important to, to be mindful of that. That's not what gratitude is. A lot of people also think that gratitude means just settling right, or ignoring problems, or just being passive in general. A lot of people look at gratitude like that and in the business world. It's so important to ensure that you're not looking at it from that lens, because again it can be a tool. It can be a tool to really get you going. And the truth is, gratitude does not equal complacency and gratitude. More so is about clarity plus emotional regulation. That's essentially what it is, right? Because why do you get clarity when you're grateful? Simply because you're putting more of a focus on what you do have, right? You're putting more focus on what's going right as opposed to what's going wrong. And re remember what you focus on expands what you focus on The longest grows the strongest in your life. So if you're in a state of. Gratitude, you're not gonna be in a state of fear. If you're in a state of gratitude. You're not gonna be in a state of anxiety. So that's why there's that emotional regulation that kicks in when you are in a state of gratitude. Now, here's a powerful quote. Gratitude, does it make you stop wanting more? It makes you more capable of handling more. That's what it's about. It's expanding your capacity because you're grateful. Okay. Next up, we have the science and psychology of gratitude, the science and psychology of gratitude. So first and foremost, gratitude. Lower lowers cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone. They, we call it the big C in neuroscience and. Cortisol is typically going to be on the rise whenever you find yourself stressed out. And it is important, again to find ways to minimize the cortisol. And there's a lot of ways to go about it. Like you can just go out for walks in nature. You can listen to music that just changes your mood, meditation, prayer, all that stuff. But gratitude is one of the most effective ways to lower your cortisol. Next is it increases dopamine and serotonin. Which is motivation plus wellbeing. So serotonin is the happy chemical in your body that just has, you feel it, feeling a sense of wellbeing. And whenever you have that dopamine, you find yourself more motivated. So again, gratitude is more about emotional regulation than anything else. Next we have reduces emotional reactivity. Which leads to better decisions. So that's another benefit to gratitude overall, right? It's definitely gonna lead to better decisions because you're not focusing or dwelling on what's not working. So why does this matter for success in the first place? Reason why it matters is because it calms your nervous system. And outperforms, anxious, nervous an anxious nervous system. And this is like really important because one thing that I've noticed and I'm not sure how many of you can relate to this, whenever I find myself in a space where. I'm like very stressed out or I'm worried about something in business. Oftentimes it hinders me from actually being productive. It's actually the enemy, right? It's the inner me that's preventing you from doing what it is that you need to do. So it's very important to always ensure that you're taking care of your being in general, because your being is oftentimes gonna dictate how productive you are on a day-to-day basis. So that's why. Gratitude is so powerful because it takes you out of that state of fear, overwhelm, anxiety, and puts you in a state of gratitude. Next, we have emotional reregulate. Emotional regulation equals consistency. I always say my superpower, if there's any superpower that I have, it's definitely discipline and consistency. So even when you think of the Breakfast Club, right? If I didn't know how to properly regulate my emotions over the last five years, life has also been life and for me as well, just like everybody else. Like I have children, I have a a family of five that I care for and I have to go out there. I have to be a business leader and I have teams. All around the world that I have to help with business and it gets very overwhelming, however, right? Because I've understood how to regulate my emotions. It's a big reason why I can show up every single Tuesday with a smile on my face no matter what's happening in the world, right? I've had loved ones pass away. I've had all kinds of crises that I've had to navigate through, but I still show up and. There's no way in the world I would have been able to do that if it wasn't for understanding emotional regulation. Okay. So for me it's typically we say self-care is the best care. So it's typically things like exercise, it's going for walks outside it's gratitude, it's journaling, it's meditation and prayer, it's eating it's getting enough sleep. All of these things are essential and. You have to take care of the engine, right? That's driving all of your business endeavors and all of your dreams in a sense. And that's you. So remember, consistency beats motivation every time, right? I remember my mentor would always say, you have to do what you know, not what you feel. Because sometimes. You're just not gonna feel like getting any work done. Sometimes you're not gonna feel like going into the gym you should be getting into the gym. You know that if you do that work, you're naturally gonna feel a lot better about your day. So it's super important. Next. Gratitude as a performance tool. Gratitude as a performance tool. So gratitude actually improves a lot of things. It improves focus. It improves resilience, it improves relationship quality. And leadership presence. Now I'm gonna highlight relationship quality specifically because when it comes to just relationships in general we tend to get really caught up in what's what we don't like about our partner, right? What we are unhappy with when it comes to our relationship. And meanwhile, there's 1,000,001 things that we could essentially be grateful for when it comes to our relationship. When was the last time you thought about all of the positive aspects of your partner? All of the positive aspects. Maybe it's a coworker, maybe it's a boss or manager. And when you really reflect on it, you probably can name a bunch of qualities that you do like about that person. Hence why you started building the relationship. In the first place. Okay. Gratitude most certainly helps when it comes to relationships and I constantly have to remind myself of that because it's so easy to get caught up in what you don't like about your partner, right? Or what you're frustrated with. And we tend to lose focus of the majority of the relationship that may actually be positive. So very important. Next we have, you can apply. Gratitude to, let's just say it, it applies to entrepreneurs handling setbacks. It can be leaders, managing teams, fathers or mothers, balancing ambition and family. Or maybe you're a content creator and you're facing comparison and burnout. So many different things that gratitude applies to, and so many people and scenarios. Now here's a great quote. Gratitude is how you stay grounded while aiming higher. Gratitude is how you stay grounded while aiming higher. I remember hearing in the world of personal development years ago, like people would just say oh, you gotta be content or you gotta be grateful for what it is that you do have. And I remember just thinking to myself like, why? Why am I gonna be content? Why am I just going to settle for what I do have when I want more? But the thing about it is it's actually counterintuitive to think that way because gratitude actually brings you more, the more grateful you are again, the more you attract circumstances that bring you more gratitude. So it's not oh, if I'm. Grateful, then it has to just settle. Or you're not gonna have desire. Now it doesn't work that way. It's really about being grateful and aspiring for more. If that's what you want. However, being grateful for where you're at, because sometimes we get so caught up in the future. And I'm not sure how many of you guys can relate to this, but I know for me, sometimes I get so caught up in the future that I really forget to enjoy the present moment. And you know that future may be something that we're pursuing, like a financial goal. It may be a weight loss goal or maybe a relationship goal. And you're so immersed in that and you're spending so much time chasing that you end up forgetting all of the beautiful aspects of your life. So it is important to remind yourself. To enjoy the present moment and there's so much that you can be grateful for on an everyday basis. Next, we have why ungrateful people plateau. Why ungrateful people plateau. This happens all the time, so ungrateful people. First and foremost, chase outcomes without appreciating process. Like just always on the go and never really taking time to just, again, be grateful for what it is that they have. Ungrateful people also burn bridges instead of building relationships. Anybody know anyone like that? Burn bridges instead of building relationships, because sometimes. People who are ungrateful, they, they forget those who actually help them get to where they are. Right? And one thing I learned in the business world is that you gotta be careful on your way up. Not to treat people bad because you will see them on your way down, you'll run into them, and it's not gonna be a pleasant experience. Next, ungrateful people are constantly dissatisfied, which leads to burnout. It's so true. Sometimes you're just so caught up chasing, and dissatisfied that you just end up burning out altogether. And then ungrateful people operate from scarcity instead of strategy. Okay. From scarcity instead of strategy. Again. Two thoughts, two emotions cannot occupy the body and mind at the same time. So that's the power of gratitude. It eliminates whatever negative emotion you're feeling in that moment because what you're focusing on typically is gonna have a direct effect on your emotions in that moment. Okay, so it's impossible to feel happy with depressing thoughts. It's impossible to feel gr or think about things that bring you gratitude and feel anxiety. So that's the power of it. Okay? And another thing is when it comes to grateful people learn faster, grateful people recover quicker. Think about what's better for your immune system. For example, if you are lowering your cortisol levels and increasing your dopamine and serotonin levels it's naturally going to improve your immune system. Like you, you are a healthier person, the more grateful you are. So that's a big part of the recovery. It helps build long-term trust as well when you're grateful, especially if you're in a leadership role. When you're grateful, people typically want to work for you because, or work with you because they feel appreciated. If you're ungrateful, why would someone wanna work for an ungrateful leader or a manager, a boss. So it, it is essential, right? For those of you who run teams to be grateful, and also it helps you stay emotionally stable during chaos, you can be the peace in the storm. Next, a practical gratitude practical gratitude practices that actually work. So here we go. Here's some best practices and not just stuff that you can put in a journal. Like it's all kinds of different aspects of gratitude pra practices. The very first one is situational gratitude. So ask yourself in any moment, what advantage does this situation give me? What advantage? It's just a way to reframe your mindset whenever you are encountering different obstacles. Ask yourself, what advantage does this situation give me? Where's the blessing in this? Where's the treasure? In this trash? Where's the inspiring message in this mess? And if you dig deep enough, you'll find that every situation can come with a blessing. Secondly, people-based gratitude regularly acknowledge mentors, partners, team members, even critics, right? Thank the haters. They're a big part of the journey as well. The hero's journey would not be one if there weren't any critics. So that's also all part of the journey and have gratitude for it all. Next is future gratitude. Act, grateful for discipline, not outcomes. Appreciate effort before results. So it's more focused on the journey than it is the destination. Okay? And that's a big part of it. Next, we have hard gratitude, so you can be grateful for delays, rejection, resistance. Because those build capacity. Now think about it. If you're sitting in traffic, you can sit there and dwell on it, right? You can complain about it. But when it's all said and done, like what is that actually doing for you? Or you can just say, you know what? I'm grateful because I actually get some time to maybe catch up on an audio book or a podcast, or maybe you're waiting online and you can make a phone call to a loved one, right? There's certain things, maybe it's rejection, and you say, you know what? I'm grateful to even be on this journey because there's no way that you're going to get the outcome you're looking for without failing forward, without getting rejected. That's a big part of the process, so just taking time to even acknowledge. The fact that you're on your hero's journey, right? Going through resistance, the hard is typically what makes something an opportunity. If what you were aspiring to do was not hard, would it be much of an opportunity? Think about it. So embracing the hard reframing, the way you look at certain things and these are the hard gratitudes, right? It's not always easy to be grateful when you're going through rejection or you're failing, but it is an essential part of the process. Sometimes when I go through very difficult circumstances, I'll have to remind myself that, you know what? This is gonna make an incredible story one day. I just reframe it because it's like it keeps you going and it keeps you pressing forward. Next we have, and by the way, if you guys are getting value, drop a V in the comments for value. If you're getting value so far, here we go. Gratitude and legacy. So you have to tie it back to purpose, right? Gratitude creates presence. So it's a great time. Like you said, as you're aspiring to go higher, it's a great opportunity to be grounded simultaneously. Okay, so gratitude creates presence. It allows you to say, you know what, let me slow down and be grateful. It's interesting. The other day I was going for a walk in my neighborhood. And as I was walking, I was just doing my best to be present in the moment and it dawned on me like, man, I can't remember the last time I reflected on just even nature. Like I saw these birds hovering over my head and I can hear them. They were very loud and. It had been months since I even noticed the sound of birds flying over my head, and just that moment reminded me of just the beauty of life and how much of a blessing it is to even be alive, right? Being around nature, reflecting on things that you typically wouldn't express gratitude for. It is such a blessing to be alive, so gratitude is always a great opportunity to just get grounded. Another thing is presence strengthens relationships, right? Think about those of you who are parents, or those of you who are in intimate relationships, or maybe you have like really best friends. Imagine how your friends would feel or your kids would feel like if you were just constantly glued on your phone, going through your social media while they're trying to tell you something important. It, right? None of us like that. It's not a pleasant experience when you're trying to communicate with someone. I was communicating with a business partner and I noticed that there was just like the, like my business partner was doing two things at once and I caught it and I mentioned it, right? Because again. Sometimes you are you. You want someone's undivided attention, and you can tell when someone's mind is in two different places. You understand? So presence is super important because it does strengthen relationships when you're with a kid. Kids also notice, you may think that they don't notice you like. On your phone instead of being present with them. So in our household, we are big on that. Like we don't do, if we're sitting down to eat dinner as a family, we don't do technology, we don't do phones or anything like that. It's important to just have actual conversations and that's something that you can implement in, in your relationships. Also, strong relationships, outlast achievements. It's so true because that one achievement may last for the moment or the year or the week, but those strong relationships sometimes are for a lifetime and there's just so much value that stacks with strong relationships. So think about that, right? Think about how much of an emphasis we put on achievement and how much we downplay just having really great relationships. One thing that I can tell you is that achievements are so much better when you do it with people you love. When you do it with those who are really close to you, it is just, it hits different Now here's some closing thoughts. Success. Without gratitude feels empty. Gratitude without ambition stays small. The real power is learning to hold both really powerful. And I say, I'll say it again for those in the back, I didn't catch it the first time. Success without gratitude feels empty. Gratitude without ambition, stay small. The real power is learning to hold both. I remember my mentor would always say that success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure. So it's about the science of achievement, but the art of fulfillment. You need both in order to really maximize on whatever it is that you're pursuing. So as we close out. And I know today was short. Wanna get you guys back to your holiday season, spending time with the family. But as we close out my encouragement to you is practice gratitude during one difficult moment this week. So if you catch yourself getting frustrated. Again, turn your frustration into fascination. Get yourself rooted in gratitude. Maybe you're going through a very difficult time in your relationship, and you can just take some time to reflect on all the good qualities about your partner, your friend, your business partner, whatever, your colleague. But take some time to reflect on all the good aspects. It'll most certainly help. And then send one message. Appreciation that you've been postponing. So maybe there's someone that has been doing a lot of work for you, or maybe it's someone that helped you, right? And just sending a message of appreciation. It goes a long way. And then lastly, reflect on what you already have that once felt impossible. Something that you may have maybe you lost 30 pounds and managed to keep it off. Maybe you're living in the home that at one point in time you didn't really see how you were even gonna make it happen. And you'd find, you'll find that many times you're living in what was once your prayer and it's so important to reflect back on that. So my encouragement for you guys again to close out. For this year, 2025. Look back at your year and reflect on all the little blessings that came along the way. It's so easy to forget. It's so easy to put these things on the back burner. It's so easy to downplay the things that are miracles every single day in front of our face. We have miracles happening, but we get so caught up on the money, right? We get so caught up on the achievement, the status, the accolades, all of these different things. But that's just one slice of the pie of this thing we call life. So taking some time to reflect on. So many beautiful things, whether it's having good health, whether it's living in a country where there's no war or genocide going on, like that's a blessing. The fact that we don't even have, let's just say starvation, like when was the last time you heard someone starving to death in our that you personally knew in this lifetime, probably not even once. And the fact that you have food to eat, you have a shelter over your head there's so many people out there who are struggling, so many people who are homeless, and we just have so much to be grateful for despite all the craziness happening in the world. And it is very uncertain. We are living in unprecedented times, but it's nothing in comparison to what some of our ancestors had to endure. It's nothing in comparison to many other time periods before us, so don't get so caught up in all of the negative news, right? Because if you open up your door, you walk outside, you'll see miracles everywhere. So my hope is that you could just take some time this week to reflect on everything that you do have, everything that is working in your life. And go into your 2026 with that attitude and I can ensure you, it'll be a much better way to open up the new year while closing out this year. And man the time fly. But so happy to be here with you guys. I'll be seeing you all next week for the last Breakfast Club of 2025. Take care. God bless. Breakfast is served and I'll be seeing you guys soon. Take care.