Growth Instigators Hotline

#454 A Dollar Bill. Pause for 5 min.

• Aaron Havens • Season 5 • Episode 454

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Ever noticed how a single dollar can change your mood? We take that tiny, everyday object and turn it into a powerful cue for gratitude, perspective, and practical growth. If you can stream this show, you already belong to a small slice of the world with access to technology and choice—a reality that reframes scarcity and spotlights hidden abundance. From there, we guide a simple, spoken exercise that turns thankfulness from a nice idea into a repeatable habit anchored in real life.

I share a rapid-fire gratitude list—family, mentors, work partners, creature comforts, even porch lights and a favorite hoodie—to show how concrete naming builds momentum. That momentum matters because it changes what your brain notices and how your body feels, which then affects the choices you make. We also hold space for empathy: a dollar is trivial to some and hard to come by for others. Recognizing both truths helps us drop judgment, deepen compassion, and move with intention when we see someone asking for help at a red light.

You’ll leave with a pocket ritual you can repeat anywhere: pull out a dollar (or imagine one), assign it the meaning of thankfulness, speak your list for five minutes, and then ask one focusing question—given what I have, what is one good move I can make today? That bridge from gratitude to action is where growth takes root. If you’re ready to feel lighter, think clearer, and act kinder, press play and try the practice with us. If it helps, share it with a friend, subscribe for more short growth prompts, and leave a review telling us what your first three gratitudes were.

https://growthinstigators.com/


SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to message 454 of the Growth Instigators Hotline where we examine an everyday normal object and assign it a deeper meaning. I'm Aaron Havens, your host and growth coach. What can a dollar bill remind us of today? Just the fact you have a phone and are listening to this call means you're among the world's top percentage of wealthiest people in the world. Yeah, when we break it down, I guarantee we all have so much to be thankful for. Without judgment, think about the next beggar or signholder or unhoused person you last saw, or will see at the next red light intersection. You are, my friend, nowhere near that. Sure, it's just a dollar. To some people, that is hard to come by. And at times that might be our reality as well. If you're able, can you please pull a dollar bill out of your wallet or purse right now? No, for real. Okay, you got it? Maybe, maybe not. If not, act like you're holding it. Great. Okay, look at this dollar bill. Let's assign this the meaning of thankfulness. I mean, pause for five minutes as you look at that dollar bill and start saying out loud what you're thankful for. This should be easier than normal since because you know Thanksgiving was wasn't that long ago. So let's try it. Okay. I'm thankful for my family, my wife, my daughters, and my bros-in-laws. That's what I call my son-in-laws. My parents, my siblings. I'm thankful for my in-laws. My bed, my unreal hoodie. That's a type, that's a that's a type of hoodie. My porch lights. I'm thankful for my business, for my employees, for my business partner, for my friends, for my new glasses, my ability to touch my toes in a hot sauna. For the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys having a fun season. I didn't say good. Well, some of them are, but it's a fun season. I'm thankful for my fire pit and my cell phone. I sure do like how I feel at my age and the experiences I've already had in life. Okay, enough already. Enough of my thinking. I'll silence my thought, I'll put them in the background, and I'll let you have your own. That, my friends, is how a common everyday object can instigate growth. Let's attack this topic with some group thinking. What are your thoughts on this topic? We can learn from a dollar bill. I want to know.