135: Create Your "Grategy" All Year Long with Lisa Ryan

“Grategy” = Gratitude StrategyLisa Ryan, Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), talks with Holly about making gratitude matter and how she turned a major bump in the road into a success strategy. One day, she woke up and by lunch, she found herself without a job. Fortunately she had implemented a gratitude practice about a year before her job left her.Not knowing what she was going to do, she asked herself what she could be grateful for and what came to mind was a goal list that she had written many years prior. She realized in that moment of gratitude, that she had already accomplished many of her goals. She said to herself, “I’m going to laugh about this someday, why not now?” and she set out to recreate herself. Out of this time was born a career as a best-selling author and international, award-winning speaker and trainer. Ryan’s programs focus on positive workplace culture, inter-generational communication, employee acquisition, engagement, retention, and gratitude strategies (“Grategies”) for personal and professional development. Her down-to-earth approach and willingness to share best practices have proven to be a winning formula for her clients. With her clients, she highlights the power of authenticity. She recommends feeling the depth of whatever emotion that is being experienced, and then find what can be appreciated. These conversations about gratitude raise the energy of a room and halts the negative spiral where so many find themselves. Most talk about gratitude for friends, health, family, education and the “things” that they have. Lisa encourages people to find the surprises and be grateful for the little things - running water for example. Lisa’s daily gratitude practice includes a morning and evening journal. Her morning journal gives her gratitude in advance. She also writes on the ABC’s of gratitude - using the letters of the alphabet, she writes all the things associated with each letter, giving the monkey mind something to do in alphabetical order. Write a hand written thank you card every day. Lisa shares that she takes pictures with her clients and makes a card to send to that client as a thank you. Sometimes it isn’t about the cards, or the handwriting, its about the show of gratitude! Use every day technology well: tweet your gratitude! She also gives her clients thank you cards to send out. One of her clients buys a sheet of stamps every month and sets a goal to use all of them. With her “S.H.O.W.” (Self, Health, Others, Wealth) and THANKS programs, she teaches leaders that gratitude grows employee engagement. She encourages leaders to start meetings with a positive note, catch employees doing something well and recognize staff for what they contribute. Since 2011, Lisa has used a weekly gratitude thought of the week to engage her loyal followers. It includes a quote, a story, a lesson and an action. From this, she says that she gets the gift of heartfelt responses and authenticity with her subscribers and readers.What can you be thankful for in advance as the holiday season unfolds?Lisa says “gratitude is very easy to do and very easy not to do.” Challenge yourself for 30 days to write down 3-5 things each day, and at the end of the month you’ll see that it works! Create your own “Grategy!”Contact Lisa Ryan at https://lisaryanspeaks.com/ or email her at [email protected] Get full access to Pathfinder at hollyduckworth.substack.com/subscribe