Become Happier By Recognizing And Thanking People Who Inspire You

Cover Photo Credit: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/20-ways-gratitude-improves-productivity.html

How many people around you inspire you?

How many people in your life have inspired you?

Do you even think about that?

Have you ever thanked them?

I originally started off writing a completely different story about a co-worker who really inspires me, until I realized I never thanked her for what she inspires me for. Then my brain branched off to other co-workers who inspire me in the their own way and realized than so many people inspire me, yet I haven’t really expressed any gratitude to them. Yet.

Take a minute and think about it for a moment.

You’ll see it takes no time to realize things other people do that inspire you. And it doesn’t have to be people you know really well either. Heck, it could even be someone you hate! You don’t have to agree with everything they do.

Recognize and Thank Your Family

You rarely give much thought about recognizing your family because you take them for granted. When you take the time to think about the things they do, you’ll realize how much they’ve influenced your life decisions.

My mom is an incredible person. She raised me and my 3 brothers by herself. My father left when she was pregnant with my younger brother. She was left with nothing. We obviously grew up poor, but my mom made sure we always had food and lodging. She did everything she could to earn enough money while making sure she had time to spend with us. I’ve learned my perseverance and hard work from her and will always thank her for that.

My wife is a gift to everyone. When she’s not organizing vaccination camps across the poorest countries in the world with Médecins Sans Frontières, she’s raising hygiene awareness through Sundara, an NGO that recycles hotel soaps and re-distributes to communities in need around the world. How can I not be inspired by her?

No one has a perfect family, but everyone can find things some family members inspire them with. Give it some thought and you’ll find the good in them.

Recognize People Around You

Here’s a very interesting quote from Jim Rohn:

You’re The Average Of The Five People You Spend The Most Time With — Jim Rohn

Think about it.

It’s a simple exercise: List the five people you spend the most time with now. Last month. Last year.

Didn’t you pick things up from them? Good or bad?

Who was it?

What did you pick up from them?

Anything that inspires or inspired you?

Did you thank them for it?

Without naming anyone, I’m currently inspired by co-workers here who:

  • have changed career paths when people deemed them too old or incapable;

  • share their experiences and help others achieve their dreams;

  • made the leap into very risky fields and see their hard work pay off years later;

  • live in countries very different from where they come from;

  • are able to communicate fluently in Spanish in a record time;

  • live a perfectly serendipitous life abroad with their life partner; and

  • build a medium-scale international co-working space in a city, or country, not known for diversity.

And that’s only scratching the surface.

When you stop to think about it, you realize the good in people. Be grateful and give them the thanks they so deserve.

Why thank them?

Doesn’t it seem awkward?

“Thank you for inspiring on/about <insert reason here>!”

They didn’t really do it for you after all. Most of the time, they’re doing it “for their own good”. Because they want to do it. Nonetheless, a simple thank you will inspire them to keep going. You don’t know, but maybe the thing they inspire you for is hard for them and they were thinking of quitting. Thanking them proves them they’re on the right track and will inspire them to continue.

The graphic below summarizes very well why thanking them is good, both for you and the person receiving the gratitude.

 

However, don’t think of thanking someone for your own benefits, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Thank them for them. That is true gratitude.

Conclusion

Now that you’ve done it once, do it again. Yearly, monthly, weekly. Daily even! You’ll be a better person and be happier for it.

Hope this was helpful!

You can do this!

Thanks for reading! :)