On Thanksgiving week, Deni and Brian talk gratitude.
Because the most successful people in this world focus on the positive, rather than dwelling on the negative. They focus on possibilities, rather than wallowing in self-pity, doubt, and cynicism.
All of us have much to be grateful for, from the roof over our heads to the food in our bellies to the health of our loved ones. So we review a few studies and gratitude practices, to help us spend more time and energy on what’s possible in our lives and less time complaining and harping on the negative.
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Deni Supplee: Hi, everyone, welcome.
Brian Davis: Happy Tuesday. This week, we decided to do things a little differently. We’re going to keep this short and sweet, but we’re going to talk about the science of gratitude and success and why thankful people with more what they earn more money, why they are happier. So, you know, give thanks. Show more gratitude. And and it does come back around to serve you as well.
Deni Supplee: Absolutely.
Brian Davis: So last week we talked about which is the lowest property taxes. As you join us, just let us know where you’re tuning in from and let’s dive right in. You found some some studies to back this up, right? This is not just us getting up here on a soapbox. So tell us about some of the scientific studies out there that demonstrate the power of gratitude.
Deni Supplee: Well, I mean, I kind of known this for a while, but it was interesting to look into it and see that there are some pretty, pretty strong stats. Berkeley did a whole study on actually writing your the things that you’re thankful for and grateful for and journaling more or less, but more of a positive journaling. And people that did that were shown just to just have a more positive outlook right off the bat. And they actually saw, like even in the brain waves and everything, that there were just positive things that went on. So it works in your physical, emotional everything, which is interesting then.
Brian Davis: It’s worth mentioning that people who rate more positively, more positive mindset also tend to have higher productivity and more effectiveness both in their professional lives and in their their personal lives as well. So, yeah, having having thos e higher positivity scores, it really creates a ripple effect across your life, both personally and professionally.
Deni Supplee: And it was crazy to find out that 72% of entrepreneurs reported at least one mental health issue, whether it was depression, anxiety or some kind of substance abuse and all because of stress. And so, you know, when you see that the studies say that if you focus on gratitude reduces stress, it kind of, you know, makes the entrepreneur life at least easier.
Brian Davis: Yeah. And it’s worth celebrating that as a real estate investor, you are an entrepreneur. Whether you think of yourself as one or not, you are in business if you are a real estate investor. Now, whether you set up an LLC to hold title to your properties or not, whether you flip houses, whether you own rental properties, real estate investors are self-employed. They are entrepreneurs even if they don’t have a team that works for them. And usually as a real estate investor, you have to have a team, right? Contractors, realtors, property managers, handymen. I mean, is a team sport. So you are in business if you are a real estate investor.
Deni Supplee: And it’s why not reduce stress, so why not focus on the good things that are going on so that you can have fewer aches and pains, you can be more resilient when something negative does happen, you’re not going to be I mean, I don’t know how many people I hear one small thing happens in their day and they’re like, oh, this is it. This is going to be a day. And then they just spoke all that negativity on their day when, you know, if you had a journal with the positive things that you have in your life, you pop it up and then you’re like, OK, I do. I do have a roof over my head. And, you know, the things that you’re thankful for, it changes your mindset. And that’s that’s the whole idea here.
Brian Davis: Yeah. I mean, so I have a a graduate practice that I do every night as I’m going to sleep at night, is just reviewing all of the things that I’m grateful for. And you’re from the most simple, fundamental things. Like you said, only having a roof over my head know, having a full stomach. Right. To more specific things that maybe happened that day or that week that are going on in my life. And, you know, it ends up putting me in a positive state before I go to sleep. When your brain and your mind processed the day’s events and prepares you for the next day. So that kind of hacking your subconscious, you end up waking up in the morning feeling much happier and more positive than you would if you go to bed grumbling about all the things you were complaining about that day.
Deni Supplee: And it does happen that like if you go to bed and you’re stressed about something and you fall asleep upon that stress, you’re waking up and you are you’re already waking up with anxiety and stress.
Brian Davis: I’m losing sleep over something, right? I mean, when you’re stressed, you tend not to sleep well, which has a cascade effect on your productivity the next day and your ability to focus and concentrate on your work, obviously on your interpersonal relationships. Those suffer as well when you sleep deprived.
Deni Supplee: So and what does it do? I mean, all that wiring does nothing to change your issues. Nothing. It actually stops you from finding productive ways or answers or solutions. Really?
Brian Davis: Yeah. And, you know, you brought to my attention an interesting study that more than two thirds of the workforce out there feel unengaged with their their work. They feel that their work is unimportant. They feel that they are not appreciated by their their boss or supervisor, you know. So that’s one thing that I will I would trade any day. I will take the stress of entrepreneurship and being a real estate investor over that feeling of lack of engagement and lack of doing meaningful work. I will take the stress. But, you know, like you pointed out, that you don’t have to accept a trade off there. You can manage your own stress. You are in the driver’s seat of your own stress. So it’s just a matter of taking that control over it and having this active gratitude practices, whether it’s journaling, whether it’s a daily review of what you’re grateful for, whether it’s telling the people that you love both that work at home, that you’re grateful for them. You do. You are in control of your stress.
Deni Supplee: Walk around with an attitude of gratitude. You’ll see such a difference like smile at people. Even if you’re not feeling it. Just smile at people. It’ll you know, if you have a good tennt smile, it’s a good tenant. And if you have a bad one, ignore them and deal with their issues. But at least smile at somebody because it’ll change your attitude.
Brian Davis: Yeah, and I can remember the name of the book, but a couple years back I wrote a book about the physical feedback loops that are created when you do things like smile or strike, what they call power poses physically positioning yourself and making going through the physical motions of being happy, feeling powerful. That creates a physical feedback loop by starting with your body that comes back to your your mind and actually creates those feelings. So simply by smiling for 30 seconds actually makes people feel happier because one of the one of the results they found in a study on this, and it just goes to show how much power you have over your own happiness, your own productivity, your stress levels, your productivity and the relationships in your life.
Deni Supplee: Absolutely.
Brian Davis: All right. So to keep this very concrete, what are some concrete steps that people can take? To boost their positivity and boost their product productivity levels
Deni Supplee: Every day, make them at least write one thing down, but preferably a list of the things that you’re grateful for and not just the tangibles, the intangibles, you know, the relationships and the things. You know, that’s a good way. The other thing is stop complaining. There’s a saying when you complain, you remain. And I believe that wholeheartedly. I mean, if you have to get it out, get it out, be done with it, but don’t go over and over and over again because it changes your whole mindset so it can ruin your day. So stop complaining and start thanking people, people are helpful. Not all contractors are bad. Some of them are good. And if you see one that’s not doing the best job, but he’s trying real hard, thank him and then be honest with him. But thank him, you know, I mean, I give because I think that we we don’t necessarily see the positive aspects of giving it. It makes the giver feel better. But it really does change your heart as well.
Brian Davis: You know, there was a study out from the American Psychological Association last year, and I don’t know the exact number, but they pointed out that people who donate money to nonprofits and to charity actually feel significantly richer themselves than the act of giving money away makes you feel like you are richer. So, you know, this stuff all creates a feedback loop.
Deni Supplee: And if you look on the opposite end of that, I mean somebody who’s kind of miserly, they tend not to be happy people. They tend to be angry people. They’re they’re holding everything in. So there is something to be said for all of this.
Brian Davis: Yeah. That’s mentioned, you know, that brings about a scarcity mindset when you have that kind of miserly attitude. And then you mentioned complaining and stop complaining is a is a good quote here by Zig Zigglar that I like to be grateful for what you have and stop complaining. It bores everyone else, does you no good and doesn’t solve any problems. So Zigglar is just a rock and roll machine like you want to get quotes. Well, we are we’re going to keep this one short and sweet like we like we mentioned from the outside. But before we wrap this up, is there anything else that you want to say either on this point or on any others?
Deni Supplee: Well, I’m going to say a quote too it’s by Eckhart Tole and it’s acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. So if you want to feel good, you want more in life, then you have to be thankful for what you’ve already have.
Brian Davis: Absolutely. Well, you guys, happy Thanksgiving from Deni and me and everyone to spark Renel. We hope you have a wonderful long weekend either with your family in person or if you can’t be in person because of the pandemic right now, then at least connecting with them virtually. But enjoy that time with your family. It’s so much more important than any of the money stuff that Danny and I talk about every week on here. So I have a wonderful weekend with your family, everyone.
Deni Supplee: See you later.
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