I was watching a program on YouTube where Oprah Winfrey was talking to Eckhart Tolle ( who wrote the legendary book “The Power of Now”) about gratitude. Oprah said-when she is upset and worried she turns to her breathing and feels grateful for that.
Grateful for breathing? Feeling grateful for something which is so obvious in all of our lives! But that’s how the people with abundance carry the attitude of gratitude so effortlessly.
There are so many things to be grateful for around us. The Sunlight, the beauty & stillness of the trees, the vast sky, the gravity, the people around us….. the list is endless. All of us are already abundant with unlimited wealth and power. This acknowledgement of abundance is actually the real abundance. The beauty is that when you start acknowledging this abundance, even the outer wealth starts flowing in your life abundantly.
I have no intention of venturing into the field of spirituality and mysticism, but I can clearly see the connection between creating a vast fortune with the feeling of abundance which comes through “Attitude of Gratitude ”. Many clients always complain that they don’t have enough for saving without even trying. Here the problem is not the availability of investable funds but rather the feeling of lack which prevents them from taking action.
They see Investments as the sacrifice of present happiness for the sake of future benefits. But if they could transform their attitude and inculcate the feeling of abundance, then they will not complain of insufficiency. Rather, they will invest from the position of abundance and putting aside some funds will not make them feel deficient.
The attitude of gratitude is essential for the long term investors. I have seen people who lack it either don’t start their investments or don’t remain committed with long term investments. They withdraw funds without giving their investments sufficient time. This results in suboptimal performance of their portfolio.
The investors with the feeling of gratitude always feel abundant. They may have some temporary setbacks in their life but even the tough phases bestow them some additional skills and temperament to deal with any situation. So in that way, these challenges are treasures for them.
Wealth creation is a function of time. All one needs is a little discipline to invest regularly and remain patient. Power of compounding will do the rest given sufficient time. Sounds so simple but many investors could not maintain such discipline and long term patience. Therefore it is important to develop the attitude of gratitude because then you are investing not as an act of sacrifice. Rather you are investing because you value your financial freedom now and in the future.
Manoj Pandey
CFP
