Welcome to Minisode Monday, where we kick off the week with something quick and actionable -- to make you more magnetic and effective -- that you can implement right away. This week we tackle one of the most overused words today: gratitude. Let's get to it! The Cheat Sheet: When you repeat something enough, it often loses its meaning. Through overuse, "gratitude" seems to be one of the latest casualties of this phenomenon. But done right, gratitude is one of the most powerful tools we have for life improvement -- it's one of the straightest and shortest paths to happiness and connection, and it utilizes thankfulness for things we already have rather than goading us toward what's currently out of reach. The word thanks comes from the Old English thanc, which means thought or gratitude. But it's also related to the Latin tongere, which means to know. So to thank is really to know. To know someone and to know yourself -- to know what they did for you and to know how it affected you. We can't really summon the powers of gratitude if we're just going through the motions -- we have to remind ourselves of the reasons we have to be grateful. Try to remember what a friend did for you recently. Think about valuable lessons you've taken away from a tough learning process. Even remembering an exceptionally delicious meal you've had -- these are all things you know and can be used to plant the seed of gratitude. Once we start thinking of gratitude as a kind of knowing, we can work with it in our everyday lives. Knowing gives us three things: a way to keep us focused on the good in our lives, a way to stay connected with people in our network, and a way to express generosity. Gratitude is transformative -- it allows us to accept even negative truths as gifts and learn from them. It's facing our problems and growing from the sometimes hard lessons rather than ignoring or denying that problems exist. If you can feel a curiosity -- maybe even a little excitement about what you might gain from any situation -- then you're already tapping into your gratitude. Start saying "yes" to everything on a cognitive level. Accept things as they are rather than how you wish they were. Take a moment to reflect on what went well every day. It will go from a deliberate practice to something that's automatic. Communicate with those who make you grateful. Take 30 seconds to send your friend or colleague a text, an email, or a handwritten note to thank them for whatever way they made your life better. If you're looking for a way to maintain good connections and building social capital in your network, this may just top the list. To learn more about social dynamics and the place of gratitude, take the Art of Charm Challenge by clicking here, or text CHARMED to 33444. Also be sure to check out our Social Capital Intensive here! Let us know about how you put today's Minisode Monday into practice! Leave a comment below, tweet with @TheArtofCharm in your response, or write to Jordan directly: [email protected] (he reads everything)! Show notes at http://theartofcharm.com/podcast-episodes/minisode-monday-20-even-monday-deserves-gratitude/ HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! If you dig the show, please subscribe in iTunes and write us a review! This is what helps us stand out from the crowd and help people find the credible advice they need. Review the show in iTunes! We rely on it! http://www.theartofcharm.com/mobilereview Stay Charming!

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