Episode 199: John Kralik – The Power of Gratitude (A Simple Act of Gratitude)

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The Learning Leader Show

“Until you are grateful for what you have, you won’t get what you want.”

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

  • Common themes of leaders who sustain excellence:
    • Being grateful for what you have will lead to continued excellence
  • How his second divorce impacted him: “The second time around, it’s your fault”
  • The power of writing thank you notes — Learned from his grandfather
  • “Until you are grateful for what you have, you won’t get what you want.”
  • Writing one thank you note per day for one year
  • “When you’re negative, you’re angry.”
  • His thank you note to his son prompted his son to take him out to lunch… What happened next? Life changing
  • “He took out an envelope and paid me back $4,000 that he owed me.” – 
  • Writing all of your employees thank you notes: Why you should do this but most don’t
  • “Instead of being mad about my bad clients, I started thanking my good ones.” — The impact this had on John’s business was immense
  • “It turns out the one thing I had to be grateful for was my 8 year old daughter.” — “She loved this awful little apartment we lived in”
  • “There are so many things to be grateful for”
  • “When things don’t go well, stay positive, stay grateful… Good things WILL happen”
  • How to shift a negative mindset? — Use a pen, write it out. Write thank you notes.  Use gratitude journals.  Trying to find out the person’s address without asking them is part of the fun and the surprise.
  • John has written over 1,100 thank you notes since starting this process
  • Focus on the people supporting you everyday.  Say thank you
  • How to write a great thank you note? — John describes:
    • 4 Sentences
    • Always start with “thank you”
    • Recognize the gift (or whatever they’ve done that’s created your gratitude)
    • Write one true sentence — Why you’re grateful
    • Tell that person what they mean to you
  • Listen as John reads a thank you note he wrote to his daughter (you might cry).

Continue Learning:

You may also like these episodes:

Episode 078: Kat Cole – From Hooters Waitress To President of Cinnabon

Episode 071: Nate Boyer – Green Beret, Texas Football, The NFL

Episode 179: How To Sustain Excellence – The Best Answers From 178 Questions

Episode 107: Simon Sinek – Leadership: It Starts With Why

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Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

The Learning Leader Show is supported by Rhone.  Use the code “Hawk” for 15% off.  Rhone… premium activewear engineered with principle, performance and progress for the modern man.  Rhone builds clothing around 3 main tenants: Cutting-edge Performance, Premium Comfort, and Simplistic Style.

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