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:

• Read: A Simple Act of Gratitude 
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

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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If you enjoyed hearing John Kralik on the show, please don’t hesitate to send me a note on Twitter or email me.

Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell

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