00:08 Hi, I'm Denise Simpson, a master live and leadership coach who helps women step into their authentic and feminine power so they can lead like visionaries, influence with grace, and create a legacy of contribution and service. You'll hear about real leadership clients with real problems navigating their success in life, business, and career. If you're ready to become a masterful leader, then this podcast was made for you. So let's get started.00:46 Welcome, leader. You're here. This is the gratitude episode. I am so grateful that you pressed play today. I am so grateful that you have subscribed to this podcast. I am so grateful that you have chosen yourself above everything else at this moment because you leader are in great demand. You are wanted in every direction, in every aspect of your life. You are leading, which therefore your time is sacred. But so is your mind and so was your heart, and so is your brain, and so is your body, and so is your spirit. And you tune in every single week to be replenished, to find respite, to be rejuvenated. You come here because you get what you deserve, and I am grateful that you recognize that I am so grateful. And this episode is about gratitude. I'm we, not just me, we are in the season of gratitude, of being grateful for what we have and what we don't have, , what we aspire to and what we don't, who we are and who we are not.02:05 We are grateful for the people in our lives supporting our journeys. We are grateful for those who aren't just like we're grateful for those who support us. We're also grateful for the haters. Deep down inside you, thank them. Thank you for not believing in me. I'm grateful to have you in the peanut gallery telling me that I'm not worth it and I'm not capable. Thank you. Because of your disbelief in my abilities to lead, I show up every day to prove you wrong. We're grateful for the haters. At least I am. I've got plenty of those . But back to gratitude, and what does gratitude really mean? So when I think of gratitude versus appreciation, I think of gratitude coming with conflict, challenge or sacrifice. I've gained a new perspective of gratitude because of what I had to endure or what I went through, the obstacles, the challenges on my journey, the haters, and yes, the lovers, but all of that came with some sacrifice, and I'm grateful.03:23 For me, gratitude just comes from that energy of struggle, right? Been there, done that. I'm now here, , I'm still standing, and I'm grateful, grateful for that challenge because I've grown into a new person. I have stretched the boundaries of my neurology. I have proven to myself and to others that I'm capable of more. That's what gratitude means to me. And appreciation for me feels like love. It's like the base of love, the foundation of love. This inherent knowing that I am lovable, this inherent knowing that I deserve joy. It's this inherent knowing that I'm worthy. It comes from, again, the energy of love. And when I think of appreciation, I think of you. How I appreciate your hustle. I appreciate you being in the trenches. I appreciate your talents, your skills, your abilities. I appreciate you for going out there every single day and answering the call to lead and to serve your people.04:40 I appreciate you so greatly, which is why I do what I do, because your drive drives me. Your ambition drives me. Your love for what you do drives me every single day. I appreciate you greatly. And I wanna take today to reflect on that, the gratitude that we have as women leaders, those of us leading our families, our children, our communities, our constituents, right? That's the gratitude for the hustle, the gratitude for the challenge, the gratitude for the sacrifices that we made. And being here despite all of those obstacles and the challenges that were in our way, on our path, on our journey. The gratitude for being who you are today because of everything that you endured. That's gratitude. So reflect on what you are grateful for this season, and you could start by finding an area of your life that you want to focus the light on.06:01 Shine the light on. It could be your intimate relationships. It could be your family relationships. It could be your finances. It could be your body, your health and wellness. It could be your spirituality or your faith. It could be any aspect of your life that you wanna shine a light on today. It could be your leadership practice. It could be the business that you started. It could be anything that you want. But take one aspect of your life, at least for this episode, for this one exercise. And I want for you to, like I said, shine a light on it. Pick an area of your life that you've had great struggle in this year. Maybe it is your health and wellness. Maybe it is your intimate relationship. Perhaps it's your personal finances or maybe it's your business. What aspect of your life has shaped you into this person that you are today because of the sacrifice and the challenges that you have had to overcome?07:08 What are you grateful for about that experience? For me, it's my health and wellness. I talk a lot about that. It's something that I'm moving into a new season of my life. I'm in my mid forties and there's some interesting things happening to me, , and I'm asking questions. I'm trying to change my diet. I am not trying. I did, and I'm changing a lot of my fitness care, a lot of my fitness habits and routines. I've been looking at tweaking certain things so that I could maybe help, right? Or adjust my health to improve it. And so I'm grateful for the challenge. I thank my body every single day. Thank you. Thank you for keeping me alive. Thank you for breathing when you need to breathe and for letting the heart beat when it needs to beat. Thank you so much. I'm grateful for what we've been through, and I'm grateful for who I am today because of those health challenges.08:13 And so what are you grateful for? What aspect of your life? Choose that. That's step one. Write that down and then ask yourself, who did I have to become to overcome those challenges? Who am I? Who am I today because of what I just went through? Or who are you becoming because of it? Some of us are still in the season, We're still in that process. And so ask yourself these questions. Who did I have to become to be the woman that I am today? Gosh, it could be your leadership practice. Maybe you just got a promotion into leadership. Who are you becoming today because of what you had to sacrifice? What are you grateful for? That experience? Name it. Be specific. Call it out. Show your brain. Tell your brain. We're here finding gratitude for some very hard things that we had to overcome, right?09:13 We have to show our brains and discipline our brains that this is a moment for reflection and celebration, and we're gonna do that right here, right now. So that's step two and step three, I want for you to thank yourself. Forgive yourself if you have to find grace for yourself. There's so much that goes into finding gratitude, and sometimes it's forgiving ourselves for not doing something or maybe doing something we weren't supposed to and forgiving ourselves for whatever decision we had to make or whatever action we had to take or whatever re result we created. We sometimes have to say, It's okay. You did the best that you could at that time. Well look who you are today because of it. So take this opportunity to do these quick steps. This is the season, my friend, to reflect on gratitude. And before I end our time together, I just want to tell you how grateful I am for this opportunity to serve you every single day because of your hardship, because of the struggles you have had to overcome the challenges that you have had to overcome in your leadership practice, on your leadership journey.10:38 I am grateful that you are still here standing and choosing to continue the path to leadership. I am so grateful for you and I appreciate you immensely because we need more women leaders like you. We do. We're losing so many of them. We're losing them because these organizations, because society, because of the culture of these organizations are not making it easier for us, they're not making it easier for us to promote. We're still underrepresented and even more so now. And so I'm grateful that you're still in the trenches and know that I'm here to serve you and will continue to serve you as long as I am able every single day. I'm wishing you my dear leader and your family, your friends, your communities, your constituencies, all of the people that you love. I'm wishing you and them a wonderful Thanksgiving. Take good care, and I will catch you on the other side of the holiday. Bye for now. Hey, leader, do you want weekly leadership tips, coaching and training straight to your email inbox? Yeah, I thought so. Head over to dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Again, that's dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Just submit your name and your email address and we'll get started right away. I look forward to serving you inside your email inbox. See you soon.
