How to Be More Appreciative of What You Already Have

People always want more. I’m guilty of this, as is everyone else. When I get what I want, the satisfaction only lasts for a short period of time. Then, I want something else. By continuing to chase things I want, I create a cycle where I don’t appreciate what I already have. It’s quite easy to find yourself craving more and being ungrateful for what you already have. To combat this, I try to take conscious steps to be more grateful for what I do have. This eliminates some of the negative feelings I have and forces me to be more positive. This is often an active process, but when I find myself in a positive state of mind it becomes easier to maintain this positivity.

Think Of Yesterday’s Goal

What did you hope to accomplish yesterday? If you’ve achieved this goal, you’re doing something right. This is a step toward becoming a better person. If you didn’t achieve this goal, you’ve survived a challenge. You can learn from your prior mistakes and focus on crushing that goal today. Either way you’re taking small steps toward becoming better.

Reach Out to Someone

If you’re able to message someone and that person responds, you’re fortunate enough to have someone in your life who cares. You don’t need to complain nor do you need to offer any type of favor. A simple conversation or check-in is enough to reconnect with someone. It’s quite easy to overlook resources you do have, but many people aren’t fortunate enough to have these connection.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

It’s common to measure your success by comparing yourself to others. With easy access to social media, these comparisons are easier than ever. Go offline and avoid the temptation to look at the successes of others. When you do this, you’re only looking at the thing they want you to see. You’re not able to see all of the struggles behind the accomplishments. Rather, you should compare yourself to where you were last year. Think of all the progress you’ve made and all the skill you’ve acquired to progress yourself further.

Help Someone Else

Offering your assistance to someone else is a great way to build confidence in your existing set of skills. While volunteering can remind you how fortunate you are, you don’t necessarily have to spend a full day helping others. If you’re able to share advice with someone or help complete a project, you should do it. Not only can you build relationships but you can also demonstrate your knowledge and abilities. This will help you become a resource and prove you have skills to offer.

Find a Reason to Enjoy Yourself

If you’re not feeling 100% positive, that’s OK. Try to find something completely unrelated to your problem and appreciate it. If you love music, listen to a song you like and find joy in that. If you want to laugh, scroll through gifs or memes (at least I always find these funny). Whatever you truly enjoy, do it. While it won’t solve any problem, it will improve your state of mind. Approaching situations with a sense of gratitude will likely result in better long term outcomes.

Think Different

When you find something that generates negative thoughts, try to view it differently. It’s possible to think of these things in a more positive way, and it won’t ignore the negativity. It will just reframe your mindset so you don’t feel as negative about this. For example: You’re driving and someone cuts you off. Rather than get angered by this person, think of this as a person who just moved out of your life. Yes, the action happened, but it’s now in the past. Find the positive in the situation and move on with yourself.

I try to play devil’s advocate in my mind all the time, and I can try say this reframes my mind. Then I see things from others’ perspectives and this allows me to take a more human approach to dealing with situations. I may have been impacted, but when I can understand why a situation happened I don’t take it as personally. This makes a huge difference.

Appreciate What You Do Have

Being more positive will result in more appreciation in your day-to-day life. The above tips are some of the methods I’ve put into my life. Sometimes it is a challenge to be content with what I have, but it’s important to realize I have a lot. Gratitude for this has improved my overall outlook on life and allowed me to concur challenges.