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Create an Atmosphere
of Accomplishment

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Simplicity, order, harmony,

beauty, and joy—all the other

principles that can transform

your life will not blossom and

flourish without gratitude.

Sarah Ban Breathnach
Simple Abundance

THE SIXTH standard of Strategic Synchronicity reminds us of the secret to keeping our powers of attraction fully alive. Throughout the ages and in every spiritual belief system, the universal law of gratitude has been reinforced as the key to attracting abundance and prosperity. Our own experiences have proven that the more we express our gratitude, the more powerful is our ability to attract and make manifest what we desire.

When your personal and business missions are aligned and you are envisioning what you desire, attracting what is perfect for you to attract, referring to others what is more perfect for them than for you, and receiving the support of your customers, only one action remains to be taken, and that is to say “thank you.”

Sharing Our Gratitude

Most of us were taught as children that saying “please” and “thank you”was a sign of having good manners. These words are much more than that. They help us keep our focus on what we desire. One helps us to make a request; the other acknowledges that our request has been answered.

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Most of us are comfortable expressing our gratitude when someone has presented us with a gift, and we know how to congratulate and acknowledge others when they have accomplished a goal or an outstanding feat. How many of us, though, take the time to express appreciation and acknowledgment to others simply for being in our lives? How many of us acknowledge our coworkers for the difference they make by doing their jobs, day in and day out?

When Jan was vice president of sales for a telecommunications company, she learned the importance of acknowledging others and expressing gratitude to them, even when there did not seem to be anything to acknowledge. One constant issue that confronted her team was the long sales cycle in the business. A lot of phone calls, action steps, letters, appointments, proposals, and negotiation conversations seemed to be needed to close a sale. She could see the excitement of each salesperson diminishing as the cycle extended over several months. It was easy to feel as if nothing was ever going to happen, as if the team wasn’t achieving any results.

In discussing this situation with her business coach, Jan was inspired to create an atmosphere of accomplishment. She implemented a monthly meeting just for giving acknowledgments and discussing accomplishments.

Each meeting always started out with a heavy feeling; most of the time Jan regretted ever arranging the meeting. The heaviness was not a resistance to attending, it was the burden that the salespeople carried when they were dissatisfied with their results, felt unrecognized by their teammates and/or management, and were disappointed with their own lack of accomplishments.

The purpose of the meeting was for each person to share his or her thoughts about what he or she did and did not accomplish during the month. Then each person was acknowledged by his or her fellow team members for something that was noteworthy. Most of the time, the acknowledgment was not for a sale. A typical acknowledgment might be “I would like to acknowledge how you always have a smile on your face and how you always keep the team laughing.”

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At the end of each two-hour meeting, the whole team, especially Jan, felt much lighter and happier. The members of the team had the opportunity to clear the air, restore their self-esteem, and regain what was lost during the long sales process. The benefits were more than worth the time and energy expended on the meetings.

The ultimate benefit for the company was that people kept playing the sales game, even when they didn’t have the results they were expecting. In addition, they played longer and more effectively, and they didn’t carry over the failures of the previous month into the next month.

Through this experience, Jan also realized that most people do not naturally know how to acknowledge themselves for their own work. She began to train her team members in acknowledging themselves and others. She also provided training in how to receive the gift of acknowledgment. By providing a structure in which they could learn this skill, she was contributing to their ability to motivate and appreciate themselves, which proved to be a key element in the success of her team.

Sarah Ban Breathnach, in her life-affirming book Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, encourages her readers to create a “gratitude journal” as a means of recording their thanks each day for the abundance that exists in their lives. She affirms the universal law:“The more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” She also shares the idea that “As the months pass and you fill your journal with blessings, an inner shift in your reality will occur.

Soon you will be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. As you focus on the abundance rather than on the lack in your life, you will be designing a wonderful new blueprint for the future. This sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work, transforming your dreams into reality.”

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When Stacey writes in her journal, she uses the concept of “grateful for some/grateful for more,” which allows her to acknowledge that what she has already received is sufficient and complete for her and that she is also thankful for what has not yet manifested—the ever-increasing abundance that is still on its way. For example, she may write, “I am grateful I have ten new perfect clients, and I am infinitely grateful that I will continue to attract an additional five perfect clients this month.” She finds that this practice works like a magnet in attracting all of her desired goals into her life more quickly, easily, and effortlessly.

Wayne Dyer, again in his marvelous work Manifest Your Destiny, writes that “When we feel grateful and give thanks . . . we feel complete. The nature of gratitude helps dispel the idea that we do not have enough, that we will never have enough, and that we ourselves are not enough.”

We are proponents of the concept that we create our realities (what we experience) by our perceptions (what we sense and feel). Synchronicity Strategists know that to change our realities, all we have to do is change our perceptions, and we change our perceptions by expressing gratitude for what we have received instead of focusing on what we are lacking.

Synchronicity Strategists never feel as if they are lacking customers because they are always grateful for the ones that they have attracted and the ones that they are in the process of attracting. And that expression of gratitude continues to bring more and more perfect customers to their doors and Web sites.

Earning “Frequent-Flyer Miles”

One Synchronicity Strategist gave the term “frequent-flyer miles” to those extra rewards we receive as a bonus on our path toward our intended goals. For example, Stacey set out to correct an erroneous charge on her cellular phone bill and wound up reworking her payment plan so that she received a credit of more than $300.

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We all receive these types of serendipitous bonuses, yet how often do we fully notice and appreciate them?

Terri Lewis, a senior sales representative with Corporate Express Imaging & Computer Graphics Supplies, unexpectedly earned frequent-flyer miles and immediately expressed her appreciation: “I recently received two unexpected checks . . . $55 from a company and also $1,000 from a friend who borrowed it from me over a year ago. I immediately called and acknowledged [my friend] for being a man of his word.”

Consider the last time that you received something special out of the blue—an unexpected refund, a referral, an invitation. Did you notice and acknowledge it? A gratitude journal is a perfect place to keep track of all the frequent-flyer miles you receive.

A Perfect Day

Synchronicity Strategists begin each day by looking at their Strategic Attraction Plans. This is how they envision what they desire and make their request to attract it into their lives. Synchronicity Strategists end each day by being grateful for the requests that were fulfilled—the number of perfect customers that have been served, the amount of sales received, the lines of credit received, and so on.

Along with the expression of gratitude comes an assessment of how well they accomplished their mission that day. Just as they count the money they receive and expend in the course of doing business each day, Synchronicity Strategists hold themselves accountable at the end of each day so they know where they will start from the next morning.

Merry Mount, a behavioral strategist with Life Management Consultants, expresses this concept beautifully:

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The way I wake up joyous is to go to sleep at peace. Before I go to sleep each night, I review my day to see if there was anything about it I did not like. Did I say or do something that might have been rude or uncaring? I ask myself how it served me to be rude or uncaring. Usually the answer sounds something like this: “I was rude because I did not feel that person was paying enough attention to me.” I make a vow to do something for myself the next day so that I would fulfill that need within me to have attention. If I could have done something to help someone else and did not, I assess my actions to see if I am giving enough. After this exercise, I plan my tomorrow to make sure I correct anything I felt was out of balance. Right before I go to sleep, I find at least ten things for which to thank the universe. I get a perfect night’s sleep because I have resolved all my conflicts. When I begin my morning meditation, I have no negative thoughts from the day before and can have a deeper and richer meditation. When I can thank God for my perfect day, he gives me another one.

As you begin the Strategic Attraction Planning Process, keep the six standards of Strategic Synchronicity in mind:

Be on purpose with your mission

You have the power to attract whatever you desire

Like attracts like: whom do you like?

Choose collaboration, not competition

Your customers want you to succeed

Create an atmospere of accomplishment

Stop for a moment here and consider your day so far. Have you had the opportunity to accomplish your mission yet? What worked well in your day? What has not gone so well? For what are you grateful for receiving today? What goals are still to be fulfilled?