Gratitude Practices for the Hacker: Launch the Growth Mindset

Gratitude Thoughts Bring Great Rewards in Terms of Peace of Mind

It may seem simple, but appreciating people and things in your life can be grounding.  Thinking of what you are grateful for helps you manage envy, anger, and any number of other emotions that can be a problem.  Social media can spur negative feelings. It can lead to comparisons and dissatisfaction with our lives. Being grateful for what you have and appreciating the people in your life can be a healthy way to counteract those feelings. Practicing gratitude daily helps people feel more fulfilled in their lives. You might feel less need to make comparisons about your life and others’ lives through working on yourself with daily gratitude practices.

Gratitude may be the most powerful character trait you can develop. Gratitude brings several positives: happiness and satisfaction with what you have, reduced comparisons between you and others and mindfulness in your actions. Native American leader Tecumseh spoke: “When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”

You are what you think.

With our thoughts, we make the world

For hackers who want to strengthen themselves in order to fulfill goals, mindset is paramount. Being about to think beyond a fixed mindset to a growth mindset can help with personal transformation in many area of your life. One of the most famous experts on this topic is Carol Dweck who wrote a book simply entitled, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” Reading this book made me realize that fear of looking stupid or being rejected can prevent someone from reaching their true potential. Dweck wrote that people with the fixed mindset struggle to learn new things because they don’t want to feel foolish making mistakes while being a beginner again.

Hackers and technologists are continually learning. They have to begin new tasks and learn new programming languages all the time as part of continuous development. Developing a growth mindset will allow hackers and technologists to more easily learn without mental barriers.

People in the growth mindset might be able to resonate with these statements:

• Mistakes are part of the learning process.
• This is a learning opportunity.
• All victories come from the mind.
• I can handle anything that comes my way. And if I don’t know what to do, I can ask for help or resources.
• I don’t let events define and diminish me.

Gratitude can help with feelings of inadequacy and help strengthen the growth mindset. Gratitude might be able to help in the process of transitioning from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

There are many ways of practicing gratitude:

• speaking aloud what you are grateful for
• writing grateful statements in a notebook daily
• filling a jar with marbles every time you feel grateful for something
• prayer or meditation on positive things
• acts of service and volunteering

Everything that happens in the world, happens two times. The first time, it happens in the mind. You have to dream it. And the second time, it happens in real life. Controlling and seasoning your thoughts with gratitude can enable more of your dreams to come true.

Stop waiting for the world to change.

Change yourself.

Change your mind.

The following resources might help with finding the best gratitude mindset for your personal growth journey.