Honor is a word that comes with deep-felt meaning and inspires real emotion. That's why when we talk about abundance and gratitude, I prefer to talk in terms of what we honor. It's one thing to say that you are grateful, but to honor something is to demonstrate your deepest devotions through your actions. So a genuine mindset of gratitude comes when we begin to honor the things that add meaning and value:

Honoring your purpose. That means doing things at a deep and mindful level to become more and more who you were meant to be. It means not paying lip service to a generic mission statement, but really saying, “I deserve to be the best for myself and for the people who depend on me” and then doing the things that support that.

Honoring the day. When we have real gratitude in life, we understand that each day is a unique opportunity to fulfill our purpose, so we honor each day for the opportunity it gives us to express ourselves in the world.

Honoring the yes. A patient who says yes is helping themself by accepting care but they are also accepting you as the person to provide that care, which is a significant leap of faith and trust. Celebrate and honor that yes for what it really means and for the opportunity it presents to do your best.

Honoring the no. It's easy to get unsettled when your care is turned down, but if you approach it with a true mindset of abundance and gratitude, you see that every no is an opportunity to rethink and find ways to reach the patient next time. This is where improvement is born, and we should honor that.

Honoring the opportunities. This is about seeing your future and everything that needs to be a part of it and doing what it takes to make it happen. The opportunities may come from patients, or your team, or any number of other factors. Honoring the opportunities is about putting the full weight behind the people around you to help them align themselves and become who they were meant to be.