The two emotions that screw people up the most are anger and fear.
When you’re afraid, you don’t do what you need to do.
When you’re angry, it shuts you down.
But there is an antidote — and it’s just one emotion: gratitude.
As corny as it might sound, it’s real.
Because you can’t be angry and grateful at the same time.
You can’t be fearful and grateful at the same time. The brain doesn’t work that way. Gratitude overrides the emotional state that’s pulling you down.
The 10-Minute Daily Practice That Rewires You
Here’s what I do:
Every morning, at 5 a.m. — yes, that’s insane — but it’s only 10 minutes.
And my deal with myself is this: If you don’t have 10 minutes for yourself, you don’t have a life.
I start with a radical change in my body — movement, breath, whatever I need to shift my state. Then, I take three minutes, and all I do is focus on three things I’m truly grateful for.
One of those three is something simple — the look on my child’s face, the feeling of wind on my skin, the warmth of a cup of coffee.
The goal is not just to think about it, but to see it, feel it, and bring it into my body.
Why This Works
Most people are wired for frustration, for stress, for overthinking — like they have a six-lane highway to anger and a dirt road to happiness.
I’ve flipped that. I’ve wired myself for gratitude.
So now, instead of automatically going into anger, I’ve trained my body and mind to shift into appreciation. That doesn’t happen by accident — it happens by practice.
If you don’t use it, you lose it.
That’s true for faith — unused, it shrinks.
It’s true for passion — unexpressed, it fades.
Even anger — unexpressed, it may weaken — but you need a better alternative, something to rewire your nervous system and create a new pattern.
That better alternative is gratitude.
And if you really want it?
It probably takes just 10 minutes a day.