Transcript for this weeks message

Shane Jacob

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this episode of The Horsemanship Journey podcast. We empower people who have had their confidence shattered, or who are experiencing fear to regain the confidence they once had. Show up like the self-assured horseman and women that they want to be and go from living small to riding tall. Today we're proud to present David George Brooke, “That Gratitude Guy.”

David has been a speaker, a coach, and a best-selling offer for over 25 years. His published works include “That Gratitude Guy's Daily Gratitude Journal, “Monday Morning Minutes,” “Six Word Lessons to Embrace Gratitude,” and a number of other books on gratitude. He is considered a leading authority on how living a life of gratitude can enhance and improve your life both personally and professionally. David, thank you so much for taking your time to be with us today. Appreciate you.

David George Brooke

Thank you, Shane. It's great to be here. I so appreciate the invitation. And I think when people ask me what I do and I tell them, well, I spread the word of gratitude and I do call myself “That Gratitude Guy.” But any opportunity I have on a podcast, speaking to groups, coaching workshops, seminars, things like that, to explain to people how gratitude works and how gratitude mindset I jump at the chance, ‘cause it's just a mindset that's hard to be beat. And especially when you have challenges in your life and things like that, it's something that can really help you to manage it. Because life is just this big roller coaster, and we need help on the down cycles. The upcycles are easy, but we need help on those down cycles. So, it really makes a big difference.

Shane Jacob

Yeah, it seems that it does. Well, you certainly have an interesting journey. I've read a little bit about. I was wondering if you could just tell us a little bit about where you first, where did this gratitude journey begin, and where did you get to be where you are?

David George Brooke

You bet. You bet. Well, I think a lot of it, of course, we can trace back to our growing up and things. And I had a relatively normal growing up situation until about 30. And then things started to happen. My parents had gotten divorced, and then my mother died of cancer. And then my father took his own life. And so there were just a lot of things. And so I think in a sense I graduated from the University of Washington here in Seattle, and I remember thinking back then in my 20s and up to 30 in there, I'm going to need a coping mechanism. Because everybody needs a coping mechanism, something to help them with the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs of life.

And so, to me, what was interesting, or maybe more sad than interesting, is there's a lot of coping mechanisms that are very destructive and deadly. And you see the drugs and the different things that people have ,the pill abuse. My wife unfortunately died of a prescription pill overdose. She'd kind of gotten hooked on painkillers and things like that. But I don't, my attitude has kind of changed in later years about, I'm not so harsh on people that have done some of these things that weren't very healthy for them because everybody's looking for a way to cope. And so then as I went on, I got married and had two sons, and then my wife passed away. And so, it was really challenging because I had lost some very key people in my life in the first 25,30 years, and it was going to be this journey that I was going to be on.

I was in retail; I ran stores for Nordstrom and Lowe's Home Improvement. But since the age of 19, I went and did a talk at 19 at a high school, and it was how to be successful. And I walked out to my car after, this would have been in 1969, and I walked out to my car and I sat in the car. And I thought, “That's what I want to be someday. I want to be a motivational speaker.” It just seemed like such a cool thing to do and have people pay attention to you and then maybe be able to inspire them. So, but what was interesting is, that I never really got around to doing it.

So I went on to this retail career. When my wife passed away, I raised my two sons. They were four and 14 when she passed away, and I raised them by myself. And, but at some point, I'd always had that dream in the back of my mind. And so at about 2013, I think it was, I was 63 years old. And I was managing a Lowe's store at the time, and I came home and told my younger son, who was now 17, that I quit. And he goes, “What do you mean you quit?” And I said, “Well, I quit working at Lowe's.” “You quit being a store manager?” And I said, “Yeah.” He goes, “Well, what are you going to do now?” I said, “Well, I'm going to be a speaker.” And he looks up from the couch and he goes, “Well, that's just super dad.” And he says, “I have a question for you. What are we going to do for food?” So it was, it was a big step in something; I'd always wanted to do it.

And so then I think where the gratitude piece came in is I thought I want to be this motivational speaker, but what coping mechanism am I going to be? I've got to set this example for my two sons about how to cope after their mom had died. And she was 38 years old, so she was not very old. And as I said, they were four and 14. So a friend of mine says, “You should get a gratitude journal.” And I said, “What's a gratitude journal?” He says, “Well, that's a book you write in every day and you write what you're grateful for.” So I ordered one, and that really started the whole process. And I went through it every single day. I was very diligent about it. And I decided, well, this is going to be my topic. And then at some point somebody said, “Oh, I've seen you speak. You're ‘That Gratitude Guy.’” So I thought, oh, that's a good handle. So I decided to brand that and get the target. It registered as a trademark as“ That Gratitude Guy,” and started speaking. And then I would, then I developed my own gratitude journal called “ That Gratitude Guy’s Daily Gratitude Journal,” and started selling them.

And then over the course of the next 10 years, which brings us up to about current, I think at last count, I've done 750 or 800 or so talks. And I would go every place, because as you said, Shane, how did you get to this place? I thought I'm going to try to reach as many people as I can. And so of course, it was rotaries, and chambers, and Kiwanis, and Lions. I spoke at a prison. I spoke at a hospital. I spoke at schools. And I did every place I could. And the whole thing was to explain to people, this gratitude thing can change your life. And one of my key sayings is, “Gratitude turns what you have into enough.” And it makes you focus on your blessings in abundance. And maybe the best example of all, it's an old and tired phrase, but the glass half full. I help people to see the glass half full, as opposed to half empty. And when you focus on your blessings in abundance, your whole life works better. And that gratitude journal is so powerful. In fact, I just realized it was over here to the side here. But this is the one that I have called “That Gratitude Guy’s Daily Gratitude Journal.” You can get it on Amazon and so forth. But if you have a spiral notebook, that's fine too, whatever it takes.

But it's so important, and there's a little saying right in the front of the journal that says, “If you think about it, it's like a dream. If you talk about it, it inspires you. But if you write about it, it empowers you.” And so, if I write, “I am so grateful to Shane for inviting me to The Horsemanship Journey podcast, and I appreciate that and so forth. It plants it in your brain and there's something about writing. You know, I'm on a laptop and when you type, that's fine. But there's nothing like having that actual written with the pen. This little thing called a pen; we don't see them as much anymore. Writing it down in the book really plants it in the brain. So it really works well.

So it's really been this 10 year journey to get the word out to as many people as I can, that this is a healthy coping mechanism in a world of way, way too many unhealthy coping mechanisms. So that's kind of the condensed version, but it's just been a phenomenal journey for me to be on. I get told, I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but it's so neat… I get told two or three times a week, “You changed my life.” And it can be an email, it can be a text, it can be a card. It can be on one of my videos, I have almost 2000videos on YouTube. And so, there's just different ways that I'm communicating it, but it's the best thing I've ever done. And I always encourage people to not only be grateful, but to figure out what your passion is, and see if you can do that as well. And that'll direct you to your purpose ultimately. So it's been a great, great ride.

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Shane Jacob

David, before I ask you a little bit more about gratitude, I was wondering if you can... You mentioned a few things about your own journey and early on and when it began. But I read that your entire life has been one of overcoming tragedies and traumas that started, you mentioned a little bit of this, but I was wondering if you could really talk a little bit more in detail about your own personal story. And then maybe, you know, as you recognize the value of gratitude, how it kind of fit into you and your own personal things .Because the things that you've mentioned are absolutely incredible. The things that you've endured in your life experiences, just what you said, has been one of overcoming a tremendous amount of tragedies and traumas.

David George Brooke

Sure. Yeah. Good question. And I think what's interesting is when you're growing up, I mean, we have our own experience. You can see friends and relatives and things like this, but basically it's your own experience. So I was never sure how I compared my experience to other people, but I just remember thinking, “Boy, have you ever been tested?” Because I go back to, it started with the divorce up until then, it wasn't too bad. But that was a very nasty divorce between my mom and dad. I had to pick sides and had to testify against my father. And that was one of the things I was about 16. But then it was a couple of friends in high school died in a car accident. And then another friend died in a car accident. And then two or three of my friends died in Vietnam because we were in that era and going through that. And then losing just, you know, then my mom, and then later my dad, and then ultimately my wife. And then along the way, sometimes I made some really poor decisions about things. And I considered myself to be traumatized, I guess, if that's, if I can say that. But I made some decisions about my life that just didn't work out very well. And some of them were financial decisions, and marriage decisions ,and just some different things with investments, and things like that.

So I remember thinking that's okay because the best thing you can do from all these things is… I don't want to be labeled as, oh, there's David George Brooke, the guy that's had a bunch of deaths or something. As much as I want to be known as the person that experienced a lot of tragedies and a lot of traumas in life, but overcame them. And I think that's where a lot of people really resonate with the gratitude thing because they go, boy, how can you be so grateful when you have these things that happen to you? And I go, because I'm still alive. I have a roof over my head. I have two incredible sons. I have a warm place to sleep. I live in a nice, beautiful condo, etcetera, et cetera. And I think that's where maybe it's helped me so much to help people is because people just for whatever reason, maybe human nature, they focus on what they don't have. I go, what is wrong with you? You don't focus on what you don't have, you have to focus on what you have. And people say, well, he's got a better house, a better wife, a better husband, a bigger mountain cabin, a better boat, you know, a better car. I mean, I think what is wrong with you? Because you're never gonna be at the top of some heap. There's always gonna be people in front of you and behind you.

And so it was really important to me to overcome those tragedies and those traumas and things and show people. And it's interesting, Shane, I used to talk about when I found my wife passed away. And the medics had come in and she was down on the floor, and I did mouth to mouth resuscitation. And this fire person came over to me and said, “We've been working on your wife for an hour and a half. She still doesn't have a heartbeat. Would you like us to continue?” And even though I was in shock, your brain computes a little bit. And I thought, gosh, an hour and a half, no heartbeat, and she had passed away. And so to me, I don't bring that up as much anymore because it's a little on the dramatic side. But sometimes you're faced with a crisis and people can be amazed at their own power. And I think you hear about those instances, I haven't seen in a while, but somebody's in a car accident and two or three people lift up the car and have superhuman strength just because they're trying to get the person out from underneath.

So, I've just always had this belief that if you really work at it, you can focus on everything, these blessings you have, and get through anything. And I've had people that I think honestly have had it a lot worse than I have. And so I've gotten away from that a little bit just because as I've gotten older, I've started to lose a lot of my friends. A lot of people that are retired or semi-retired. I've had two or three friends pass away in the last year or so, and we're on the tail end of the life cycle here. And so, what do I focus on? The lives that they had, and the good that they did, and what a great friend they were instead of the fact that they're passed away. So much of it is a mindset, this gratitude mindset and attitude of gratitude. It's just so important. And people, there's always going to be people that don't have that, and there's not much you can do about it.

My father was a very successful attorney. And he, and as I mentioned, he took his own life. But he was probably the most negative person I ever met, and I just never understood that. I'd go, “Good morning, dad.” He’d go, “What's good about it?” Wow. And then I'd say, “It's a beautiful day out. ”He goes, “It's going to rain tomorrow.” And, I just thought, so you can help people, and I try to set a good example. I write in the gratitude journal everyday. I sell a lot of “The Gratitude Journals.” People buy them for their kids and for their friends and things like this, but it's just such a great way to overcome this massive negativity that we have in life. I mean, you watch the news for the first five minutes. I don't know who couldn't be depressed after watching that, what you see. So, it's just this coping mechanism to get through any traumas or trials and tribulations, or any different, you know, really sad events, and come out on the other side. And that's, I think that was ultimately my goal is to come out on the other side and then express that and how to help other people.

Shane Jacob

Thank you. You know, David, it's interesting in listening to your response there. I was just thinking that, you know, some people would view, you know, you can choose to view your circumstance however you want. And a lot of us sometimes, I don't know if we have the conscious thought to even realize that our response is a choice that we have. I mean, I don't know if we even really compute that a lot of the time. We just, you know, have the, what's, you know, we make meaning out of something that happens as a negative thing to us. And we just kind of dwell in that for a while without even, you know, having the wherewithal, like I said, to realize, “Hey, this is a choice. I could choose something else.” Right. Do you have any thoughts on that?

David George Brooke

No, that's right. I couldn't agree with that more. My website, Shane, is thatgratitudeguide.com. And if you go to the website, there's four scrolling scripts that come through. The first thing says, “You and only you choose your attitude.” Then the second thing says, “You can choose an attitude of gratitude today.” And then the third line says, You will be happier, healthier, and lighter.” And then the fourth line says, “My gratitude keynote speech will show you how to do it.”

But it's such a good point because I'm glad you brought that up because it is a choice. And I, one of the things I always got a kick out of, I had this opportunity to manage a lot of people with Nordstrom stores, with 4-or-500 employees, and Lowe's with 3-or-400. So I managed a lot of people over my years in retail. And I was just fascinated by the attitudes of people, you know. And I'd say, well, can you do so-and-so? And if they'd start a sentence with, “Well you don't understand.” I go, oh boy, here we go. Because now an excuse is coming. “See, I hurt my finger, so I can't lift those packages off the floor,” whatever. But it's such a great point because nobody gets in your brain and rewires Shane's or David's brain and moves the wires around. We get to choose every day. So the attitude of gratitude is a choice. And it's something that I tell people, if you make that choice, you will be happier, healthier, and lighter.

And I think you'll live longer, too. It’s kind of like some of my research says that people that have a purpose, for instance, live seven to 10 years longer than people that don't. So, if you see the person that retires at Boeing, they're often dead three to six months later, sometimes a year later, it's been proven. And then somebody who's working hard and volunteering and doing work at Walmart as a greeter, whatever it might be. So, it's just interesting, but I'm so glad you brought that up because it is a choice. And nobody, as I say, nobody can get in your brain and rewire your brain that says what kind of choices you make.

Shane Jacob

Right on. I was going to ask you more about that. You mentioned that, you know, you said that you have some evidence, but about the physical, you know. About actually the physical thing, that if I'm to make this choice, David, that I'm going to on purpose, you know, either start journaling or to change my thought process, right. And start thinking and start, when I can recognize that I'm having a negative thought. And I recognize that I'm making this choice that I can change that choice and have a new thought that is a thankful thought of gratitude. You're saying that just by doing that, that it's going to have physical impacts on my health.

David George Brooke

Absolutely, absolutely. In fact, I do a, when I do my talk, I have a little sheet that I read called the “Science of Gratitude.” And it's not woo-woo science. It shows, it's been proven through research and testing and different clinical studies that somebody who has a better attitude has a gratitude attitude, thinks everything from a positive standpoint, has a healthier, longer life. They say that it's true that two people go into the hospital with the same disease, the positive attitude lives, the negative attitude dies. And it helps you to focus on, they say the people that focus on gratitude have more checkups for the doctor, take better care at the dentist, better care at the doctor, exercise more, all those types of things. And it also talks about how it tends to minimize toxic emotions like envy and jealousy and anger and things like those, which can just put a person down the wrong path. So, it's just interesting all this research that's shown

And that's how I feel because, as you said, Shane, and I appreciate the opportunity to tell the story. It would be easy for me, I think in many ways, to go down the negative path. Well, you know, I've had it really pretty tough, you know. And so you have to understand that he has dot-dot-dot-dot-dot. And I just choose not to let that be the case. And so yes, the science and what gratitude can do for you mentally, physically, emotionally, better sleep, better health. There's just a lot of things that are all factors when you have that gratitude attitude, it's very important.

Shane Jacob

That is just so interesting. David, I was gonna just ask you, here at The Horsemanship Journey, we have people that have been in bad wrecks with horses. Some have been severely injured. Some haven't been physically hurt but are paralyzed by fear for one reason or another. Some are embarrassed to admit it or even talk about it. Some people feel shame for what they got going on. They just have their confidence shattered.

David George Brooke

Mm-hmm.

Shane Jacob

And at any rate, we talk to a lot of people who are in some sort of turmoil. And I was just wondering if… What do you say to listeners who are feeling insecure or fearful and who are just kind of in a bad place?

David George Brooke

Well, I think, great question. And I think one of the things that seems simple, but a lot of people forget it is it always gets better. I remember when my wife passed away, it was tough for my mom and dad too. But when my wife passed away, it was literally, I was just trying to get through the next five minutes and then get through the next hour. And then the boys are both going, what's wrong with mommy? Why is she being taken away in an ambulance or whatever and so forth. So, it always gets better. And I use the example too of if somebody's a runner, and they are a fast runner. And then they break their leg. Now their legs in the cast, so they can't run anymore for right now. So they put the leg in the cast and so then it's on there for a month or two. Then they get the cast off and then they walk a little bit, and then at some point they jog a little bit. And then at some point they run again. But you can't just go from a broken leg to running. So, it's a process.

And where gratitude comes into it for me that I think is important is I tell people, to your point the people that might be struggling, try gratitude for a week. And it's often the last thing I'll say in a podcast ,if you have any final statements or things, and I'll jump the gun a little bit and say, in “This Gratitude Journal,” it takes five minutes every day. Just takes five minutes. And of course, I can show you the page today where I wrote it this morning. I just don't ever miss a day. It's so important. But even if you can't do five minutes, if you could just write down a word, one word a day for a week. Or one sentence a day for a week, or two sentences. What are you grateful for? Think about something. And one of the things in here I always have, there's a template to this. And it has it kind of all broken down into, you can't really see it that well, but it's the day and the date. And then there's the gratitude today. And then there's your special occasion. So, you don't need a diary. And then there's four or five lines for what you're grateful for. Then there's a little highlight of the day where you write down what your highlight of your day is. And then on this side, that side is your gratitude and intentions. Well, the highlight of my day I always write in the morning. Tomorrow, one of my highlights for today is going to be being on the podcast. And so, this was really cool.

So it's just, I always tell people just try something. And I use a week as an example, because if somebody tried something, and just wrote down one sentence for a week from Monday to Monday or whatever. I challenge them to tell me you didn't feel better when you talked about it. I mean like, again, I always use the example of a hot shower and a warm bed and a roof over your head, we just take that stuff for granted. And so, it is tough. I'm not minimizing any of the traumas or the tough times that people have gone through. But there is a way out, and it does get better.

And I think another thing that can be extremely helpful is look back on your life and think about times we've all had at, David, Shane, whoever it might be, we've all had things. We went through some tough times, and what was the common denominator? We never gave up. We stuck with it and we, and sure enough it got fixed. And there's times that it didn't seem fixable, but if you stuck with it, it got fixed. So, the gratitude thing and especially the writing part makes such a big difference. So, there's never a loss of hope. There's always a way out and when you see those things through, you're always glad you did. And the gratitude, and in this case, “The Gratitude Journal,” can really help you so you can get back on your feet again, literally or figuratively.

Shane Jacob

Yeah, David, you led off that response with the point that, you know, that we, a lot of times, we just see that the immediate seems permanent, you know, and that we really just can't see past it. Sometimes we're just like, we're so focused in on that. That's such a powerful point. I appreciate that. To just to have the realization that, you know, that the immediate is not permanent. You know, that's super.

David George Brooke

You bet, you bet. Well, it's so true and I think it's out of the Bible, this too shall pass. It's so true. And that's why I think that when you look back in your life, historically, it's easy to forget because it was solved now. But when you solve those things, there was a time where it seemed pretty daunting. And like, I don't know how many get out of this mess, but you stuck with it and you did. And that's why, another subject for another time which I just think is always so challenging, is my father's was a suicide. I don't think my wife's was a suicide. She took too many pills, but I've lost two or three friends to suicide. And the comment that somebody once made, it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem, is really very apt because it's tough. Yes, it's tough, but this too shall pass. And the thing that I just preach endlessly about gratitude and “The Gratitude Journal,” there are some tools that you can have to help you.

And when I do my talks, I do two or three, well maybe more like four or five, exercises in about a 60-minute keynote talk. And they're on little cards I pass out to people. And the whole idea is they'll take this card after they've written these things on it, on the front and the back, and then they take it home with them and put it on the refrigerator or the bulletin board or the mirror. And then they're constantly reminded of these things they wrote about what they're grateful for, and it plants it in your brain. Because it's easy to get a message, whether it's a keynote speech or a podcast, whatever, but what do you remember tomorrow? So, it's neat to have those things that just remind people. And that's why I feel so strongly about “The Gratitude Journal,” because it's just such a great tool. And it just, again, plants in your brain every single day.

Shane Jacob

Excellent. I appreciate that. David, where can people find out about you? What's the best way to find out about your speaking and the other things that you offer?

David George Brooke

Well, thank you, Shane. So the first and best way is thatgratitudeguy.com. That's my main website where you can get my books and speaking and all that, and then see about my speaking and so forth. I also have a website, I do a lot of coaching, a lot of people that wanna get coached on gratitude, and that is davidgeorgebrookecoaching.com. And that's the website specifically for that. A lot of people like my YouTube videos. As I say, I do usually one, sometimes two a day, and I've got just about 2,000. And you go to YouTube and you can subscribe at David George Brook, and that'll get you the YouTube videos. And there's a whole host of them that are all sorts of topics around gratitude and so forth. And then on the website, like I said, you can get “The Gratitude Journal” too. And so, it goes right to either order through Amazon or the one on the website is there, whichever you choose. So, excellent.

Shane Jacob

Excellent. Very good. David, we appreciate your powerful message. You definitely brought value to this shown to our listeners today. We so much appreciate your time, and we wish you continued success. Ladies and gentlemen, David George Brooke.

David George Brooke

Thank you, Shane. Thank you, everybody.

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