The most powerful moment in Joe’s coaching session with Ali Abdaal came when Joe asked: “What would celebrating your win look like in the most connected fashion possible?” Ali imagined sending thank-you messages to everyone who helped and taking a month to read fantasy fiction. His face changed color, his eyes watered—and he didn’t even recognize the emotion.
Joe named it: “It’s called gratitude. The tears—that’s gratitude.” Ali was stunned. He had never considered that celebrating was even an option because “there’s more to be done.” The gratitude had been waiting behind the wall of compulsive productivity, unable to surface as long as Ali’s attention was fixed on the next task.
Joe then asked: if Ali actually spent time in deep gratitude for each person and gave himself rest with fiction, would he be further ahead or behind in two years? Ali’s immediate answer: “Definitely further ahead.” This illustrates that gratitude isn’t a luxury that follows success—it’s a fuel source that enables it. But it can only arrive when you stop striving long enough to let it in.
Related Concepts
- Gratitude arises naturally, not by force
- Felt gratitude, not performed gratitude
- Foreboding joy blocks gratitude