Some days, life can feel a bit chaotic or out of control. You wake up tired, your thoughts blurry, and your body doesn’t cooperate as it used to. Deep down, you long for clarity, energy, and peace, but they seem impossibly far away. If you don’t make a change, life won’t get better on its own. Stress digs in deeper. The people around you feel more distant than ever, and your happiness starts to slip away. Each small choice you make contributes to your transformation. Choosing gratitude, living your truth, and focusing on giving can bring about joy and connection. 

Let me tell you about my dear friend Bob Burg. He dedicated his life to helping others succeed. He’s a bestselling author, renowned speaker, and transformational leader. He co-authored The Go-Giver, which has changed millions of lives worldwide.

But Bob wasn’t always the success story you see today. He started as a struggling broadcaster and sales professional. After facing countless rejections, he realized that the key to success wasn’t just about making a sale or climbing the career ladder. It was about giving value. 

Gratitude, alignment, and serving others became Bob’s guiding principles. Today, he shares how these can help you get through any challenge and create a life filled with joy and abundance.

“Life is there to be lived and to the degree we can put our focus on making other people’s lives better. But we give without attachment to anything having to happen.”

Bob Burg

Gratitude: The Foundation to Better Health and Happiness

When you focus on what’s good in your life, your body responds. Research has shown that practicing gratitude can lower stress, improve sleep, and strengthen your immune system. On an emotional level, it strengthens relationships and leads to joy.

Here’s how you can start practicing gratitude:

• Start each day with 3 things you’re grateful for: Write them down or say them out loud.
• Express appreciation: Tell someone how much they mean to you, either in person or with a heartfelt note.
• Focus on the little things: Savor a cup of tea, enjoy a sunset, or appreciate a kind word.
• Keep a gratitude journal: Reflect on positive moments before bed to help set a peaceful tone for the night.  

Early in my relationship with Mark, we struggled with communication, especially during conflict. Instead of appreciating the growth and positive outcomes from those conversations, we would often tear each other apart in and around what didn’t work. 

It wasn’t until Mark decided to put the alcohol down and picked up The Go-Giver book that something clicked for him. We started having better conversations. It also improved our relationships with friends, family, and everyone around us. 

Living in Alignment: The Key to Lasting Joy and Peace

When your actions don’t match your values, you can feel lost and confused. Stress builds up. Your health suffers. You feel out of sync with yourself and others. This disconnect creates tension that works into every part of your day, from your relationships to your work. But when you harmonize your daily choices with what truly matters to you, everything changes. You feel more at peace and in control.

Here are some ways to align your values with your daily actions:

• Identify your core values: Write down what matters most to you like kindness, integrity, or health.
• Set daily intentions: Each morning, choose one action that reflects your values. It could be offering a helping hand or taking time for self-care.
• Reflect regularly: At the end of each day, ask yourself if your actions align with your values. If not, plan how to do better tomorrow.
• Simplify your commitments: Don’t overextend yourself. Focus on what matters and let go of the rest.

Bob explains that while the dictionary defines happiness as a mental feeling of well-being, he sees it as something deeper. For him, it’s an ongoing sense of joy and peace of mind that results from living a life that reflects your values. This doesn’t mean life is always perfect, but when you’re true to yourself, you feel good about who you are.

Abundance Through Generosity

When you focus on serving others and meeting their needs, you create abundance in your life in ways you never imagined.

Giving isn’t just about money. It’s about offering your time, attention, and care. This shift from “What can I get?” to “How can I serve?” builds deeper connections and invites positivity into your life.

Here’s how to develop a giving mindset:

• Give without expecting anything in return: Volunteer your time, share a kind word, or help a neighbor without keeping score.
• Listen to others: Sometimes, the best gift you can give is a listening ear. Show up for people in your life.
• Look for opportunities to add value: Find ways to make others’ lives easier or more enjoyable.
• Be consistent: Giving doesn’t need to be grand gestures. Small acts of kindness add up over time.

Ten years ago, shortly after opening the Jenerate Wellness Center, I started noticing a pattern. People were coming to me with questions about topics I wasn’t an expert in—things like women’s hormones and gut health. I wanted so badly to help, but I didn’t know. Still, I felt this deep urgency and heartfelt desire to support them. My instinct was to say, “Let me help you find the right person or resource. Let me help you.” It became a driving force for me.

The Go-Giver book helped me open myself to the idea that you don’t have to know everything to be valuable. By focusing on the who rather than the how, I could help others make their way through their wellness journeys. It inspired me to create the “Jen Recommends” guide on my website to support people in improving their lives and homes.

Bonus Tips

Bob Burg shared some books that can help you reshape your mindset and accept a life of gratitude, alignment, and abundance. Each book offers a different way of looking at things, doable advice, and the kind of wisdom that sticks with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

• The Habit of Grateful by Kristine Newell. This book teaches useful ways to build gratitude into your daily life.
• The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. It is a timeless classic on making your thoughts and actions work in the same direction to attract abundance.
• Living Untethered by Michael A. Singer. A detailed guide to releasing attachments and living with freedom.

Conclusion

Each day is an opportunity to start fresh. True success is about helping others and living with purpose. So, choose gratitude each morning, take actions that reflect your values, and look for ways to give. Strive to be a Go-Giver.

Resource

Is your home working for you, or against you? My Home Wellness Checklist shows you how to transform your space into a haven of health and calm.

Bob Burg Bio:

Bob Burg is a former top-selling professional who has written many books on sales, people skills, and business success. His most famous book, The Go-Giver, which he co-wrote with John David Mann, has sold over a million copies and has been translated into 30 languages. It was ranked #10 on Inc. Magazine’s list of The Most Motivational Books Ever Written and was also named one of HubSpot’s Top 20 Sales Books of All Time.

In addition to writing, Bob created The Go-Giver Academy, an online learning portal that offers business-building resources. He also sends out a popular daily email called Daily Impact. Bob strongly supports free enterprise and believes that the more people you serve, the more successful you’ll be. 

Outside of his work, Bob is passionate about animals and actively supports a rescue and adoption organization in South Florida.

Connect with Bob Burg:

• Website: burg.com
• Daily Impact Email: burg.com/daily-impact
• Go-Giver Academy/Success Vault: thegogiveracademy.com
• Saleswise Live Sales Mastery Event: saleswiselive.com
• X: @bobburg
• LinkedIn: @bobburg
• Facebook: @burgbob
• YouTube: @burgcommunications
• Instagram: @realbobburg