'The 3 steps for practising gratitude I've started doing every day.'

Until recently I thought I was nailing the whole #gratitude thing.

I’ve always been good at appreciating the big and little things in life. Growing up I’d drive my sisters a bit crazy by going on about the beautiful weather, the stunning trees or the gawwgeous sky. They were like, “yeah we got that the 37th time you mentioned it”. Ah, the grounding influence of sisters.

I’ve even been known to keep a gratitude journal where I rattle off a list of things that I’m grateful for at the end of a day:

• My amazing family
• My ridiculously cute dog (he’s seriously cute)
• Good health (after a tough year, but more on that later)
• A great job

That sounds pretty… grateful, right? But I realised there is a much more powerful and meaningful way to practise gratitude that goes a lot deeper than what I’d thought.

I learnt this when I attended Unleash the Power Within, a four-day event held by world-renowned life and business strategist, bestselling author and entrepreneur Tony Robbins. Yes, the one where you walk on a bed of hot coals and learn how to focus yourself, conquer fear and transform your life in meaningful ways. And I mean really meaningful.

I took so much away from this event and one of those things was a gratitude exercise which forms part of Tony’s daily ritual of ‘priming.’ It moved me to tears every time we did it. But before I tell you what it is, here’s the “why” behind it.

Tony Robbins has interviewed more than 50 billionaires over the past few years, and yet he found that only about four of them were truly happy. In Tony’s view, the source of happiness and contentment is…you guessed it, gratitude.

It’s the antidote to all the things that mess us up. Because you can’t be fearful and grateful at the same time and it’s pretty hard to be angry and grateful at the same time too. Yet somehow, so many of us spend our lives thinking that once we have that job, or that boyfriend or more money, that’s when we’ll be happy. If we just dipped into the memory bank of our own life we’d be pretty blown away by all of the amazing things it has to offer and how incredibly fortunate we already are.

Knowing that, this is the three-step exercise we did at the event that opened up my eyes (and the tears that came):

1. Put your hand on your heart.

The exercise starts with you putting your hand on your heart and feeling your heartbeat. Simple, but it’s surprisingly calming and grounding. I can’t remember the last time I listened to my heartbeat.

Tony then said: “As long as this heart beats, you live”. So simple and yet so powerful. As long as this heart beats you get another day. Another day that is a gift.

2. Visualise something you are grateful for.

He then asked us to think of a memory of something we were grateful for, but rather than just list it off, actually bring it to life in your mind. Relive that moment. Feel it.

3. Be specific.

Whether it is big or small, remember the details of it, how it felt, what it looked like. Transport yourself back to that moment in time.

For me, that's when everything changed.

And then I remembered…

Rather than just appreciating my amazing parents I remembered specifically how when I was sick and undergoing chemotherapy last year my mum would walk into my room with a freshly squeezed juice or treat of some kind and a smile on her face. How she would sit with me for hours, hold my hand and talk through things I was feeling fearful of. I remembered how when I arrived home for treatment dad had bought some new wicker chairs with cushions on them for my childhood room so visitors could sit and keep me company.

Rather than just feeling 'grateful' for good health, I remembered the day my doctor told me I was in remission and my mum, dad, sister and I went outside the hospital and held each other in a tight little huddle and sobbed with joy.

Memories from my childhood, of laughing with my sisters so hard we could barely breathe. Visits to my grandparents, the excitement of walking through their garden and picking fresh blackberries from the vines.

Suddenly there was this movie reel of all these incredible moments in my life that I had recreated in my mind. A visual bank of memories that I could recall anytime. It was incredibly powerful and I felt overwhelmed by how much I had to be grateful for.

As I looked around the room at Unleash the Power Within, I was struck by how many people seemed to have been really moved by the activity. There were lots of tears and emotional faces, and the energy in the room had really shifted. It’s something I’ll never forget. This was just one of the many awe-inspiring moments from the four-day event.

Over the course of that weekend we learnt to confront and break through our fears, identify our greatest passions and learn how to focus our energy on what we truly want. Most importantly however, we were then given the tools to be able to move forward to the life we want to be living.

So if you're ready for something more from your life even if you don't know what that is yet or if you feel in a rut and need some direction then I'd definitely recommend you book yourself in for Unleash The Power Within 2019. It will give you the kickstart you need.

Tony Robbins' Unleash The Power Within returns to Sydney on September 19 to 22, 2019, at Qudos Bank Arena. To book your place in Unleash The Power Within, visit the website.