Like all of the rules, Rule 2 is simple yet amazingly profound. Have deep gratitude for all outcomes — the good, the bad, and the mediocre.
The first reaction may be: "Why would I be grateful for a bad outcome?" There is a one-word answer: feedback.
Cause and Effect
We live in a physical world governed by predictable laws. For every outcome, there is a cause. For the good, the bad, and the mediocre. If we did the same things the same way, we would get the same result. And if we change how we think, what we do, and how we do things, we will change the outcome.
This is something to be grateful for. The world is not random. It is reliable. It responds to what we put in.
Some people have trouble with cause and effect. We should embrace it. It means we are not helpless. It means every outcome is information we can use.
Three Levels of Gratitude
The first level of gratitude is simply appreciating that our outcomes are predictable — that cause and effect is dependable.
The second level is appreciating that we can change the outcome by changing what we do. Just like baking a cake: change the ingredients, change the product.
The real power comes at the third level. Deep gratitude is demonstrated through action. What did we do with the feedback the world gave us? Did we ignore it? Deny it? Or did we embrace it and act on it?
Gratitude Is Demonstrated by Action
Think about the gifts you've received in your life. Some were re-gifted, discarded, or stored away — out of sight, out of mind. But some became part of your daily life. A piece of jewelry you wear every day. A kitchen appliance you'd replace immediately if it broke. Our appreciation for those gifts is demonstrated by how much we use them.
It is the same with our outcomes. When we properly evaluate our results — when we heed the feedback, make changes, and move forward — we are demonstrating deep gratitude. There is no other path to success. As humans, we fail our way forward. The successful react differently to failure than those who are less successful. They listen to what life is telling them.
The Unhealthy Response
There are reactions that demonstrate a profound lack of gratitude for an outcome and the feedback that came with it. The first is anger — how many times have we become angry at a result? Angry that the world doesn't work the way we think it should. This approach is not only silly, it's extremely ineffective.
Another is depression and sadness. We feel like curling up and going to sleep. This is equally ineffective. The world is trying to tell us what works and what doesn't. We need to listen, pay attention, tune in. It's giving us the secrets to success.
A Lesson from Split-Testing
In internet marketing, split-testing means running two versions of a web page — identical except for one element, like a headline or an offer. Half the traffic goes to each version. One outperforms the other. The savvy marketer discards the losing version and tests again. Through this process, a website's performance can improve by 500% to 1,000%.
Notice: the marketer doesn't get angry or depressed with the results. Even when it's his favorite headline, the underperforming element is simply eliminated.
The rule in internet marketing is to test everything. The truth is, everything really is a test. If we evaluate our results logically and discard what doesn't work, our outcomes will always be improving.
It is only through the feedback life gives us that we can find a better way. All feedback is good. Some is painful. Some is excruciatingly painful. It is through properly responding to painful feedback that the most profound changes come.
We should be deeply grateful for all of it.
