This article was originally published in The Simplifier #47.

Article: Take Inventory of Your Assets

By Shawn Tuttle

Q: What are assets?

A: More than stuff that is listed on a company’s balance sheet. 

The American Heritage Dictionary offers this definition for asset: “1. A useful or valuable quality, person, or thing; an advantage or resource.” For our purposes, I’m tweaking this definition a little to be: assets are useful or valuable qualities, physical things, relationships, and experiences that support you.  Why is awareness of your assets important?

Just as understanding what is draining your energy is the first step in stopping an outflow, remembering your assets helps you fortify and refuel.

Your assets become your personal foundation. They consist of skills, experiences, friendship/family supports, home and transportation, and tools of your trade—for example, computer & office equipment. Yours may also include things like: a well-developed client base, life lessons learned, your values, beautiful surroundings where you live, a loved pet, and/or your garden. They are the things that give you the ability to do your work in the world. Or they may inspire and encourage you to continue and grow. Or they may simply be just the thing to make you feel better after a tough day.

Even though they are good things, in our rush of daily life and focus on problems, we often take our assets for granted. Of course, just because you don’t think of something as an asset doesn’t mean it stops supporting you. Your friend Paul won’t cease to be supportive if you don’t list him as an asset. (Though you may burn in Hell covered with angry swarms of fire ants, tormented by guilt. ;-)) The real importance of your personal assets can’t be captured in a list or on a balance sheet. Remember, simplifying your life is primarily a quality of life issue: 1. getting your activities in line with your goals and values (i.e., what you are doing), and 2. doing these in a way that supports your essential self (how you are doing it). Appreciating your friend Paul’s support in achieving your heartfelt goals makes for a sweeter experience—in essence, it improves your quality of life. This brings us to a major asset that is often overlooked. This one is available to everyone. It’s extremely powerful because it roots you firmly in your heart. It assists your clarity and focus. It helps you stay in touch with what’s truly important for you and easily identify what can be let go of. It helps you remember the meaning in your work and activities. This asset is particularly interesting because it exists within the context of your other assets. Rather than being something you rely on, it’s a state of mind, a state of being. Got it yet? I’m talking about gratitude.

Gratitude returns us to the delight of innocence.

Really, taking inventory of your assets is step #1. Step #2 is upping the gratitude quotient. Guess what? You can combine the two in this one easy exercise! Make your own  “Gratitude List”. It’s very simple:

• get paper and pen
• establish some quiet time for yourself (no interruptions)
• take a breath break
• list what you are grateful for. You can start with the assets mentioned above, “skills, experiences, friendship/family supports, etc.”
• let your heart lead this exercise

Going through this process, your heart may begin to feel glowing and warm. Savor this feeling. Close your eyes and release your brain from thinking. Let the warmth move through your body. Let the feeling linger in your smile for the rest of the day.

A gratitude list can come in handy in a variety of situations. It can provide a little pick-me-up or reminder of your blessings if you aren’t feeling so great, you can reference it when redoing a resume or providing a personal bio, or even as a reality check. Since a gratitude list reflects what’s in your life right now, it can serve as a reflection of your current situation.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have
into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos
to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast,
a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes
sense of our past, brings peace for today,
and creates a vision for tomorrow. -   Melody Beattie, author