(Editor’s note: Thanksgiving is the time of year many people reflect and give thanks for the things and loved ones in their life. In the following article, Carol Tuttle, a teacher, speaker and author of books on life and personal development, writes about ways she believes people can improve their outlooks on life by feeling grateful.)

You can’t force change. You need to allow it. And a key to allowing is accountability. When we take accountability for every aspect of our life, we are in the most powerful position to allow change to occur. Implementing these eight steps of gratitude will help you create remarkable change for good in your life.

1. Appreciate everything. Even that which you judge as bad, wrong, and painful.
2. Express gratitude for every single moment of your life. The more you create feelings of appreciation and gratitude, the more you will attract into your life which you can appreciate and for which you can feel gratitude.
3. Look for things for which you can be grateful. Play the Grateful Game. By yourself or with others, take turns saying what you are grateful for.
4. Start a Gratitude Journal. Every Thanksgiving, as a family, we get out our Gratitude Journal and write 1,000 things for which we are grateful.
5. If you pray, thank God for believing in you, for giving you the agency to create your life, and for remembering your truth.
6. Thank all the people who have shown up in your life to play their parts for you.
7. Write a thank-you note once a week to someone to express your appreciation for them.
8. Most importantly, appreciate yourself for what you are remembering and for the joys you are creating.

These simple steps of gratitude address the core issues that most people struggle with at a deeper level of their being. Putting a daily focus on these moments of thanks will allow greater shifts in your life. Remember, you do have the power to change anything in your life. Whether the actual event changes or you change your response and perception, both create a new experience. And the first big step to making use of that power is by showing gratitude for your life.

Carol Tuttle’s newest book, “Mastering Affluence” (https://ct.liveyourtruth.com/) offers lessons on creating a life one can love.