Confidence Classic: Finding Gratitude In Your Hardest Moments With “Gratitude Guru” Chris Schembra

Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan

Heather Monahan

Self-improvement, Education, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You’ve heard people say “just be grateful” a million times, but what happens when life is falling apart, you’re in real pain, and that kind of gratitude feels fake? In this episode, I sit down with USA Today’s “Gratitude Guru” Chris Schembra to talk about a completely different and honest approach to gratitude, one that doesn’t ignore your hardest moments, but starts with them. Chris shares how producing hit campaigns, dining with world-class leaders, and hosting intimate, high-end dinners still left him feeling lonely and anxious. Get ready to rethink what gratitude really is, stop pretending everything is “fine,” and start using your hard times as a bridge to deeper confidence, connection, and purpose. In This Episode You Will Learn Why the usual “good vibes only” gratitude advice actually keeps you stuck. How one question around a dinner table has made thousands of people open up and connect. How to turn your hardest memories into a source of meaning, empathy, and power. What stoicism really teaches about pain, obstacles, and emotional resilience. Ways to move from rumination and despair into appreciation and agency. Check Out Our Sponsors: Shopify - Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/monahan Quince - Step into the holiday season with layers made to feel good and last from Quince. Go to quince.com/confidence Timeline - Get 10% off your first Mitopure order at timeline.com/CONFIDENCE. Northwest Registered Agent - protect your privacy, build your brand and get your complete business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes! Visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/confidencefree Resources + Links Get your copy of Chris’s Book Gratitude Through Hard Times HERE! Call my digital clone at 201-897-2553! Visit heathermonahan.com Sign up for my mailing list: heathermonahan.com/mailing-list/ Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com If you haven't yet, get my first book Confidence Creator Follow Heather on Instagram & LinkedIn Chris on Instagram & LinkedIn

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Here's something most small business owners don't want to think about. What happens when something goes wrong? A customer slips, shipment gets lost, tool breaks, or someone gets hurt. You can lose thousands overnight, and most people only realize they need insurance after it's too late. That's why I like what next insurance is doing. They make getting business insurance as easy as ordering lunch online.
0:22.6	You answer a few quick questions and next figures out what you need. And just like that,
0:27.3	you're covered. No phone calls, no headaches, no BS. Just fast, affordable coverage that actually
0:33.1	protects you when things go sideways. Don't wait for a problem to remind you you're uncovered.
0:38.5	Policy start as low as $29 a month. Get protected in minutes at nextinsurance.com. That's n-E-X-T-insurance.com.
0:49.0	You can either wake up in the morning and focus too much on what's going wrong and not appreciate all the good
0:56.7	things or you can wake up and you can appreciate all the good things and not really focus on
1:03.5	the stuff that's wrong. The difference is gratitude and ingratitude. And what I learned in that dark moment on the phone with my friend Scott
1:13.0	is that the choice was mine to either look at my life through despair or to look at my life
1:22.2	through appreciation. I'm on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to
1:27.1	chase down our goals.
1:29.0	Overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow.
1:32.6	I'm ready for my close-up.
1:35.4	Tell me, have you been enjoying these new bonus confidence classics episodes we've been dropping
1:40.9	on you every week? We've literally hundreds of episodes for you to listen to.
1:44.7	So these bonuses are a great way to help you find the ones you may have already missed.
1:49.5	I hope you love this one as much as I do.
1:52.1	I'm so excited that you're back here with me this week. I cannot wait for the topic we're getting into or for you to meet my guest.
1:59.9	Chris Shembra is the best-selling author of
2:02.2	Gratitude and Pasta, the secret sauce for human connection. I love that title and his new book,
2:09.2	which drops today. It's out today. You got to go get it. Gratitude through hard times. And that
2:14.3	is an understatement. USA Today calls him their gratitude guru. He's a founding
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Heather Monahan, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Heather Monahan and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.