Below is an edited, improved, and structured transcript of the video for those who prefer reading.
Written Version
Introduction
Hi there, and welcome to this week’s installment of the Dries Cronje YouTube channel.
I posted two videos last week, so this is video number three, and technically week number two. Today I want to talk about how the gratitude experiment I mentioned in last week’s video is unfolding.
The Gratitude Experiment — Practical Setup
I’ve set up some space on my website, DriesCronje.com, specifically for gratitude posts. There’s a dedicated gratitude list there where I’ll be recording daily entries.
The structure is simple:
- Minimum: 3 gratitude items per day
- Maximum: 5 items per day
This way I don’t fall too far behind. My aim is to reach at least 1,000 entries over one year. We’ll see how that goes.
Why Gratitude? Why Now?
For context, I listened to a lot of Michael Singer over December, and very honestly, my main goal with gratitude right now is surrender.
For me, gratitude supports:
- Accepting reality as it is
- Releasing attachment
- Releasing resistance
- Letting go of judging life as “good” or “bad”
If you can genuinely appreciate both the pleasant and the unpleasant as they arise, something starts to shift.
This experiment is not primarily about changing outer circumstances.
It’s about seeing whether I can increase:
- Inner joy
- Enthusiasm for life
- A sense of fulfillment
Regardless of circumstances.
At its core, the path of surrender is about experiencing reality fully — without constantly judging, cutting it up, attaching to certain outcomes, and resisting others. That way of living just makes life unnecessarily difficult.
How I’m Working with It Daily
If you’re interested, feel free to check out the gratitude list on the website.
I don’t just write entries — I also spend time re-reading them and feeling into them, allowing genuine gratitude to arise.
Alongside that, I continue with my surrender practice.
Whenever a blockage — or samskara — comes up, I spend time with it. Interestingly, I’ve also been using AI as a tool in this process. I describe what I’m feeling and ask for help in practicing surrender around that particular blockage.
The other day I mentioned getting angry one morning. I spent time unpacking that, and AI helped me clearly identify what the blockage was — and more importantly, helped me sit with the discomfort without trying to fix or change it.
Still Tapping & Emotional Integration
I also have a practice called Still Tapping.
It’s similar to EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), but instead of focusing on thoughts or affirmations, it emphasizes:
- Stillness
- Awareness of inner energy
It’s not about immediately feeling better.
That’s important, because there’s a bit of a trap in always trying to fix emotions the moment they arise.
Still Tapping helps me later in the day to:
- Calm down
- Regulate my nervous system
- Let emotional residue settle
Releasing long-held attachments and resistance can be emotionally intense, and this practice helps integrate that process gently.
Gratitude supports this too.
Outer Circumstances & Ambitions
I also want to be transparent about my current life ambitions, since this is an experiment and it makes sense to observe outer circumstances as well.
I’m a trader, and one of my long-standing ambitions has been to succeed in trading.
So far, January has gone reasonably well:
- 10 winning days
- 1 losing day
- I started trading on 6 January
- Today is 21 January
I missed one trading day, and Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a U.S. market holiday.
Last year, I tested my trading system in front of friends and clients and passed two funded futures prop-firm evaluations. That was an important milestone for me.
This year, I want to see whether I can grow that into:
- More consistent income
- A secondary income stream
- Greater financial stability for my family
Financial Foundation
At the moment, I’m debt-free.
That took about five years. Between roughly 2015 and 2020, I spent too much and earned too little — a familiar story. I built up a fair amount of retail debt and eventually had to be very honest with myself and commit to paying it all back.
That was a hard journey, but it’s done.
What remains is some tax administration:
- A few returns behind
- Complexity involving businesses
- Personal finances
- My father’s trust (he passed away in 2021)
So another goal this year is to get fully up to date and create a solid, clean financial foundation.
Work, Relationships & Presence
I currently have a well-paying full-time job, and I’d like to keep that stable.
My relationships — with my wife, children, and family — are sound. Still, there’s always room for:
- More openness
- More love
- More emotional honesty
And finally, presence.
If I had to name the calling on my life, it would be something to do with presence — or mindfulness, or stillness — as a lived spiritual state.
My hope is that the gratitude experiment and surrender work will deepen:
- My experience of presence
- My access to joy
- My sense of inner freedom
I want to track that honestly.
Am I healthy — spiritually, emotionally, mentally?
Am I living closer to the deep joy that feels like my true spiritual aim?
Closing
That’s enough for this week.
I may do another video — the aim is always at least one per week. Anything more is a bonus.
This was just a bit more background on the gratitude experiment.
You’re welcome to explore it at DriesCronje.com/gratitude.
Thanks for watching.
I’ll chat to you soon. Bye-bye.