The science is in: practicing gratitude has myriad beneficial impacts on your general well-being, relationships, and work life. Here is a non-exhaustive list:
- It makes you happier.
- It reduces depression.
- You can turn acquaintances into friends more readily.
- It improves sleep.
- It minimizes aches and pains.
- It improves manager and employee relationships.
- It reduces stress levels.
- And many more outcomes we are still exploring.
As you can see, practicing gratitude is a net positive for your life.
I will not regurgitate all the studies and results here; you can click some of the links above to dive in more. But I want to give you some practical ways to increase your gratitude so you can reap the benefits for your relationships and career. The research shows that it takes time to cultivate the benefits, which is why you must practice gratitude more than one holiday a year!
Here are some quick, practical ways you can cultivate gratitude:
Gratitude Journal
If you are like me, you hear this and think of writing hundreds of words daily, but this doesn’t have to be that intense. Start by keeping a post-it notepad on your desk or at home and writing a sentence about something you are grateful for 1-3 times a day. You will be amazed at how this shifts your perspective.
Say a Real Thanks
Say thank you to someone in your life every day. Not just a passing “thanks,” but an entire sentence or two of thanks. Say thank you to nearly anyone – a coworker, spouse, friend, or child. Both saying thanks and watching the impact on someone else as they receive it helps to produce the benefits mentioned above.
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Get Into Nature
Go on a walk. Look at beautiful images of your favorite places in the world. Getting out into nature has a calming effect on its own. Studies show even looking at pictures of nature on your phone or computer has a similar outcome. Don’t just passively take in what you see, but actively practice gratefulness for the experience.
Takeaway:
Thanksgiving is this week; I challenge you to start the practice of gratitude and then continue it. It can be easy to be cynical or fear tense family situations, but cultivating genuine thankfulness can unlock hidden potential in your relationships, work, and personal life!
