A gratitude practice will improve your career. Here’s how to start one. (Join the 21-day challenge!)
Gratitude is one of those things that falls into the same category as mindfulness, meditation, or manifesting for a lot of us. It’s sort of squishy, it might make you feel silly the first few times, and, it gets easier with practice.
What we don’t realize about gratitude is that it adds a whole host of wonderful things to our lives. It can make you more resilient, happier, and more productive at work.
That’s wild. The idea that sitting down, thinking or writing about something that makes you grateful could have such a broad impact on your wellbeing, career, and outlook on life? Amazing. Want to get started now?
Don’t believe me? Here are some examples of how a gratitude practice improves lives:
A 2016 study showed that students who received reminders to practice gratitude self-reported an increase in their ability to focus during class, and to remain resilient when learning felt more challenging.
A study of 411 people run by Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania found that gratitude resulted in a huge increase in happiness scores. Not only was it a larger impact than any other intervention, the increased happiness levels lasted a month after the study!
A 300 person study by Dr. Joshua Brown & Dr. Joel Wong found that although it may take up to 12 weeks to feel the benefit, a gratitude practice can help reduce toxic emotions and rumination.
A 2019 study found that folks practicing gratitude at work performed at a higher level than colleagues who weren’t practicing gratitude - and, they were more satisfied with their jobs.
A 2017 study found that gratitude can reduce work stress.
Better focus? Less stressed? Happier? More resilient? Performing well at work? I’m sold. So let’s get into it.
What is a gratitude practice?
A gratitude practice can be as simple or as robust as you’d like. The studies listed above (and others) have leveraged a variety of methodologies.
That means that practicing gratitude can be molded into what works for each individual. Instead of worrying about if you’re doing it right (I’m looking at you, meditation!) This is pretty simple.
At the heart, a gratitude practice is simply capturing what you’re grateful for.
That’s it!
The way you do it is individual. That’s why it’s so impressive. As long as you’re noting what you’re grateful for, you’re doing it right.
Congrats!
How to build a gratitude practice.
Decide when you want to express gratitude. Do you want to practice gratitude daily? Weekly? Are you better at thinking about gratitude in the morning? Evening? Afternoon slump-time? Whatever it is, choose what you think will work for you (and feel free to change it!)
Hold the time for yourself. Building a new habit is hard work! There’s a lot of tips and tricks on how to do it well. You can try habit-stacking: add this on to something you already do, like drinking coffee or reading before bed. Protect the time: you can set reminders in your phone, block time in your calendar. Have an accountability buddy: choose someone to send your gratitudes to in order to keep momentum going.
Capture it. The way you write your gratitudes might look different than someone else. You might simply sit and think, or write it all down. Whatever it is, it’s your time. Here are some specific ways to capture gratitude:
Write a bulleted list of 3-5 things you’re grateful for at the cadence that works for you
Set a timer for 5 minutes and capture as many things you can that you’re grateful for
Sit down and close your eyes. Think about everything you’re grateful for. Pro-tip: this is really nice over coffee in the morning or over your evening wind-down tea!
Send your gratitudes over to a friend or loved one via email or text
Take a photograph of something that happens that you’re grateful for each day
Write a letter to someone you’re grateful for (feel free to send it!)
That’s it. Don’t forget, it might take time to establish this habit. And if you miss a day, it’s not the end of the world. You’ve still got this.
Want to try it out with prompts directly in your inbox?
As for me? I’m grateful for you. For reading, for learning, for trying new things. And for joining me on this crazy ride we’re all on!