Gratitude costs nothing

We are happy because we are grateful… not the other way around.

It costs nothing to be grateful, but it’s extremely valuable.

There are tons of stats on the power of gratitude (I’ve included a few below), but all we really need to know is that it works. I can attest to it.

“It’s not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” - Seneca

Personally, when I feel myself going astray, I usually start with gratitude. It’s like a personal reset button to catch myself whenever I start to complain, and this quote above reminds me that my momentary misery often stems from a desire for more.

More money, more sleep, more time with family, more red wine. Instead, I go to my toolbox, remember that just being healthy and living in a great country is a lot! It’s incredible how lucky I am really….and something that I forget about when I’m constantly surrounded by images of what everyone else has - like every time I look at social media!

Practicing gratitude is a chance to change “I don’t have ______” to “I’m grateful for______”

Ok, that’s all nice, but what does it have to do with making us better in our day to day profession?

Here’s what the studies on gratitude say…

Gratitude makes us happier and happy people get better results. If we translate that to the creative space, we can say that happy creative people do better work.

Also, when we’re grateful, we’re focused on what is good in our lives. And when we’re focused on what is good, our mind welcomes new ideas. And new ideas generate previously unseen opportunities. We find ourselves in solution mode much more quickly.

Additionally, gratitude for customers helps remind us of the people we are trying to serve. By naturally thinking about them and how appreciative we are to have them, we form a stronger empathetic mind and can better see the situation from their POV.

And if all else fails, small acts of gratitude in our communication (saying ‘please’ and ‘thanks’) will raise the chances of getting someone to respond to us.

Here are a few cool stats on gratitude from this article:

1. Employees who receive more gratitude in the workplace tend to report lower levels of depression and stress.

2. 81% of employees say they would work harder if their boss were more grateful.

3. Maintaining a gratitude journal regularly can boost optimism by 5% to 15% and improve sleep quality by 25%.

4. Gratitude reduces toxic aggression, frustration, and regret even after receiving negative feedback.

5. Spending five minutes a day writing a gratitude journal can enhance long-term well-being by 10%.

At the end of the day, what matters most is that, when the shit hits the fan, we have the tools in our tool box to tackle any challenge. Sometimes the best tool is remembering exactly what we have and being grateful for that.

And here’s the easiest way we can practice gratitude. We can take 60 seconds to ask ourselves… “What am I grateful for today?”

That will be 60 seconds well spent.

Until next time friends, stay resilient!

I teach workplaces and individuals the strategies to improve mindset and mental health. These are preventative ideas and practical tools to help us all thrive when obstacles come our way. Let’s set up a discovery call today.

Carre @ Resilient Marketing Minds