The holiday season is a time when we’re more focused on giving and expressing gratitude. But what if you could keep that feeling of gratitude year-round? With a little work, you can keep up a practice of internal gratitude or external generosity that research shows could make you a happier person.
November is National Gratitude Month. Statistics found that “Employees who experience more gratitude at work report fewer depressive symptoms and stress.*” In addition, “lack of gratitude is a major factor in driving job dissatisfaction, turnover, absenteeism, and burnout.”
With that in mind, several TiER1ers have shared their tips and tricks for starting and maintaining an attitude of gratitude. Read on for their ideas and suggestions.
How Gratitude Shows Up for TiER1ers
Consultant Grant Simmons shares three ways leaders can become generous givers and foster gratitude. Creating constant gratitude, is a cycle of being more generous consistently, which provides a better feeling of gratitude and being grateful the entire year not, just for six weeks or so, he says. To enable this cycle of gratitude we want to be generous givers of our time attention, and money. Watch more!
TiER1 Thought Igniters: The Cycle of Gratitude – YouTube
Consultant Ani Matrai-Monk: I wake up each morning and just look around myself to count the number of ways I am blessed and fortunate. Ani shared that things like: I have a loving husband; my beautiful, aging parents are still here with us; we are blessed that they are alive today; we are healthy; we have a roof over our heads; we have jobs; etc. It puts you in such a positive mood when you wake with these thoughts and start off your day right.
Like everyone else, Ani and her family support charities and give monetarily understanding that it is needed, and can help others. For the people around us, she shows gratitude through spending quality time with them sharing that time is what’s most precious. It may be a two-hour conversation where we truly listen; a meal together; or we help them move, lift furniture, hang the curtains, etc. It’s all about finding whatever shape or form of service means the most to them.
Content Marketing Coordinator Katie Coburn: I have a little calendar hanging on my bedroom wall that has a blank line for each day of the month where I write something I’m thankful for and/or an accomplishment from that day. This helps me look back each month and realize how grateful I am for what I’ve been able to experience.
Consultant Rebecca Cox: I often find when I’m in a funk or a rut, gratitude helps get me out of it. So I have a whiteboard (it’s actually an old window) in my office that I will write down one or two really specific things I’m grateful for, and it almost always does the trick of lifting my spirits.
Marketing Director Sarah Ehrnschwender: I’m a big fan of jotting down or reflecting on the three things I thought went really well each day. It has been an intentional practice to find what went well and give it just as much, if not more, focus! It can be as simple as “I remembered to drink water today.” to something more reflective like “We handled that difficult situation really beautifully.”
Consultant Cara Gilmore: It can be a simple “Thank you for all you do,” or “Thank you I appreciate you!” A small gift of food, like cookies or sandwiches or a drink, like beer or wine, all go a long way!
*From Positive Psychology
We’d love to hear your gratitude practices. Let us know on LinkedIn or in the form at the bottom of this page.
