Cultivating a Gratitude Practice
Gratitude is defined as the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Cultivating a gratitude mindset and a consistent practice can contribute to a more positive outlook and way of being that can boost our resilience.
A gratitude practice can bring many gifts into your life.
Benefits of cultivating a daily gratitude practice/mindset:
- Focuses the mind on appreciating what you have, leading to a more positive outlook (which reduces envy and materialism)
- Increased life satisfaction and self-esteem
- Increased optimism about life and its possibilities
- Expressing gratitude to your partner, family, and loved ones can improve the quality of your relationships.
- Communicating gratitude improves communication and increases the likelihood of working through problems and concerns with a positive outlook.
- In her research, Brene Brown found that regularly practicing gratitude invites more joy into your life. More joy? Yes please!
Establish a Gratitude Practice by keeping a journal
Keeping a gratitude journal is one way to cultivate a gratitude practice, and I’ve been keeping mine for the past 4 years. Every night before bed, write down 3 things that you are grateful for. This sounds deceptively easy, but on challenging days you may find yourself scouring your day for something to be grateful for. Being grateful for waking up, for breathing, for being alive might be all you’ve got on a particular day and that’s ok.
How to start your practice:
Commit to a month of writing daily gratitudes to start with
Choose a time that works for you – I prefer to do this before bed, but the ideal time is the time that works best for you. Doing this at a consistent time of day helps build the habit.
Choose a journal – it can be on your computer or a paper journal (I chose a pretty journal that I didn’t want to “waste” which helped motivate me to stick with it and fill the entire journal with my gratitudes).
Notice how and when gratitude starts showing up for you.
What are 3 things you are grateful for? Let me know in the Comments!
I love working with people to develop a greater sense of integrated work-life balance, gratitude, and abundance habits. Book a free discovery session with me to explore how I can support you in creating success and updating your mindset to reflect that.