5 Ways to Practice Gratitude Today

According to Psychology Today, gratitude is “an emotion expressing appreciation for what we have, as opposed to, for instance, a consumer-driven emphasis on what one wants or thinks they need.” But what makes gratitude so important? Research suggests that practicing acts of gratitude (versus just voicing it) can increase one’s well-being, health, and levels of happiness. It’s also associated with increased energy, positive attitude, and empathy. Read on for 5 easy and simple ways to practice gratitude today!

Practicing gratitude has the power to improve the following areas of our life:

• Emotional – increases good feelings, relaxation, resilience, and creates happier memories and less envy
• Social – deepens relationships and an increase in kindness and friendships
• Career – improves management, networking, goal achievement, and decision making
• Health – improves sleep, increases longevity and energy
• Personality – decreases materialism, and as a result, we are less self-centered, more optimistic, spiritual, and increases self- esteem

Here are 5 ways to practice gratitude today:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal

There are many versions of journaling so feel free to try out a few ways to find what fits YOU best. You can write a list of 3 things daily, write a sentence, or lose yourself in multiple paragraphs of gratefulness! The important thing is to do it daily (morning or night) and to be specific with what you are grateful for. There are only so many times we can say “I am grateful for my health” vs. “Today I was grateful for my strong legs on my walk. . .” etc.

2.  Reframe Your Thoughts

When you notice yourself thinking something negative about a person or thing, switch to a positive reframing. Instead of “This traffic is driving me crazy!” You could change it to “I’m grateful for my comfy car and the time to listen to a podcast or phone a loved one.”

3. Spread Positivity

Give a compliment to someone or show an appreciation for something daily such as complimenting a co-worker or noticing the beautiful sunset on your drive home from work.

4.  Glean Something from the Situation

When faced with a challenging situation, instead of losing yourself in the stress or negativity, think about what you can learn from the situation. Is there something that is overwhelming or unclear right now, but might be leading to a bigger opportunity that you have to search for?

5.  Quit Complaining

If you find yourself complaining, criticizing, or gossiping, pause and keep those thoughts away.  Actively notice how much energy you gain or were spending on those thoughts or actions.

It’s important to acknowledge that gratitude can be especially hard to practice when in a tough moment of life. But it does help change our perspective and focus on what greatness is going right in our life vs solely focusing on what is going wrong. Since it feels unnatural to be grateful as humans in constant ‘survival mode’, we have to challenge ourselves to consciously reprogram ourselves.

Like many skills or a muscle you hope to tone, it requires practice to become a regular part of your life but the more often we practice gratitude the longer the benefits. A 5-minute journaling session can lead to a prolonged uplift in the mood for the day! But this doesn’t happen overnight, studies show that like implementing other changes, it could take 1-3 months of regular practice for it to become a habit and to reap the full benefits!

Did you try any of these tips for a bit and reap rewards? I would love to hear about it!