Growing Gratitude Challenge - Day Five

We’ve made it to day five of the Growing Gratitude challenge. Over the week we’ve looked at the case for gratitude, then focused on people, nature and tailwinds. Today is about extending what we’ve learned beyond the week.

Clearly it’s best if we can turn gratitude from a state, something we experience from time to time, into a trait, an ongoing set of habits and way of looking at the world.

Now, I can provide you with a list of options, but you really need to reflect on what works best for you.

First, spend some time looking back over what we have covered across this week. Are there any activities that worked particularly well for you? How might you build those in to your daily or weekly routine?

Here are a few additional ideas to try:

Three gratitudes - this one is simple and the research shows that even 21 days has a positive impact on our mood and outlook. All it involves is writing down three new things each day that you are grateful for. You can use a notes app on your phone or a notebook - whatever works best for you. The challenge is thinking of three new things each day - particularly over that first week. But, over time, you will find that you notice positive things to be grateful for - that you change your perspective about that ratio of positive to negative in your life to tilt it more towards the positive. 

Daily exercise. Can I suggest that if you struggle with exercise, you mix things up a bit. Aim for something you enjoy and pair exercise up with that. Perhaps you love a particular podcast - why not listen to the podcast while going for a walk? Maybe there’s a friend you like spending time with - why not enlist them to go for a walk or a quick work out together? And aim for the morning if you can. I recently profiled some research that suggests we are even less likely to exercise after a challenging and stressful day. So, instead, aim for the morning, even if it means going to bed a little earlier to then wake up earlier.

Hang out with positive people. Draw around you people who tend to be grateful, kind and generous. It will inspire you to focus more on the positives.

Write a quick thank you note each day. By way of example, we purchase coffee machine pods from a small business that roast their own coffee and put them in biodegradable pods and packaging. I’ve been a customer for three years and we love their products. So I just wrote them a short email to let them know how much we appreciate their products and business, and to say thank you. It really made their day and only took me one minute. Imagine if we did something like that each day.

Thank you for joining me on this challenge - I hope you found it helpful. Can I encourage you to share it with others? Perhaps your kind act today will be to share the word and get others to join you in focusing more on gratitude. Have a great week.

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