December 2018 Newsletter – Cultivating Gratitude: Strategies for Adults

To feel the benefits of gratitude in your life, you must regularly and intentionally examine your focus. Here are a few specific strategies you can try to help you cultivate gratitude in your life and with family or coworkers:

  • Keep a gratitude journal – Make physical note each day of the things you are grateful for. Do this in the morning, in the evening, or both!
  • Post it: Option 1 – In this first option, you can stick Post-it notes around your home and workplace that remind you take 15 seconds to think of something you are thankful for. There are also apps you can download on your phone that send random notifications to practice a moment of gratitude.
  • Post it: Option 2 – Post your gratitude on social media. This not only helps you keep a record that you can look back on, but it also gives recognition to the people you include in your posts. In addition, you’ll be modeling gratitude to others on social media who may benefit from taking a moment to be grateful for the things in their lives.
  • Meeting moments – Begin each meeting with a moment of gratitude. People don’t necessarily have to share their thoughts in the meeting, but it may be powerful to say, “I am glad we are meeting today. I am grateful for the things you do that make my job easier. I’d like to just take a moment to allow you to think of something you are grateful for, and then we will get started with our agenda.”
  • Verbalizing gratitude – Commit to sharing your gratitude with others twice a day, to start. Work your way up to verbalizing your gratitude 10 times a day. These can be very informal discussions – the other person doesn’t even need to know what you are doing. You might just tell the person you are holding the door open for, that you are so thankful for the warm sunshine today! The point is to get into the habit of speaking your gratitude aloud.
  • Gratitude pal – Find someone else you know who wants to cultivate more gratitude in their lives. Touch base with that person each week, or even every day, to share the things you are grateful for.

For the main article Cultivating Gratitude, CLICK HERE

For the article Research on Gratitude – The Benefits, CLICK HERE

For the article Things to be Grateful For, CLICK HERE

For the article Introducing Gratitude to Children, CLICK HERE