Gratitude
See this tool in action
Overview: Gratitude
We all automatically say thank you to others every day – from the person who serves you a coffee to loved ones or friends who have done something for you, big or small. What we now know is that gratitude or the act of being grateful can contribute positively not only to our wellbeing but also to our performance levels. This is a tool we often overlook, yet it’s so easy to access.
The Why
Gratitude contributes to our mental fitness because saying thank you generates more positive emotions and that makes us feel more optimistic and better about life. Research has also shown that, quite simply, gratitude makes us happier! It helps us sleep better and can increase our self-esteem.
Great for…
Exercise
Stop
Have a think about how often you actively appreciate what is going on in your life or what someone else is doing.
Challenge
Could you practice more gratitude or is there something that blocks you?
Change
Try and incorporate more gratitude into your life with the following easy activities below:
Activities
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Saying thank you out loud:
And don’t just say thank you. When it feels appropriate, tell someone why you are grateful and what they have done.
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3 Things you are grateful for:
- Take time to think about things you take for granted and consider being grateful for them.
- Each day, just as you get out of bed, think about 3 things that you are grateful for. These don’t need to be big things. Maybe you caught up with your mates for a drink or someone helped you out.
- We know that writing things down creates more impact than just thinking things in our head so invest in a notebook and write those 3 things down if you can.
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Gratitude postcard/Letter:
Try thanking someone in writing for the positive role they have played in your life or for something simple they have done. This doesn’t have to be a long essay. Just one line of a thank-you can be so powerful both for you and the other person. It could be a note you leave out in the morning before you go to work or just a message, text or email. If you don’t have time to actually write anything – just thank them in your head.
