Making the Case for Daily Thanksgiving

Wake up feeling pretty negative most days? Congratulations! You’re completely normal. Negativity is part of our hardwired survival mechanism, programmed through millennia of scanning the landscape for saber-tooth tigers. Contrast this with Thanksgiving, one of the rare times of year when we consciously look for the good and give thanks for the positives in our lives.

Need inspiration for making “thanks-giving” a regular habit? In his article “The Science of Gratitude: How Thankfulness Impacts Our Brains and Business” author Kevin Kruse makes the compelling argument that gratitude is good for us and good for business. Kruse references multiple studies across a variety of populations that showed:

• Gratitude releases serotonin and dopamine which positively impact mood, willpower, and motivation.
  
• At work, practicing gratitude leads to less exhaustion, fewer sick days, higher job satisfaction, improved relationships, reduced anxiety, and increased altruism.
• When employees feel recognized, in other words, when their colleagues express gratitude for their work, retention increases. Conversely, employees who feel undervalued are twice as likely to say they plan to quit in the next year.

A little gratitude goes a long way. Here are some simple hacks for incorporating gratitude practices at work and at home:

• Add a kudos and gratitude-sharing agenda item to your weekly team meetings. People may be skeptical initially but stick with it! Team members will get used to it and look forward to it (even if they won’t admit it).
• When you sit down to dinner with family, have everyone share something from their day for which they are grateful. Again – push past the eyeball rolls. Persistence is key!
• Keep a gratitude journal next to your bed and end each day by identifying three things you’re grateful for. Google “gratitude journals”. There are lots to choose from. Or — create your own.
• Before you get out of bed in the morning, identify something you’re grateful for and looking forward to in your day. Even if it’s just a hot shower. Coffee.

After a few weeks of adding these practices into your life, something amazing will happen. You’ll notice that, on balance, you are a more positive person than you were before, and the people around you will be, too. It works!