It’s Thanksgiving here in America and this happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. Not because of all the food, although that is definitely something I enjoy very much. But because of the opportunity to stop and reflect on all the good and great things that have happened to me over the past year. However you may describe them (I call them blessings), I feel that taking the time to express our appreciation actually makes us even more blessed! And not in just some ethereal, spiritual way either. But in physical, tangible ways that increase our abundance! Don’t believe me? Well, I’m not the only one who feels this way. Some people have even gone out of their way to provide scientific proof.
Four Key Benefits:
First, I’d like to outline four key tangible benefits of practicing gratitude:
- Gratitude improves your health.
- Gratitude extends your happiness.
- Gratitude can advance your career.
- Gratitude helps you accomplish your goals.
Since this blog is dedicated to financially living, I’m going to outline how gratitude, and these four specific benefits, can help you fulfill that area of your life. And we’ll talk a little bit about strategies to “gobble up” these benefits. Let’s start with improving your health.
Gratitude Improves Your Health
Science is finally starting to catch up with what people have known for years: gratitude is a key component to help people live happier, longer lives. In fact, researchers have found that gratitude has a direct effect on your health. It improves it significantly! As reported by Kennon Sheldon, Todd Kashdan, and Michael Steger in Designing Positive Psychology, grateful people visit their doctors less often and live longer than others. They found that being grateful helps us sleep better, control our blood pressure, and generally reduce physical complaints.
Gratitude also reduces stress. According to researchers Robert Emmons and Anjali Mishra, after looking at several different studies, “The evidence strongly supports the supposition that gratitude promotes adaptive coping and personal growth.” This means that we will be able to face challenges and unexpected events much more easily.
The obvious financial benefit here is that a healthier person is a more capable person. If we are healthier, we take less sick days. We have a clearer mind and can focus on the task at hand. This helps us make better decisions about our work, finances, and welfare. We all perform better when we’re approaching life from a perspective of thankfulness. We also feel better, look better, and are more confident. And in today’s world of stressful decisions and “bad” news, all of that stands out. This leads us to our next benefit:
Gratitude Extends Your Happiness
So what do I mean by “extends your happiness?” Gratitude makes us more pleasant to be around. Gratitude allows us to put difficult experiences in context. When we are grateful for what we do have, we can have joy amidst the struggle. We will find creative ways to use our resources to solve whatever problem is facing us. Soon, feelings like grief, loss, frustration, confusion, etc., will be replaced with feelings of contentment, satisfaction, clarity, and even joy. This can “extend” the happy, good times into – and even through – the rough times.
What’s the opposite of gratitude? Complaining, cynicism, even arrogance. Do you like spending time with people like that? I certainly don’t. Happiness, brought about by genuine gratitude, is contagious. That is a desirable quality in anyone! Who would you trust to make a good decision? The grumpy, small-minded leader who only sees what they don’t have? Or the positive, happy leader who is grateful for whatever resource is available, no matter how small? That second person, right?
So what is the financial takeaway here? Simple: if you’re happy doing more with less, you keep more in your pocket. You make better money decisions when you’re not trying to “keep up with the Jones’.” In his book, Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan For Achieving Your Most Important Goals, Michael Hyatt talks about the idea of “scarcity thinking” versus “abundant thinking.” Essentially, when we approach life from the viewpoint of scarcity, enough is never enough. And when that happens, we are never happy. Thinking abundantly leads to gratitude for what we do have.
Instead of seeing the car that’s four years old, we see the reliable transportation that gets us too and from work. Instead of complaining about how old our phone is, we’re amazed at the wonderful things we can do with this pocket-sized technology. We focus on the good, the usefulness, the blessings of what we do have instead of the “imagined void” of what we’re missing. We also stop seeing people only for what they can do for us. We begin to see what they have already done, and continue to do! This helps us with our next point.
Gratitude Advances Your Career
Okay, so here’s a thought that is VERY counter-intuitive! There’s this old-school idea that if you’re going to be a good manager you have to be tough. Never show emotion, never say “thank you,” make them really earn praise, and all that. But according to Jeremy Adam Smith, “Ninety-three percent [of people] agreed that grateful bosses are more likely to succeed, and only 18 percent thought that gratitude made bosses ‘weak.’ Most reported that hearing “thank you” at work made them feel good and motivated.”
Essentially, he says, we don’t just work for money; we also work for respect. For a sense of accomplishment, or a feeling of purpose. There has to be a basic amount of money for people to meet their needs, but people are looking for more than that. The money is the foundation, but there must be other things too, like a sense of accomplishment and a sense of respect.
But gratitude doesn’t just flow downward; it can flow up too. If you’re the boss, you’re usually the one who’s expressing gratitude to others. Unfortunately, it’s not that often that people say thanks to you. So a great way to build rapport with your boss is by remembering to recognize the things they do. This makes you stand out when it comes to promotions and raises. Expressing gratitude to your team makes them more productive increasing your bottom-line. And expressing gratitude to your boss puts you in their sights as a person of abundant thinking, worthy of abundant “reward.” It will also put you on their radar for another reason.
Gratitude Helps Accomplish Goals
How? Because gratitude enhances motivation. There’s a myth that says, “If I have enough, maybe I don’t need to achieve more.” Remember Emmons and Mishra that I mentioned above? Well, they had students list goals they hoped to reach over a two-month period. Ten weeks later, they checked back and found that grateful students were closer than others in the study. Contrary to the myth, Emmons and Mishra found that “gratitude enhances effortful goal striving.” It makes it easier.
But why? Because gratitude improves our patience. Gratitude makes us feel empowered. We focus on all of the resources we already have. When you’re focused on what you don’t have, you feel like you don’t have any options. Before you know it you’re hopeless, powerless, and stuck. We need to feel that sense of abundance and see there are resources that maybe we haven’t even identified yet. This will go a long way with your boss, and a long way with your finances.
According to researchers Francesca Gino and Bradley Staats, your brain releases dopamine when you achieve goals. Dopamine improves your attention, memory, and motivation. So even achieving a small goal can result in a positive feedback loop. This makes you more motivated to work harder going forward.
“This,” according to Michael Hyatt, “is why we need to stop and give thanks in the pursuit of a goal. We have to acknowledge the milestones along the way. That winning feeling you get when you stop and reflect on your achievements with gratitude is the very thing that will continue to propel you forward in the achievement of the big goal.”
Being grateful for what you have will help you find the resources – the money – you didn’t even know you had, to save for your future. And the more you hit little goals, you’ll find a desire to hit larger goals. It will become almost like a game, but one with a huge benefit in the end!
How?
So what are some ways we can increase our gratitude permanently and not just during the holidays? There are many things that I personally do daily to help maintain that attitude of gratitude year round. Here are just four ways you may want to consider:
- Journal every day for a few minutes. Find at least three things to be grateful for and list them in your journal. I personally like the Full Focus Journal because it prompts me to think of things to be grateful for and works in conjunction with my daily planner.
- Use a daily planner. This helps you to review each day and look at it from a fresh perspective. It’s a great way to start each day abundantly and leave negative feelings from the previous day behind. I like to use the Full Focus Planner because it helps me to zero in on what is really important for that day.
- Find someone to genuinely compliment and thank daily. I usually do this over Facebook messenger so that I can reach more people whom I admire but don’t have daily contact with. Finding the good in someone else and thanking them for that makes me feel happier and brighter.
- Offer a prayer of gratitude. I start and end every day by offering a prayer of gratitude. This causes me to really focus and think about who and what I have in my life that are blessings. I find that as I do so, more and more things come to mind and my prayer becomes a little longer than I expected.
I hope that this blog post helps you to cultivate even more gratitude in your life. It is something that I try to work on daily. I’ve personally found that as I have done so, my finances have improved and my business has grown. But most importantly, my personal relationships have become more meaningful and fulfilling – from mere acquaintances to my beloved wife and children! And that’s real wealth right there!
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