Gratitude Practice
Give. Thanks.
Daily Gratitude Practice
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”
Here’s the thing, it takes practice. Actual, daily practice to become good at the thing you seek to change or the thing you hope to develop within yourself or your circumstances.
Gratitude practice is no different.
However, a funny thing happens when you begin the practice of gratitude, and it’s subtle. At first, you might struggle to notice all that you have to be grateful for or the practice seems abstract. Stay with it. Seriously.
Get into a routine of thinking and reflecting on the people, interactions, and experiences you are truly grateful for, then, carve out the time to be intentional about your reflections and actually practice. It could be anything.
The routine will form after a few days. It might take you five minutes each day. One technique is to time yourself. I put the timer on for three minutes as part of my daily reflection (there is more to this routine too). Don’t go beyond 3-5 minutes, the habit won’t form if it feels like it takes too much of your time.
As you progress with your practice, begin to notice how you feel, how others feel. Pay close attention to these feelings. Evaluate your practice after a week or so by reflecting on some of these questions:
Are the number of complaints down?
What changes are you noticing in your mood and attitude?
What impact is this practice having on your growth and development? Does it match your expectations?
What impact is this having on helping you see more of the ‘good’ happening around you each day?
What impact is this having on the people you interact with in your life?
Is it the change you were seeking?
My journey into this gratitude practice grew out of getting curious about how to level up. My complaints are down, my interactions with people are up, and I am witnessing and discussing more of the ‘good’ than ever before as a result of this practice.
Please feel free to take an actual look at my gratitude practice in the clip above and feel free to comment.
If you implement a gratitude practice of your own, I would be thrilled to hear about your routine. Please consider leaving a comment below or reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram to share.
I really want to hear from you!