When life feels stressful, it can be hard to sit and remember all the good things you have going for you, but dedicating some time to doing just this can have profound benefits!
If you haven’t already explored a gratitude practice, World Gratitude Day is an excellent opportunity to explore why it could help you in multiple ways – including when it comes to achieving your career goals.
What is Gratitude?
Gratitude is one of those concepts that, on the surface, sounds pretty simple, but when you try to define it further, you might find yourself a bit lost!
According to one of the world’s leading experts on gratitude, Robert Emmons, there are two key components to gratitude:
- Gratitude is an affirmation of the good things in our life and the world in general.
- Gratitude exists within us; we all have the capacity to feel, acknowledge and benefit from gratitude.
In recent years, gratitude practice has become one of the easiest ways to boost your positive mental health and feel better about yourself and life in general, even when things might be feeling stressful.
What is World Gratitude Day?
World Gratitude Day takes place on the 21st of September every year.
The day aims to remind us of the importance of expressing gestures of thanks and appreciation. Sometimes we get caught up in our busy lives, school, homework, and trying to get everything done – and we neglect to show how grateful we are for the people around us.
Many people, including psychologists, believe that an intentional gratitude practice where you spend a little time each day listing a small number of good things you’re grateful for can positively impact your mood and mindset over time.
Gratitude is also about being kind to others without necessarily expecting kindness to be reciprocated. It focuses on the actions that help the world feel like a better place for everyone.
4 Ways Gratitude Can Help Your Reach Your Career Goals
Practising gratitude helps to shape the way we think and can give us a better perspective on the world around us and our lives.
While gratitude won’t directly help you achieve your goals, practising gratitude will boost many skills and the mindset that have been proven effective in helping individuals reach their goals in different areas of life – including their careers!
Let’s take a look at how:
1. Gratitude improves motivation.
In one study, researchers asked students to list the goals they wanted to reach within two months. Some students were coached on how to practice gratitude, and some weren’t. Ten weeks into the study, the grateful students were closer to achieving their goals than those who weren’t practising gratitude.
It’s thought that gratitude can help motivate us to reflect on the behaviours we want to repeat each day, leading us to pick the positive behaviours that will help us achieve our goals.Â
2. Gratitude makes you more patient.
Gratitude can teach us to remember that there are good things every day, reducing our need to seek immediate gratification because we know there will always be good things in the future.
3. Gratitude helps you focus on what matters most.
Most common gratitude practices encourage you to spend a few minutes at the end of the day to reflect on three things you’re grateful for that happened. Some practices also encourage you to think ahead to three things you’re looking forward to the next day.
Narrowing your focus in this way helps hone in on the things that matter to you, which can help give you better clarity on what you want to prioritise in your life.
4. Gratitude boosts your resilience.
Many people struggle to remember all the positive things during their day, especially when they’re feeling stressed or worried about the future. Practising gratitude has been shown to help support overall emotional health, including resilience.
Some psychologists believe that gratitude is like a mind-muscle – you need to work it out to strengthen it. When you do, you’ll reap many great benefits that can help you feel more ready to face challenges and tap into an internal belief that you can handle whatever comes your way.
Add Some Gratitude
Reaping the benefits of gratitude only takes a little bit of your time and, with commitment and practice, can lead to some great results!
You can practice gratitude daily, weekly or monthly, and it’s as simple as getting a pen and paper and writing down at least three things you’re grateful for.
Try not to put too much pressure on yourself when you start this kind of practice, as it can feel funny trying to think of the things you’re grateful for to begin with! In time, you’ll find it gets easier, and you’ll have lots of good things to put on your list.
Gratitude doesn’t have to be about the big things either – even the little things that made you smile or laugh are great examples of what you can be grateful for.
World Gratitude Day is the perfect chance to get started!
