How Gratitude Rewires Your Brain

What Exactly is Gratitude?

Practicing gratitude involves sincerely appreciating and acknowledging the positives in life, whether through words or actions. By actively expressing thanks, you shift your mindset towards positivity, becoming more aware of the good things around you. After a decade of research by Dr. Robert Emmons, the world’s leading scientist on gratitude, it has been found that those who regularly practice gratitude experience better relationships, are happier, and are healthier. Further research suggests that in a work environment, it allows for more perseverance during challenges. Overall, practicing gratitude generates more positive thoughts in your brain and more positive interactions with others.

The Simplicity and Effectiveness of Gratitude Journaling

Gratitude journaling is a form of journaling where you write about things, events, or people you are grateful for. The beauty of this form of journaling is it is very easy to do; only a couple of minutes are required! In addition, there is no barrier to entry since only you are interacting with what you write.

The prompt I find most effective is to pick one person everyday that I am happy is in my life and to describe, in detail, how they positively affect my life and how much worse my life would be without them. The more specific to that thing the better because you will appreciate its uniqueness more. Every night try to reflect on your day and pick the single thing that caused you the most joy and describe it.

Generating Kind Thoughts Through Gratitude

Another use of practicing gratitude is generating kind thoughts. When you leave your thoughts to themselves, they commonly take a negative turn. Constantly practicing only thinking positive thoughts will get your brain into the practice of making them by itself. Especially in situations where you feel like complaining and that everything is going wrong, try to pick one good thing that is occurring regardless. Then, attempt to limit your attention to only that positive thing. This exercise will make your outlook on life more positive and you will emit that warmth to others.

Spreading Happiness by Making Others Happy

Lastly, I find that the best way to cheer yourself up is to try to make another person happier. Making someone a little happier is so easy and so rewarding. A kind word, a compliment, or a nice gesture such as holding a door for someone can have a big impact. Fortunately, their happiness spills over to you and you also become happier. Try to incorporate compliments and kind words into your daily conversations and the change will be noticeable.

Citations

Use Gratitude to Counter Stress and Uncertainty

How to Cultivate Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride on Your Team