How to Practice Gratitude and Be Happier (Even in Tough Times)

Perhaps you’ve heard that being more gratitude life can help you have a more positive mood (Be Happier). In fact, recent research has shown that grateful people tend to be happier, healthier and more fulfilled. Being grateful helps us deal with stress and be our best.
But how do you go about cultivating an attitude of gratitude (Practice Gratitude)?
Being grateful (Practice Gratitude) is more than just saying, ‘thank you.’ It means appreciating something each day and finding joy in life. Taking the time to recognize these positives encourages us, lifts our spirits and empowers us, especially when we share them with others.
These are the select times in your career when you want to be honest about what is happening in your personal life without getting airing too much of your personal business. You can’t always pretend like everything is fine – it’s to your benefit to tell your boss and a select few others that you are having a personal crisis if it is impacting your work so that they will understand why you are not at the top of your game.
Dr. Sanderson provided practical ways that each of us can incorporate happiness into our professional and personal lives. If you follow her tips and make small changes to your daily routine, you will feel a positive difference in your life.
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Here are Dr. Sanderson’s top strategies to increase happiness (they work even if you aren’t the most happy person by nature):
- Change little things in your daily life such as getting more sleep, regularly exercising, enjoying nature and meditating. All of these are natural mood boosters.
- Find your match personally and professionally. You must love what you do and who you’re with to be truly happy and successful.
- Read books you love.
Books are a great escape from your everyday life. (A note from me: reading is great but please don’t read anything depressing, self-help books that make you feel like you are the worst person in the universe or twisted, creepy horror books. They defeat the purpose of making you happy!)
- Be grateful.
Do two things to become more grateful (an attitude of gratitude): 1.) Keep a gratitude journal. Regularly write down for what you are most thankful. 2.) Make a gratitude visit to someone who has made a profound impact on your life. Do this before it’s too late for them and for you.
- Smile even when you aren’t happy. Studies have shown that the act of smiling can trick your brain into happiness.
- Savor the everyday moments an act of Gratitude life.
Relishing the little things – such as a sunny day, when your dog finally catches the Frisbee (my dog did this just once, but it was a great moment for both us), an ice cream sandwich (who doesn’t like ice cream? Okay, maybe lactose intolerant people don’t…), the flowers on your desk or the way your baby smiles at you – teaches you to be more grateful (attitude of gratitude) and appreciative of what you have, especially when things go wrong in life, which they inevitably will.
- Perform random acts of kindness and Gratitude.
Do good things for people without expecting anything in return. Give to charity. Compliment someone just because. Volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to you. Buy gifts for others.
- Spend money on experiences vs. things such as travel, concerts, cooking classes, a Broadway show and the like. It’s the idea of investing in experiences to which you can look forward with the people you care about most. Sanderson described it as the idea of “anticipation,” which she said, in turn, creates happiness rather than buying material things.
I think we can all relate to this – the feeling of excitement as you count down the days until a big vacation or seeing your favorite band in concert. As I said above, buying a fancy electronic gadget or handbag just doesn’t achieve the same lasting feeling of joy. But doing things you find meaningful will make you happier.
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- Avoid comparisons, Practice Gratitude.
They just make you feel bad. This is the idea of “Keeping up with the Joneses.” First off, I guarantee you that the Joneses’ life isn’t all that great when you peel back their curtains. Be thankful for what you have and your crazy, imperfect life.
- Build and maintain close relationships.
I agree with Sanderson that building and maintaining high-quality relationships both personally and professionally is the most important thing you can do to be happy. (Unless you are a hermit. Then by all means, don’t do this.)
Relationships are so important to our happiness and they can be frustrating because most of the time, the people in our lives don’t do what we want them to do when we want them to do it (how dare they!). But care about and love your imperfectly perfect favorite people anyway.
So the next time you’re going through a rough time, try choosing to be happy. Do more of what you love with the poeple you love. Smile more. Be kind to those around you. Work out as much as you can because it releases feel-good chemicals and you will feel better physically and mentally. Seek out those in your life who bring you joy – for me my dog and my one-year-old niece are among the highlights of my week.
Remember that for many of us, happiness is a choice. Of course there are times when you experience happiness without any work. Be thankful for those moments of pure joy. They won’t come easy. Life is unpredictable and finding ways to create a happy and meaningful life for yourself both inside and outside the office is key. There really is a silver lining in everything