To strengthen a muscle, you have to do your reps!
By now you know that having a daily gratitude practice can change your life in profound ways.
But does it have to be a daily thing or can you just be grateful whenever you remember? Well, research suggest that just like building muscle, you have to do your reps. So, in order to get the most benefit, you need to practice gratitude daily.
The easiest way to do that is to incorporate it into your routine in a way that makes or at a time that you’re most likely to do it. Here are some suggestions you could try:
- When you wake up – think about what you’re grateful for in the upcoming day.
- When you’re travelling to work/school describe three things you’re grateful for. If you have kids, do this with them. Gratitude is a powerful tool which is also great for kids. It helps kids build appreciation, self-confidence, patience, kindness and resilience.
- During meal times talk a bout your day and what you’re grateful for. During dinner at our house, we have a range of ‘games’ we play and one of those is what we call High, Low, Grateful. Each person takes a turn to tell us about the best part of their day, something that happened that they weren’t overly happy about and something that they are grateful for.
- Find the gold. Take time to notice the beauty in the small things around you.
- Take time to express appreciation to others. It might be a thank you note, some act of service to someone. Showing people that you’ve noticed their kindness or contribution (the big and the small).
- Write it down. Make a note of what you’re grateful for and keep it in a box or gratitude jar. It’s a great thing to open up and read all those notes on a ‘meh’ day. Be specific about what it is you’re grateful for and why in order to get the most out of the process.
We have created a gorgeous gratitude kit that looks beautiful anywhere. It comes with an ‘I’m grateful for’ note pad and a ‘thank you’ note pad to help show appreciation for the effort and kindness of others.
As a special treat for kids (or adults who like the occasional (or regular) cuddle with a teddy bear), we have a kit that comes with a cuddly teddy. A neat little way to get kids practicing gratitude by holding their teddy and saying what they are grateful for before bed. Then, if they have a bad day, holding their gratitude teddy will help remind them of all the good things too.