Gratitude- What are you grateful for today?
By Barb Girson
We all know the importance of expressing gratitude. However, it often falls by the wayside in the workplace. Why? We get busy, we are in our own head, or we are focused on a task. We are being efficient, deadline driven, and organized. We are in a hurry. We need to get stuff done. We are moving fast or maybe we are multi-tasking… and showing gratitude and appreciation takes time. What can we do about this?
I love the Thanksgiving holiday. Not only do I treasure the cooking, connecting and celebrating with my family but also it is an annual alarm clock to pause and to give and get thanks.
- What impact does expressing appreciation and gratitude have on your work?
- How can you be more intentional in the act of giving in our daily business practice?
- What is the best question to ask ourselves when we are feeling down?
- What impact does expressing appreciation and gratitude have on your work?
Gratitude increases well-being and productivity in your work life. There have been various studies that show a correlation between receiving appreciation at work and productivity, well-being, and employee engagement. If you are trying to increase your team’s output, begin by increasing the appreciation you deliver.
In a study conducted by Harvard Medical School and researchers at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, they found that “university employees who heard a positive message of gratitude made 50% more calls than those who did not.”
Who knew that such a simple effort could initiate transformational impact?
How can we exhibit more gratitude in our daily business practice?
To increase gratitude at work, set a specific number of gratitude gifts you will hand out daily. Start now and pay attention to your gratitude gifts over the next month. Consider what it is you’re expressing appreciation for, and then express appreciation honestly and fully. Author Luther Tychonievich, in his article on “Accepting Gratitude”, identifies two messages in any expression of sincere gratitude:
1. Explicit: You did something of value to me.
2. Implicit: That thing was beyond what propriety and duty demanded.
Remembering these messages will allow you to connect to appreciation, giving and acceptance on a deeper and more meaningful level. Think about it, who are you grateful for today? How can you let them know in a small and personal way? And lastly, what impact does expressing appreciation and gratitude have on your work, team and organization?
What is the best question to ask ourselves when we are feeling down?
According to UCLA neuroscientist Alex Korb, Ph.D., the best question to ask around not only Thanksgiving but also every day is, “What am I grateful for?”
Gratitude affects our brain on a cellular level by activating two feel-good naturally occurring neurotransmitters. It activates the production of dopamine and serotonin.
When we ask ourselves, “what are we grateful for?” we activate the positive lens from which we view our world. Another fascinating fact about gratitude is during those dark, gloomy days, even if we do a quick scan for that which we appreciate, our brain search returns the message, “NO MATCHES FOUND” there is still redeeming value. According to Korb, the act of remembering to search for gratitude alone is exercising an important form of emotional intelligence and resilience.
And the more we increase our emotional intelligence, the easier being grateful becomes.
“It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence,” Korb explains. “One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful,” he writes.
“Thank You”
Which is why I’m remembering to thank each and every one of you for your support and for being my subscribers or visitors.
Additional Reading and Sources:
http://yogaforhealthyaging.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-biochemical-basis-for-gratitude.html
http://webwriterspotlight.com/mental-hacks-to-get-back-to-being-happy-backed-by-science
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lat7h/blog/posts/298.html
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234668
