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I’ve Written Dozens of Articles About Gratitude. Here Are the 3 Lessons They All Boil Down To
I’ve been in the writing game for 15 years now, which means that 15 holiday seasons have come and gone. And each year, with the time of year focusing my thoughts on the theme of thankfulness, I’ve written something about the science or practice of gratitude.
I could do the same this year. Positive psychologists are still busily investigating the benefits of being more thankful, and the world definitely seems like it could use a dose of positivity and fellow feeling at the moment. But I thought I’d take a different approach.
Looking back at all the surveys, studies, and personal anecdotes I’ve dug through, what have I learned about gratitude and how it affects impacts our brains, our emotions, and our teams? Are some forms of gratitude more effective than others? And after so many years, what are the big, headline takeaways about gratitude I wish everyone understood?
Gratitude rewires your brain.
When Grammy award-winning singer LeAnn Rimes spoke to Inc. about her personal success hacks a few years back, one practice rose to the top — writing out a gratitude list every night. It sounds a bit hokey, Rimes acknowledged, but “when you start training your mind that way, your mind starts to look…
