13 Things Learned from Writing Gratitude Lists Follow this cheatsheet to discover gratitude and improve your health.
GRATITUDE LIST Cheatsheet Want to cultivate a feeling of appreciation and thanks with a simple, yet powerful process? Use this cheatsheet to practice the 13 things I learned about writing 1,024 gratitude lists. 1. It is hard at first Start by writing 3 things you are grateful for everyday. In the beginning, it may be difficult. Over time, it becomes easier and gradually becomes a part of your daily routine. TAKE ACTION. Write (3) things you are grateful for below. 2. There is always something to be grateful for No matter what is going on in life (business problems, someone cuts you off in traffic) there is ALWAYS something that you could find to be grateful for. Things like: your health, your family, clean water, owning a phone.
3. Gratitude is all around you You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. This applies to gratitude too. Surround yourself with people who are grateful and it will be easier for you to cultivate your own gratitude. Once you develop an attitude of gratitude, you start to notice more and more people with the same. 4. Gratitude grows the more you use it After a continuous gratitude practice, your lists will grow to 3 items and then to 6 and eventually to 20+ things. Gratitude is no different than anything else. Simply practice and you will get better at it. 5. It is a complete mind-shift Writing a gratitude list will slowly start to change your entire mind and way of thinking. For example, lost a business? You could be grateful for the opportunity to start over. Or, someone was rude to you? You could be grateful that they were showing you a good example of who you don t want to be. TAKE ACTION. Write something you might feel is bad, but find one thing you are grateful in it. Try it below!
6. It is almost never about the cash and prizes Gratitude doesn t have to equal lots of money and gifts. Gratitude is something that you get on the inside not the outside. 7. The more gratitude you have, the more you open yourself up for abundance. When you focus on the things that you are grateful for, it opens you to the source of all those things that came into your life. Ask yourself this: If I m not thankful for what I have, why should I get anything more? 8. Gratitude has very important moral functions Positive emotion of gratitude has three important moral functions and that it serves as a: 1. Moral barometer (we acknowledge and respond to to the perception that we have been the beneficiary of another person s kindness or good) 2. Moral motivator (it motivates us to want to do good things for other people) 3. Moral reinforcer (it strengthens our resolve to want to do good in the future)
9. It can increase and sustain positive emotion In a study by Prof. Emmons and Prof. McCullough, people who wrote about gratitude in a 10 week span, were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. 10. It can help stop negative thought patterns The average person has about 70,000 thoughts each day. Many of these thoughts simply repeat over and over again. And the problem, many of these thoughts are negative. With the practice of gratitude, you can replace these negative thoughts with positives ones. TAKE ACTION. Write a thank you note about someone in your life below! 11. Life becomes more enjoyable Think about two people - Bob and Gavin. Bob is always complaining and pissed off. Gavin is always happy and has a glow about him. Ask yourself this: Which person do I enjoy being around more? Which person do I think enjoys their life more?
12. You develop a fundamental belief that the world is good. Ask yourself this: Do I believe that the world is a good place or a bad place? If you are grateful TODAY (regardless of what s going on) you are going to find more things to be grateful for. You are going to attract more and more good into your life. And you are going to see the good in the world. 13. You have to share it Gratitude is a gift. One of the greatest joys that we get to experience in this world is giving gifts and making people s lives better. TAKE ACTION. Text or call a friend who you are grateful for and tell them why! If you want to read the full post about 13 Things I Learned from Writing Gratitude Lists, Click Here!