Growing Gratitude Challenge - Day One

Welcome to day one of the growing gratitude challenge.  So why, as leaders, would we spend a week focusing on gratitude? To answer that, we need to think about what gratitude is. From a psychological perspective, it's best to think of gratitude as having two elements. The first element is recognising the good things in our life. Most people would agree with that definition. The second element though is often overlooked, and that is appreciating that many of these good things are due to other people and factors other than ourselves. Much of what we can be grateful for in life is a gift from others rather than a reward for our own actions. Gratitude only really makes sense in the context of community - whether that's the community around you at work, where you study, where you live, or with your family and friends. Gratitude is both an emotional state and an ongoing trait or disposition. We can feel gratitude in a moment. But we can also develop a grateful outlook to our life. We can actively seek out things to be grateful for through daily practices. Equally, we can seek out things to be disappointed or negative about. Much of gratitude is in the outlook we bring and where we choose to focus our attention and efforts. So why does gratitude matter? The research into gratitude outlines a range of benefits. For the individual the benefits of gratitude range from improved physical and mental health, elevated mood and happiness, increased life satisfaction, and reduced burnout. By way of example, patients recovering from heart failure who completed a gratitude journal had reduced signs of inflammation after an 8 week period. Other research showed people reported better and longer sleep, and improved overall physical health by increasing their practice of gratitude. For groups and organisations, research has demonstrated that gratitude can increase generosity and kindness, while helping to build stronger relationships and improving work climate. Gratitude is like the glue for society that binds people together. If someone is generous towards you, you're likely to feel grateful and, in turn, do something nice back for them or for someone else. Gratitude multiplies. So on day one of this challenge, I would like you to think about the current balance of negative and positive inputs into your life at the moment. What are you feeding yourself? Where are you focusing your attention?  By way of example, I recently found myself becoming absorbed in true crime documentaries on Netflix. Before long, the world around me seemed to be filled with art thieves and serial killers. I had let the ratio of negative to positive inputs become out of balance, and it changed my outlook on the world. So we start this challenge with two simple reflections: What people, activities or habits feed your disappointment or discouragement? What is bringing you down at the moment? What people, activities or habits feed your gratitude? What is elevating you up at the moment? Note down your thoughts in your workbook.  Download the workbook at Leadership Today or via Leadership Today On-Demand