When it comes to fighting off worry, anxiety, sadness, and discontentment, there may be no better life hack than the practice of gratitude. There is now significant science around the many benefits of being a thankful person (not to mention, being a more awesome person to be around!).
During this Thanksgiving week, are you up to start one simple habit to maintain a thankful perspective? It’ll take a good 5 minutes, but can drastically improve the other 10,075 minutes of your week — yes, it improves your sleep minutes, too ;).
- Make a list of things you’re grateful for. Slow down for a second. Take a couple of deep breathes. Think about this past week’s victories, moments, interactions, accomplishments – both big and small. Don’t worry if the list isn’t complete or pretty. Don’t even worry if your list is cheesy. But get it all down.
- Email it to yourself, scheduling it to hit your inbox one week from now. (instructions for Gmail, Outlook)
- When you receive the email a week later, read through the list and add to it. Highlight a few items. Edit a few items with more description. Add a little note to one you are especially grateful for. Remind your future self to be grateful for something about to happen.
- Repeat steps 2 & 3 every week.
It’s as simple as that. You’ve now just given yourself a personalized weekly reminder of to practice gratitude.
Here’s my list collected over a few months of doing this:
- Great coffee
- Orange/pink/purple sunsets with clouds
- Forgiveness from God and others
- That first bite into a great meal
- Being a dad
- Being a husband
- Being a brother
- Being an uncle
- Being accepted even while being warty
- Hitting a personal record on an Olympic lift
- Mindless action movies
- Family farms
- The lime tree near us
- Freedom to choose
- Guacamole with just the right amount of lemon
- The wind and the shade on a hot day
- The peeking sun on a cold day
- Friendships
- Occasional, random instant chemistry with a new friend
- That I can type my thoughts here instead of writing them
- People with great curiosity
- Good bye kiss from the wife in the morning
- Facetime, I can talk to anyone even from the remote places of the earth
- That last lift in a tough crossfit WOD
- Those crane grabbing prize machines in arcades
- Craftsman who love their craft
- Quotes that suddenly pierce through the cloud of lalaland
- Fermented vegetables in just about every major culture
- Awesome nieces
- Oh, and a pretty awesome nephew (Nathan, I’d be surprised if you’re reading this)
- How the human body heals itself
- Simple ideas that have worked through their complexity
- Stillness in the early morning
- Hot showers
- Watching grandkids play with grandparents
- Kids eating ice cream
- Hot sauce of every kind
- Being able to laugh
- Perspective
- Time, today
- iPhone
- eBooks
- That feeling of zapping a mosquito with a zapper
- A good nap
- YouTube
- Purpose and calling
- Minions
- Teachers, coaches, and mentors
- Discovering an insect you’ve never seen before
- People who have little but are so grateful
- Spare tires