LEVEL UP: BE GRATEFUL!

Why Be Grateful?
People tend to focus on negative thoughts and feelings resulting in anxiety and depression. Focusing on positive feelings, and the positive things that happen in your life from day to day, can help you reverse those tendencies. It will lighten your mood and improve your outlook on life in general. Consciously expressing thanks daily can help you focus on the positive influences in your life and deflect the negative feelings that come your way.
Here are two ways gratitude can help you:
- Gratitude improves self-esteem. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that gratitude increased athletes’ self-esteem, an essential component to optimal performance. Other studies have shown that gratitude reduces social comparisons. Rather than becoming resentful toward people who have more money or better jobs—a major factor in reduced self-esteem—grateful people are able to appreciate other people’s accomplishments.
- Gratitude increases mental strength. For years, research has shown gratitude not only reduces stress, but it may also play a major role in overcoming trauma. A 2006 study published in Behavior Research and Therapy Vietnam War veterans with higher levels of gratitude experienced lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude was a major contributor to resilience following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Recognizing all that you have to be thankful for —even during the worst times—fosters resilience.
Additional ways showing gratitude can help:
· Helping you appreciate your positive life experiences
· Improving your sense of self-worth
· Providing an effective way of coping with stress and trauma
· Encouraging the tendency for you to improve your moral behavior
· Helping you build, and strengthen social bonds
· Keeping you in the present, helping you learn not to take things for granted, and not to dwell on past negative experiences
· Reducing the incidence of emotions like bitterness, greed or anger
Daily Commitment to Demonstrating Gratitude
An easy way to incorporate gratitude into our lives is to keep a gratitude journal. Keep a notebook and pen on your bedside table, and each night, before you go to bed, spend just a minute or two recording even one thing that made your day better, for which you can be thankful. Eventually, it will become second nature to record those thoughts, and help you trend away from focusing on the parts of your life that can bring you down.
Your mood can hold you back or allow you to see the world for all the good that it can offer. Gratitude is a powerful tool to help you level up in building self-esteem and self-confidence.
For more inspiration, check out these videos:
Brian Doyle: 365 Days of Thank You
This 8-minute talk comes from Brian Doyle, who discusses how a near-death experience led him to start thinking about the role of gratitude in his life. Specifically, Doyle made a commitment to genuinely thank one person in his life every single day for a full year. This short talk is not just an inspiring story but might cause the viewer to consider how they engage with gratitude in their daily lives.
Mike Robbins: The power of appreciation
This nearly 20-minute talk from a former professional baseball player and current speaker and author Mike Robbins focuses on gratitude in the workplace. In the talk, Robbins discusses the difference between recognition and appreciation and argues that appreciating employees for who they are rather than the things they do leads to better results for everyone. This is a good talk for anyone who wants to increase feelings of gratitude in their workplace, whether they are an employee or a manager.
Oprah’s Gratitude Journal
In this short, not-even-4-minute video, Oprah focuses on the power of gratitude by discussing what she has learned from her own gratitude journal, an exercise she had been practicing for 16 years at the time of the talk. This video is an extremely quick way to learn about the power of gratitude, and specifically the power of gratitude journals. Since the speaker is Oprah, it may also be easier to convince friends and family to give this video a watch and start considering the power of gratitude in their own lives.
-with your Success in Mind,
Adrian

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Why I Became a Personal and Business Transformation Strategist
Hello Beautiful! I went through a lot as a child/teen (abuse, homelessness, etc) but,…
adrianjeffersonchofor
Adrian Jefferson Chofor is a Confidence Coach, #1 International Bestselling Author, Motivational Speaker, CEO, owner and founder of Aspire to Inspire Transformational Practice, LLC helping women, teens, and tweens with her programs achieve the level of confidence needed to be fearless and boldly pursue their dreams. Adrian is an experienced and committed accredited personal development coach specializing in confidence building and living authentically.
She has been recognized by organizations such as America SCORES, Kaiser Permanente, Toastmasters International, the New York City Department of Education, and Families in Global Transition. She has been quoted in major media outlets such as ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS. Her #1 International Bestselling Book, Aspire to Your Greatness! was nominated for the Independent Authors Legacy Award (IALA) Authors in Leadership award. She was featured in the Toastmasters International global campaign ‘Find Your Voice’ and received the Leadership and Communication award.
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