November 23, 2020

Below is a lesson from The Flow Research Collective on gratitude, as well as our key learnings.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

Practice Gratitude to Unlock Your Best Self

By Clare Sarah Goodridge

Gratitude is the quality of thankfulness and a readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness. 

Scientific studies have shown that gratitude can:

• Improve sleep. 
• Enhance relationships. 
• Keep you healthier. 
• Increase motivation. 
• Boost happiness. 

In this article and accompanying podcast, you will see that gratitude is a skill, a trait, and a useful filtering mechanism. 

Practicing gratitude daily will make you happier, and healthier. 

Continue reading and listen to the podcast here.

Key Learnings:

• Gratitude is the quality of thankfulness and a readiness to show appreciation and to return kindness. 
• Scientific studies have shown that gratitude can:
  • Improve sleep. 
  • Enhance relationships. 
  • Keep you healthier. 
  • Increase motivation. 
  • Boost happiness. 
• Practicing gratitude daily will make you happier, and healthier.
• Gratitude is associated with improvements in mood, life satisfaction, and overall well being.
• “The academic definition of gratitude is the feeling we can have when we receive something that comes from some effort or cost to someone and that fulfills a need for us.” (Dr. Glenn Fox)
• Gratitude and Needs
  • When you get something from someone that helps you out, it is interpersonal gratitude. 
  • When gratitude fulfills a need for us, these needs can be psychological, personal, or Maslowvian.
  • This type of gratitude shows us that gratitude and stress relief can be interweaved.
  • Gratitude sometimes can include a little pain and vulnerability involved.  
• Gratitude vs Appreciation
  • “I think appreciation is more like the sun is coming through the window very nicely and I can have a moment of appreciation for that.”  Where gratitude is less general, “the way the sun is reflecting off the roof tiles is quite beautiful to me.” (Dr. Glenn Fox)
  • Gratitude is very specific and multidimensional where appreciation is more generalized. 
• Gratitude and Creativity
  • In order to experience more gratitude you should try to get rid of:
    • Insecurities. 
    • Labels. 
    • Prior expectations. 
    • Judgements.
  • When you do that, you can see something for what it really is. Gratitude comes as a result of that perspective. 
  • This is related to what many creatives experience as “newness of appreciation.” 
  • It is precisely this newness of appreciation and the associated sense of exploration and discovery, that stimulates the deep immersion in the creative process., which itself may trigger a shift in quality of experience, generally in terms of an intensification or heightening of experience. (Barnaby Nelson and David Rawlings)
• Gratitude as a Filter
  • Keeping a daily gratitude journal – Knowing that you’re going to be journaling about gratitude at the end of the day creates this filter on life.
  • Write letters of gratitude to people in your life
  • Once we establish the mindset of looking for things to be grateful for, we notice areas we missed.