Of all life’s lessons, one of the most simplest and powerful is gratitude and counting your blessings. A person who begins each day with gratitude is very “rich.” Rich because he or she accept everything that comes on his or her path with thankfulness.
And now there is research to back this. Studies by Robert Emmons, PhD, one of the world’s foremost experts on gratitude– in his book, “Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier,” has revealed that by practising gratitude, you can actually increase your happiness levels by about 25 percent.
People who were in the gratitude condition were more optimistic about the future, they felt better about their lives, and they even did almost 1.5 hours more exercise a week than others.
For the very simple fact, the feeling of gratitude makes you more conscious and sensitive to life. Every encounter, every occasion becomes a medium for self-awareness and growth. You become more welcoming to life.
When a good outcome will happen, the response will be thank you. When a failure will happen, the response will be thank you for the lesson. When help comes their way, the response will be thank you for the support.
When no help comes, the response will be thank you for letting me tap into my power within.Plus the power of gratitude is not limited to the individual himself. It radiates across to all around him. To put it simply, gratitude increases social capital – in two studies with 243 total participants, those who were 10% more grateful than average had 17.5% more social capital.
Plus the power of gratitude is not limited to the individual himself. It radiates across to all around him. Gratitude increases social capital – in two studies with 243 total participants, those who were 10% more grateful than average had 17.5% more social capital.
People with more social capital are more popular, more loved and admired by others. Ultimately we all want to be around people who are happy and radiate positivity.
Plus it is very difficult to wear out a person who has gratitude written all over them. In fact it even elicits helpful behaviors toward both them and the person they are interacting with.
In two of the gratitude experiments, conducted by Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, & Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton School, they asked 57 students to give feedback to a fictitious student, Eric, regarding his sloppy cover letter for a job. Half were emailed a terse confirmation: “I received your feedback on my cover letter.” The other half received gratitude: “I received your feedback on my cover letter. Thank you so much! I am really grateful.”
When Gino and Grant measured the students’ sense of self-worth afterward, 25 percent of the group that received just an acknowledgment felt higher levels of self-worth, compared with 55 percent of the group that received thanks.
In a follow-up experiment, participants received a message from another fictitious student, Steven, asking for feedback on his cover letter. Would participants who had received thanks from Eric be more likely to help Steven? Indeed. More than double the percentage of students in the gratitude group (66 percent) helped Steven, versus just 32 percent of those in the no-gratitude contingent.
By missing chances to express gratitude, organizations and leaders lose relatively cost-free opportunities to motivate, Gino said.
This indicates the enormous potential of gratitude in empowering organisations & communities to perform better and continually enhance their results. To sum it up, the power of gratitude is all encompassing and enlivens everyone who crosses its path. If you want to feel rich, start your day with gratitude and counting your blessings!