3 Simple Steps to Practice Gratitude
Hey there my Intentional Friends,
Gratitude has always been one of my Top Core Values. So, today I am going to share the 3 Simple steps to Practice Gratitude
It is time for another Gratitude-themed post .
In October 2020, I decided I would make it a Gratitude Week every 8 weeks. So this week, I am going to share 3 simple steps that you can practice gratitude. Well, I am not able to do it at the 8th week exactly so we’ll just say around 8 weeks.
Aside from sharing these 3 Simple Steps to Practice Gratitude, I also created a 7-day Gratitude Journal that you can download for free.
Click here to download the Gratitude Journal. It’s free.
Why Practice Gratitude?
Because Gratitude is everything.
Practising Gratitude gives us a happy feeling when we appreciate something or someone.
I grew up from a poor family so I know too well how it is to have nothing. I am not trying to be on the Pity Road but I just wanted to mention this briefly because having nothing at the beginning played a big part on who I am now.
Thanks to my Mother who taught me (and my siblings) how to keep a grateful heart. She used to tell us that no matter how small it is we should always be thankful for what we have (and what we receive).
Eventually, it became a habit and now it is passed on to Kuya and M. These kids make me so proud every time they say “thank you”. Both kids are grateful and I am so thankful for having grateful kids.
At work, I have this habit of saying ” Thank you for today” to whoever has helped me on that day. It started in 2014 when I got transferred to another Department. The New Department is so much better than the previous one and it made me appreciate my work and my people at work more.
The job was not easy but I was grateful for the support I got from my immediate boss and all the Coaches. Since then every single day I make it a point that I say thank you to them. Six years on and I am still in the same Department and I am still happy there.
If you want to know the other benefits of practising gratitude, Proven benefits of practicing Gratitude is also a good read.
Related Posts:
3 Steps to Practice Gratitude
I am going to share with you the 3 simple steps I use to keep a grateful heart. Just a heads up, they are simple steps but they are not easy. But don’t worry I got you. I created templates that you can use.
1. Take notice
Just pause even for few seconds. Be aware of what is going on around you. Full Disclosure. I struggle to stay still. That’s the truth. However, I make sure that in the morning, I pause for literally one minute to write one thing I am grateful for. As I go through my day I write more.
Me being me, who find it hard to slow down, It took me a while to be consistent with taking notice.
In my Bullet Journal, the first entries in my daily log are always something I appreciate. Sometimes it could be something really simple. Some days it could be something that is a big deal. Regardless, the feeling of being thankful is the same.
Try this: at this moment, pause for a moment. You can time yourself if you must. Just for 30 seconds, try to notice your feeling. What can you appreciate now about how you feel. You can also take notice of your surrounding and try to find something that you are thankful for.
2. Reframe negative thoughts
Practising Gratitude doesn’t make our life perfect. The truth is, challenges will still be there. However, being grateful means we see things differently. Our perspective changes and this what makes the difference.
Reframing our negative thoughts means we are consciously changing our interpretation of that thought. When we catch ourselves with a negative thought, we can start challenging that thought if it is helpful.
It doesn’t mean we need to force ourselves to turn everything into positive. Things, situations, thoughts can stay negative but when we reframe our thoughts, it means we change our perspective towards them. Just remember to be realistic.
Try this: When you catch yourself having negative thoughts, just acknowledge it. It can help to name it or just say how you feel. Then, try to look at it at a different angle.
In my example below, normally I would focus on the negative which is the disorganised lounge room, which will then spiral to blaming myself for not being able to manage household chores. Normally followed by snap-at-any-one-in-my-way while cleaning up.
By Practising this step, reframing negative thoughts, I was able to just appreciate the fact that everyone was very patient (kids, R and myself). So on this day we just went on about our day and did a quick tidy up.
3. Make it a habit
If we want to develop the habit of practising gratitude, the obvious way is to just do it. Starting this practice is easy but making it as a habit is the challenging part of these 3 steps.
So, I have suggestions.
- we need to simply decide a time for it
- the next thing is to make it easy to do it
- arm yourself with a the right tool.
Making the habit to be grateful
I suggested 3 simple ways to make this Gratitude a habit, so let me explain a little bit more about it.
To make a gratitude habit, consider doing the following.
Decide what time you would like to take notice
I know it sounds silly but believe me, scheduling it will help a lot. I do it every morning. It take less than a. minute.
Make it easy to do
To make it easy, start small. It could be something like this. I will take notice in the morning before I have my first bite of my breakfast. It will only a few seconds. Then you can try just for a day. No commitment (yet) of doing it the next day. Just do it for a day, see how you would feel.
Then the next day. Repeat. Keep going until the habit becomes a part of your routine.
Use the right tool
When I say use the right tool, It doesn’t mean there is only one right tool. The right tool is whatever it is that works for you. The bottom line is, you have something to use so you can track the action (take notice, address negative thoughts and keeping the gratitude habit).
So, you can use digital app to track, or you can use the good old pen and paper. If you must, try the digital tracker first then see how you go. You can always try another way.
What’s important is you are consistently taking notice, and paying attention to your thoughts and you are tracking your action.
Once you get used to doing it, you may find that you won’t need trackers anymore.
Next Action
I hope what I just shared helps you. If you have any suggestion on how to keep track of a habit please comment below.
I highly encourage for you to download the templates I created. It is completely free and you can reprint and use it over and over again.
If you decided to use the template, could you please let me know if it helped you at all?
Til next time,
Much Love,
E
