Soak in the Good: A Gratitude Practice
We have written and re-written this post and are deciding to keep it simple and invite you to
Soak in the Good
Use the month of November to re-connect with yourself, with the world around you, and with the people in it, through gratitude. Take 2 minutes each day to scan through your routines, experiences, interactions, and acknowledge three new things that you are grateful for and why. If you have the time and space, write them down — translating our thoughts into concrete language makes us more aware of what we are actually thinking and deepens the emotional impact of those thoughts.
This practice of expressing gratitude, when done habitually, has proven to increase happiness. Shawn Achor has found that the effects of a sustained gratitude practice are:
Productive energy rises by 31%
Likelihood of promotion rises by 40%
Intelligence rises significantly
Memory deepens
Social bonds become deeper, feel more connected to one another
We sleep better, our symptoms feel less acute
The same level of stress within someone’s life when you’re positive and grateful has a 23% drop in the negative effects of stress on your life
If you’re feeling the good vibes, which we trust that you will after a week of practicing, we invite you to go a step further and bring others into your practice — share your gratitude with those for whom you are grateful in a letter. This act will further deepen the social bonds Shawn mentions above. If this feels daunting, ask yourself the following questions:
Who has made a positive impact on my life recently?
How did they make that impact?
Why am I grateful for them?
Feeling ready to get started? We’ve got one more thing for you! Volume 1 of Sincerely, our quarterly care package, was designed entirely to support a gratitude letter writing practice. We’ve curated 8 cards perfect for expressing gratitude, provided 8 postage stamps, shared guided meditations to support your writing (inside the pamphlet pictured above, included a letter ledger to keep track of the notes you write, and offered exclusive Of Note Stationers rewards available only to subscribers.
Note: Volume 1 is only available in November!
Shawn Achor insights were pulled from his interview with Dan Harris on 10% Happier (Episode 156), we highly recommend listening!
You might also like these blog posts:
