What's the fuss about gratitude journaling? What I learned after 30 days of keeping a gratitude journal.

Since last year I have been on a journey of becoming more productive and creative. This year I'll be launching my second book and I have exciting plans to grow my CEO coaching business to the next level so I can help more change-makers in South East Asia. One of the things I have started to do is keeping a simple gratitude journal that I have in both digital and physical format where I jot down things I'm grateful for daily.

Every morning within the first 60 minutes of my day I take a few moments to really think of things I'm grateful for and why. The why part is important because then it goes deeper into what emotions it triggers. I've been doing this consistently in the last 60 days and it has lifted up my game in many ways, so I wanted to do some proper research on the impact of gratitude on business performance, relationships, mental state, and overall well-being.

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways, gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.

Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can't feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. And, although it may feel contrived at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.

These are the lessons I've learned and why I advise every entrepreneur to keep a gratitude journal:

1-What you focus on will grow

To intentionally think about things you are grateful for trains your mind to look at the positive things in every situation. Every morning you ask yourself that question: "What am I grateful for today?". This question shifts your focus to the positive elements, the opportunities, the new doors that open up for you and suddenly you start to see that life is happening for you instead of to you. And this is a huge mindset shift that will elevate your game.

Gratitude means recognizing the things that others have done for you, as well as what you have, rather than focusing on what you don’t.

2-Expressing gratitude increases motivation

Especially in fast-growing companies, it is easy to overlook the need for a "thank you" because time is ticking and sales need to be made, funds need to be raised and KPI's need to be achieved. But the thing is that gratitude on the work floor impacts culture, people and eventually the topline. Research from the University of Pennsylvania randomly divided university fund-raisers into two groups. One group made phone calls to solicit alumni donations in the same way they always had. The second group, assigned to work on a different day, received a pep talk from the director of annual giving, who told the fund-raisers she was grateful for their efforts. During the following week, the university employees who heard her message of gratitude made 50% more fund-raising calls than those who did not.

Gratitude boosts motivation and output!

3-Gratitude boosts happiness

According to research done by Emmons & McCullough in 2003, simply journaling for five minutes a day about what we are grateful for can enhance our long-term happiness by over 10%. It turns out that noticing what we already have can make us feel more positive about our lives and shows that those who pay attention to what is good in their life instead of what is bad are more likely to feel positive about their life.

4-Enhance our positive emotions

No room for other feelings if you are filled with positive emotions. In today's world it's easy to get distracted by the success of your peers, but feeling grateful every day keeps the focus on your own journey. Research has shown that gratitude reduces envy, facilitates positive emotions, and makes us more resilient (Amin, 2014). After all, if we are grateful for what we have, what room is there to compare with others and focus on what you don't have?

Gratitude reduces eny and makes us more resilient.

5-Gratitude makes your more like-able

At the end of the day, whether you're a leader in your company or an entrepreneur, we all work with people. We sell to people. We work with people. We lead people. People. People. People. Research shows that those who are more grateful have access to a wider social network, more friends, and better relationships on average (Amin, 2014). This is likely because of the effect that being grateful has on how trustworthy, social, and appreciative we seem to others.

Conclusion

Keeping a gratitude journal is a habit that is a keeper. It will elevate how you think, it will help you focus on the things that matter and keeps important what is important. Do you think that a gratitude journal can help you achieve more in life and business? Leave your comments below.

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Andrew Senduk is a CEO coach, keynote speaker and author that helps business leaders build better companies and become better at life. If you want Andrew to speak at your event you can fill in your details at www.andrewsenduk.com/speaking or find more information at www.andrewsenduk.com and @andrew.senduk.