10 Grateful Steps to Happiness
PsyBlog has gone gratitude-mad this week, what with reporting experimental evidence that practicing gratitude can increase happiness by 25% and reviewing 'thanks' , the book by the study's author. To round it off here are Dr Robert Emmons' top 10 tips for actually becoming more grateful, and consequently more happy.
1. Keep a gratitude journal
Sit down, daily, and write about the things for which you are grateful. Start with whatever springs to mind and work from there. Try not to write the same thing every day but explore your gratefulness.
2. Remember the bad
The way things are now may seem better in the light of bad memories. Don't forget the bad things that have happened, the contrast may encourage gratefulness.
3. Ask yourself three questions
Choose someone you know, then first consider what you have received from them, second what you have given to them and thirdly what trouble you have caused them. This may lead to discovering you owe others more than you thought.
4. Pray
Whether you are Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or atheist, a ritualised form of giving thanks may help increase gratitude.
5. Use your senses
80% of people say they are thankful for their health. If so, then get back in touch with the simple human fact of being able to sense what is out there: use your vision, touch, taste and smell to experience the world, and be thankful you can.
6. Use visual reminders
Two big obstacles to being grateful are simply forgetting and failing to be mindful. So leave a note of some kind reminding you to be grateful. It could be a post-it, an object in your home or another person to nudge you occasionally.
7. Swear an oath to be more grateful
Promise on whatever you hold holy that you'll be more grateful. Sounds crazy? There's a study to show it works.
8. Think grateful thoughts
Called 'automatic thoughts' or self-talk in cognitive therapy, these are the habitual things we say to ourselves all day long. What if you said to yourself: "My life is a gift" all day long? Too cheesy? OK, what about: "Every day is a surprise".
9. Acting grateful is being grateful
Say thank you, become more grateful. It's that simple.
10. Be grateful to your enemies?
It'll take a big creative leap to be thankful to the people who you most despise. But big creative leaps are just the kind of things likely to set off a change in yourself. Give it a try.
Read my review of 'thanks!: how the new science of gratitude can make you happier'.
» Discover more articles in this series on the new science of happiness.
» Read more evidence on the power of gratitude.
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The last one is a toughie - although it does sound kind of familiar.
I'm always really interested to read about happiness tips and there seem to be more and more reported on the internet. I'm interested to know whether you think they have practical applications in terms of mental health services and how such approaches could be incorporated.
Mad world, it's a good question. In this context one of the main problems with the work in positive psychology is that it's relatively new and hasn't often been tested in controlled studies. What with the current focus on evidence-based practice it seems unlikely this kind of thing will be introduced into mental health services in a widespread fashion.
That said, it might well have some application.
That seems a shame as it seems mental health services are finally beginning to move from the negative control agenda to more of a wellbeing approach. I think people are interested in approaches which put them more in control of their own health.
Indian culture knows importance of gratitude in happiness .Indians express gratitude at every instance towards plants, animal,rivers,sun,parents.and whole of nature.This naturally leads to selfless displays of thanks and consequenty happy life.