Better Mood from Gratitude: 2 Minute Exercise – Start Now!
Use this simple gratitude exercise to put yourself in a better mood in as little as two minutes per week.
Really good moods are like gold dust. They bring optimism, laughter, creativity and sheer joie de vivre. Good moods help us bear all the daily irritations of life with good grace.
Psychological research agrees. Positive emotions are associated with greater creativity, increased problem-solving ability, and greater overall success in life (here's 9 ways happiness leads to success).
So here's one way to quickly and sustainably improve your mood: practice your gratitude. This post first covers the evidence that a simple gratitude exercise, if persevered with, can improve mood. After the evidence is an explanation of how to carry out this exercise.
The Evidence
Three recent studies support the use of gratitude in improving mood:
- Emmons and McCullough (2003) were surprised to find that happiness could be increased by a simple gratitude exercise. Participants took the time to write down 5 things they were grateful for each week, for 10 weeks. At the end of the study this group were 25% happier than a comparison group who simply listed five events from the week.
- Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) compared practising gratitude three times a week with once a week. They found that only those who carried out the exercise once a week were happier. This suggests overdoing the gratitude is not beneficial - perhaps because of habituation.
- Seligman, Steen, Park and Peterson (2005) carried out a randomised, placebo-controlled study. They followed participants up 6 months after they had begun carrying out a simple gratitude exercise and found they were happier and less depressed than a control group. In this study, though, participants initially wrote about what they were grateful for every day for a week.
The Exercise
Convinced by the research? Well, even if you're not, the beauty of this exercise is that it's so easy that it shouldn't even be called exercise. All you need is enough time - as little as two minutes - to think of three things that you are grateful for: that benefit you and without which your life would be poorer. Then, if you've got time, you can think about the causes for these good things. And that's it.
The danger is that this exercise seems so trivial that it isn't worth doing. But consider this: people are constantly worrying about things they don't have or things that haven't happened, consequently they rarely take stock of the beneficial things that they do have and good things that have already happened. If it's possible for even the simplest negative thought to provoke a change in mood, then why not a positive grateful thought as well?
If you find it difficult to get going, here are some suggestions for things, but it's better to think of your own:
- I don't have a headache today.
- I had a good lunch.
- I have my family.
- My new socks keep my feet warm.
- I made a joke and people laughed (got to take whatever I can get!).
...some of these are on the trivial side but no grain of thankfulness is too small once you've exhausted the usual suspects.
You can try experimenting with carrying out this exercise weekly or even daily depending on how you feel. If the exercise starts to lose its power this could be because of habituation - try to be creative with your gratitude. I'll be posting on PsyBlog next week to remind you to exercise your gratitude (and to remind me as well!).
What are you grateful for?
Please do comment below about your experiences with this exercise. You may find it useful to write down what you are grateful for and post them below. It will probably put you in a better mood and also give us all ideas.
» See also the series on the new science of happiness.
[Image credit: gi]
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This is such a great reminder - and takes so little time with so much benefit! This exercise is one of the first I use with my clients towards attaining their dream life. Thanks for the post!
Patricia/The Blissful Soul
http://www.theblissfulsoul.com
We started doing that with my young daughter, who is addicted to dramatic "everything is horrid" displays, and can turn anything into a negative. We even started timing it for her good moments and keeping a diary, so we had evidence that good things happened to her.
A big breakthrough was when she said, "But can't count hugs -- I always get hugs." I said, "That's the best part! I know I can always get a hug from you." It seems to be helping.
Great article, I've seen a lot about gratitude on the "Law of Attraction" websites, but you've backed it up with research. I just wish you didn't use a negative in the first suggestion. "I don't have a headache today." is going to make me think about headaches, and if I think about it long enough, I may actually GET a headache.
Leaving intellectual comments aside, today I am grateful for:
- Being smart enough to learn in one day the material of the test I have today and had forgotten to study (haha)
- Having a loved one I can call every morning and always seems pleased with my call.
- Having a working car!
Oh, and an extra one: Having found this blog! And related to that last one: Knowing English!
Great post -- this rings so true. My personality seems to naturally be the skeptic, the critic, and occasionally the cynic...but thankfulness seems to be a sort of antidote to these modes of negativity.
Appreciating the simple things and giving them the attention they deserve...a terrific reminder, thank you!
I'm grateful for:
* my excellent health, for the progress I've made over the last eight months in getting into shape and losing 25 lbs
* my financial health and having a job during these chaotic times
* my ravenous appetite for the written word
* my unflagging intellectual curiosity
* my ability to entertain myself and make myself and others laugh.
-I am grateful for the decent breakfast in my belly.
-I am grateful for passing an exam.
-I am grateful for green tea.
-I am grateful for my current geographical location.
-I am grateful for music.
This is quite coincidental. I have just come across the work of Dr. Seligman (http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx) who did a talk years ago for TED (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/martin_seligman_on_the_state_of_psychology.html) on Postitive Emotion and Psychology.
I think most people give the art and science of Psychology a bad rap - that it is all about finding what's wrong with everything. This field is great because it tries to find what is right about everything. What a refreshing change!
It does strike me that we should progress towards being grateful towards people. I can be delighted by the warm sunshine of a winter's day but gratitude towards people, acknowledging what they do for me, is the real step forward.
But perhaps it is step 2, as we often withhold gratitude as a form of contingent living (cf. David Whyte) commonly called passive aggression.
Acknowledging the goodwill of others flips our orbits, I think?
Yes, yes and YES! Gratitude lists work! When I worked in substance abuse treatment twenty years ago, we encouraged our folks to make them. "A grateful alcoholic or addict stays clean and sober." If it works for them, it will work for anyone.
In retirement, I find that it's all to easy to 'live in your head,' criticising everything around. I look for small ways to make the world a bit better and savour my gratitude for the blessings in my life.
My life is brilliant, my life is pure ;)
dictionary-psychology.com
I'm grateful for Eric waking me gently every morning before he leaves for work in the dark to give me a kiss and a squeeze and to say he's going now. It makes me feel so loved.
I'm grateful for having leftovers from last night's dinner of creamy garlic shrimp on rice and spinach for lunch at the office. Yum. Something delicious to look forward to!
I'm grateful for having a cozy little apartment and an overstuffed sofa in which I'm going to snuggle tonight with Eric and a glass of chardonnay to watch the latest episodes of the greatest crime drama ever, Underbelly.
This post was selected to be part of the December 24 edition of Gratitude Watch.
Thank you for promoting the value of gratitude.
This simple little excersise is more powerful than you could possibly imagine (if your having any doubts).
By thinking of things to be grateful for you raise your vibration and become "in tune" with more great things. One should not underestimate the power of doing this every day.
Great Post!
Alan Combies
http://Way2workatHome.com