Gratitude is one of the highest vibrations, because from gratitude grows love.

It’s the Thanksgiving season, and we’re being reminded to count our blessings. In a world that is oftentimes ruled by negativity, it’s important to consider the benefits of expressing thankfulness and appreciating all the good.

Unfortunately, in many workplaces, negativity festers. Sometimes, it’s easier to focus on the bad and focus on everything going wrong instead of being optimistic. Negativity can spread to your colleagues and negativity can transfer from the workday to your evening at home, poisoning your sanctuary, your loved ones, and your need for rest and relaxation.

Turning your intentional focus onto gratitude, that is, focusing on being thankful, showing appreciation, and returning kindness, is also incredibly infectious. Gratitude literally changes the way that your brain works and has nothing put positive things to bring to your workplace and outside of work. Gratitude is the healthiest of human emotions.

How does this happen? Gratitude is associated with happiness. Expressing thanks and receiving thanks feels good for both parties. Expressing gratitude doesn’t deplete your energy, but in fact, does the opposite. It’s a snowball that makes each day gradually better and can radically improve an entire environment with consistency.

Workers that focus on their gratitude have better well-being, are less stressed, and more likely to be healthy and less depressed. Gratitude fosters a supportive environment, and grateful workers will find more satisfaction in the work that they do, as well as show kinder actions to those they interact with.

How do we express gratitude in the workplace?

Build Safety and Trust

Your organization should have your employees’ best interests in mind by being honest and safe. Your employees all have basic needs to be met to feel secure. Leadership should have respect towards all team members and follow through on promises with integrity. This will lead to peer relationships being strengthened, and gratitude to flow abundantly.

Gratitude Reminders

Don’t forget to reach out and say thank you to your colleagues and clients. Face-to-face, a thank you card, even an email or text message could mean a lot. Oftentimes, we forget to consider how much it could mean to someone who is having a bad day that they are truly appreciated at work and to recognize them for the good that they do.

Keeping a Gratitude Journal or List

An idea for starting off your days better is to physically list out things that you are grateful for. Taking out a piece of paper, or maybe your phone’s Notes app, and listing out five to ten things that you appreciate in your life can help make for a better day or a better week. For a challenge, try listing out a few items that are purely associated with your work. Did your coworker help you solve a problem that you couldn’t quite handle on your own? Maybe you haven’t thanked them in person, but you can relish in that appreciation yourself. Just having the feeling of gratitude is enough to change your day for the better.

Gratitude can help you sleep better at night, improve your brain’s function, improve your immune system’s function, and lead to better performance on the job. Some days can feel bleak, some days life can beat any of us down, but searching for the good things can make an incredible difference.

At Fieldstone, we have a goal of constantly improving our culture and creating an environment where our team and clients feel satisfaction in the time and work that they contribute. Thank you so much to those who bring an attitude of gratitude to the office and to the field. We are thankful for you today and every day. See how you can Grow With Us.