This blog isn’t about me, but forgive me if I share some personal information in order to give it context.

I have a number of different “jobs.”  I do coaching and speak to groups of advisors through my consulting firm.  We provide website content, design and related services through our digital marketing firm.  I write weekly blogs for my newsletters and for Advisor Perspectives.  I have another book in the works, which I have pitched to my publisher.

I enjoy each of these activities.  I know I’m fortunate and am very grateful.

Which brings me to my first point.

The practice of gratitude

It took me a while to figure out that “being grateful” is different from “the practice of gratitude.”

You don’t have to follow a prescribed protocol to practice gratitude.  Much has been written about how to do so.  Here are some suggestions from Sonja Lyubomirsky Ph.D, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside.

• Keep a “gratitude journal”
• Pick a time of the day to focus on things for which you are grateful
• Vary your gratitude strategy so it doesn’t become stale
• Express gratitude to others

While these are all good suggestions, I only do the second one.

Every day, as part of my morning ritual, I spend a few minutes reflecting on the things for which I’m grateful.

As a by-product of making the same time every day available to focus on gratitude, I find similar thoughts occur at other times of the day.  For example, after a positive call with a client, instead of moving on to the next project, I’ll stop and think how lucky I am to have had that experience.

The benefits of gratitude

From personal experience, I can tell you that focusing on gratitude makes you a more positive person.  It also has other well-researched benefits.

You can find a list of seminal studies on the benefits of gratitude here.

Here’s a summary of these benefits, provided by the Greater Good Science Center, at the University of California, Berkeley:

• Stronger immune system
• Less depression;
• More joy, optimism, and happiness
• Stronger relationships;
• Feeling less lonely and isolated.

If you aren’t spending a few minutes a day contemplating how grateful you are, you may be missing a golden opportunity.

Resource of the week:

I highly recommend this article, by Sonja Lyubomirsky on how to practice gratitude.