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It’s November – so naturally we all tend to think more about what we are thankful for during this month. You can use this as an opportunity to either start or enhance your practice of gratitude. And I don’t say this lightly. Practicing gratitude can change your life. Literally.

What is practicing gratitude?

Let’s start at the beginning. If you are looking for a way to learn more about gratitude and incorporating this into your daily routine, check out this book to get started. Practicing gratitude does take effort although gratitude can change your life once you get the hang of it and keep working on it. Practicing gratitude is more than saying thank you to strangers when they hold the door open for you and it’s more than being appreciative of favors that your friends and family do.

So let me give you a few examples:

• Have you ever experienced a cold that prevented you from being able to breathe normally? Then when you are laying awake at night (since you can’t breathe), you’re just thinking “geez, I really just want to BREATHE”?
• Or have you ever hurt your leg/had muscle soreness/sprained an ankle and thought about how much you just want to walk? 

Practicing gratitude is all about appreciating these things BEFORE they happen. In the example of the cold, practicing gratitude is all about being grateful for your health before you notice any sort of feeling under the weather. While it may seem weird, I constantly think about how grateful I am for my immune system. If you know anything about me, I am very healthy. Maybe that is coincidental but I am pretty convinced that this is due to my daily gratitude practice. In the example of the muscle soreness – being grateful for the ability to walk and perform your daily activities is an example of actively practicing gratitude.

How can I start a daily gratitude practice?

If you are new to the gratitude, consider making it a goal this week to think about 10 things you are grateful for each day. Bonus points if you write them down. Additional bonus points if you come up with a new 10 things each day. Help yourself remember to do this by putting a sticky note on your bathroom mirror or setting an alarm during the day.

I know from the title of this blog post I promised life changing information. Once you get the hang of your daily gratitude practice and begin incorporating gratitude in your life regularly, you will begin to notice changes. For me personally, they have been massive. Gratitude has allowed me to heal quickly from an injury and come back to a successful Ironman 70.3. Practicing gratitude helped me out of a toxic work environment and into a dream job. I could go on but the details of what gratitude has done for me are really not the point. Hopefully you will also experience something similar or even greater. According to Psychology Today, gratitude is scientifically proven to improve your relationships, physical and mental health, and allow you to sleep better among other things.

If the whole thing sounds a bit silly to you and difficult to believe, I understand. It all sounds a bit hokey – like for real? Gratitude can change your life? So how about this. Why don’t you try a daily gratitude practice for one week and see what happens? Honestly, what have you got to lose? You don’t even have to tell anyone that you are doing it (& your secret is safe with me!)

Do you have tips for incorporating a daily gratitude practice into your regular routine? I would love to hear about them in the comments. If you didn’t already, check out this book to take your gratitude practice to the next level.

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