A “Thank You List” will allow you to always know who in your life you want to express gratitude towards, making yourself and others feel positively awesome.
Saying “thank you” is a true double win: it feels awesome for you to be expressing thanks, and it feels equally awesome for the person you’re showering with gratitude. We all, myself included, were taught to say thank you when we were little … and most of us do a pretty ok job of remembering to say it when it’s appropriate.
But in today’s issue, I have a challenge for you: up your thank you game. Take it to the next level. Why would we want to do that? Here’s why:
1) It’s an amazing energy boost.
When you make saying thank you in a meaningful way (more on that below) a true habit in your life, you are giving yourself one of the greatest gifts you can: the gift of feeling aglow. Harvard Medical School even says giving thanks can make you happier.
2) Gratitude always comes back around.
When you continually put good energy out into the world, it has a way of making its way back to you! Score.
3) We all deserve to feel appreciated.
Can you recall the last time you did something for someone and they expressed their gratitude not just by saying “thank you” but by really letting you know how they felt in one way or another? I’m guessing it made your day. We all deserve to feel that way.
So how can we make gratitude a habit in our daily lives? In two easy steps:
Step 1: Keep a Thank You List on Your Computer (or Phone).
This is a simple running list of who you want to express heartfelt thanks to. It could include anybody from a client you worked with to the team who installed your new kitchen countertops to the friend who watered your plants when you were out of town. There is no wrong person to put on this list!
Step 2: Once a week (or just every so often) pick a handful of people on your Thank You List to express thanks to.
Depending on the person and the circumstance, you may decide to write them a heartfelt thank you email, pick up the phone and call them, send them a handwritten card, or even send a bouquet of flowers their way. Again, there’s no wrong way to say thank you, as long as it feels good to you.
When you aim to make this a regular habit in your life, you’ll see that while it might start out as an intentional practice, it will eventually take on a life of its own and become something you barely think about – that you just do without thinking. It will take on a life of its own.
Here’s to becoming masters of spreading gratitude!
PS: Love this post? Check out these other posts related to thanks and gratitude from Janelle (that’s me!) at Ellanyze:
