Weekly Quote: Daniel Pink on Gratitude
This week’s quote comes from When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink. It is Thanksgiving week in the United States, and this felt like the right quote to share around a holiday that has turned into a time for reflection and appreciation for so many of us.
Dan ends each chapter of When with a collection of relevant tips called the Time Hackers Handbook, and this quote is pulled from a section dedicated to taking restorative breaks. One way to find restoration is through expressing gratitude, which can be done by taking ten or fifteen minutes to write a few thoughts of appreciation or reach out to friends, family members, or colleagues to reconnect or say thank you. Doing this can improve your mood and strengthen your network at the same time. People want to hear from you, despite what that voice in your head says. Reaching out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while rarely results in anything but happiness.
At the end of every day, I spend a few minutes writing in my gratitude journal. It’s a small act with outsized results. These short entries sometimes spark a note to a friend or family member or introduce a new way of thinking about a situation that provides clarity and some perspective. There is plenty of science behind this idea too. From a Harvard Health article on the subject:
In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.
I encourage you to start a gratitude journal. It doesn’t take a lot of time to do, and has the power to help you feel that sense of mighty restoration that this quote references. You don’t need a fancy journal. Just a notebook or even a notecard will do. Every day, record the date and then write about something for which you feel gratitude. After doing this for a few weeks or a month, take a look back, and you’ll feel an extra boost from your collected gratitude and that will fuel your momentum to keep going. Gratitude engages something special inside of you. Make sure you’re listening to what it’s teaching you because you will be better for it.
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