Article by Brandi Jordan
It is widely known that practicing gratitude has many benefits including improving mental and physical health, reducing stress, and increasing overall well-being and happiness.
Now let’s take a look at how gratitude can make you a better entrepreneur.
Gratitude can give you a competitive advantage
In today’s competitive business world, it is more important than ever to cultivate strong relationships. On a basic level, gratitude is simply about appreciating what others (and yourself) do for you. When you take the time to show your appreciation, people feel appreciated and valued. And when people feel appreciated and valued, they are more likely to want to help you and do business with you.
Gratitude can help you manage stress
As an entrepreneur, you are likely to face a lot of stress. One of the best ways to manage stress is to focus on the positive. When you practice gratitude consistently, you are training your brain to pay attention to the good in your life. This can help you to manage stress and feel more positive overall. It can also help you focus on the assets you already have available instead of what you and your team are lacking. Focusing on gratitude is one of the easiest ways to rewire your brain.
Gratitude can help you build strong relationships
Business is all about relationships. Gratitude can help you build strong relationships with your customers, employees, and partners. When you are grateful for what others do for you and regularly express that gratitude, they are more likely to reciprocate the sentiment.
Gratitude can help you motivate your employees
When you regularly show your employees that you are grateful for their hard work and honor their contributions, they are more likely to go above and beyond for you and the work you are trying to accomplish. Don’t be insincere about it, truly take notice of those around you and show find small ways to show them that their work matters.
Now that we are all on the same page about how beneficial practicing gratitude is as an entrepreneur, let’s chat about what a ‘practice’ of gratitude may look like.
- Keep a daily gratitude journal or list.
This doesn’t need to be anything fancy and you can include it in either your morning or evening routine, the important part is, that it becomes a habit. The consistency will help rewire your brain at an increased speed.
- Once or a quarter or so, take time to reflect on your journey. It is very easy when you are in the thick of building or managing a business to forget to look up and take a look at how far you’ve come. Building in this time of regular reflection will help you to keep perspective on how far you and your team have come.
- Once a week, take time to thank someone. Keep some nice notecards on your desk and at the end of each work week, sit down and write a thank you note to someone who has impacted you or regularly makes your life easier. This could be a board member, business partner, employee, mentor, family member, funder, or customer. Make them feel loved and valued.
- Take time to thank your failures.
This practice goes back to rewiring your brain and shifting your perspective. Inevitably, you will fail, everyone does, especially people who take on big, exciting, and challenging projects. When you fail, make time to thank your failure for what it has taught you. The only true failures are the ones we don’t learn from.
Come chat with us in the comments section, we’d love to hear about any gratitude practices you have and how they have impacted your life.
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