Week 427 (brendan@brendanbarca.com)

Here's your weekly dose of Fuel Your Mind Friday where I share business building ideas, lifestyle design hacks, and inspirational content to help you thrive in your work and find purpose in your life.

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PSA: My wife and I have another blog called The Daily Buddhist that comes out every Wednesday. Subscribe here OR follow us on IG!

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HOW TO FEEL LIKE IT’S THE HOLIDAYS ALL YEAR ROUND

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The Thanksgiving holiday has become the default queue for giving thanks and showing gratitude for what we have. It’s an easy time of the year to stop, slow down, and appreciate our family, friends, careers, and community. But, should we really just wait for the holidays to come around each year to practice gratitude?

Research has shown that practicing gratitude on a consistent basis can lead to higher levels of happiness. In one study, by Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough asked participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics. One group wrote about things they were grateful for. Another group wrote about things that displeased them. And a third group wrote about anything that had affected them. After 10 weeks, those who practiced gratitude were more optimistic about life, exercised more, and took fewer trips to the physician.

In other studies, practicing gratitude has shown benefits for couples looking to improve their relationship and managers trying to motivate employees. Couples who practice gratitude feel more positive towards their partner, while managers who continually “thank” their employees have seen an uptick in motivation and results.

With all these studies pointing to the benefits of gratitude, it’s a shame many of us wait until the holidays to practice it. In the last five years, I’ve made a conscious effort to change this.

There are two major acts of gratitude I’ve started incorporating into my life:

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1- Daily Gratitude Journal

Every single morning, in a Moleskin journal, I write down 5-10 things I’m grateful for. I write the date at the top of the passage and then list anything that brings about feelings of gratitude. Topics lately have ranged from my fiance, birds chirping outside, a sunny sky, visiting family, or a nice dinner out. They can be little things or big things. The order doesn’t matter. And it’s OK if some days you write the same thing as previous days. The key is to take a minute each day to fill your mind with a bit of gratitude, just like you might take time each day to go to the gym. You’re doing positive mental exercise for your brain. Continual reps are the key to realizing the benefits.

2- Morning Gratitude Walks

Each weekday morning before work, my wife, Pema, and I take a 20-minute walk around our neighborhood with our baby Samaya. During the walk, we carve out about 5-minutes for “Gratitude & Intentions.” Essentially, we take turns asking each other, first, “What are you grateful for today?” and second, “what are your intentions for the day?” Since Pema introduced this six months ago, both of us have felt more optimistic about our lives and more focused in our work. It’s created a nice “kick-off” to our workdays. If you’re doing this alone, you can either pose the questions to yourself on the walk, or you can simply add the “intentions” question to your daily journal. I’ve found it most beneficial to get these thoughts out of your head and onto paper.

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If you’re not used to incorporating gratitude into your life, these practices may seem silly. They did at first for me too. But, let me ask you this: what do you have to lose by trying it? These positive psychology practices only have upside. But they only work for those who remain dedicated to continual practice, just like the benefits of going to the gym are only felt by those who go consistently.

My challenge to you, on this nice Thanksgiving weekend, is to choose one of the two above exercises and find a time each day or each week to incorporate the practice into your life. In fact, perhaps today is the perfect day to start a new gratitude practice. It’s time for you to prioritize your happiness.

You know that warm feeling you get on Thanksgiving? What if you could feel like that all year round?

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- Brendan

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PSA: My wife and I have another blog called The Daily Buddhist that comes out every Wednesday. 🙏 Subscribe here 🙏