Diving into the Power of Gratitude
As the holiday season closes in, keep in mind each person experiences this time of year in different ways. This time of year, can be one of happiness, joy, and excitement yet, just as easily as time of indifference, sadness, mourning, and stress. Whatever you feel, know your athletes feel different ways too! So how can you, Coach, help yourself and athletes keep a perspective that will set up productivity and progress during this time? Practice gratitude.
What is gratitude? Gratitude is something you can feel both in brief moments and over long periods of time (it’s a state and a trait). It’s a combination of feelings such as thankfulness, appreciation for others, acknowledgement of goodness around you, and a recognition that these feelings come from others or things outside of yourself (Millacci, 2017). Practicing gratitude has many positive benefits ranging from mental, emotional, physical, and social benefits. For example, documented benefits include reduced stress, ability to break negative thought patterns, improved self-perception, increased resilience, stronger relationships, and improved sleep (Halpin & Landon, 2015)!
So how do you practice gratitude? Gratitude is a skill that can be both taught and learned (Halpin & Landon, 2015). You can practice gratitude in simple ways. Below are a few of my favorite ways that I teach clients and students to practice gratitude:
- Intentional thoughts: Each day, think of at least one thing, event, or person that you’re grateful for and why. Acknowledging the why is important.
- Be in awe: Think about one thing that is truly awe-inspiring to you. Let yourself get caught up in the moment of being in awe of this thing. What about it is truly remarkable to you? If you can, go visit or experience that thing.
- Express appreciation: Write a letter to a person that you are grateful for. Let them know why you feel this way about them. Follow through by giving them the letter in some way. A cool version of this one is for coaches to write a letter of appreciation to their entire team (one letter for the whole team or individually)!
Just like any other skill, if you want to experience the long-term benefits, you should practice it consistently and frequently. This is a great time of year to start, so I challenge you to start today. Build up that gratitude skill and see if you notice a change in your perspective by the start of the new year!
References
Halpin, P. A., & Landon, J. (2015). The art and practice of gratitude: practicing an overlooked skill to help undergraduate biology students become successful professionals. Advances in Physiology Education, 39(2), 125-127.
Millacci, T. S. (2017, February 28). What is gratitude and why is it so important? Positive Psychology. Retrieved from https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-appreciation/