How to Be More Thankful Every Day
Want to make gratitude an everyday habit? Experts suggest that by following these simple steps, you can cultivate gratitude and become a more thankful person.
How to be more thankful every day
When Amy Paulson was growing up in Phoenix, Arizona, people would often stop her on the street with her mom and dad to remark on how lucky she was that her family had adopted her. (Paulson, now based in San Francisco, was abandoned in a police station in Seoul when she was a day old and spent her first three months in an orphanage.) “I always thought, Why should I be more thankful to my parents than the next person?” she says.
In 2011, however, Paulson reconnected with her birth mother in South Korea, her adoptive mom by her side. “My Korean mother took my American mother’s hands in her and said, ‘Thank you.’ After that, my whole world changed,” Paulson says. At the time, she was working in the e-commerce sector and struggling with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder. Reconnecting with her birth family, however, made her feel like the luckiest person in the world—and she wanted to actively share her good fortune. That year, she quit her job and co-founded the Global Gratitude Alliance, which partners with grassroots organizations to create community-led solutions for social and economic change.
Since then, a reflexive sense of thankfulness has become Paulson’s frame of reference for work, relationships and daily life in general.
That all-encompassing approach can make you happier and healthier, says Louisa Jewell, founder and president of the Toronto-based Canadian Positive Psychology Association, a non-profit dedicated to well-being. Some call it “spontaneous” gratitude, others describe it as “casual”; either way, it’s more than an occasional feeling of appreciation when something goes right. This attitude, says Jewell, “can become a lens through which you can see the world, which is different than just saying thank you to someone.”
Rethink your worldview
“When something bad happens,” says Jewell, “I try to be appreciative that things aren’t worse.” This attitude came in handy seven years ago, when her daughter, then eight, was being bullied at school. On the way to meet with teachers, Jewell mentally ran through all the things she was grateful for—that the school cared, that her child was resilient, that she was able to help the girl get through the ordeal. “I felt calm and relaxed going into the meeting, rather than being an upset, stressed-out crazy mom.”
It takes practice to connect with those feelings under duress, Jewell admits. In her work, she introduces people to the idea of spontaneous gratitude by getting them to jot down three things they’re looking forward to each morning or three things they’re thankful for each night. It may sound hokey, but in fact, there’s a scientific basis to that approach. In 2016, researchers at Indiana University found that people still felt thankful a few weeks after completing short writing tasks on the subject; months later, they showed more gratitude-related brain activity. Repetition is key, Jewell says. “Practicing creates new neural pathways until it becomes easier, almost habitual.”
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Appreciate the little things
For Jewell, a trip to a part of Nepal where nobody had easy access to water gave her a new appreciation for hot showers in the morning. That principle can be applied everywhere. Human beings are always looking for novelty, she says, and when we get something we really want, we enjoy it, but only until our pleasure spikes and our appreciation wanes. (A famous 1978 study conducted by the Northwestern University in Illinois and the University of Massachusetts found that even after winning the lottery, subjects eventually returned to their baseline of happiness.)
But according to a 2007 report from the University of California, Riverside, channelling gratitude can combat that sense of deflation. Pausing to take stock prolongs your happiness, Jewell says, even after the initial thrill wears off. Paulson relied on an app to remind her to find something to give thanks for every day. “That helped change my outlook,” she says. “Watching the sun create an interesting shadow, for instance—there’s joy in that, even if it’s only for a second.”
Giving back can bolster those feelings. “Volunteering to help someone less fortunate changes your perspective,” says Jewell, who’s experienced that first-hand through her own work at a Toronto women’s shelter. “It shifts your focus onto other people and away from your own problems, and it can keep you in a space of gratitude.” Paulson likes to make donations on behalf of someone who’s had a positive impact on her life. “I find it meaningful to put their name on a little tag, but I don’t always tell the person I’ve done it.”
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Make significant connections
Becoming a more thankful person can also strengthen your relations with the people already in your life. Janice Kaplan, the New York City-based author of 2015’s The Gratitude Diaries, began by observing and acknowledging a small thing about her husband: she thanked him for doing all the driving after a particularly arduous road trip. That simple act, she says, helped connect them. “I think of it as simply appreciating people. It’s something we don’t do enough of, and it makes all the difference.”
For Paulson, the attitude shift helped her overcome health issues: after 10 years on antidepressants, she weaned herself off the drugs (in consultation with her doctors) several months after she returned from Korea. “It’s nearly impossible to sink into the abyss of depression while being present and grateful for my connection with the others and the world around me.”
Those positive effects inspired Paulson to share the experience with others. Through a partnership with a home for orphaned children in Nepal, the Global Gratitude Alliance provided teachers with trauma-healing workshops that concluded with a ritual of giving thanks. The participants used those techniques to help their community after last year’s devastating earthquake and have imparted a philosophy of paying it forward to their students. Children from the school recently visited a local eldercare home to build relationships with the residents there. “Gratitude creates a cycle of giving and receiving,” Paulson says.
Now that you know how to be more thankful every day, discover 40 secrets to a happier life.
