Practicing gratitude is often associated with our personal lives and relationships. It’s often overlooked in business, yet it can play such an important role in a healthy company culture and long-term client relationships. To help you create your ideal business and ideal life, apply these 5 tips on how to practice gratitude in your business and in life.
Business is ultimately about relationships. Being able to cultivate genuine relationships with people is an integral part of your company’s success, which is why it’s crucial to practice gratitude regularly within your business.
Not only can you improve the mentality of the employees on your team by expressing gratitude, but you may also find yourself more grounded and at peace overall. Running a business can often mean going full steam at all times, but taking the time to stop and appreciate the people around you, and what you have, can actually do a lot not just for others, but for yourself as well.
Let’s explore five gratitude exercises to get you started on the path to living a gratitude-based life.
- Spend 5 Minutes a Day Journaling
Journaling can provide health benefits such as reducing stress, boosting your mood, and improving cognitive function. It’s a great way to spend time reflecting on your day and what you’re grateful for.
Scheduling 5-minutes a day into your schedule helps you to be intentional about reflecting on your day and what you’re grateful for. You should treat that time like any other meeting that can’t be pushed. The act of writing down the positive things in your life can make you more optimistic and more highly motivated to tackle the challenges that you face each day as a business owner.
- Express and Receive Gratitude in Your Workplace
Practice starting some of your conversations each day by thanking the person you’re talking to for something they’ve done for your business. Even if it’s for something minor, such as taking the initiative to start a task before being asked to, expressing gratitude to your employees can boost their happiness and health.
Make it a habit to say “thank you” to your employees. The simple act of doing so can make them feel valued and appreciated, and can potentially save you money in the long-term.
As the leader of your organization, it’s important to set an example of expressing gratitude. Be intentional with your words and the actions your employee’s mirror. For tough conversations you may need to motivate an employee, starting the conversation by thanking them for their contributions can go a long way for them to be open to receiving constructive feedback.
- Implement Systems of Gratitude in Your Business
You can take it one step further and implement official systems of gratitude within your organization. One way you could do this is to have a gratitude jar in a common area with slips of paper next to it where employees could write the name of a team member they’re grateful to or something they are grateful that happened at work, and the reason why. Once a month, you could do a random drawing with some sort of incentive or prize to whoever you feel had the “best” gratitude note in the jar wins.
Having an actual system in place shows your employees that you value gratitude, and encouraging them to show it to one another can increase camaraderie and overall satisfaction in the workplace.
To download my complimentary Gratitude Journal Exercise, go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/gratitude/.
- Send Personalized “Thank You” Notes
Personalization goes a long way in business, and thank you notes are a great way to nurture relationships both in your personal life and in your business. With emails, texting, and the overreliance of technology in general, it is very refreshing to receive a handwritten note.
After you have a business meeting with a potential client or business partner, send them a handwritten note to thank them for their time. Receiving something personalized and knowing that you took the time to do that can put you top of mind for them and increase loyalty and good feelings towards you and your business.
As a busy business owner, personalized cards and thank you notes also mean a lot to your friends and family. It’s important to balance relationships across all areas of your life, and adding a personal touch for birthdays or other occasions can be very special to the recipient.
- Encourage Top-down Gratitude Practices
At a certain point in your business, you may find that your team has grown enough where you can hire managers to head up certain teams. Those people you put into place are there to represent you and your values to the team members under them, so it’s important to encourage your managers to practice gratitude as well.
One way they can do this is by thanking someone each time there is a team weekly meeting, or when the manager has quarterly or annual reviews with their team members. Gratitude is something that should be seeped into your company’s culture, and that means setting an example as the leader, and empowering managers under you to set the same example for their teams.
When you create a culture of gratitude in your company and treat your employees well, they are more highly motivated and produce higher-quality work as a result. Show your team that you value them by expressing gratitude regularly in the workplace, implementing systems of gratitude, sending personalized thank you notes, and encouraging top-down gratitude practices.
Gratitude takes practice, and by following one or more of the five tips, you’ll be on your way to harnessing the power of gratitude in both your professional and your personal life!
To download my complimentary Gratitude Journal Exercise, go to https://www.accountabilitycoach.com/gratitude/.
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Do you feel like your business has plateaued or you are sick and tired of being sick and tired? Could you use a shot in the arm to make even more progress on your professional and personal goals? Consider working with The Accountability Coach. I’m here to help you accelerate your results, so you can enjoy your ideal business and ideal life! Reach out today for your complimentary consultation.
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