Gratitude is the Backbone of Workplace Happiness!

We all spend a lot of our life at work, it’s a major part of our lives. If we cultivate happiness and create a positive workplace culture that time will be even more pleasant. Gratitude is a great way to increase our happiness at work. It is the backbone of positivity. Whilst happiness can be learned, if we introduce practices of gratitude in our daily lives, we will increase our chances of being happy. Happiness requires sustained effort and regular practices of gratitude which are inward focussed habits helping us to continue with that effort. If we want to build muscles we go to the gym, but going a couple of times won’t do it. We need a sustained effort to keep going! The same is true if we want to build our happiness ‘muscles’. We often expect happiness to drop into our lap through outward facing activities, but for happiness to be sustainable we must start by looking inwardly and gratitude helps us to do this. Happiness is an inside job. We can employ the power of gratitude and take time to reflect on everything that we are grateful for. Long term happiness comes from these continued practices. Practicing gratitude increases our happiness levels by up to 25% studies have shown.

Grateful people are also more optimistic, feel better about themselves and take better care of themselves. When we look inwardly and practice gratitude, we will be content with what we have, which makes us happier.

This will put us in a good place and we can take this happiness into the workplace! If we are engaged in meaningful work we are happier, and our work will have more meaning if we are acknowledged and appreciated.

A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that those thanking co-workers before undertaking a high stress task actually felt less work stress! This was shown by a better cardiovascular response. This led to less stress, better concentration, higher levels of confidence and increased performance levels.

Gratitude helps us to take control of our happiness. It gives us autonomy because we are able to become more proactive with our gratitude, we are not just reacting to the kindness of others, we are actively seeking out those moments of kindness in order for us to express our gratitude.

When we practice deep gratitude, we pay more attention to our own physical and mental health, which makes us happier and this happiness will spread out to those around us.

Practicing deep gratitude will not only make us more grateful as we notice the kindness of others, it will also make us kinder ourselves. This will increase the happiness and well-being of ourselves and our colleagues. There is a strong link between kind acts and overall employee happiness and job satisfaction. People who go above and beyond to practice kindness are happier and have better mental and physical health than those who don’t spend as much time supporting others.

We can make the workplace a happier place by continued practices of gratitude. When we start by looking inwardly and being grateful for what we have and we will help others to be happier too and this will make our whole environment a healthier, happier place to be.