Happiness Hack #69 Strengthen Positive Relationships with Creative Gratitude
Two of the strongest recurring themes in happiness research are showing gratitude and positive relationships. You can engage both themes at once by improving your relationships through creative expressions of your gratitude.
5 Ideas for Creative Gratitude:
- Send a picture or video. With today’s smart phones, taking a quick photo or video with you showing your appreciation can be done in less than a minute. The recipient will be excited and will most likely share their joy with someone else nearby.
- Write a personal note on the nearest writing surface you can find. For example; a napkin in a restaurant, a whiteboard in their office, or a post-it note. They will appreciate the spontaneity and especially like the idea that you are thinking of them as you go through your busy day.
- Share your talents. We all have a hobby or something we are good at or known for. Share some of your famous brownies or help them fix something around their house or office. Use your special skills to show appreciation.
- Share your story. Explain to them why you appreciate them with a personal story of how their presence has impacted you. Knowing specifically how they were able to make your day a little better will create a special kind of confidence and happiness.
- Pay it forward. Tell them how they inspired you to share your gratitude with a 3rd Let them know that their good deeds are spreading into the world and helping others be happy.
Showing gratitude in even the smallest ways improves happiness and builds stronger relationships for everyone involved. Find ways to creatively express your gratitude and you will have stronger relationships that help you become happier and more successful.
About Ray White
My Passion is helping people become successful and happy. I have found that many people want to be successful but just don’t know how. More importantly, people want to be successful because they feel that reaching some success pinnacle will result in them becoming happy. The research and my experience has shown that just the opposite is the case. Success does not lead to happiness. Happiness leads to success.
