The Tiny Habit that Always Pays off — Big Time!
All habits compound, but this one has the exponential firepower
First thing in the morning, write down three new things you are grateful for.
There is no other habit that can come remotely close to the power of this one. How come?
“Gratitude rewires human brain into positivity.” — Shawn Achor
And what’s a big deal with that? Well…
“When the brain is positive, every possible outcome we know how to test for raises dramatically.” — Shawn Achor
Scientists measured everything they came up with: the bank account balance, grades at school, fitness performance, sales, chances for promotion, blood pressure… everything.
The results were always better when the brain was positive. Every single time. No exceptions.
So, make writing down three new things you are grateful for a habit and everything in your life will become better. On autopilot. In the background mode. Effortlessly.
Dramatical Improvement
Shawn explained in a podcast episode for Entre-Leadership that by “dramatically” he meant something between 15% and 30%. So, write down three new things you are grateful for and your salary can raise by 15%, your immune system will get 25% stronger, your high blood pressure will drop by 20%, you will be 22% more productive at work and your stress will decrease by 29%.
Simultaneously. Without conscious decision to change anything of the above.
Of course, the effect doesn’t kick in after a single exercise. We are talking a habit here. Shawn confidently states that it takes about 30 days of this practice to rewire the brain into positivity. After a month the “magic” of gratitude starts working.
Seriously. You cannot find a better habit.
The Results Are Greater with Time
My hunch is that 30% is a puny result you can get within a few months. One example: after keeping a gratitude journal for several years my income increased by 250%. At the same time my work hours decreased by at least 18%.
If it seems too good to be true, check out my most popular ever Quora answer (>3,500 upvotes!!!) about the power of gratitude:
If you need a nitty-gritty explanations why cultivating gratitude in this exact way is the most effective, read this monster article (2,000+ words):
However, you’d do best if you write down three things you are grateful for right now and set the first step at the path to your better life.
Originally published on Quora.
