How Gratitude Changes Your Brain and Relationships

Good morning, this is your Tuesday morning brain tickler on how to raise gritty lil' monkeys. Each week we cut new trails through the forests of content and find one new path you can ride.

🚲 This week's path: How gratitude changes your brain and your relationships 🚲

How Gratitude Changes Your Brain and Relationships

If you are not a busy person, congratulations!

For the rest of us stuck on planet Earth:

Life is a GRIND sometimes. And with that,

We lose track of what is REALLY important.

Our families.

A gratitude list is a way to realign and recenter our mindset.

So, What Is A Gratitude List?

Exactly what it sounds like…

Every day, you take 5-10 minutes to sit down and write out everything you are grateful for.

Nothing is too small.

Rather, it can be an incredibly humbling experience to start small.

For example:

Write out: I am thankful to have a warm home.

And afterwards, try to remember why you were so mad at your wife for forgetting to wash your underwear.

Not impossible to still be mad… Just a lot harder.

A Long-term Shift in Mindset

With time, you will begin to be able to reframe difficulties in your life as blessings or opportunities.

Example:

“I hate losing weight, it’s so hard”

can shift into:

“I am grateful I have the opportunity to take control of my health.”

Improved Prioritization

As you continue to write your lists, it will start to become abundantly clear what in your life is most important, and what you should spend your energy pursuing.

Family Time

I can promise you this: unless you are an evil freak, a daily gratitude list will make you more patient with your family! They will notice it, even if you don’t tell them about your list.

How To Start One

Don’t overthink this,

This isn’t rocket science.

Write this from the heart!

If it is easier, write it in bullet points.

Give yourself 5 minutes. If you want to go longer, do it!

If you are having difficulties, push through for that five minutes!

Don’t worry about finding the perfect thing to be grateful for.

As you continue to expand your gratitude practice, the trends will appear automatically.

Remember: this is for yourself! Nobody else is going to read this.

This is a place to be vulnerable, and remind yourself what amazing things you have in your life.

P.S. Oh by the way if you are like me and your life lives on your phone (can’t find a pen and paper) here’s a quick start…I use gratitude journal app (not an Ad, just a fan).

P.S.S Research shows there might be an even more effective gratitude practice (an action repeated, to create a habit) using the power of story (~1.5hr podcast)...Future post material.

What I Read This Week (1 interesting article):

• Just finished a hostage negotiation book that is making me a better human. Empathy is at the core of the book, Never Split The Difference, by Chris Voss, former FBI Top International Hostage Negotiator. And it explains how empathy is THE trait that will make us better and more effective humans (better dads, partners, employees, businessmen, friends). I had EMPATHY all wrong:

Other Radical Dadding Topics:

Connecting: How To Date Your Partner

Self-Care: Lose That Beer Gut (While Still Drinking Beer)