Did you know that November is National Gratitude Month? Thanksgiving Day—a federal holiday since 1941—is a good time to pause and reflect on what to be grateful for. You probably know that gratitude can be a powerful tool in increasing personal happiness. But did you know that gratitude can also produce important positive results in business?
Halo offers these statistics:
- 70% of employees would feel better about themselves if their boss were more grateful; 81% would work harder.
- Employees who experience more gratitude at work report fewer depressive symptoms and stress.
- 95% of employees agree that a grateful boss is more likely to be successful.
- Regular gratitude journaling has been shown to result in 5% to 15% increases in optimism and 25% increased sleep quality.
- Lack of gratitude is a major factor in driving job dissatisfaction, turnover, absenteeism, and burnout.
- 53% of employees would stay at their company longer if they felt more appreciation from their boss.
- Gratitude reduces toxic aggression, frustration, and regret even after receiving negative feedback.
Famous quotes
I’m not the only one who considers gratitude important. The following are some of my favorite quotes:
“A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.”
Plato“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” Henry David Thoreau
“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” Doris Day
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Final thought
I’m grateful for many things which were spelled out in last year’s Thanksgiving blog, including:
- Opportunities—that just about anyone in the U.S. can become an entrepreneur.
- People—there are so many wonderful people I work with regularly—contractors, professionals, and others—and have worked with for years.
- Doing good—that my business has helped many people year in and year out.
I’m also grateful to my readers who continue to send thanks to me, catch my typos, and suggest that I cover some interesting things.
What are you grateful for?
For more on the subject of gratitude, see this list of blogs.
