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Living In Gratitude: 10 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships

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Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love the real you. ~Anonymous

Social media has enabled us to stay in touch with friends near and far but it doesn’t necessarily equate to meaningful relationships.

Close friendships require time and energy. They need to be nurtured and attended to. Below are 10 ways to cultivate successful relationships with family, friends and even coworkers.

1.  BE HAPPY WITH OURSELVES

Liking ourselves is the foundation for others to connect with us. After all, if we fundamentally don’t like who we are, why would anyone else?

2. LEARN TO LISTEN AND UNDERSTAND

Be the person who listens, hearing others without interrupting. Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give another person. Allowing someone to speak, be heard and understood is an invaluable part of every meaningful relationship. Read more

Living In Gratitude: Stop Autopilot Apologies

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You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop and what you reinforce. ~Tony Gaskins

We all know people who apologize for everything, even if they’ve done nothing wrong. Maybe we’re actually one of those people.

There are times when an apology is warranted, but when we say we’re sorry for anything that makes us remotely ill at ease, this can quickly become a harmful habit, lowering our self-esteem, justifying other people’s poor behavior or actions, and turning us into a pushover.

Have you ever apologized when someone bumped into you in a crowded restaurant or store? Or when a peer critiqued your work? How about when someone did a chore or task that you were supposed to do but didn’t? Or maybe when you wanted someone to explain something in more detail?

This automatic apologetic reaction many of us have is used to diffuse confrontation, placate others and avoid making things awkward. That unwarranted apology automatically lets others know we believe we are at fault, even if we’re not.

And the more we make this autopilot apologizing a routine, the more we’ll use it in situations that DO matter. They also communicate that we’d rather be agreeable than honest. Over time, people will begin to see us as pushovers, someone who will take the blame, be the fall guy or girl and can (and will) be taken advantage of.

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So, how do we stop this pushover behavior?

Have An Apology Recap

When we find ourselves issuing an apology, we should ask ourselves two key questions.

  1. “Did I actually do something wrong?”
  2. And if not, “Did I want to communicate that I think I did something wrong?”

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Living In Gratitude: 7 Questions To Ask Yourself At The End of Every Day

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Our days are filled with asking questions of others: coworkers, managers, teachers, partners, children, customer service personnel but there is one person we rarely ask anything.

Ourselves.

By asking these seven key questions, we frame our mindset with an optimistic outlook. This allows us to reflect on the day that just ended as well as set ourselves up for success tomorrow.

7 Questions To Ask Yourself At The End of Every Day

1. WHAT DID I LEARN TODAY?

Even if we don’t realize it, we learn something new every day. By taking time to acknowledge what we’ve learned gives us a sense of accomplishment. It contributes to our wellbeing, helping us grow and change. This recognition of learning opens us up to actively seeking more knowledge. Read more

Living In Gratitude: 6 Steps to Living in the Moment

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We live in an age of constant distraction. Every day, we are bombarded with a myriad of interruptions, which have only gotten more frequent thanks to ever-evolving technology. We can be consumed by self-consciousness, anxiety and stress. These disturbances often have us fretting about the future or contemplating past mistakes. They take us away from living in the present moment.

We’re living in a world that contributes in a major way to mental fragmentation, disintegration, distraction, decoherence. ~ Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace

Our thoughts often control us, “coursing through our mind like a deafening waterfall”. Buddists refer to it as the Monkey Mind, because our consciousness vaults from thought to thought like a monkey swinging from one tree to another. This inhibits our ability to live in and enjoy the present.

Mindfulness is when we learn to quiet our monkey mind and live in the moment in a state of “active, open, intentional attention on the present.” Being mindful allows us to observe our thoughts without judgment. Rather than letting our thoughts control us, being mindful awakens us to experience life in the here and now.  Read more

Living In Gratitude: Science Says Do These 11 Things Daily To Be Happier & More Productive

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It’s a safe assumption to say that all of us want to be happy. But did you know that in addition to feeling lighthearted and content, happiness also boosts our personal productivity?

Science has proven that happy people accomplish more.

And, there are simple, scientifically proven things we can do daily to increase our happiness quotient.

1. Smile more

A genuine smile make us feel good. Smiling enhances our mood, increasing our attention and focus while reducing stress, especially during challenging times. A true smile involves our entire face, reaching and including our eyes.

Science shows smiling is beneficial:

“A new study led by a Michigan State University business scholar suggests customer-service workers who fake smile throughout the day worsen their mood and withdraw from work, affecting productivity. But workers who smile as a result of cultivating positive thoughts–such as a tropical vacation or a child’s recital–improve their mood and withdraw less.”

2. Exercise for 7 minutes

Exercise has an overwhelming impact on our happiness and well-being. Even a small, daily dose can dramatically enhance happiness. We can all find time to squeeze in 7 minutes to take a brisk walk, bust out some jumping jacks or dance to our favorite song.

Exercise can help you relax, increase your brainpower, and even improve your body image, even if you don’t lose any weight. A study in the Journal of Health Psychology found that people who exercised felt better about their bodies even when they saw no physical changes. Read more

Live An Inspired Life

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Achieving true happiness is a personal, everyday process that comes from inside each of us.

Happiness isn’t something we can buy or that someone gives us. Like everything worth having, happiness is something that takes focused effort.

Your attitude makes the difference!

Our attitude and how we react to the world, the people in our lives and the challenges we face either lift us up or bring us down. We always have a choice. By striving for an optimistic outlook and focusing on the good, we allow happiness to take root.

Take charge of your personal happiness!

Embark on an adventure of appreciation with our 30-Day E-Course. Receive $7 off through July 30, 2016 when you use promotional code GETHAPPY.

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Living In Gratitude: 7 Ways To Train Your Brain To Be Happy

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Neil Pasricha is a Canadian author and speaker who advocates positivity and simple pleasures. He is known for his New York Times best seller, “The Book Of Awesome”, as well as his TEDx talk, “The 3 A’s of Awesome”.

Backed by loads of research, his book, “The Happiness Equation”, discusses how we can train our brains to be happy. Happiness is something we do to make life ‘awesome’ rather than the result of everything being awesome. It comes from conscious awareness and thought using practical, effective and enjoyable strategies.

1. Three walks a week

Researchers have found that the more physically active we are, the greater our overall feelings of excitement and enthusiasm. And it doesn’t take much: just 30 minutes of brisk walking, three days a week will do it.

2. 20-minute replay

Taking 20 minutes each day to write about a positive experience allows you to relive the event. It can be anything but the focus is that it was something that made you feel good. The purpose is to rekindle those happy feelings. Read more

Living In Gratitude: Let Your Hair Down

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Fun is good. ~Dr. Seuss

Now those are words to live by. Fun is good. We need to find time to let our hair down and enjoy life.

Find time today to sing, dance, laugh, skip, be silly. Have some fun. Life is too short for being serious all the time.

All too often, we get caught up in the serious things life throws at us.

  • Can we pay our bills this month?
  • An argument we had with a loved one.
  • An issue in our job or problem with our health.
  • Feeling overcome with everything we have to do each day.

Read more

Living In Gratitude: Kindness

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Know that your kindness has a ripple effect in the universe.

Just like gratitude, kindness is powerful. It can have an enormous impact on the world. Opportunities to be kind are all around us, each and every day. When we spread the seeds of kindness, we help others and also fill our own souls and hearts.

Kindness is a virtue and is a much-sought after value in many cultures. No act of kindness is every wasted. It is even possible to be kind to those for which we have no fondness. The smallest act of kindness is worth more that the greatest intention and is appreciated a thousandfold. Read more

Living In Gratitude: Happiness & Joy

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Joy. The kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens. ~David Steindl-Rast

If you look up the word joy and happiness, they are often used synonymously.

But, are they really the same?

Gratitude guru, Robert Emmons, believes there is a fundamental difference between the two.

When we are happy, says Emmons, it is primarily a result of external experiences. Happiness is also momentary because it is based on events. We feel happy when we get a promotion, do well on an exam, buy that new car, outfit, home or other material item. Happiness is an emotional response to having what we want. This temporary emotional response is fleeting once the outside event has been achieved.  Read more