Designer Sanity’s Month of Gratitude Wrap Up

Thank you for joining me this month for Designer Sanity’s 30 days of Gratitude Practice.   In case you missed the previous 4 weeks of this gratitude blog series, you can find

Week 1: Your Clients HERE

Week 2: Your Network HERE

Week 3: Yourself HERE

and Week 4: Your Life HERE.

It’s never too late to jump in where you are! 

Click HERE to download your free 30-Day gratitude journal with daily prompts to get you focused on gratitude in your kitchen and bath design business.  This gratitude journal is not dated, so you can begin your 30 days at any time.   In minutes a day, you can increase your happiness and overall sense of well-being in a powerful way. 

Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.”—Ralph Marston

Month of Gratitude Wrap Up

How has this month of gratitude been for you?  For me, personally, any time I take the time to focus on gratitude, I feel a huge uptick in my overall happiness.  It’s not just my imagination, but is actually supported by science.

Positive Psychology. Com com says, “Simply journaling for five minutes a day about what we are grateful for can enhance our long-term happiness by over 10% (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005)!"  Source

That’s why I focused this month on simple journal prompts that would get us all journaling for 5 minutes a day about gratitude… keep this up and continue to see an increase in your overall happiness!

 I also notice that when I take the time to express gratitude to those that work with me, things run much more smoothly in my business.  This is also not just my imagination but is backed by science:

 From Harvard’s Health Publishing site: “Managers who remember to say "thank you" to people who work for them may find that those employees feel motivated to work harder. Researchers at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania randomly divided university fund-raisers into two groups. One group made phone calls to solicit alumni donations in the same way they always had. The second group — assigned to work on a different day — received a pep talk from the director of annual giving, who told the fund-raisers she was grateful for their efforts. During the following week, the university employees who heard her message of gratitude made 50% more fund-raising calls than those who did not."  Source

Don’t forget to take the time to feel and express gratitude for those who help you with your work, in whatever capacity.  

Remember how we talked about writing a note to someone that you’re grateful for?  I discovered the transformative power of this by accident, but this, too, is backed up by research:

Harvard’s Health Publishing site says, “A leading researcher in this field, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people, each compared with a control assignment of writing about early memories. When their week's assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month."  Source

Wow, writing a letter of gratitude to someone had a greater impace on overall happiness than ANY OTHER INTERVENTION.  Take that in for a moment, that is huge!  Feeling motivted to put pen to paper now? 🥰🤪

Gratitude Practice Wrap Up

So during these last few days of our gratitude practice, we’re going to reflect on our month of gratitude:

1. Find a time when you can be alone and won’t be disturbed. 
2. Sit down with your coffee or tea or each morning with your tea or a glass of wine in the evening. 
3. Light a candle and get comfy in your favorite chair. 
4. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.  Let it all out, and then take another deep breath. 
5. When you feel relaxed, turn your attention inward.  Reflect on your month of gratitude.  Feel the love in your heart of gratitude for the time you spent focusing on this.  Let the thoughts and feelings flow through you. 
6. When you’re ready, pull out your journal and write about it.   

• What has stood out to you during this month of gratitude?
• ...while you were focusing on your gratitude for your clients?
• ...for your network?
• ...for yourself?
• ...for your life?
• How can you take this practice foward with you?

 Do this every day this week.  Aim to write three things each day.

 Don’t forget, you can download Designer Sanity’s 30-day gratitude journal HERE any time - it’s not dated, so it is a wonderful tool to pull out any time you want to focus on gratitude in your business to increase your overall sense of wellbeing.  

Thank you so much for joining me in Designer Sanity’s 30-day gratitude practice this month. I hope you're finishing up the month feeling refreshed and more connected with your inspiration, and that you’ve planted the seeds for a practice that will continue to grow and create more happiness in your life and business!