In this week’s Well-Being Tip, we explore how having a gratitude buddy can help to keep you accountable and practice habit-formation.
At Healthy Minds Innovations, and our sister organization, the Center for Healthy Minds, we are guided by the notion that you can train your mind. Because of Neuroplasticity, just by practicing a few minutes of meditation per day, you can fundamentally alter the way you react and respond to challenges in your life.
Our founder, Dr. Richard J. Davidson has done research on qualities like kindness and compassion – and how to cultivate them. What the research is showing us, is that we all have a very basic impulse to help others, even before we learn to crawl.
That doesn’t mean we’re born hardwired with a set amount of appreciation, kindness, and compassion. What we’re born with, is the potential for these qualities. And tapping into that potential is a skill.
But you do have to practice, and when you first start it can sometimes feel a little forced. For example, as much as we understand how good practicing gratitude and appreciation can be for our well-being, reminding yourself to notice the positive can be difficult when you have been through a negative set of circumstances. Luckily, just the act of noticing the positive and practicing gratitude can have a positive effect, even if it feels a little strange or unnatural at first.
The issue is sticking with it – through the times when it doesn’t feel natural – until it does.
So for this week’s Tuesday Tip – get yourself a gratitude buddy to keep you accountable and practicing.
Ask a friend to message with you every day about gratitude. Maybe in the morning you text, “I’m grateful for the beautiful sky today,” and in the afternoon your gratitude buddy responds, “I’m grateful for my cat.” The point isn’t what you text. The point is to express your gratitude to someone in order to make sure that you do it and keep up a consistent practice – even when it feels weird. Who knows, you might even be inspired by your buddy’s gratitude example too!
Give it a try this week!
Get more practices and tips by downloading the Healthy Minds Program App, freely available thanks to the generosity of our donors wherever you get your apps.