Note: This blog post originally appeared on the Tytanium Ideas newsletter. If you’d like more tips for building a successful business, be sure to subscribe.
3 Reasons to Develop an Attitude of Gratitude
Happy Thanksgiving! In this holiday special, we’re focusing on the spirit of the season: gratitude. Not only does gratitude make you feel good, but it’s vital for doing good business. In the following blog post, we’ll explain the science behind why developing an attitude of gratitude will make you more successful in work and in life!
1. Saying “thank you” to your customers and prospective customers is vital.
In 2011, Gary Vaynerchuk published his bestseller, The Thank You Economy which explained how social media and customer engagement was a distinct advantage for businesses. Simply providing 1-to-1 conversations between brands/companies and customers made the world a lot more accessible. Now, more than 8 years later, customer engagement is no longer an advantage, but a necessity.
This Harvard Business Review article highlights how the experience customers have the first time they interact with a business impacts how much they purchase the next time. It turns out, returning customers who have the best experience spend 140% more than those who claim to have had poor experiences.
2. Showing appreciation to your co-workers makes you a more successful team.
According to a study of over 30,000 workers, only 21% of employees feel strongly valued at work. No matter how many cool perks or high salaries a company offers, if their employees feel underappreciated and undervalued, they are far more likely to take their talent elsewhere.
On the flip side, a study printed by Harvard Medical School showed that employees who receive words of encouragement and appreciation on a regular basis tend to work harder than those who do not.
3. Looking for things for which to be grateful will make you happier.
Arguably the most important reason to develop an attitude of gratitude is that it’s good for you.
Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and author of Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, presents some pretty strong cases for building a thank you habit:
Clinical trials indicate that the practice of gratitude can have dramatic and lasting effects in a person’s life. It can lower blood pressure, improve immune function and facilitate more efficient sleep…
Grateful people are more stress-resistant. There’s a number of studies showing that in the face of serious trauma, adversity, and suffering, if people have a grateful disposition, they’ll recover more quickly. I believe gratitude gives people a perspective from which they can interpret negative life events and help them guard against post-traumatic stress and lasting anxiety.
Robert Emmons
We’re sold.
Ready to get started? Gratitude is a mindset. Here are a few ways you can build the habit.
- Start a gratitude journal and write down the things that happened to you, were said to you or were given to you this week for which you are grateful. Update it once a week.
- If writing isn’t your habit, pick something else that is and incorporate a moment to count your blessings for the day. Maybe it’s something you share around the dinner table with your family every night. Maybe you incorporate it into a staff meeting on a regular basis. Repetition is the key.
- Purchase a pack of thank you cards and make a point to write one every week. It may be difficult to figure out who to write a card to at first, but soon you may find yourself writing them more and more. Think about the people in your life who support you, listen to you and encourage you. They could be clients, co-workers, vendors, friends or family. You’ll probably wind up with a lot more thank you cards being sent to you as a result.
Gratitude is part of our culture here at Tytanium. Learn more about Tytanium’s culture here.
Do you like doing business with companies with an attitude of gratitude? Contact us for all of your marketing and web design needs.