If there is a ‘shortcut’ to a wealthier, happier, and healthier life, it is cultivating an attitude of gratitude. This is one of the simplest ways to improve your satisfaction with life immediately!
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation on a regular basis for every aspect of your life, from the big and important issues, to the small things. Be grateful for good health, your job, family and even a compliment received from a friend or colleague. In financial terms, an attitude of gratitude refers to appreciation for your financial situation – having an income, the ability to pay your accounts, having a savings pocket and financial protection. Your ability to better your finances and access to financial assistance via your financial coach, is also reason to be grateful.
Can gratitude improve your financial life?
Gratitude is a recognised way to manage what psychologists refer to as ‘negativity bias’. Negative bias is the inclination that we must “attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information”. Many of us often find ourselves thinking about what is wrong with our finances and what we do not have, and this reinforces feelings of lack, scarcity, and fear. How often are you focusing on what you do not have, and how much time do you spend on appreciating what you do have?
When you focus on the positive and you appreciate what you have, this opens the door for the things you would like to have.
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you do not have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
3 Tips to improve your attitude of gratitude
- Make a decision to change your focus – be grateful for the positive.
- Start and end your day with appreciation – wake up with thankfulness and count all your blessings before you sleep.
- Use a journal to jot down things you are grateful for and say thank you at every opportunity. On challenging days, read your gratitude journal.
Activate your appreciate!
This April, we encourage you to take inventory of everything you have, from material things like your house, food, clothing, and transport. Include to your health and physical abilities; your income; and the people in your life in the inventory. You will be surprised at just how much there is, to be grateful for! Now, make another list dated 1 year from now and write down what you would like to be grateful for then. Perhaps you would like to have paid off a few accounts, reduced your debt, or saved up enough for a deposit for your dream house or car.
Improve your financial life by focusing on and appreciating what you have. And that includes a financial coach, who is just a phone call or a click away, who can assist you in dealing with financial worries or creating a financial goal.