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Friday: Everson’s High-P Fridays
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FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON:
Welcome to today’s edition of “Mindfulness by Miles!”
Each Friday, I am sharing my insights and advice on a topic or event that I find useful in
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my everyday life. I hope these experiences and personal interests can also help develop your skills, improve your character, and boost your career.
This week in particular, I’m focusing on the topic of thanksgiving.
Did you know that developing a mindset of gratefulness helps positively rewire your brain?
Continue reading to know the science behind this concept. I’m also talking about some ways to build gratitude into your daily life.
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
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Be a "thanks-giver!" Check out how this attitude can positively impact your overall health!
Have you heard about or tried the activity where you’ll list down 3 to 5 things you’re grateful for at the end of each day?
I personally haven’t done that daily, but when I do, I not only recall my own achievements for the day but also ask my wife and children to share theirs.
The entire process takes around 10 minutes, yet the benefits of the activity are exponential!
According to Dave Asprey, lifestyle guru and the founder of health and wellness company Bulletproof 360, exercising gratitude literally rewires our brain and builds lasting neural sensitivity to more positive thinking.
This means the more we practice thankfulness, the more we also default ourselves to positivity instead of negativity.
In fact, Asprey is not the only one who says this! Numerous studies show that simple gratitude exercises, such as keeping a journal or sharing our daily wins with friends or family, can make us happier, more positive, and more emotionally open.
Being a “thanks-giver” also has lasting benefits. I’ve personally experienced some of these, including:
- An overall increase in my well-being
- A stronger immune system
- Controlled stress levels
That’s why I’m excited to share this topic with you. I believe adopting a thankful mindset will also enable you to experience the benefits I’ve experienced—and more!
Allow me to share with you some ways to build gratitude into your daily life:
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Journaling
In my humble opinion, this is one of the most popular thankfulness practices nowadays. I personally do this whenever I have time to spare!
Writing down your gratitude is tangible, and it’s easy to remember to always be thankful when it involves a physical object. The process is simple: All you have to do is write down 3 to 5 things you’re thankful for before going to bed.
This activity will help you turn gratefulness into a habit and default your body, mind, and soul to optimism.
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Practicing Mindfulness or Meditation
Did you know you can still meditate even if you’re busy or always on the go?
Here’s my recommendation: If you find yourself rushing to get to work, relax. Breathe, breathe out, and let your frazzled state melt away. Slowing your life down for a few minutes won’t kill you.
When you go up the stairs, pay attention to every step… or when you walk on a sidewalk, notice the plants that are growing through the cracks. If you want a formal meditation, sit down for a few minutes and close your eyes. Take deep breaths, relax, and pay attention to your surroundings.
These activities will help you appreciate the beautiful things you wouldn’t otherwise notice when you’re busy. So, take time to appreciate both little and big things. This will rewire your brain for the better and let you see the tremendous beauty all around you.
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Spending Time in Nature
This is one of the things I love doing with my family! Immersing ourselves in nature truly makes us relaxed and refreshed. It’s an entirely great experience!
When you’re frequently bombarded with negative news and many other things that could trigger your stress hormones, it can be hard to feel grateful. With your nerves taxed, it’s easy to slip into negative thought patterns.
If these emotions start to creep into your system, get out in nature and enjoy your surroundings. This will help you combat the negativity rising in your bones.
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Practicing Active Appreciation
Look for opportunities to be grateful throughout your day. This is especially useful when you’re having a bad day or you find yourself focusing on negative things.
Doing this is not about pretending, denying your reality, or lying to yourself. It’s more about actively looking for things in your life that you have an authentic appreciation for.
This could be in the form of being grateful for having a cup of coffee every morning, or being thankful that you’re still alive and healthy.
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Combining Gratitude and Forgiveness
You can carry a lot of stress—even unconsciously—from anger or hurt. To practice combining gratitude and forgiveness, you may write down something that has hurt you, or even simply acknowledge your anger or pain.
Afterwards, look for how that situation helped shape you into who you are today, then let the negativity go.
This is a powerful activity because aside from the benefits you can get from being thankful, you also experience the benefits of forgiveness, which include a profound boosting on your alpha brain waves—the waves associated with a calm and focused mental state.
There you have it—my recommendations on how you can build and exercise gratitude in your life!
Personally for me, gratitude is a daily practice that’s similar to meditation. The more you do it, the more it becomes a natural part of your system.
I hope you’ll take these tips and apply them to your daily habits!
Keep in mind that what you put into your body affects what you bring out. In this case, your inner thoughts create the world you live in. If you put gratitude in, you’ll likely experience positive thoughts more naturally.
… and by being a genuinely thankful person, you’ll not only experience positive impacts on your overall health and well-being but also enhance how you interact with others and see the world.
Enjoy the rest of the day, everyone!
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