As the year comes to an end, I’ve started thinking about my year in review. Rather than setting goals and planning what I want to achieve next year, I decided to first spend time in gratitude.
Gratitude is such a simple way to access appreciation in your life. It can switch the mundane to the magical. Cultivating gratitude increases wellbeing, happiness, energy, optimism and empathy.
More importantly, when you show gratitude to the people in your life (not just at home, but at work too) it creates a kind of wonderfulness; a vibration that you can feel.
Here are a few things I have done to collect all of the moments and people I have gratitude for this year.
Personal gratitude exercise
The thing about gratitude is that’s so much more than saying thank you. It’s about really feeling it.
Sit in stillness and take a moment to think back over this past year and remember the moments when people did things for you which really made a difference and send them gratitude.
Take a moment to think about the experiences that you have had this year with a clear focus of appreciation. Feel the flow of gratitude.
See gratitude on paper
With paper and pens (a bunch of colours of course) answer these questions:
- This year I am most grateful for:
- The five things I’m grateful for this year:
- The person I am most grateful for is:
- Three other people who touched me this year are:
- The things I did this year for other people include:
- The things I feel most blessed to have in my life now are:
Gratitude circle
With my team, we sat in a circle and had one person in the centre and told them why we are grateful for them. We were specific to moments, lessons and impact. We talked about how we are different, because of their impact in our lives. Maybe try this with your friends and family.
As one year morphs into the next, there are so many forgotten moments and people left unthanked who contributed to our lives. With these exercises, I hope the grace of gratitude invokes much abundance and love into your life – personally and professionally.
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Tweetable: Its time to review your year with an end of end gratitude practice. http://bit.ly/1QjwFNc @catrionapollard
