What is strategic gratitude and why does it sound smarmy?

I can assure you, It’s not. It’s a way of shifting your gratitude practice so that the benefits are not only amplified but aimed specifically at the areas most important to you at this point in your life.

The Benefits of Gratitude

The vast benefits of a gratitude practice include:

• reduced burnout and improved mood¹
• better management of chronic pain and reduced risk of disease²
• decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression³
• improved quantity and quality of sleep⁴
• more resilient interpersonal relationships⁵

While any type of gratitude practice can be hugely beneficial to one’s emotional well-being, implementing strategic gratitude is like taking a double shot of espresso when you usually sip a cup of medium-roast coffee.

 

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Strategic Gratitude

Step #1: Identify an area of your life where you feel the most challenged or want the most change.

Step #2: Find two to three positive attributes in the same area you identified in Step #1.

Step #3: Write, say, or sing the attributes you found in Step #2 and feel the positive emotion as genuinely as possible.

If your biggest challenge is hip pain or difficulty losing belly fat, find two to three aspects of your physical health that you really appreciate. For instance, “I’m so grateful I don’t get headaches or vertigo and I love the shape of my shoulders.”

If your biggest challenge is parenting or arguments with your partner, find two to three aspects of your interpersonal relationships that you truly appreciate. For instance, “I”m so grateful I have the emotional support of my best friend and my two youngest kiddos are getting along really well right now.”

If your biggest challenge is depression or anxiety, find two to three aspects of your emotional life that you really appreciate. For instance, “I’m so grateful I did a yoga class today and felt really good afterward.” If it feels tough to find anything positive, it’s perfectly fine to choose something small like, “I'm so grateful that on Tuesday night I felt good and happy for a couple of hours.”

 

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How-To Hacks

Using these additional gratitude practice hacks will not only leave you feeling better after your gratitude practice but also quicken the benefits:

• Get Really Specific: The more specific you get when you speak your gratitude, the more you will actually pay attention to your own words. If you’re in the habit of a quick memorized list of gratitudes, you’re less likely to reap the benefits of your practice.
• Really Feel It: The more positive emotions you can evoke during your gratitude practice, the better. Perhaps you feel proud, excited, content, happy, or peaceful. Linger in those positive feelings as long as possible.
• Make Faces: Match your facial features and body language to the emotions you’re feeling. Your brain (and the chemicals it releases) takes its cues from your body. Send it the cues you want to receive.
• Do It Before Bed: Practicing gratitude before you sleep will not only help you to sleep better, you’ll find you wake up in a calmer state as well.⁴ Note: This works best when you resist looking at your phone or computer after your nighttime gratitude practice.

Practicing strategic gratitude is a genius hack not only because it can improve your life in all the ways most important to you, but it’s also cost-free, side effect-free, and gluten-free. But seriously, using a gratitude practice before bedtime every day will at the least give you a few minutes of joy each day and at the most transform and improve every major area of your life.