Make it a habit to tell people “thank you.” To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it. Ralph Marston
If you are looking for ideas to either get started or liven up your current gratitude strategies (Grategies), here you go:
- Use sticky notes to catch people in the act of doing things well. One participant shared that they write handwritten notes to team members and give their employees “Say it Forward” sticky notes so that workers can quickly and easily recognize each other.
- Create a “gratitude wall.” Give employees the opportunity to write acknowledgments about each other on a Gratitude Wall. You can use a whiteboard or just put a bunch of sticky notes on a wall in a staff area. Once the wall gets full, take a picture of it, print it out, and start again.
- Start your meetings with attendees sharing thirty seconds of good news. The news can be personal or professional. Your meetings will start off on a positive note, and the energy will be higher throughout.
All three of these ideas can be easily adapted to your personal interactions as well:
- Sneak a surprise note into your significant others’ lunches or on the front seat of their car. Let them know you appreciate them and are glad they are in your life.
- Hang a bulletin board, chalkboard, or simply use a wall (with easily removable sticky notes), and share the things that you are grateful for on a regular basis. Using bar soap on the bathroom mirror also works.
- Instead of starting conversations with “How was your day,” which can lead to a negative conversation, say “Tell me something good that happened today.” When you change your language, you’ll change the energy of the conversation.
Writing your gratitudes down gives you and your recipient tangible evidence of your appreciation.
