Gratitude changes your brain…for the better.

Gratitude changes your brain…for the better.

After taking a month reprieve from writing the weekly Profound Minute, I am back in full swing and anticipating a fruitful winter of thought leadership. 

But first, it seems a timely nod towards gratitude is appropriate. 

I am grateful you are here.

I am grateful for the leadership you provide your organization, your life, your family.

I am grateful you are routinely on the path from mundane to profound. As we all are.

What are you grateful for?

The practice of gratitude for leaders has perhaps never been more profound than it is today. There is an abundance of new neurological research and recognized benefits of spending time be grateful. 

And…yes…it benefits your leadership.

I say "practice" of gratitude because we must not mistake gratitude as an emotion. Rather, it is a discipline. Something we must make time for. Being grateful. 

The science demonstrates that practicing gratitude leads to happiness. Or as one researcher says:  “It is not happiness that brings us gratitude. It is gratitude that brings us happiness.”

Practicing gratitude literally activates your dopamine production in your brain. Those are your “feel good” chemicals. And if you practice being grateful regularly, you strengthen and grow the neuro-pathways that allow that dopamine to be maintained more permanently. 

And your brain can be changed at any age, too. Yes, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

Think of it like building muscle. The more you workout, the bigger your muscles get.

You’ve heard me say you have to choose to be a leader, you can’t just have the title.  

Gratefulness is also a choice. You have to choose to be grateful.

When you do, it will literally change your brain.

It will help you release toxic emotions, reduce anxiety, regulate stress. Some studies indicate it can even help reduce pain and improve your sleep. 

But perhaps the most pressing argument I can give you for choosing gratefulness is in the answer to this question:

What is the alternative to gratefulness?  Is it ungratefulness? Is it indifference?

If you have to choose one of these three, which one will move you from mundane to profound?

Have a grateful week.

Go. Be. Profound.

G