During the pandemic, when there was a huge level of uncertainty in our lives, I wrote an article for Harvard Business Review called “Use Gratitude to Counter Stress and Uncertainty.” At the time, uncertainty felt overwhelming.
And the truth is—it never really went away.
We love uncertainty in TV and movies. We’re addicted to cliffhangers. But uncertainty in our real lives is exhausting. And over time, it often unintentionally drives us to burnout.
Gratitude won’t remove the things that are causing uncertainty.
But it will give us the mental and emotional resources we need to navigate it with a little more grace and ease.
What Gratitude Is (And What It Isn’t)
Gratitude isn’t something magical, mystical, or fluffy.
It’s about being intentional with what we put into our minds—and understanding how that directly impacts how we feel.
One way I often explain this is by asking people to imagine their brain like a trash can. And if we’re honest, many of us treat it that way.
We’re very aware of how what we eat affects how we feel. That burger or those drinks might seem like a good idea…until the next day.
But we don’t always think about how what we consume through our eyes and ears affects us.
Think about a typical day.
We wake up and check email or read the news.
We’re already frustrated or anxious.
We snap at our kids because they’re not ready.
We get cut off in traffic.
We listen to more bad news.
We gossip at work.
We replay conversations in our head.
We’re burnt out by the end of the day.
And then we wonder why we feel exhausted, anxious, or overwhelmed.
Gratitude is simply about becoming conscious of what we’re putting into our minds and choosing differently.
Why Gratitude Helps When We’re Stressed
Research from Case Western Reserve University found that when we’re stressed, our sympathetic nervous system—our fight-or-flight response—kicks in.
That’s why you can sleep and sleep and still wake up exhausted.
Sleep takes care of our body but not our brain.
To truly recover, we need to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. Their research showed four things that help us do that:
- Mindfulness or self-reflection (including gratitude)
- A sense of hope and progress
- Compassion
- Fun and laughter
Gratitude plays a powerful role here.
Research from Dr. Robert Emmons at UC Davis, the leading researcher on gratitude, found that envy, resentment, and anger are incompatible with gratitude. They can’t exist at the same time.
And that matters, especially in a world where we’re constantly scrolling and comparing.
Whatever we focus on is what we start to see.
If you’ve ever bought a new car and suddenly noticed that same car everywhere, you’ve experienced this firsthand.
A gratitude practice trains our brain to scan the world for what’s working rather than everything that isn’t.
How to Cultivate Gratitude (Without Adding More to Your Plate)
This doesn’t require an hour-long morning routine.
It starts with small, intentional shifts.
Instead of checking email first thing in the morning, look out the window.
Think about one thing you’re grateful for.
Read a quote that makes you smile.
On the way to work, instead of listening to the news, call a friend and ask:
“What made you smile recently?”
At work, thank someone for their help.
Compliment a coworker.
Acknowledge effort.
When something hard happens, say:
“Hey, I know this is tough—and we’ll get through it together.”
Even being intentional about what shows you watch at night matters.
What we put into our minds affects how we feel.
A Simple Weekly Gratitude Practice: The Fantastic Five
One practice I teach in my workshops is something I call The Fantastic Five Reflection:
- What’s one thing I accomplished?
- Who’s one person I helped?
- What’s one memorable moment?
- What’s one way I grew?
- What’s one thing I’m grateful for?
If you do this once a week, at the end of the year you’ll have:
- 52 accomplishments
- 52 people you helped
- 52 memorable moments
- 52 ways you grew
- 52 things you’re grateful for
You bake it into a habit.
Instead of scanning the world for what’s broken, you train your brain to notice what’s working.
Gratitude Won’t Remove Uncertainty; But, It Will Change How You Carry It
The uncertainty isn’t going away.
But when we’re intentional about gratitude, we have more emotional and mental resources to navigate it with greater ease.
And if you’d like a more in-depth look at the research behind this, you can read my Harvard Business Review article here:
👉 Read: Use Gratitude to Counter Stress and Uncertainty
https://hbr.org/2020/10/use-gratitude-to-counter-stress-and-uncertainty
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