How Gratitude and Intentional Living Can Change Your Life
Are you tired of hearing people say “you should practice gratitude” but have no idea where to start because it seems that feeling of gratitude wears off pretty quickly? To me, it’s the pillar of intentional living.
I’m here to share how gratitude and intentional living will change your life!
When I first heard about intentional living, I was hooked. I love the thought of being more intentional with my daily life.
But I wasn’t exactly sure how to live it out.
Once I realized that intentional living started with gratitude… everything changed!
Gratitude helps us shift our perspective to what matters most and by leading with a grateful heart, we can find more peace and respect for where we are and understand our purpose more clearly.
This post is all about the benefits of gratitude, how to integrate gratitude into your daily life and most importantly, how to overcome barriers that are holding you back from practicing gratitude!
Best Gratitude and Intentional Living Tips
Check out our other posts to help level up your life:
Why Gratitude is Essential for Intentional Living
Aligns Actions with Purpose
Gratitude helps us tap into mindfulness which in return helps us focus on what matters most in our lives. When we are focusing on what matters most, we are subconsciously aligning our daily actions with our core values.
An example would be- reflect on the love you have for your spouse, significant other, or family member.
When reflecting on all the qualities you love about them, this might inspire you to share sweet words with them, give them a hug, or spend quality time with them.
This is a absolutely essential because we don’t want to just think about our gratitude, we want to act upon it.
Enhances Emotional Well-Being
Joshua Brown and Joel Wong came out with a fantastic article with the Greater Good Science Center titled How Gratitude Changes your Brain.
In the article they share that people who showed gratitude by counting blessings tended to be happier people!
This article is a great read and I recommend going to check it out and reading it for yourself!
Keeping a gratitude journal where you can write about your blessings can be a great way to keep anxiety in check and keep you focused on your blessings rather than your problems.
Builds Resilience
Life is always going to bring challenges, that is inevitable but gratitude can help you handle those challenges with more grace.
By shifting your focus to gratitude and looking at the positive aspects of your life, you can be reminded that what you’re walking through is possible to walk through.
If you’re walking through a difficult season, spend time in gratitude reflecting on lessons you’ve learned, support you’ve received, and keep your eyes set on hope and perseverance.
The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude
Physical Health
Gratitude can indirectly help you engage in healthier habits.
When you start to feel good mentally, you have more energy and clarity to engage in exercise or sleeping better!
Stronger Relationships
Has anyone ever told you how grateful they are for you? How did it make you feel?
Gratitude can strengthen bonds between family members and friends by sharing appreciation and bonding over emotional experiences.
Intentionally telling someone thank you, you appreciate them, or you respect them can help improve communication and trust and in return, strengthen relationships!
Increased Productivity
When you are focused on gratitude, you are looking at how far you’ve come and all the good that surrounds you. You don’t leave room for looking at the long road ahead or what’s missing.
Reflecting on current and past successes and being grateful for how far you’ve come can inspire goal-setting, creativity, and productivity!
How to Integrate Gratitude into Daily Life
Morning Gratitude Ritual
This is one of the most common ways to integrate gratitude into your day and chances are, you’ve heard someone tell you to try it!
Practicing intentional living by reflecting on gratitude first thing in the morning is great and I recommend everyone try it!
But to take it a step further, focus on keeping the morning gratitude ritual up all day! When washing your hands or driving home from work, think about your gratitude list.
Don’t know what to be grateful for? I’ve got you covered at the end… keep reading!
Gratitude Journaling
Another way to practice gratitude is to journal it. This can be more effective than just thinking it in your mind. When we write things down we can retain the information better!
Mindful Gratitude Practice
Integrate your gratitude into small daily activities that make you more mindful!
During a meal, express your gratitude for the hot meal you get to eat or when you’re taking a walk, express gratitude for your health and ability to walk!
Think in depth about how delicious the food is or how you feel your muscles contracting with every step you take.
This is a great example of when gratitude truly highlights intentional living!
Expressing Gratitude to Others
Tell others that you are grateful for them! Send a thank you note, text, or call them.
Another person you can express gratitude for is a co-worker or manager! Remember, sometimes you have to dig to find something you are grateful for but the peace you feel when you uncover the gratitude is unmatched.
Gratitude Jar
This is a fun idea! Take small pieces of paper and write something you are grateful for and add them to the jar.
When you need a pick-me-up, take a piece out of the jar and reflect on the moment or thing you are grateful for!
Overcoming Barriers to Gratitude
Dealing with Negativity Bias
It’s so easy in today’s world to focus on the negative that surrounds us. Intentional living and gratitude help us shift that and sometimes it takes longer than we want it to.
Don’t give up on practicing gratitude. Even when it feels like things are crumbling around you, try to find the silver lining in every situation.
Consistency Challenges
Staying consistent with any new habit is challenging. This will require discipline and follow through, especially during stressful or busy moments.
Set reminders, integrate your gratitude into existing routines, or get a friend/family member on board to be an accountability partner.
Everything worth having takes time to develop – let it take time and enjoy the ride but don’t give up!
Don’t know what to be grateful for
If you don’t know what to be grateful for – remember it can be as basic or extravagant as you want.
You can be grateful for a good night’s sleep, the car you drive, the house you live in (yes, even if it’s not your dream house), or the food in your pantry.
You can also be grateful for the vacation you have planned, the new computer you just bought, or the planned dinner date you have scheduled.
Most importantly, here is what you came here for…
Intentional Living and Gratitude
Intentional gratitude involves making gratitude a main part of your lifestyle rather than a sporadic activity you practice every now and then.
There’s no limit to what we can be grateful for! Focusing on gratitude will help you become more intentional in your daily life because you are focusing on all the good around you.
For example, I don’t have the perfect coffee machine or most aesthetic coffee cups but I’ve learned to truly love what I have and slow down and make the most of making my morning coffee with what I do have.
Over time, it’s created a magical experience for me and gratitude for the stuff I have!
Value-Based Decisions
Gratitude can help promote acting on core value decisions rather than impulse.
By taking a step back and understanding what you are grateful for, you are more likely to make decisions based on what will make you feel good.
An example of this could be prioritizing family moments such as dinners, bedtime routines, or morning coffee rituals.
Using gratitude, you can unlock these small moments that bring you joy and incorporate them into your life more. That is the true meaning of intentional living!
Pause and Reflect
Gratitude helps you take a step back and reflect on moments that mean the most to you.
By taking moments throughout your day to pause and reflect on the good in your life and blessing you have, you are indeed practicing an intentional living mindset!
You are being intentional about what you have and what you love and acting upon that!
That is intentional living at its finest and we have gratitude to thank.
What’s something you are grateful for? Share below!
