What Am I Grateful For?

You can come up with different answers to this question every day, and if you did, you’d be happier, according to the research. One study on gratefulness asked the participants to merely write for five minutes a day in a diary — to write about what they were grateful for. It made them measurably happier, and their improved moods lasted for a considerable time afterward.

Five minutes a day? Why would such a small thing have such a strong impact?

When you ask what you’re grateful for, you’re using the power of comparison. To feel grateful for your good health you would have to compare your health to a worse state of health.

Also, your brain has a negative bias. It tends to focus on what’s wrong. The question, “What am I grateful for?” bypasses the negative bias, or uses it to your advantage rather than using it against you.

Ask the question, find an answer, and ask it again. What else are you grateful for? I sometimes do it using a timer. I set the timer for five minutes and write a list of things I am grateful for, and I always feel significantly better afterward. At first I was surprised how easy it was to fill a page with things I’m grateful for. I hardly have to try. I write nonstop, and have a pretty big list at the end of five minutes. This is so simple and so powerful I really urge you to try this one. It’s not work. It’s not a chore. It feels good.

Another variation that works pretty well is: What could I feel great about if I wanted to?

Another variation: What do I appreciate about (a particular person)? This is a good one to write down. When you’re done, give it to the person, or even go so far as to read it to them.

When you would like to direct your mind to something positive, when you’d like to feel better, when you would like to be aware of what is great about your life, ask yourself, “What am I grateful for?” It works every time.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth, Slotralogy, Antivirus For Your Mind, and co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Follow his podcasts, The Adam Bomb and Talk to Klassy. You can email him here.

Top Seven Reasons Why Raising Your Mood is a Good Idea

You want a better mood, and you probably have your own reasons. But there may be other sound reasons to pursue this worthy purpose that you haven't thought about before. So here are what I believe to be the seven best reasons to put in the effort to improve your mood:

1. Good moods are good for your heart. A good mood is the antithesis of stress. And frequent stress is hard on the heart. An optimistic outlook and a good attitude are positively good for the health of your heart — not just metaphorically, but physically.

2. Good moods improve your relationships. It is easier and more enjoyable to converse with, hug, take a trip with, or anything else with someone in a good mood. It's easier to work out problems with someone in a good mood. One good way to improve a relationship is to improve your mood.

3. Your good moods help others become happier. Far from being a selfish pursuit, raising your own mood is one of the best things you can do for others.

4. Good moods make you more creative. Before they were given the problem to solve, students were first put in either a bad mood or a good mood. Afterwards, 20% of the students in a bad mood successfully solved the problem. But 75% of the students in a good mood were able to do it. Good moods help you cope with difficult situations and improve your ability to solve problems, which improves your mood, creating an upward spiral.

5. Good moods make your immune system more vigorous. When you're in a good mood, your T-cells and NK-cells are more effective at killing off invaders and stopping the proliferation of cancer cells. And bad moods are bad for your immune system.

6. Good moods help you live longer. Having a good attitude and being in a good mood can add over seven years to your life.

7. Good moods feel good. Let's not forget about this one! Bad moods feel bad and good moods feel great.

Adam Khan is the author of Principles For Personal Growth, Slotralogy, Antivirus For Your Mind, and co-author with Klassy Evans of How to Change the Way You Look at Things (in Plain English). Follow his podcasts, The Adam Bomb and Talk to Klassy. You can email him here.

How Negative Thinking Can Make You Feel Better

When you're angry or in a bad mood or upset, it doesn't work very well to try to be positive. Your whole mind-set is against it.

But you can get out of your bad mood with a special kind of negative thinking. It is the key technique of Cognitive Therapy (the most effective therapy available, according to over 600 studies).

Here it is: Criticize your own thinking. Be negative about your own mistaken, exaggerated, distorted thoughts. The fact is, when you're upset, your thinking becomes irrational, and your negative (and false) conclusions keep you upset (or make it worse).

Read more: How to Genuinely Feel Less Angry