The hustle and bustle of the holidays have begun, ushering in a season of celebration and reflection. In the midst of the Q4 sprint for those year-end goals, carving out time for family and gratitude can be challenging for a business owner. Taking time to slow down and reflect on what you’re thankful for can be challenging when this is the busiest time of year for your company.

Still, it might be exactly what you and your business need.

The Science of Gratitude

Science has proven that practicing gratitude causes your brain to release serotonin and dopamine – two powerful neurotransmitters that positively influence mood, motivation, and the way you interpret the world around you.

Gratitude isn’t just good for you. It’s good for your relationships. Appreciation and recognition foster genuine human connection, speaking to our deep psychological need to belong.

The Business Benefits of Practicing Gratitude

Routinely expressing gratitude and appreciation in the workplace has been shown to improve productivity and employee retention by nurturing a culture of engagement and belonging that empowers collaboration and success.

But gratitude is more than just an outward expression. It’s a point-of-view, a lens that offers a more expansive perspective of your business.

A Grateful Perspective of Success

In business, we measure progress in KPIs and year-over-year growth. This analytical approach allows us to quantify success in a measurable way, but it can also cause us to downplay wins that don’t directly impact the bottom line.

Stop and think about where your business was at the beginning of 2022 and where you are now.

⇒ What unexpected opportunities opened up?

⇒ How have you clarified or expanded your creative vision?

⇒ What achievements or milestones have you checked off your list of goals?

⇒ What boundaries or standards have you established?

⇒ What have you shifted, delegated, or let go of because it wasn’t truly aligned with your best work?

Your numbers are only one measure of success. When you take time to reflect on your business through the lens of gratitude, you create a more nuanced, more personally meaningful perspective of growth. One that illuminates the journey and inspires new possibilities.

Create a Future You’re Thankful For

Just like practicing gratitude can bring more clarity and insight into the progress you’re making in your business, it can also bring more intention to your future growth.

If growing your business means expanding your team – how do you want that experience to feel? What tools, systems, or processes would you be thankful to have in place before you started onboarding? 

If you’re more focused on financial growth, how would achieving your numeric goals impact your daily life and business operations? What opportunities could you invest in? What resources would become available to you? 

Whatever business goal you’re bringing gratitude to, take some time to reflect on how achieving it would feel and what would become possible as a result. What outcomes do you anticipate? Why do they matter to you? 

Bringing this active awareness to your big-picture vision for your company allows you to get more strategic about making your next steps count.

Gratitude is Good For Business

Whether you’re reflecting on how far you and your business have come or charting the path to future success, practicing gratitude brings more intention to your journey, expands your perspective, and empowers you to build a business that supports the life you want to live.

And that is a lot to be thankful for.