Appreciation is something that most of us take lightly. We live busy lives and often take for granted the many amazing things that we should be grateful for, as well as many of the people that facilitate those things.
Showing and receiving appreciation comes with many benefits. It can inspire and empower you, make you feel alive, and tremendously increase your well-being and happiness.
Whether at home or at work, daily expressions of gratitude create a positive environment where people thrive and become kinder and more compassionate.
How and why does that happen exactly, and why is daily appreciation so important?
We Are Social Beings
As social beings, it’s not in our nature to be disconnected from other people. Even lone wolves who are independent-minded and self-motivated enjoy being in good company.
We like interacting with people around us, spending time with family, friends, and colleagues, and making life-lasting memories.
We long for connection.
And when we connect with someone, we feel the need to make a difference in their life. We want to be there for them in happy and challenging times and build a meaningful relationship that lasts a lifetime.
We also want to feel valued, which is where appreciation comes in. It’s a way to show someone that they matter to you and that you’re grateful for having them in your life.
What Is Appreciation/Gratitude?
Appreciation is the recognition of something or someone’s value or quality. It’s an expression of gratitude for having something valuable, such as good health, or for the benefits that someone has provided you with.
You can be grateful for having food on your table or a roof above your head. You can be thankful to your boss for giving you a promotion, to an employee for closing an important deal, or to a neighbour for feeding your cat while you were away.
Whatever it is you’re thankful for, it goes without saying that you appreciate it. But do you actually show it?
Why You Should Show Appreciation
Showing appreciation inspires others. It helps them be more engaged, productive, efficient, results-driven, and innovative in the workplace.
It makes them go above and beyond their call of duty to maximise their potential and reach the company’s goals. It improves their job satisfaction and makes them want to stay with the company.
In personal life, it makes people feel valued and builds trust and loyalty.
But when you show someone that you appreciate them, you don’t only make them feel better. Your own mood improves as the mutual-gratitude lifts your spirits and fills you up with joy. Seeing that you’ve made a difference to someone is more powerful than most things in life.
When you start showing appreciation daily, your mindset begins to change. You start focusing more on positive things, which wards off any kind of negativity. Even when something terrible happens, you start looking for a silver lining to turn a challenge into an opportunity.
Practicing gratitude can improve your physical health as well. It can help you lower your blood pressure, sleep better, and strengthen your immune system.
Why Surround Yourself with People Who Appreciate You
It’s clear that appreciation can go a long way. A simple “Thank you” can positively impact your mood and make you go the extra mile to earn more thanks.
Surrounding yourself with people who appreciate you for being you, or are grateful for all the hard work you’ve done, can improve your life in many ways.
It can make you happier, healthier, more optimistic, more enthusiastic, and more resilient.
What’s more, it can help you spread happiness to other people around you.
Researchers from Harvard and the University of California San Diego studied this
dynamic spread of happiness for 20 years. They found that happiness extends up to three degrees of separation.
That means that when you’re happy, you’re likely to make someone else happy as well, together with their friends and their friends’ friends!
How to Be More Grateful to Others
The easiest way to start being more grateful to others is to say “Thank you”.
Thank your loved ones for being there for you. Express gratitude to your partner for making all your moments together memorable.
Write daily thank-you notes to employees for every accomplishment they’ve made and leave them on their desks at the end of the day. It’s sure to make them smile.
Send good vibes via voicemail messages and texts to create that contagious cluster of happiness.
Give compliments to people around you, celebrate their achievements, do them a favour when you can, provide encouragement, and be supportive.
How to Get People to Appreciate You
Doing something you love or giving someone a helping hand is often enough to make you feel better. But receiving gratitude does give you an extra boost that’s one of the key ingredients for joy, happiness, and personal or professional growth.
So, how can you get people to appreciate you?
You do it by striving to be respectful, compassionate, and generous. Using strong body language can also influence people to admire you and applaud you for your efforts.
The most important thing is to
show leadership qualities, especially in the workplace. The most crucial of these include confidence, integrity, honesty, effective communication, delegation, active listening, empathy, and accountability.
Conclusion
Daily appreciation is a key to happiness. It makes a positive impact on your physical and mental health and helps you grow personally and professionally.
This rings true both when you show gratitude and when you receive it. So, make it a daily habit, and you’ll provide both yourself and others with the fantastic benefits of appreciation.
