Thanksgiving may be a uniquely American holiday, but the act of giving thanks has positive universal impact. I routinely see comments to the effect of, “Gratitude is like ‘thoughts and prayers:’ a nice sentiment but with no effect in the real world.”

Recent findings in peer-reviewed journals would beg to differ.

More Than A Feeling

Turns out that gratitude has demonstrable, scientifically observable and replicable benefits for both physical and mental health:

Gratitude is linked with better cardiovascular health (Mills et al., 2015; Redwine et al., 2016).

A practice gratitude can enhance sleep quality (Jackowska et al., 2016).

Expressions of gratitude have been associated with better immune function (Reed & Ones, 2016).

Individuals who regularly engage in gratitude practices report experiencing less pain and may use fewer pain-related health services (Wong et al., 2018).

Regular expression of gratitude can lead to lower blood pressure, contributing to overall cardiovascular health (Huffman et al., 2016).

Gratitude interventions have shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and foster a general increase in positive emotions (Diniz et al., 2023).

The practice of gratitude can enhance an individual's resilience against psychological stress and trauma (Wood et al., 2010).

Gratitude is strongly correlated with higher life satisfaction and overall happiness (Abdullah, 2023).

Individuals who are more grateful tend to have higher self-esteem (Cheng et al., 2015).

Gratitude practices are linked with better mental health outcomes, including reduced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and higher levels of social support (Kini et al., 2016).

Almost sounds like gratitude is one of those “fountain of youth” cure-alls, doesn’t it?

Yep; an “attitude of gratitude” can help you live longer. In fact, recent research conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that individuals who reported higher levels of gratitude had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality (Chen, et al., 2024).

But Wait! There’s More!

Giving thanks bestows other gifts upon the grateful. There are distinct (albeit more difficult to measure) advantages for those of you who embody an entrepreneurial spirit, whether or not you are an entrepreneur.

Gratitude propels purpose, facilitates focus, sustains success and defeats despair.

All of the above can only help you, regardless of your employment status - employee, boss, self-employed, or hoping to be.

So how do you get some of this good juju for yourself?

The first step is to become aware of those things for which you could - and should - be grateful.

I recommend two starting points:

First, look around at where you are right now. And by “where you are,” I mean physically, monetarily, mentally and spiritually.

Do you have a place to live? Food to eat?

Do you have some degree of physical and mental health?

Maybe you have a reliable source of income. How about friends and family that care about you and your success?

You might even be lucky enough to be in a rewarding and reciprocal relationship.

How are you reading this article? Access to a device upon which you can “surf the ‘Net” is not inconsequential.

These are the “big ones.” If you are also so cosmically fortunate as to have the fancy watch, the nice car, the big house and the lavish travel opportunities, you should devote significant time each day to giving thanks that you are in the top one-percent of the top one-percent of the world.

Here is a second method to determine just how grateful you should be. Think back a year ago, maybe five years ago, maybe longer.

It is highly likely that you are now living at least a good portion of what was once just a dream. Pat yourself on the back for having achieved any part of that for which you once dreamed.

These are major accomplishments, and cause for major celebration - and equally significant, mindful gratitude.

All of this is easier if you wrote your goals somewhere, of course. Which brings us to the next point.

Actions Speak Louder

Gratitude is, in fact, an attitude and a realization. But if you want to supercharge the benefits of giving thanks? Express it with action:

Write a list of the things for which you are grateful.

Express your gratitude to those who may have assisted you on your journey, even if they only cheered you on. This is best done verbally and in person, if possible.

Assist someone else in their own purposeful path, in any way you can, then

Celebrate the wins with them, no matter how small.

I don’t pretend to know how action multiplies the benefits of gratitude, but I can vouch  - with my own life experience - for the fact that it does.

When it comes to giving thanks, doing enhances thinking.

Giving Thanks

Find every person, place and situation for which you can give thanks. Write a list that details each of them. Then tell the world. May your gratitude return to you many-fold.

And no matter where you read this, Happy Thanksgiving - I am grateful for each and every one of you!

References, in Order of Mention

You a fact-checker? Good for you. Here ya go:

Mills, P. J., Redwine, L., Wilson, K., Pung, M. A., Chinh, K., Greenberg, B. H., ... & Chopra, D. (2015). The role of gratitude in spiritual well-being in asymptomatic heart failure patients. Spirituality in Clinical Practice, 2(1), 5-17.

Redwine, L. S., Henry, B. L., Pung, M. A., Wilson, K., Chinh, K., Knight, B., ... & Mills, P. J. (2016). Pilot randomized study of a gratitude journaling intervention on heart rate variability and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with stage B heart failure. Psychosomatic Medicine, 78(6), 667-676.

Jackowska, M., Brown, J., Ronaldson, A., & Steptoe, A. (2016). The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology, and sleep. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(10), 2207-2217.

Reed, R. G., & Ones, D. S. (2016). The effect of acute stressors on the effectiveness of daily gratitude exercises. Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(6), 647-658.

Wong, Y. J., Owen, J., Gabana, N. T., Brown, J. W., McInnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2018). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy Research, 28(2), 192-202.

Huffman, J. C., Beale, E. E., Celano, C. M., Beach, S. R., Belcher, A. M., Moore, S. V., ... & Januzzi, J. L. (2016). Effects of optimism and gratitude on physical activity, biomarkers, and readmissions after an acute coronary syndrome: The Gratitude Research in Acute Coronary Events study. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 9(1), 55-63.

Diniz, G., Korkes, L., Tristão, L. S., Pelegrini, R., Bellodi, P. L., & Bernardo, W. M. (2023). The effects of gratitude interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Einstein (Sao Paulo), 21, eRW0371.

Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., & Maltby, J. (2010). Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(6), 732-737.

Abdullah, N. (2023). The scientific effects of gratitude: A review. Journal of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, 7(3).

Cheng, S. T., Tsui, P. K., & Lam, J. H. M. (2015). Improving mental health in health care practitioners: Randomized controlled trial of a gratitude intervention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 83(1), 177-186.

Kini, P., Wong, J., McInnis, S., Gabana, N., & Brown, J. W. (2016). The effects of gratitude expression on neural activity. NeuroImage, 128, 1-10.

Chen, Y., Okereke, O. I., Kim, E. S., Tiemeier, H., Kubzansky, L. D., & VanderWeele, T. J. (2024). Gratitude and mortality among older US female nurses. JAMA Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama psychiatry.2024.1687

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- JWW