Why should entrepreneurs cultivate gratitude?

Cultivating gratitude is like fuel for entrepreneurs. It enables them to perform better, to focus more, and to overcome challenges more easily.  According to a blogpost by Positive Psychology, these benefits are supported by research. Here are five of them: 

Positive Mindset

Even in challenging times, gratitude helps entrepreneurs maintain a positive outlook. This mindset allows you to focus on what’s going right rather than dwelling on the negative, keeping you motivated and making problem-solving easier. 

Several studies (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005) have shown that gratitude journaling—even for 5 minutes a day—can enhance long term happiness by 10%. 

Resilience

Gratitude is foundational to building resilience and one characteristic of resilience is having a growth mindset. A growth mindset is invaluable to entrepreneurs since entrepreneurship is filled with its ups and downs requiring continuous learning. Therefore, it’s vital that entrepreneurs successfully meet those challenges. Cultivating gratitude can help entrepreneurs do just that. 

In their review of the literature (Wood, Froh, & Geraghty, 2010), researchers found that gratitude had a positive effect across many aspects of well-being, including resilience. A study in 2002 exploring the relationship between gratitude and posttraumatic growth by H. Tennen and G. Affleck found that gratitude made the difference when facing trauma. Those who embodied gratitude were more resilient and experienced greater posttraumatic growth than those who did not embody it.

Relationship Building

People appreciate being appreciated, so habitually demonstrating sincere gratitude to others goes a long way in strengthening relationships. One way gratitude does this is by engendering trust and commitment, as the 2010 study by Algoe, Gable, and Maisel found. And trust and commitment help to support the quality and longevity of relationships.

Better relationships can improve collaboration and lead to greater opportunities for entrepreneurs. Even if gratitude lacked any salutatory effects, expressing genuine gratitude to customers, employees, investors, and partners is always the right thing to do. 

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

-Alfred North Whitehead 

Creativity and Innovation

Although there has not been research specifically exploring the link between creativity and gratitude, some research does suggest positive effects, such as helping to keep your thinking flexible, opening your mind to new possibilities. These positive outcomes of gratitude and other positive emotions were revealed in a 2013 literature review by B.L. Frederickson. Such broadened thinking is the essence of innovation, leading to breakthrough ideas.

Health and Well-being

Although getting regular exercise and enjoying consistent relaxation contribute to better mental and physical health, don’t forget gratitude. Research shows that practicing gratitude reduces stress, improves sleep, and boosts overall well-being, just to name a few health-related benefits. 

In a 2003 study designed to explore the relationship to gratitude on psychological well-being. researchers R.A. Emmons and M.E. McCollough found that people who practiced gratitude reported higher levels of positive emotions, greater life satisfaction, and improved overall well-being compared to those who focused on burdens. 

The link between higher levels of gratitude and better sleep was uncovered in a 2009 study by A.M. Wood, S. Joseph, and J. Maltby. And improved sleep contributes to better physical health as well. Entrepreneurship requires much so it’s vital that entrepreneurs maintain their good health and well-being.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

-Melody Beattie

How gratitude affects the brain

While psychologists have studied gratitude for more than 20 years, neuroscientists have just begun to examine how gratitude affects the brain. Researchers (Kini, Wong, McInnis, Gaban, 2016) used an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to examine how gratitude affects brain activity. They discovered that when subjects engaged in gratitude exercises, the areas of their brains associated with social reward, moral cognition, and value judgment were stimulated. In another study (Kawamoto, Nittono, Ura, 2018), participants who practiced gratitude showed changes in brain activity in those areas associated with increased positive affect and emotional management. 

Given all its many proven benefits, cultivating gratitude is not some woo-woo, airy-fairy practice. It makes good business sense.