To start simple, gratitude makes us happier. Even just five minutes of gratitude journaling can enhance our long-term happiness by a whopping 10%! When we notice the positives in our lives, we are more likely to have a much more positive outlook on life than if we focus on the negatives.

Expressing gratitude impacts our psychological well being and self-esteem positively. Not only this but it has been shown to reduce jealousy and foster positive emotions. When we show gratitude, jealousy or hatred has no place in our lives.

Showing gratitude every day positively changes our outlook on life. Thus, this positive change improves our self-esteem and we start to realise not only the important things in life but that we also hold value in other people’s lives. 

Gratitude helps us pro-socially. It aids helping behaviour, helps those who helped us and even strangers, and we just become much more kind to everyone in our lives.

Gratitude can even change several behaviours that we exhibit or struggle with. For example, completing gratitude writing exercises can help us develop healthier eating behaviours and habits. Another example is that materialism amongst adolescents also decreases when one practises gratitude. 

Keep a gratitude journal. Journaling about the experiences, things and/or people that make us grateful can promote happiness and positive emotions in our lives.

Share your gratitude. Expressing gratitude towards others has been shown to strengthen relationships. The next time someone does something for you, be sure to communicate that thanks to them.

Remember the negatives. This probably sounds counterintuitive because wouldn’t recall the bad bring us down? Recalling the bad moment(s) allows us to appreciate the situation we are in now.

If you are religious, you can pray about what you're grateful for.

Write a letter towards the person/people that you are thankful for. This could pose to be a challenge for you, but why not take it on? At least once? Conveying your thanks to someone would not only facilitate positive emotions in yourself, but you would also be making someone else’s day!

Vow to practise gratitude. Research demonstrates that if we vow to do a behaviour, the likelihood of doing that behaviour increases. So, writing a vow as simple as ‘I vow to show gratitude daily,’ and posting it somewhere where you can see it will help remind you to do so.