…How Gratitude is a Science and Money is a Result

Few of us associate money with gratitude. It’s true that there are people who have made a lot of money and rarely showed their gratitude for those that have helped them. But there are far more successful people who have done the complete opposite.

They know the power of expressing your gratitude to those who have helped you get where you are today. Showing people that we appreciate and respect everything they do for us, not only builds strong relationships but also helps us earn more and have greater successes.

Teaching our children about gratitude is one of the most important lessons we are responsible for as parents. The benefits of a child that develops a healthy attitude of gratitude are:

• Increased happiness – by boosting the satisfaction and positive emotions your child feels throughout the experiences in their life.
• Reduced anxiety – by building stronger relationships, your child will have close friends to rely on when things get tough and will have fewer feelings of helplessness.
• Improved sleep – your child will feel more refreshed in the morning and will have consistently better sleep.
• Increased health – less stress and anxiety, and more happiness to boost the immune system into full health

Gratitude and Financial Stress

It’s no secret that we all feel financially stressed at one time or another, and as your child takes on more financial responsibilities they will be no different. Teaching them to have gratitude in even the most stressed and resentful of times, equips them with resiliency and patience.
When we have trained ourselves to always be grateful for what we have, we encourage a deep-seated level of contentedness that helps us stay strong in good times and bad.

Tips to Maximize Gratitude

Gratitude isn’t something that we can accumulate overnight, in fact, it can be quite challenging to cultivate. Here’re our favorite five tips to build a long-term attitude of gratitude in your child.

Tip #1 – Keep a Gratitude Journal

Keeping a track of what you feel grateful for every day is a great way to build long-term gratitude. On days when you are feeling a little down, simply opening up your journal and reading about how great your life really is, can be very uplifting.
Daily entries are the best practice. Try listing five things you feel grateful for today, and then writing about your experiences. You don’t have to write a lot, in fact, shorter entries are usually more effective.

Tip #2 – Write a Letter

Taking the time out to personally thank someone for what they have done for you is a great experience, for both you and the receiver. Send a letter to your parent, teacher or best friend and tell them what you appreciate about them and how grateful you are.

Tip #3 – Choose Your Words Wisely

You are what you think and speak. Be very careful about what you say to yourself and to others. If you’re always telling yourself that you won’t make any money, or can’t get in front of the bills – then you’ll set yourself up for failure.

If you want to find out more about teaching your children to have an attitude of gratitude and money, then check out Fran Christie’s new book “101 Money Tips for Kids and Parents” here.