Entrepreneurs for Impact (EFI) Podcast: Transcripts
#206:
A 7-Minute Thanksgiving Micro-Episode — Tim Ferriss Wisdom. How to Recharge for Climate Wins. Science of Gratitude. 25% Boost in Happiness. Toxic Positivity.
Chris Wedding:
Howdy folks. Welcome to your weekly dose of toxic positivity. No, I'm just kidding. I had been charged with such crimes by my family, just ask them. No, actually don't talk to them. Despite the very predictable nature of this topic on this week and the total lack of relevance to climate tech investing, well, it's my podcast so I can do whatever I want. No, just kidding. Hopefully it's still useful. We are going to spend a very few short minutes on gratitude. Not the forced thank you note to Aunt Karen. Why Karen? I don't know. Not that kind. But the real I don't know, soul nourishing life filling science backed gratitude. All right, we got two parts. One is look, what is the science really say?
And part two, what are, I don't know, three or four ways to actually put this into practice versus just saying the word thank you a lot. I don't know. All right, part one, science-based benefits of gratitude, got a list of five here. Spoiler, they're impressive. Also from usually, let me look here, usually peer-reviewed journals. Nicely summarized by the good folks at Psychology Today. Dumbing things down. I'm curating things for us to make this translation easier.
Number one, better mental health. Hard to argue against that. Grateful individuals report higher levels of positive emotions and life satisfaction. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude interventions can increase happiness by up to 25%.
Number two, improved relationships. By the way, what's more important perhaps, anyway, expressing gratitude can strengthen relationships. Research in Personal Relationships, which sounds like a fun journal to read, indicates that partners who express gratitude toward each other experience increased relationship satisfaction and feel more connected. Certainly easy to vouch for that when I do the opposite, which is bring work, hyper efficiency, and so forth to the dinner table. Wrong time buddy. Take the hat off.
Number three, physical health boosts. Gratitude is linked to better physical health, according to a study in Personality and Individual Differences. Grateful people experience fewer aches and pains and report feeling healthier than others. Are they healthier? Maybe. They feel healthier. That sounds positive.
Number four, reduced stress and anxiety. A study in Behavior Research and Therapy found that gratitude can reduce the risk of depression and anxiety.
Number five, better sleep. Writing down what you're grateful for before bed can improve sleep quality per research in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, which shows gratitude journaling can in fact improve sleep and lower blood pressure.
Alright, five of many science-based benefits of gratitude. Very quickly, I know turkey is waiting. I don't know. Tofurky? Tofurkey. Is that how you say that? Anyway, something's waiting for you. Food, Football, hopefully friends, family.
Four ways to actually put gratitude into practice. Let's see.
Number one, the Five Minute Journal. Perfect title. This was super popular, I don't know, three or four years ago, partly due to my boy Tim Ferriss. At least I would say that. Yeah, Tim Ferriss, productivity guru and such. Highly recommended it. Probably still uses it anyway. That's super short. Three things you're grateful for each morning and reflecting on those positive experiences each evening.
Number two, writing gratitude letters. So look, this could be writing a letter to someone who's made a difference in your life, and sending it. That's the important part. Or even if that person has passed on to the next realm, the ether, wherever we go, write it anyway. Just that expression can be worth a lot.
Number three, gratitude walks versus my personal favorite of the next self-development book on productivity on Audible. During my walk, perhaps a walk around or built around noticing things that are pretty awesome about your day or what's around you. Neighbors quiet for once. The leaf blower has been turned off. Hallelujah, the sky is beautiful, et cetera. Tiny things. And the details matter, I think a whole lot.
Number four, this is my personal favorite, so feel free to ignore it because of that, or try it. Either one's fine. Falling asleep while listing good things about the day. Much to the entertainment of my wife.
What I've tried to do, like any good Type A grateful person, is I aim to list 25 or 30 good things about the day. Every night in bed and I count like a little baby, like a five-year-old. I count on my fingers. At least it be super tiny, right? Super tiny. I think the more detail the better to make it more real.
Look, the end. No expert here. Thanks for putting up with super not climate tech related startup and finance stuff today. Hey look, by focusing on this, I'm certainly not trying to be guilty again of toxic positivity. I'm not denying, we should not deny, there's some really hard shit out there personally, at work, who knows, in office, around the world.
But being thankful hopefully for what we have versus being frustrated by what we don't maybe is a good action item, at least for part of the day. All right, I hope you guys have a few days or moments to rest and recharge and then get back to the fight tackling climate change on Monday.
Y'all peace. Thanks.