A Gratitude Practice Can Help You Recover From Burnout

“The single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now. And the more grateful you are, the more you get.” — Oprah Winfrey

What are you grateful for?

When Oprah says the more grateful you are, the more you get, she’s right. And that includes more healing to help you recover from burnout.

I know what you’re thinking…

“Can practicing gratitude really help me get over being burned out?”

Truth is: yes, it can.

The organization Workplace Strategies For Mental Health cites numerous cases of people whose burnout recovery has been supported by writing daily in a gratitude journal to help them refocus their mind on the positive aspects of their life.

And digging deeper into the research uncovers some undeniable facts. Let’s take a look.

The Scientifically-Supported Benefits Of Gratitude

Two psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California–Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami, have done much of the research on gratitude. A number of years ago they published an article, “Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life,” about an experiment they conducted on gratitude and its impact on well-being.

They followed several hundred people who were split into three groups and asked to keep daily diaries, as follows:

Group 1 — note events that occurred during the day without being told specifically to write about either good or bad things;

Group 2 — record their unpleasant experiences; and

Group 3 — make a daily list of things for which they felt grateful.

You’ll be astonished at the results.

Daily gratitude exercises resulted in higher reported levels of:

• Alertness,
• Enthusiasm,
• Determination,
• Optimism, and
• Energy.