Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that while being frugal is generally a virtue,
Speaker 1: there is no reason to be frugal with thanks when
Speaker 1: someone does something you appreciate. Thanking freely and enthusiastically has
Speaker 1: basically no downside, and it generates a lot of goodwill.
Speaker 1: This episode is airing at the beginning of November, which
Speaker 1: is a month often associated with Thanksgiving. Those of us
Speaker 1: here in the United States spend a day late in
Speaker 1: the month stuffing ourselves with turkey and generally expressing gratitude.
Speaker 1: It is a lovely idea, but there is there's no
Speaker 1: need to limit this feeling to a single Thursday. Why
Speaker 1: not aim this whole month to give thanks wherever thanks
Speaker 1: is do in a single day. So many people contribute
Speaker 1: to helping our lives go smoothly. Maybe your spouse wakes
Speaker 1: you up when here she realizes that you slept through
Speaker 1: your alarm. Maybe your kid remembers their instrument without your
Speaker 1: reminding them. The bus driver shows up right on schedule.
Speaker 1: The security officer at work recognizes you and buzzes you
Speaker 1: into your building. A colleague spot's an issue in your
Speaker 1: presentation before you give it. A neighbor shows up on
Speaker 1: your doorstep with a package that was misdelivered. The list
Speaker 1: goes on. When the people in your life do things
Speaker 1: that make your life better, it is simply good manners
Speaker 1: to notice and say thank you. And if you're going
Speaker 1: to say a simple thanks, it turns out that an
Speaker 1: enthusiastic one doesn't take much more effort. So if a
Speaker 1: child makes a bed without prompting, you can exclaim, I
Speaker 1: love how you made your bed. Thank you. Our house
Speaker 1: looks so tidy. I know you'll feel relaxed going back
Speaker 1: to your room tonight. When the security guard lets you in,
Speaker 1: you can say thanks, Norm, have a great day, or
Speaker 1: if he isn't swamped with letting everyone else into the
Speaker 1: building at the same time, you can pause and chat
Speaker 1: a little more. When your colleague brings up a potential problem,
Speaker 1: you can express gratitude, Phew, good catch. I am so
Speaker 1: glad you thought through the process and spotted this. Thank you,
Speaker 1: you saved me a lot of trouble. I think sometimes
Speaker 1: people feel like they are doing what they're supposed to
Speaker 1: do and other people should thus do what they are
Speaker 1: supposed to do, without expecting anyone to clap and cheer
Speaker 1: over meeting minimum expectations. And you know what, that's probably true,
Speaker 1: But so what. The security guard is obvious going to
Speaker 1: do his job whether you thank him or not, but
Speaker 1: he will probably feel happier about doing his job when
Speaker 1: he is thanked. And your colleague who is thanked for
Speaker 1: catching your error will feel friendlier towards you in general,
Speaker 1: and much more inclined to share other information as well.
Speaker 1: I like to think of expressing gratitude as a skill.
Speaker 1: There's the basic level of simply saying thanks, but when
Speaker 1: we can work at it a little bit more and
Speaker 1: view this practice as deserving of our mental energy, we
Speaker 1: can figure out ways to get more specific, like thanking
Speaker 1: a bagger at the grocery store for putting all your
Speaker 1: frozen items together, or acknowledging the person running the car
Speaker 1: line at your kid's school by saying thank you for
Speaker 1: smiling every morning. I really appreciate your helping the kids
Speaker 1: start their day in better moods. The specifics show that
Speaker 1: you understand that the person is doing something that matters.
Speaker 1: So this month, think about how you might take your
Speaker 1: gratitude game up a notch. There is no point in
Speaker 1: being stingy with thanks. People aren't going to do a
Speaker 1: better job if you don't thank them, but they might
Speaker 1: be happier about their jobs when you do thank them.
Speaker 1: Daily life and work can be hard and tiring. Everyone
Speaker 1: likes to be appreciated and you have the ability to
Speaker 1: make that happen in the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,
Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura
Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.
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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.