HOW GRATITUDE CAN BOOST CONFIDENCE
How can you boost your confidence? How can you stay optimistic - even when your world is chaotic and challenging? This painting is part of the series inspired by psychologist Dr. Rob Yeung's book: 'Confidence'.
Combining the best theories from sports psychology, neuro-linguistic programming, and positive psychology, this practical book is packed with insightful activities aimed at boosting confidence.
- The painting reflects a lesson taken from Chapter 2: Developing Bullet Proof Beliefs. Check out the activity on p48.
- Yeung recommends writing down three reasons to be grateful each day - to develop your sense of optimism and give yourself a confidence boost.
Does an 'attitude of gratitude' actually make a difference?
Yes. Since Yeung's book, mutiple psychological studies have recorded the impact journalling, or identifying, positive aspects of your life can have. These include:
- Journaling for five minutes a day about what you are grateful for can enhance your long-term happiness by over 10% (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005).
- Chih-Che Lin (2017) found that even when controlling for personality, a high level of gratitude has a strong positive impact on psychological well-being, self-esteem, and depression.
- Expressing gratitude to your significant others improves the quality of your relationships (Algoe, Fredrickson, & Gable, 2013).
- Regular gratitude journaling has also been shown to result in 5% to 15% increases in optimism and confidence (Amin, 2014)
How did this 'attitude of gratitude' inspire this painting?
This piece is all about joy. It's about fInding the positive things in your life. It doesn't mean that everything is perfect, or just as you want it. But, if you look, you can find things to appreciate.
Think of the broad brushstrokes as representing the different aspects of your life. The darker areas might be the things that concern you, but the vibrant colours reflect what's good in your world.
The artwork reminds you that you can take any situation, any challenge and find joy. Take the time to identify the people, the moments and the reasons to be grateful. Three times daily!