GRATITUDE: Why It Pays
to Say "Thank You"

by Allen Klein

 

One of the things that annoy me these days is that people hardly say "Thank You" anymore. I know I’m part of the older generation where things like holding the door open for the person in front of you or men tipping their hats to women is passé, but I still think that a common courtesy of saying "Thank You" is not too much to ask.

For one thing, being grateful and saying "thank you" is important if you want to have more abundance in your life. I've noticed, for example, that the more I am grateful for the things in my life, the more great things come into my life. I'm not sure exactly why this happens but perhaps Ralph Marston, of The Daily Motivator®, has a clue. He asks, "What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it-would you be likely to give them another?"

While this may sound like New Age pie-in-the-sky thinking, research is proving the positive effects of gratitude and saying "thanks." For example, in one study, Associate professor Francesca Gino, at the Harvard Business School, looked at forty-one university fundraisers. The director of the school visited half of the fundraisers in person, telling them, "I am very grateful for your hard work. We sincerely appreciate your contributions to the university." The second group received no such expressions of gratitude.

Gino found that "the expression of gratitude increased the number of calls [made by the fundraisers] by more than 50 percent" for the week. Fundraisers who received no thanks made about the same number of calls as the previous week.

Other studies have shown that expressions of gratitude can help, with a person's self-worth, with connecting to something larger than themselves, with relationships, and with happiness/well-being.

In other words, whether you are seeking more prosperity or a greater piece of mind, it pays to say "thank you."


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