Showing gratitude is a potent way to build meaningful relationships with clients and colleagues. Use these seven quotes to uplift your team and inspire an attitude of appreciation!
Gratitude is one of the most powerful emotions human beings experience. It is so powerful, in fact, that it can actually alter the way we see the world. Expressing and receiving gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters that, among other things, help regulate emotion and make us feel “good.” By regularly strengthening these neural pathways, we can change our attitudes on a neurological level and start to develop a more positive nature.
What makes gratitude so powerful is what it represents. True gratitude goes beyond simply appreciating something nice or acknowledging an accomplishment. Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough write: “Gratitude is associated with a personal benefit that was not intentionally sought after, deserved, or earned but rather because of the good intentions of another person.”
Think about that! Gratitude means we are aware of – and, well, thankful for – the good things in our lives gifted to us by others. It is not transactional or earned. Indeed at its heart, gratitude is a means of reciprocating love to someone who has expressed it through their words or actions. And experiencing it helps increase the happiness of both the giver and the receiver.
So you can see why fostering a culture of gratitude within your real estate team might be impactful. Sharing sincere gratitude helps encourage closeness and trust between colleagues, clients, and leaders. It is not uncommon for real estate teams to develop an atmosphere of competition or rivalry, with agents undermining each other or putting themselves before their clients. But developing an intentional culture of gratitude encourages camaraderie and a sense of belonging, which in turn improves workplace morale and leads to more successful teams.
Here are seven thought-provoking quotes about gratitude you can use to inspire your team to develop a culture of appreciation. Print them off and post them around the office, or share them on a team chat. Gratitude is one of the few self-perpetuating resources in the world, so there’s no reason not to share it!
“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity; it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
– William Faulkner
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
– Voltaire
“Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
– William Arthur Ward
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
– G.K. Chesterton
“Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone.”
– Gertrude Stein
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
– William Arthur Ward
In The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino writes: “I will greet this day with love in my heart.” Approaching each day with a commitment to feel and demonstrate gratitude for the unexpected kindnesses you receive, whether it’s from the clients, team members, or family and friends, can transform your worldview and improve your personal and professional relationships.
In real estate, gratitude plays a major role in your regular contact with your sphere. When you put your focus into gratitude, you create abundance and joy in your life and work, doubling the gifts you receive by acknowledging them as gifts. Successful real estate agents know that when you treat your sphere with gratitude, you multiply the value of the relationships you are building every day.
For more about the importance of gratitude in real estate, tune in to next week’s blog and learn how to inject gratitude into your business strategy with daily, dollar-producing activities.
