Update November 2022

I stand by the principles in this blog post, practising gratitude in the form of thinking of 3 good things has sound benefits for your personal well-being, it’s a practice I know does me good and when I drop the practice I notice the difference.

Checking the links before referencing this post I noticed the strong emphasis on personal resilience. I’ve grown in my understanding and awareness of resilience since I wrote the post and wanted to make that clear, while not undoing the original post because in context there are some useful points made, and useful links and when I wrote it, it was the best I knew at that time. One of the things I’m often grateful for is the learning I have done, the way my writing has evolved and my greater understanding of topics along with my ability to express them clearly and meaningfully.

Resilience for me is currently more about system resilience. How are we creating the environment for our people to perform at their best and be adaptable when they are not?

Original Post

As I worked through the IHI Joy in Work course I was able to tap into what nearly 800 people across the world (16 different countries) were testing and learning as they take part in the course. One tool that resonated this week was an exercise called the 3 Good Things.

In this short video, Bryan Sexton talks you through the exercise and the research, the impact on sleep and how it supports building resilience. A few phrases and explanations really stood out and helped frame the context.

You are hard-wired to remember the negative aspects of your day. You don't remember the good things or funny moments like good jokes because they aren't going to keep you alive and our brains decide that for survival it is more important for you to remember the bad stuff that happens to us so you don't go there again.

Sure then, keeping the bad stuff at the front of our minds helps us survive, but doesn't help us thrive. So because it's not natural for you to recall the bright spots you have to work at it. The negative stuff screams at you while the positive whispers. You have to create the time and space for the whispers to be heard.

Creating the time and space with an exercise like the 3 good things and establishing consistency with it is described in the video as a powerful psychological intervention. It can give the usual teflon-like tendencies of good stuff a chance to stick. [Good things slide off Teflon style, bad things stick to us like velcro].