This should be the season for joy, but with the pandemic and political turmoil, many of us are having a hard time feeling very grateful. Janice Kaplan is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Gratitude Diaries and host of “The Gratitude Diaries” hit podcast, as well as the former editor-in-chief of Parade magazine. Now, she shares some ideas on how we can reflect on our gratitude in order to make ourselves happier this holiday season.
Gratitude can help us gain perspective and find the good in bad times. Research shows that our attitude has a bigger effect on our happiness than any specific events. It doesn’t make the bad stuff go away, but it reminds us that there is another side. We do best when we can reframe a situation and see it in a more positive light. And little gratitude goes a long way in terms of our physical health – it lowers stress hormones, enables better sleep and can even help with migraine headaches. In both her book and podcast, Kaplan explains how gratitude can transform every aspect of a person's life—from marriage and friendship to money and fitness.
Janice Kaplan offers tips on how we can better practice gratitude, including:
· A simple way to start a gratitude habit: Put a sheet of paper next to your bed and write down one thing every night that made you grateful that day. Knowing that you’re doing it will keep you looking for the positive all day.
· Appreciate your partner: So many of us are feeling strains from being at home, working remotely, and schooling children. It’s important to make the effort to thank your partner more, and take the time to appreciate each other.
· Model gratitude for your children: Kids are also feeling stressed, and there are easy steps you can take to make children of all ages feel happier and more in control.
· Create: If money is tight this holiday season, consider making gifts. Creative activities like knitting, woodworking, or cake decorating are calming and gratitude-inspiring. Research shows you will be happier and more grateful for the results of something you make yourself.
ABOUT THE PODCAST:
In her hit podcast, which just launched this past June, Kaplan provides practical, down-to-earth tips in daily, 5-7 minute doses about how to close what she calls “the gratitude gap,” in order to make everything seem a little better -- even in these most challenging of times. Episodes include “The No-Complaining Zone,” “One Word to get Happier” and “The Power of Vitamin G” and more. The Gratitude Diaries is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
In The Gratitude Diaries, her bestselling book from 2015, Janice Kaplan offers both amusing personal experiences and extensive research to explore how gratitude can transform every aspect of life including marriage and friendship, money and ambition, and health and fitness. Through extensive interviews with experts and lively conversations with real people including celebrities like Matt Damon, Daniel Craig, and Jerry Seinfeld, Kaplan discovers the role of gratitude in everything from our sense of fulfillment to our children’s happiness.
ABOUT JANICE KAPLAN
The Gratitude Diaries was a New York Times bestseller and Janice has traveled all over the country giving talks about gratitude and making a happier life. Her new book The Genius of Women could be a game changer in how we think about women’s achievements.
As the Editor-in-Chief of Parade, then the most widely read publication in America, Janice brought new energy and excitement to the magazine, boosted readership to 74 million every Sunday, and attracted some of America’s best writers and biggest-name celebrities. The magazine’s two cover stories by President Barack Obama got international attention, as did her own interviews with stars including Barbra Streisand, Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, and Daniel Craig.
Janice was deputy editor of TV Guide magazine and executive producer of the TV Guide Television Group, where she created and produced more than 30 television shows that aired primetime on ABC, FOX, VH1 and other networks. She began her career as an on-air sports reporter for CBS Radio and went on to be a producer at ABC-TV’s Good Morning America, where she won awards for investigative reporting.
In addition to her bestselling non-fiction, Janice’s popular novels include The Botox Diaries, Mine Are Spectacular! and The Men I Didn’t Marry. Her Lacy Fields mysteries include Looks To Die For and A Job To Kill For, and her books have been translated and published in more than a dozen countries.
Janice appears frequently on television shows including Today, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and CBS Early Show, and is a popular speaker around the country. She has given dozen of keynote addresses at conferences, conventions, corporate events and fundraisers, and she inspires audiences with her witty and energetic presentations. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University and won Yale’s Murray Fellowship for writing. She lives in New York City and Kent, Connecticut with her husband and has two wonderful sons who graduated Yale.
