Gratitude Expert: Lina Nikitinaite

From my research into the science of happiness at work, I had heard of the psychological benefits of gratitude.

Naturally, my ears pricked up when I stumbled across a book launch of The Gratitude Journal. If the founder's pitch were correct about its power to transform my happiness levels, productivity, relationships, attractiveness, creativity and beauty, I had to buy one.

That evening, I flicked through the first 20 or so pages that provided some background on the journal and instructions on filling it in. I was expecting this to be filled with results of psychological studies to evidence the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal. Instead, there were sentences like:

‘Do you know how generous the universe is? The universe likes you to be grateful and appreciate what you already have’

and..

‘Be sincere about the things you are grateful for. The universe will keep everything in your life and will make sure to bring more!’

This was very different from the explanation I had read in psychology papers about the importance of gratitude. Nonetheless, I decided to keep an open mind and fill in the journal every day:

One of my daily entries in the The Gratitude Journal

I have to say that it had quite an impact on me. I began to appreciate things around me: from key relationships to small things like making the most of a tasty meal or taking 5 minutes to enjoy the morning sun. I started to keep an eye out for opportunities to do good deeds so I would have something to write down in the journal. I became more conscious of taking time to appreciate the things I have and to be more considerate towards others.

I got in touch with the author, Lina Nikitinaite and managed to wangle an interview. On a crisp November morning, we got chatting about the power of gratitude...

Lina Nikitinaite: Founder of The Gratitude Journal

Tell me where the Gratitude Journal came from:

For years I used to keep a gratitude journal in notebooks. It was something I did because it made me feel good. I also kept a separate notebook for my to do lists. Then, during my early 20s, I started to ask myself, why am I here? What is my purpose? When I turned 27, I realised that I could help people by creating a more organised form of the notebooks I used to keep.

After we launched The Gratitude Journal in Lithuania, people came back to me with good news. One girl said ‘I got more money for my project’, another said  ‘One night, I had a really bad argument with my partner. I couldn’t sleep so I opened the gratitude journal and began to understand that my life is not that bad. It is full of so many amazing things’.

Everyone enjoys the Gratitude Journal. They are coming back to buy another for their family, their friends. So I realised that this is something I can do that will really help other people.

Has this come from intuition or science?

This has come through intuition completely. I have very good intuition.

I think it’s the collection of everything I know, of all my experience. But I am also in touch with science and often read about how the brain works and why people act in certain ways. I know all about the science but this is a different way of looking into things.

You talk a lot about the universe. Tell me about that.

There is a very simple answer: the universe likes it when you thank it back, if you send nice thoughts to it. My god is my universe.

I am a true believer that the more you appreciate what you have, the more happiness you will have in life; you can have the relationships you want, the job you want, the car you want. This is my explanation, everyone can explain it a different way but this is what I believe in and I really see that it’s working.

I don’t know where it came from. Maybe I asked myself and got the answer that this is what I should believe in. I understood that you have to listen to yourself. All the answers are within you.

Whilst I am sceptical that the universe is some kind of omniscient being that listens to your desires and grants you just rewards, I felt the gratitude journal had helped me.

I was more convinced by the reams of scientific evidence that document the positive effects of gratitude. (McCullough et al., 2002) found that highly grateful people experience more positive emotions more often, enjoy greater life satisfaction and are less materialistic. They also tend to experience less depression, anxiety and envy.

We may differ on the reason why it works but that is inconsequential. We both agree that keeping a diary like this helps us to maintain a more positive outlook.

I liked being around Lina. Beaming with gratitude and kindness herself, she practised what she preached. I’m going to continue to keep my Gratitude Journal.

For more information on The Gratitude Journal visit: www.gratitudej.com