A J Jacobs on Embracing Gratitude for a Meaningful Life

How do you incorporate gratitude into your life? In a recent episode of the Living with Sunny podcast, renowned journalist and author A J Jacobs shares his valuable insights on how we can shape our lives in a more meaningful way through continuous gratitude.

"I have always known that there are benefits to gratitude. Like many people, I have a negativity bias. When faced with 100 compliments and one insult, we often find ourselves fixating on that one negative comment," says AJ.

Instead of dwelling on what goes wrong, AJ and his family have adopted a beautiful ritual before dinner. They take a moment to express gratitude for the things that are going right. Even when his son questioned whether the people, they were thanking could hear them, AJ realized it was a brilliant idea. "I went around thanking all the people we met or who helped us. It really helped spread joy. It is a radical shift in thinking: being grateful for people and things we otherwise take for granted," says AJ.

AJ also emphasizes the importance of viewing life's challenges not as mere "problems" but as puzzles to solve. He quotes music producer Quincy Jones, who famously said, "I don't have problems; I have puzzles." This shift in mindset can be incredibly inspiring. When we approach life's hurdles with a solution-oriented mindset, it transforms our problems into puzzles waiting to be solved.