Gratitude Resume: Give Credit to Those Who Helped You
Why saying “thanks” benefits both parties
Whether we notice it or not, we all owe our current position to somebody. In our resumes, we boast of our virtues, but we forget about the those who have enabled us to achieve them. A Gratitude Resume aims to change this by highlighting the people who helped us. Perhaps it’s the first boss who took a chance on us even though we had no experience. Or maybe it was the first employee that wasn’t afraid to try something that hadn’t yet been tried.
Everybody stands on the shoulders of proverbial giants. Unfortunately, we’re often too busy looking up towards our goals to remember that we didn’t get to this point on our own.
The end of the year is a good time to look back and review who our helpers have been. Hence I invite you to find those people in your life, invoke some gratitude towards them, and write your own Gratitude Resume.
What Can It Do For You?
Justin C Scott wrote an article on Medium about The Cognitive Benefits of Gratitude. I recommend you read it. Gratitude can reduce stress, increase happiness, and help you focus. It turns your attention away from the rat race and hedonic treadmill so that you can instead ponder your accomplishments and your luck — and those who have been the source of this luck.
Besides direct benefits to yourself, writing and sharing a Gratitude Resume can also do a lot of good for others. Ever received a “thank you” note for something you deemed a piece of cake? The warm feeling we get when somebody notices our good work is a great reward in and of itself. Give this feeling to those who deserve it. It shows you care, it shows you remember, and it shows you are not self-absorbed.
Why It’s Good?
It’s for everyone. We all owe something to the person that motivated us, helped us, challenged us, trusted us. Imagine for a moment a successful millionaire who single-handedly managed a company selling goods to his customers. Could we say that this millionaire has nobody to be grateful to? What about his first customers that trusted his product? What about the third parties that allowed for the business to bloom? And finally, what about the people that inspired him in the first place?
The world is a connected place, and isolation is extremely rare. Admit it, and try to find this interconnectedness in your own life. This will make you feel like you actually belong to something larger than yourself. Like you belong to a universal community.
How I Use It?
There’s not much to say here. I first wrote my Gratitude Resume in April 2017, inspired by Coach Tony’s post. At the end of each year, I plan to add people that placed a bet on me in that particular year. I have already made the first update, and I intend to maintain it year after year.
If you read my review of Five Minute Journal you probably noticed that I’m rather fond of the practice of gratitude. It all started two years ago and helped me live a happier life. I no longer take everything for granted, and I no longer focus only on the things I don’t have instead of those that I do.
Ever since then, I’ve been more mindful about how what happens to me can be attributed to somebody other than myself. I believe my skills contribute to my success. But at the same time, I am aware that those skills alone wouldn’t suffice if there were nobody to use them for.
By writing and maintaining a Gratitude Resume, I can take a look back at my year and recall my professional moments of growth. And I have an excuse to actually say “thank you” to people that made it possible.
Write Now!
You already know what a Gratitude Resume is, what the benefits of gratitude are, and what should be included in a Gratitude Resume. What are you waiting for, then?
Go write your own Gratitude Resume and make sure to share it with others! You don’t have to post it online, share it privately with those who helped you if you like.
Focus only on the last year if you’re too busy. Just get started and share it, that’s all. Use Gratitudebio if you’re posting to Medium or use a hashtag #gratituderesume on other social networks (like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram). Show to the world that you weren’t alone in your professional or personal journey!
Examples of Gratitude Resumes
If you are looking for inspiration, you may check out the following Gratitude Resumes:
You can also follow the relevant hashtags on Twitter and LinkedIn. They’re rather empty at the moment, but this will hopefully change!
If you like the post consider subscribing to my Newsletter. You’ll be informed about everything I write and recommend (books, articles, tools, and probably music).
