With temperatures cooling down and the recent time change, fall is among us and so is the month of Thanksgiving. As Admissions professionals, we can get caught up in the preparation of who can open their application first and get the biggest head start to applicants, what college has the most impressive materials to share with prospective students and who has the most fall visits scheduled for students to have the most amazing experience.

These goals aside, let’s take time amongst the current state of national college application month to remember what we are thankful for and the gratitude behind it all. Take some time each day to reflect on where you are at in your career, what it is about your job you enjoy most, and the impact you can make every day on a student, parent, school counselor or otherwise.

Here are five ways to practice gratitude in and outside the office:

1. Keep a Gratitude Journal (or notes tab in your phone) – this is a great reminder of daily gratefulness. Being able to recall gratitude with the ordinary, personal attributes and valued people in your life will help you remember why you do what you do.

2. Come to Your Senses – meaning touch, sight, smell, taste and sound. Try to set your office up in a way to stimulate your senses and allow your workspace to be a joy to come to everyday!

3. Watch your Language – use a language of thankfulness, grace and kindness. Stray away from belittling, deconstructive and demeaning language.

4. Make the Extra Effort – greet your coworkers with a smile if nothing else. Make a little gesture to let those around you know they are cared for. You’ll be surprised on how doing something little for someone else can make you feel better yourself too!

5. Use Visual Reminders – bring pictures of people, pets and things you are grateful for. Make sure to surround yourself with others who care about you, just as much as you care about them.

Hopefully these five ways of practicing gratitude will be a daily reminder of what you are thankful for and to keep that at the forefront of why you do what you do.

Bring it full circle! One last thing you can do as a team, with your family at home, or by yourself is create your why statement. Take some time to write down your why statement. A why statement is essentially an explanation of why you do what you do. It will be a visual reminder, that can be visibly hung to see every day, of why you chose to do admissions work and what great benefits come from it!

Overall, I hope you are all beginning to wind down on your fall travels. We all know the fall season can be exciting but also draining with all the travel, lugging around materials and many conversations that are had. Take some time during the Thanksgiving season to not only reflect on where you are but to relax and recharge from the busyness of non-stop fall travel. Moving forward, I hope you take advantage of seeing, touching, feeling, and hearing the language of gratitude!