A nightly, 30-second practice of writing about lucky moments during your day can boost your effectiveness as a leader and improve relationships and your resilience, writes leadership coach James Kerr. "Positive reflections activate brain regions associated with pleasure and reward, thus reducing levels of stress hormones and fostering a more resilient mindset -- and recalling some luck before bed just might make you sleep better, too!" Kerr notes.

Put it into practice: To begin your nightly 30-second luck recording practice, use pen and paper or digital app to jot down any positive events or high points of the day and reflect on the feeling of luck associated with them, Kerr writes. "This emotional engagement helps deepen the impact of the practice."

Professional etiquette is crucial for improving workplace culture and resilience, which is why Pamela Eyring, the president and owner of The Protocol School of Washington, recommends leaders teach soft skills, model desired behaviors and set clear expectations to enhance team cohesion and productivity. "Leaders should foster an environment of frequent appreciation and feedback, emphasizing the impact of professional etiquette on client satisfaction and company growth," Eyring suggests.

Put it into practice: Some general etiquette expectations include being prepared and on time, respecting boundaries, acting civilly and communicating with respect, Eyring writes. "Civility may not be a natural inclination for everyone, so we need clear expectations and stated standards that enable growth and accountability for everyone."

You can make any message -- be it an email, a presentation or a speech -- memorable by tying all of your details to a central idea, sparking curiosity with questions and using a "callback" to reference an earlier story or example to close the loop, writes Charan Ranganath, a professor at the Center for Neuroscience and Department of Psychology. "During the callback, we saw greater activation of the brain circuitry involved in forming new memories, and the callback helped our subjects retain more information from the story," Ranganath suggests.

Put it into practice: Concrete details that can paint a picture in the mind of your listener are more memorable than abstract concepts, Ranganath writes. "Research shows that people find it harder to memorize an abstract concept like 'justice' than something that we can easily visualize or imagine, like, 'gavel.'"

Make your team feel heard to promote success by prioritizing communication, says Tara VanDerveer, the former Stanford University women's basketball coach who holds the record for winning the most games. VenDerveer also recommends positive reinforcement and maintaining consistency to boost performance while remembering the challenge isn't winning, but "to be the best team we can be."

Luca, a Shiloh shepherd, has taken the top honor in Nationwide Insurance's annual Hambone Award after taking apart a kitchen cabinet to unearth the trashcan hidden inside and ingest several corn cobs that could have cause an obstruction, but Luca's human, Lori, averted disaster with a vet visit. Other dogs in the running included a New Jersey mixed-breed pup who literally went through the front door to greet the mail carrier and a North Carolina mixed-breed dog who ate many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

It's true that we tend to notice negative things and events in our lives more than we notice positive things. Psychologists say it's an evolutionary hold-over. Laura Carstensen, a psychology professor at Stanford University, says: "It's more important for people, for survival, to notice the lion in the brush than it is to notice the beautiful flower that's growing on the other side of the way."

That's why practices, such as the one focusing on luck from executive coach James Kerr, are so important. We don't need to pay too much attention to lions in the brush these days, so we can choose to spend more time thinking about the beautiful flowers, the successful project or the amazing parking space we found today.

Kerr's suggested "luck" practice is simply another way to practice gratitude, which experts say can build and strengthen relationships, give us a sense of well-being and make us more likely to help or reach out to others who may be in need.

"For leaders, these outcomes translate into a more positive work environment, better team cohesion and improved decision-making capabilities," writes Kerr.

I invite you to try this practice tonight. It's just 30 seconds, and you may be grateful you did it.

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