How to keep a gratitude journal?

Want to learn how to keep a gratitude journal to reap the benefits of positive thoughts ? Keeping a gratitude journal is a wellness routine that reduces stress, improves social relationships, and boosts self-esteem. Learn to say thank you every day and identify positive events in your daily life to achieve a better emotional and psychological state.

What is a gratitude journal?

A gratitude journal is a notebook or journal that can be personal or shared with loved ones. It is about expressing gratitude to someone or something to develop a positive mindset .

This personal development tool helps you become aware of and appreciate moments of daily happiness. Gratitude exercises are similar to mindful writing , a practice that combines mindfulness, introspection, and creativity techniques. It uses writing as a grounding tool instead of breathing or visualizations, as is the case in meditation sessions.

A gratitude journal, on the other hand, helps you sort through your thoughts and refocus on what's important. By paying attention to the positive or meaningful aspects of life, you foster a sense of gratitude. This can include events, experiences, relationships, emotions, or even aspects of yourself.

Expressing gratitude regularly fosters a positive attitude, boosts motivation, and builds resilience. Writing also helps with mental clarity and emotional balance by structuring one's thoughts and better identifying one's emotions. Gratitude promotes a caring attitude and positive interactions, and reduces negative thoughts.

What is the difference between a diary and a gratitude journal?

The diary contains detailed accounts of daily events, personal reflections, and free thoughts. It also sometimes serves as an outlet for anger or sorrow.

The gratitude journal is essentially a collection of short sentences or lists that describe small everyday pleasures . Here, we focus exclusively on the positive aspects , without mentioning frustrations or negative thoughts. Its format is also more structured, generally 3 to 5 gratitudes per day.

So, while the gratitude journal is often a personal resource, it is not an intimate piece of content. It can be read or completed collectively with one's spouse or family members.

What are the benefits of gratitude journals?

The effects of gratitude on mental health are recognized, even among very different populations. It is thus used in the context of body and mind therapy, to strengthen willpower and a positive attitude toward the present.

Boosting resilience

Keeping a gratitude journal promotes resilience because it helps develop mindsets that better enable us to cope with challenges, adversity, and stress. Expressing gratitude trains our minds to recognize and value the positive moments in life , even during difficult times.

This practice reduces the natural negative bias that causes the mind to focus more on problems and failures, especially during times of emotional distress. It promotes a balanced perception of reality, allowing us to recognize the opportunities and strengths that present themselves. Writing positive affirmations thus reinforces joy, satisfaction, and hope, which reduces the intensity of feelings of despair, anxiety, or frustration.

Gratitude encourages us to appreciate the lessons learned from even difficult experiences, emphasizing what we have learned or gained. This cultivates a resilient mindset, where obstacles are seen as opportunities for growth rather than definitive failures.

Developing motivation

By writing down the things you are grateful for each day, you generate a sense of accomplishment and abundance that makes you want to take action to extend those experiences. Gratitude stimulates areas of the brain associated with reward and pleasure , including the limbic system .

This process releases happy hormones, which reinforce the contentment associated with effort and progress. You create a virtuous cycle where actions motivated by gratitude become intrinsically rewarding.

Additionally, identifying events, accomplishments, or relationships that inspire gratitude improves perceptions of one's own abilities and resources. By reducing feelings of fear, insecurity, or mental fatigue, a gratitude journal helps free up the mental and physical energy needed for action. Gratitude thus reduces stress and negative thoughts, which are often obstacles to motivation.

Regularly recording gratitude reinforces the habit of proactive reflection and encourages perseverance . Noticing progress (even small ones) builds momentum , a positive energy that fuels the desire to move forward.

Finally, regular gratitude journaling establishes a structured and intentional routine, fostering mental discipline. This consistency develops the ability to set goals and work toward them daily.

Strengthen self-esteem

Gratitude refocuses attention on one's own progress and personal journey, rather than comparing oneself to others. This approach reduces feelings of inferiority or envy, and strengthens confidence in one's personal qualities . By continually noting what one is grateful for, one becomes aware of one's own accomplishments , even the smallest ones. This allows one to value the efforts and skills that contributed to the emergence of these positive experiences.

Gratitude helps us accept our imperfections by realizing that, despite challenges or failures, there are always positive elements in life. This compassionate self-acceptance helps us cultivate a more accurate and peaceful image of ourselves. Practicing gratitude thus limits our tendency to focus on flaws or mistakes. It reduces excessive self-criticism, which is often a major cause of low self-esteem.

Cultivating positive emotions

Writing a gratitude journal reprograms the mind to focus more on successes and positive experiences. Recalling these moments rekindles the positive emotions associated with those memories. This repetition stimulates feelings of joy , serenity , or satisfaction and reduces rumination and anxious thoughts.

Regularly practicing gratitude activates the brain's reward system, increasing the production of dopamine and serotonin , neurotransmitters linked to happiness and well-being.

By highlighting what is going well, a gratitude journal promotes an optimistic outlook on life and future events. This positive anticipation generates emotions such as hope , enthusiasm , or confidence .

The more gratitude you express, the easier it becomes to feel it. This creates a virtuous circle where positive emotions feed on each other.

Improve social relations

By keeping a gratitude journal, you learn to note the contributions others make to your well-being, such as a kind gesture, attentive listening, or support received. This gratitude, when expressed, strengthens emotional bonds with loved ones, friends, or colleagues.

Writing down your gratitude regularly also encourages you to express it through words or actions. This expression of gratitude creates positive interactions , improves communication, and fosters an atmosphere of mutual goodwill.

Additionally, by reflecting on what makes us grateful, we become more attentive to the efforts and needs of others. This empathy amplifies mutual understanding and encourages altruistic behaviors that are essential for strong relationships.

Finally, gratitude helps put minor frustrations or disagreements with others into perspective by highlighting the positive aspects of relationships. It encourages us to focus on a person's strengths rather than their flaws, which can defuse tension or conflict.

Focusing on what you appreciate in your relationships (for example, a loyal friend or a loving partner) helps you develop a sense of satisfaction. This appreciation rekindles your willingness to invest time and effort in those relationships. A gratitude journal for families is a valuable tool for interaction that facilitates dialogue and improves family life.

Additionally, a person who practices gratitude tends to have a more open, warm, and optimistic attitude, which attracts others and makes it easier to create new relationships.

How to start a gratitude journal?

Choose a comfortable medium, such as a notepad, notebook, or journal with blank, lined, or grid pages. Your gratitude journal should be tailored to your needs: a small, easy-to-carry notebook if you travel a lot, or a large, decorative format if you like to personalize your writing. You can add drawings or inspirational quotes to help your mind focus on the positive .

To adopt a daily routine, you also need to choose a good time. The best time to start a gratitude journal is often in the evening, when you can reflect on the positive events of the day and enjoy the serenity of a busy end to the day.

Play some soft music and diffuse a pleasant scent that promotes introspection and creativity . At HOZHO, we design aromatic synergies with energetic active ingredients that help you reach a higher level of consciousness and strengthen the connection between body and mind. Our recipes follow ancestral traditions that cultivate positive emotions and reduce negative energies present around you.

If you're lacking inspiration, you can formulate questions that will help you develop your first gratitude lists:

What made me smile today?
Who had a positive impact on my day?
What sense of accomplishment did I feel?

Try to write every day and don't feel guilty if you don't always succeed; the important thing is to get back to your practice. Also, take the time to look back through old pages to see how much you've accomplished and appreciate your progress.

Sources:

O’Connell, B., O’Shea, D., & Gallagher, S. (2017). Feeling Thanks and Saying Thanks: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining If and How Socially Oriented Gratitude Journals Work.. Journal of clinical psychology , 73 10, 1280-1300. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22469 .

Share