Gratitude journal
How it helps us to be happy in life
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With a gratitude diary we consciously focus on the positive in our lives. This has an impact on our mood and our health. All important reasons and valuable tips for implementation.
A gratitude journal can enrich your life enormously. Studies show that practicing gratitude has a decisive influence on our mood and ultimately on our health. We have put together further reasons why you should start a gratitude diary now and helpful tips for implementing it.
Gratitude diary: what is it anyway?
Everyone probably knows how to write a diary. But a gratitude diary (also called a gratitude journal) only has a limited amount in common with conventional diaries. Because unlike your diary, you actually just write in your gratitude diary Things you are grateful for. The skill general things like your job, your family or your own Health be. Anyone who is a little more experienced can also do it more specific questions or aspects make. Why am I grateful for my job? Which family members give me a particularly high level of gratitude and why? What is happiness for me? Whether you use a simple notebook or use ready-made gratitude journals is completely irrelevant. The only advantage of the finished books is that you only have to fill them and many books contain suggestions and sayings. Plus, the beautiful look can motivate you to stick with it on grumpy days.
Important: A gratitude diary is initially all about the conscious feeling of gratitude and sharpening your own perspective on positive aspects and moments in life. This is not (necessarily) a development journal. Many pre-printed gratitude journals connect both points – but that doesn’t have to be the case. Think about what is important to you at the moment and then choose between a simple gratitude journal or a development journal.
Why should you keep a gratitude journal?
The advantage of a gratitude diary: Writing is quick and is therefore a much more positive experience than writing a “normal” diary. While we are much more likely to write down negative experiences and feelings in our diaries, we reverse this when we write a gratitude diary: We ffocus on the beautiful things in life. In this way, we actively combat the human reflex to perceive and remember negative experiences and emotions more strongly.
This has been proven – partly scientifically – by numerous people positive impact: on our well-being, on our relationships, on the psyche and ultimately also on our health. For example, a widely cited study entitled “Counting Blessings Versus Burdens: An Experimental Investigation of Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being in Daily Life” by Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough examined three groups of subjects, each of which received a different focus. While one group focused on the things they were grateful for, the other groups focused on things that weren’t going well or events that had affected them in general. The result: The test subjects in the first group were more optimistic, slept better and were healthier.
Three beautiful examples of gratitude journals
Already convinced? Before we answer the question “What do you write in a gratitude journal?” To clarify things and give you further tips, we would like to introduce you to our three favorites. So if you decide to get a pre-printed copy, you might like one of these.
1. simple and convincing
This Gratitude journal impresses with a simple yet pretty design. In addition to uplifting, motivating sayings, each double page contains space for seven days – and therefore seven entries. In addition to the date, all you have to do is add the sentence “Today I am grateful for…”. In addition, at the end of the week you can summarize again: “This week could have gone better” … and “That was my highlight this week …” – plus a small smiley scale for general well-being.
2. Diary for 12 guided, reflective weeks
The gratitude diary from “Lebenskompass” is a little more demanding than tip number one. The first six weeks focus on a specific weekly topic. Every day you can expect different questions, all of which deal with the overall topic of gratitude. You should answer these in the morning in order to start the day consciously. The evening is about reflecting on the day. After six weeks, you start over, so to speak, and see – guided by instructions – what has changed. The hardcover book is available in the “Sunlight” – and in the “Moonlight” version and accordingly in a light and a dark design.
3. the 6-minute diary
The 6 minute journal from UrBestSelf is extremely popular. It is more of a success or development journal than a gratitude diary. Because here you enter much more than just three things that you are grateful for. Your own self-reflection takes place here every day using fixed questions. In the morning, go through the points “I’m grateful for…”, “This is how I’m making today wonderful…” and “Positive self-affirmation.” In the evening you look back on the day and ask yourself: “What good did I do for someone today?”, “What will I do better tomorrow?” and “Great things I experienced today…” We can say from our own experience that it’s not that easy at the beginning to answer the individual points – it initially takes significantly more than six minutes. But it’s worth sticking with it here.
What do you write in a gratitude journal?
Unlike a traditional diary, a gratitude journal only contains the things you feel grateful for that day. This leads to keeping an eye on the positive and not concentrating on the negative – which is something we “succeed in” more easily due to evolution. If you’re having trouble coming up with things to be grateful for, these questions might help you along the way.
- What good thing happened to me today?
- Which conversation/encounter made me feel good?
- Did I do something good/treat myself today?
- Has anyone offered me help/complimented me?
- What did I laugh about today?
- What do I generally need to be happy?
At first, you may find it a little difficult to express your gratitude. With a little practice it will become easier for you and you will become aware of many things that you did not notice before. If you still get stuck at the beginning or later, you can also concentrate on a more specific topic. For example, take a person for whom you are grateful – a good friend, your brother, a colleague. Think of three reasons why you are grateful to have this person in your life.
Special gratitude challenges for advanced users and professionals
Regularly consciously thinking about what you are grateful for is a small challenge. To train this, you can also do smaller to larger ones Tackle challenges and reflection exercises. Here are three examples:
- For a week or two, write down ten things you are grateful for instead of just three. Once you’ve done this for a while, you’ll notice how your eye for the good in life, for the little moments of happiness, will sharpen.
- Take on the annual challenge. Once a week, write down on individual sticky notes what you are particularly grateful for that week. Collect these notes in a box or folder and look at the great things that happened to you at the end of the year.
- Is there a person you “have to” get along with (colleague, neighbor, brother-in-law) but with whom you don’t get along particularly well? Write down at least three points for which you are grateful to the person. The task seems a bit tricky, but ideally it could help you have a better relationship.