How To Start a Gratitude Journal

Unless you've been living under a rock I'm sure you've seen the gratitude posts all over Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It's November, so people everywhere are pausing to be grateful for all that they have. 

I'm not here to debate the idea of daily thanksgiving posts in the month of November, but what I am here to do is help you learn how you can turn those social media posts that get lost in less than 24 hours into something tangible. I'm going to help you see how you can start your very own gratitude journal and start living in thanksgiving every single day!



1. Buy a notepad you love!

Whether you want to drop into Target to buy a cute notepad, use up an old one around the house or get a specific gratitude journal like this one or this one from Etsy, just pick a notepad that makes your heart happy.

2. Decide how frequently you want to write.

Do you have time to add this to your morning or nighttime ritual? Do you want to only journal on Sunday's when things are more relaxed? Or is once a month enough for your to fill your grateful bucket? Decide what works for you.

3. Decide the format. 

You can set a goal for every day such as: Write 10 items every day, or Fill an entire page with grateful thoughts 1x a week. Or you can make it more informal. You can draw pictures, glue in pictures, or print of quotes about gratitude. There are lots of different ways you do this. 

4. Get started.

As Walt Disney said, "The best way to get started is to stop talking and start doing." Just get going! Making your first marks in any new journal can be intimidating but exhilarating! Writing those few lines of gratitude should feel good and make you happy to be alive.

What do I do?

I've done many variations but here's a few of my favorites...

* Write 5 items every night in list form.
* Fill a page with complete sentences of what I'm grateful for.
* Write each entry in a different color. 

Have you ever kept a gratitude journal?



 photo jolley-sig_zps8e3a9f4d.jpg

24 comments:

spiffykerms said...

Great ideas! Never thought of starting one of these before.

Unknown said...

I love gratitude journals. I keep a little pocket sized notebook in my purse to jot down things for which I am thankful and that make me happy.

Alicia Snow said...

I am a notebook hoarder! I buy a new one, fill out a couple pages, then buy another one! A gratitude journal is a great use for one of my many notebooks.

Unknown said...

Great idea! I think putting the gratitude on pen and paper in a journal is something you can take out over and over again when you need a little reminder!

Angelic Sinova said...

Sometimes it bothers me that people only "give thanks" in november because even if it's not Thanksgiving you should always be thankful. I really need to start a gratitude Journal because it's easy to forget that <3

Anosa said...

Never kept one before but now is a good time as any to start but since I am grateful for everything I have, I am everyday then shouldnt be too hard

Girl In Beta said...

I have a gratitude journal I use every day. It's a great way to not only be more thankful, but more present in celebrating little things as they happen.

Anonymous said...

I really want to start one especially having a little one around and wanting to remember every cute thing he does!! I bought a journal at Target last week, now i just need to START!

Unknown said...

What a great idea! I love it!

All That Glitters said...

This is really nice! I'll have to remember it!

Unknown said...

This is great, I like to do posts on my blog of things I'm grateful for, it's always a good reminder.

Andi said...

Great fun! I love notebooks but I often start these projects and NEVER finish!

Erica Marie said...

I saw this post on another blog awhile back and absolutely need to start one of these!

Brendy Beauty said...

This is an awesome idea! Thanks for sharing!

Michelle said...

I'm a huge notebook/stationary/pen person. I would much rather document things in this format than on a computer where it's not right there in front of my eyes, well, aside from blogging of course!

Great idea!

Chelsea Olivia said...

I've always wanted to do this, I just suck at sticking to things!

Esther JuLee said...

I love keeping a gratitude journal! I've been using a jar instead for the past year.. but I think in 2015.. I'll go back to the journal. :)

Esther JuLee said...

I love keeping a gratitude journal! I've been using a jar instead for the past year.. but I think in 2015.. I'll go back to the journal. :)

Tayler Morrell said...

I've started something similar to go with my Month of Confidence series. I write down what I'm grateful for that day, a drops of awesome list, and a little moments list

Kristen @ Market Street Petite said...

This is such a great idea, and it's so true, expressing gratitude isn't something that ONLY needs to happen during the Thanksgiving holiday. It's something that can happen all year long!

Cori said...

I love gratitude journals! It's such a simple way to remember how lucky we are and that we have a lot to be thankful for!

Unknown said...

This is great - and what an appropriate time of year to start!

Katie said...

This is such a lovely idea. I'm useless though, I'd do it for one day and then forget about it!

Katie <3

Winter White said...

I've kept a gratitude journal but have stopped using it midway. I like your idea of pasting pictures and quotes I just may start it up again and try this.