44 Daily Gratitude Journal Prompts – Unlock your Inner Joy
Starting a regular gratitude practice can be a real game changer and totally take your life to the next level. Today I will be sharing 44 daily gratitude journal prompts with you to spread the magic and help you to start your journey into more inner joy and happiness.
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Life can get so busy at times and when it does, we tend to overlook these beautiful and magical moments in life.
Starting a regular gratitude practice certainly brought more inner joy and happiness into my life, but it also helped me to ease my anxieties. Today, I feel more adventurous and more open to exploring what life holds for me.
In addition to this, my daily gratitude practice helps me to live more in the present moment. Life feels richer, more meaningful, and abundant at the same time.
If you have been thinking about starting a regular gratitude practice, daily gratitude journal prompts can be a great way to do so.
In this blog post, we will explore what gratitude means, we will look at the benefits of a daily gratitude practice, I will share with you 44 daily gratitude journal prompts and I will also give you a few personal recommendations for daily gratitude journals.
Are you ready for your journey into more inner joy and happiness?
Daily gratitude journal prompts – what is gratitude
Gratitude is a positive emotion, filled with appreciation and thankfulness for something you have received.
It’s a way of connecting with your heart and taking a conscious approach to life as it is about taking the time to appreciate and recognize when something good happens to you in your life.
Gratitude can be expressed e.g. towards people, towards nature, towards your personal health or your body, opportunities/events that come into your life and change your life for the better, personal achievements, etc.
Daily gratitude journal prompts benefits
When you practice gratitude you shift your focus on the positive things in life rather than focusing on what you don’t have… just imagine what your life would look like if your glass would always be half full instead of half empty.
Benefits of practicing gratitude:
- Gratitude will bring more inner joy and happiness into your life – when you move your focus towards the good things in your life, you appreciate more what you have and experience more inner joy and contentment overall.
- Positive impact on mental health – when you cultivate gratitude, your attention will move away from negative thoughts and focus more on positive thoughts which will lower stress levels, and ease anxiety and depression.
- Deepen your relationships – when you express gratitude towards others, you start to appreciate the people around you more, and there is a deeper sense of trust and connection that you develop.
- Boost your self-esteem – practicing gratitude and appreciating the good things in your life will help you to develop a more positive self-image and you will start to cultivate a sense of self-worth which will also help you to boost your self-esteem.
- Be more present – by focusing on the good things that happen to you, you will increase your level of self-awareness and if you are more self-aware, you are more present.
Daily gratitude journal prompts – set the scene
Before we dive into the 44 daily gratitude journal prompts, let’s take a moment to set the scene for your gratitude practice.
To set the scene for your gratitude practice and to set yourself up for success, follow the steps below:
- Step 1: Make yourself comfortable – find a quiet corner in your home and eliminate any distractions
- Step 2: Ground yourself – take a few deep inhales and exhales in and out through the nose; alternatively do a grounding meditation
- Step 3: Connect with your heart – place your left hand on your heart, right hand on top and simply notice how you are feeling in that moment
Once you are settled and arrived in the present moment, start your gratitude practice. Get your gratitude journal, the daily gratitude journal prompts below and let’s begin with the journal exercise.
Tip: A great addition to your daily gratitude journal prompts is a nice fluffy coffee and a couple of biscuits. Or any other hot beverage that helps you to relax and settle into the moment.
44 Daily gratitude journal prompts
Below are 44 daily gratitude journal prompts, to help inspire your thinking process and to support your journey into more inner joy and happiness.
- Look back at the day/week/month and name three things you feel grateful for.
- Name a person in your life whom you deeply appreciate and write down why you are grateful to have this person in your life.
- Think of recent events/occasions, etc. you feel grateful for and write down why you feel grateful for these events/occasions, etc.
- Think of something small, almost insignificant you feel grateful for.
- Write about a challenge in your life that you have overcome and feel grateful for. How did this challenge shape you as a person? What did you learn?
- What skill/characteristic of yourself do you admire and are grateful for?
- Think of a book/podcast, etc. that you have recently read/listened to that you feel grateful for. What insights did you get that you are grateful for?
- Name something in nature that you feel truly grateful for.
- What is something about your physical health you feel grateful for?
- What is something about your body that you feel grateful for?
- Think about a childhood memory (or memories) you feel grateful for.
- Who is your closest friend? What makes this person so special? Why are you grateful to have this person in your life?
- Is there something that you have in your life that you take for granted, but when you take a closer look you feel deeply grateful for it?
- Think of a teacher/mentor, etc. who has positively impacted your life and you are grateful.
- Think of a piece of advice that you have received that positively impacted your life and you feel grateful for.
- Write about a specific piece of advice you received and you are truly grateful for.
- Write down three things about your job that you are grateful for.
- Think of a hobby that brings you joy and write down why it brings so much joy into your life and why you are grateful to have this hobby.
- Think of something about your home you feel truly grateful for.
- What was the biggest learning in your life so far? How has it impacted your life and why are you grateful for this learning?
- Think of a trip that you have recently done that you are grateful for.
- Head out to watch the sunset and write down why you are grateful for this sunset experience.
- What made you smile today?
- What is something beautiful that you noticed today?
- Think of three things that you often take for granted, but actually do feel deeply grateful for.
- Describe a delicious meal that you had this week that you feel grateful for.
- Think of the last personal milestone/personal accomplishment you are proud of.
- Think of a specific skill that you have learned and feel grateful for.
- What was your last laugh-out-loud moment? Why are you grateful for this moment?
- Name something about your community you feel truly grateful for.
- What is something about your parents you feel truly grateful for?
- What is something about your siblings you feel truly grateful for?
- Think of a dream or future personal goal you feel grateful to be working towards.
- What is your favorite song and why do you feel grateful for these tunes?
- Think of a moment when someone showed you unexpected kindness. Why do you feel grateful for this experience?
- Think of a time when someone believed in you and supported you in achieving your dreams and why you are grateful for their support.
- Describe a sentimental item or possession of yours and why you feel grateful for it.
- Write about a time when you overcame fear and why you are grateful for overcoming this fear.
- What is your favorite self-care practice, how does it nurture your body and why do you feel grateful for it?
- What are the top three things about your city, neighborhood, etc. you are grateful for?
- What are three actions that you can take to make your best friend smile?
- Take a moment to appreciate all your senses (taste, smell, sight, hearing, touch), and write down why you are grateful for these.
- What are three things you love about your personal style? How do these things contribute to your personality?
- What is the most beautiful place you ever visited and why are you grateful for this experience?
Daily gratitude journal prompts – tips and tricks
Feel free to personalize these daily gratitude journal prompts to your own needs.
For each journaling session, I would recommend picking 1 – 3 daily gratitude journal prompts. Make sure to allow yourself enough time to answer each of these gratitude journaling prompts.
No need to follow these daily gratitude journal prompts in the order listed above. For each journaling session, choose the daily gratitude journal prompts you feel most drawn to at that moment.
Be specific with your answers. The more specific you are, the better you can feel and re-experience the moment/person/event, etc. you feel grateful for.
Journaling prompts can evoke deep feelings and emotions and some of these daily gratitude journal prompts might take a bit longer to answer. Make sure not to rush your gratitude practice.
Once you come to the end of your gratitude practice, take another look at your notes and allow the feeling of gratitude to anchor in your heart.
Daily Gratitude journal examples and recommendations
And now to the fun part… stationery! Just kidding, but I LOVE stationary, and getting a new journal is always super exciting for me. It’s the little things in life, right?!
Below are some gratitude journal ideas, and a list of my favorite gratitude journals.
There are lots of different gratitude journals out there, guided gratitude journals, blank journals, creative journals, etc. The options are pretty much endless.
For the purpose of this blog post, I focused on blank gratitude journals only. So that you can use the daily gratitude journal prompts above to help you fill your gratitude journal.
Beautifully crafted hardcover journal with light grey ruled lines and round edges; high-quality material for a magical journal experience.
This inspiring and uplifting colourful notebook is larger than a regular notebook and offers more than enough space for your journaling experience. Chic, dynamic and made of high-quality materials.
Beautifully crafted hardcover bullet journal notebook featuring a golden dragonfly symbolizing change in the perspective of self-realization. High-quality paper with dotted lines for the perfect journal experience.
Daily gratitude journal prompts questionnaire
What is a journal prompt?
A journal prompt also called a writing prompt is a specific question or statement to spark and inspire your thinking process. Journal prompts encourage self-reflection and help to explore your thoughts, feelings, emotions, beliefs, etc.
There are different kinds of journal prompts: journaling prompts for personal growth and self-development, self-discovery, gratitude, self-care, self-love, etc. Journal prompts are a great way to help you get into journaling as they provide a framework/base for your journaling experience.
How often should you write in a gratitude journal?
This is totally up to you. You can make this a daily habit, a weekly habit, or do it every now and then when you feel like it. However, if you are looking to create a more positive mindset and bring more inner joy and happiness into your life, I recommend establishing a daily gratitude practice.
Check out my blog post How to Start a Gratitude Journal and get lots of useful tips and tricks about how to start a regular gratitude practice. And together with the daily gratitude journal prompts from this blog post, you are all set and ready to go.
What is the most effective way to practice gratitude every day?
Personally, I always recommend including your daily gratitude practice into your daily routines e.g. a morning routine or an evening routine. This way your daily gratitude practice becomes part of your daily flow and it will be easier to make it a new healthy habit of yours.
Simply work out how much time you would like to spend with your daily gratitude journal prompts and work this time into your morning or evening routine.
How do you practice gratitude daily without writing a journal?
Daily gratitude journal prompts are a great way to practice gratitude daily, but there are certainly other ways to practice gratitude daily. E.g. mindfulness exercises, a gratitude jar, moments of reflection, etc.
Explore different ways to practice gratitude in my blog post 5 Ways to Practice Gratitude Daily.
By establishing a regular gratitude practice, you can train your mindset to keep the focus more on the positive things in life.
And this will change everything. The more grateful you are, the more reasons you will find to be grateful.
But keep in mind that the effectiveness of a gratitude practice depends on your personal commitment. Consistency is key and the more regularly you practice gratitude, the more effective it will be in your life.
In case you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment below. And keep me posted on how you are getting on with your gratitude practice, I would love to hear from you.
Stay wild,
Nicolle
Featured image: Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash
Great post! I’m still really new to journalling so having a list of prompts to work from is really helpful! Thank you for sharing these!
Love the prompts, I could add some of these to my daily gratitude practice. Thank you.
Yayy!! Really happy that you like the prompts. Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment 😉