How to Start a Gratitude Journal – The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide

Hello and welcome back beautiful warrior! Last week, we already touched upon the topic of how to start a gratitude journal, but as we only touched the topic on the surface, I thought let’s continue the topic this week, dive deeper, and look at a step-by-step approach to how to start a gratitude journal.

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Starting a daily gratitude practice can be a real game changer in your life, it definitely was for me and a gratitude journal is a great way to do this.

Personally, starting a regular gratitude practice really helped me to ease my anxieties. I feel much happier in life, there is certainly more bliss and joy and I also feel more adventurous as in feeling more open to finding out and exploring what life holds for me.

In addition to this, it also helped me to live more in the present moment. And as we all know, the present moment is all we have.

But I also have to say that consistency is key. If you are looking for more magic and abundance in your life, you need to be consistent with your self-love and self-care practice. Yes, it’s hard work, but no one else will or can do it for you and yes, it’s totally worth it!

Ok, are you ready for some magic?

What is the meaning of gratitude?

a strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something for what the person has done to help you (…)

– Cambridge Dictionary

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.

Life can get so busy and when it does, we tend to overlook these beautiful moments in life and take them for granted. And even though life can feel overwhelming and daunting sometimes, there are still so many things to be grateful for.

Benefits of starting a regular gratitude journal

Starting a regular gratitude journal can bring a lot of health benefits to your life.

Practicing gratitude brings more happiness into your life. You will notice yourself feeling more positive toward life, and having more compassion for yourself as well as the people around you.

A regular gratitude practice can also increase your motivation, decrease anxiety, ease depression and contribute to better well-being overall.

In addition to this, practicing gratitude will help you to bring more awareness into your life. You will notice yourself spending more time in the present moment and slowly, but surely, you are more and more opening up to the magic and abundance that life holds for you.

Abundance is the currency of the universe, sounds cheesy, I know, but the more you open up to it, the more you are living and appreciating life in its fullness!

How to start a gratitude journal?

Get yourself a journal

First of all, treat yourself to a new notebook! YAYYYY!!!

Note: I listed a few gratitude journal options for you below, ‘Best gratitude journals’. Check them out, maybe you will find just the one you have been looking for.

Once you found your gratitude journal, make this your gratitude journal only and avoid using the notebook for anything else.

Feel free to personalize your gratitude journal with pictures, stickers, maybe some glitter, etc. there is no right or wrong. It is totally up to you.

Block time in your diary

Practicing gratitude is pure self-love and self-care. Make yourself a priority and block the time in your diary.

Pick a time of the day that you feel will work best for your daily gratitude practice. Mornings, evenings, maybe during lunch, or whatever you think will work best with your daily schedule.

Don’t rush your gratitude practice and allow yourself enough time.

Tip: You can even make it a ritual, get yourself a cup of coffee or tea, light a candle, burn some incent sticks, etc. to make yourself feel more comfortable and help to ease into your practice.

Breathe

Your breath is a wonderful tool to bring you into the present moment.

Close your eyes and take a few deep inhales and exhales in and out of your nose. With each inhale fill up your lungs and your belly with oxygen and with your exhale, relax your shoulders and release any tension you might be holding in your body.

Do this 3 – 4 times. Notice how your nervous system relaxes more and more with each cycle of breath. Relax your body, relax your mind, and allow yourself to become present for your gratitude practice.

Connect with your heart

As you find stillness inside, connect with your heart and the feeling of being grateful.

Let this feeling settle in your heart until you feel ready for your gratitude practice.

Gratitude practice

Open your gratitude journal and think about 3 things you are grateful for and write them down in your gratitude journal.

“Today I am grateful for…“

Be specific, precise, and to the point. And most importantly, be honest with yourself. What/who are you grateful for? How did that person/situation make you feel? Why did you feel grateful?

Let your emotions and thoughts flow. Don’t worry too much if your notes get a bit messy. Think of your journal as a workbook. Cross things out, highlight things, write over words and if you feel like drawing a happy face, go for it! There is nothing to hide from yourself!

Be aware of the words that you are using. Connect with grateful words such as ‘gifts’, ‘blessing’, ‘feeling of abundance’ etc.

Try to avoid repetition. Should you ever get stuck, check out the gratitude journal prompts below for some inspiration.

Once you are finished, read over your notes, and allow the feeling of gratitude to fill up your heart.

Then, close your journal, put it away, and repeat the same exercise and process again tomorrow.

Yes, this is all you have to do. It really doesn’t take too much time of your day, but it makes a huge difference.

If you are new to practicing gratitude, or if you ever get a bit stuck, below are a few gratitude journal prompts that can help you to get thinking.

Gratitude journal prompts

• Write down three things that you love about yourself.
• What is the best thing that happened to you today?
• What/who makes your days better?
• List the people that have positively impacted your life. Why have they impacted your life and how?
• Think of something that you have in your life today that you did not have a year ago.
• What changes have you made in your life that you are happy about?
• What is something you are grateful for that you let go of?
• Are there any mistakes you have made you are grateful for today?

Best gratitude journals

As mentioned earlier in this blog post, if you don’t have a journal handy that you can use for your gratitude practice, don’t worry, I got you!

Below is a selection of different gratitude journals for you. Enjoy!

Blank gratitude journals

Guided gratitude journals

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By starting a daily gratitude journal, you are, over time, creating a beautiful collection of all the memories and blessings that you already have in your life.

Yes, it’s a bit like a treasure box, and should you ever have a bad day or feel a bit off, your gratitude journal can be a great tool to make you feel better quickly.

On days when you are feeling a bit low, get yourself a nice cup of tea, grab your journal, sit on your couch, go through your notes in your gratitude journal, and let all these memories fill your heart.

If you want to start a regular gratitude practice, but feel that a gratitude journal is not for you, check out last week’s blog post on 5 Ways to Practice Gratitude Daily, to explore other options on how you can practice gratitude daily.

And should you decide to go ahead and start a gratitude journal, please keep me posted and leave me a comment below. Share how you are getting on, any questions you might have, any thoughts, etc. I would love to hear from you.

In gratitude,

Nicolle

Featured image: Photo by Ashlyn Ciara on Unsplash