The practice of keeping a gratitude journal isn’t something to be taken lightly. It’s more effective for those who make a conscious decision to be happier and feel more grateful. If you really want to make a difference in your life, this step will require genuine enthusiasm.
Do not keep a gratitude journal without believing in its ability to change the way you feel about the world around you. So if you choose to integrate gratitude journaling into your life, do it for the purpose of becoming happier, more optimistic, kinder, friendlier in communication, but not to prove to someone that this practice doesn’t really work.
10 Rules for Using a Gratitude Journal:
Keep it safe from prying eyes. A gratitude journal is a powerful psychology tool that has a special power, it should become a real treasure for you, so you should protect it from prying eyes.
Find 100 reasons to be grateful. Keep it simple; try to find at least 100 things to be thankful for first, and then write them down. Record whatever pops into your head, and don’t spend too much time thinking about it. As soon as you run out of “fresh: reasons to be thankful, or feel lack of thoughts, try recalling your childhood, adolescence, or young adulthood.
Set a gratitude limit. It’s necessary to set yourself a daily minimum of things to be thankful for. Let it be, for example, three thank-yous a day. There may be more, but not less. It doesn’t matter how extensive they are, as long as the minimum is respected.
Make notes every day. It is important to make sure that you fill out your journal on a daily basis. According to experts, it takes most people 21 days to develop a lasting habit, so don’t forget about your gratitude journal and make a habit of filling it out every day. It is recommended that you give thanks regularly for at least three months. Building the habit of seeking positivity and reasons to be thankful will help to increase self-esteem and improve your mood.
Be grateful not only for the present, but also for the future. It’s necessary to give thanks not only for what already exists and happens in life, but also for what you want. A gratitude journal works in the same way as affirmations. Write your gratitude for what you would like to have in the future, but in the present tense. For example, “I’m grateful to have only positive emotions and high income from my work” (even if you don’t actually like it at the moment).
Be thankful not only to everyone around you, but also to yourself. Give thanks not only to the Universe, your family, friends and people you know, but also to everyone around you. Don’t forget to thank yourself as well, this contributes to raising your self-esteem, realizing that you can do much more than you think you can. Gratitude can be impersonal, for example, “thank you for my great mood”.
Be thankful for your imperfections. Having disadvantages is also a reason to be grateful. Are you overweight? Thank the Universe for encouraging you to join a gym and take charge of your health in this way.
Be thankful for the little things you used to take for granted. We should be thankful for every positive little thing, not just for saving a life or winning a big prize in the lottery. These little things around us have become an integral part of our daily lives, and we not only don’t feel any gratitude for them, but we take them for granted.
Be creative in your journaling. Treat this process of gratitude journaling as a creative activity and try to diversify it, so that it doesn’t become a mundane chore. To do so, you can add images, for example, your own drawings or your favorite photos.
Reread your journal from time to time. All the entries you make in your gratitude journal are not for someone else, but for yourself. These entries will make it much easier for you to see that your life consists not only of bad and negative things, but also of positive and good aspects. To understand this, you should periodically reread your gratitude journal.
As you follow the rules listed above, you’ll be able to easily transform the process of keeping a gratitude journal into a regular activity, which won’t only not burden you, but will also give you pleasant impressions and emotions. This all builds a foundation for a gradual and continuous creation of positive changes in your life, and then the new life itself.
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