Gratitude Journal: 50 Journal Prompts & Ideas For Your Daily Rotation

gratitude journal

Unlike Manifestation Journaling and Positive Affirmation which are focusing on things we don’t have, Gratitude Journaling is to praise what we have and the good things around us.

Which makes it easy and sensible to practice this exercise.

The best part?

There are lots of scientific studies that prove that practicing gratitude journals can bring enormous value to a person’s physical and mental health.

Let’s dive right in.

Table of Content:

 

what is a gratitude journal

What is a Gratitude Journal?

Gratitude journaling is a practice of focusing and recording things that you are grateful for on a consistent basis. Research suggests that by paying attention to the good things happening in our life, we are able to reinforce the positive aspect of our life and keep us away from negative thinking. 

According to the mainstream teaching of manifestation and the Law of Attraction, Gratitude Journaling – also known as the Count Your Blessings practice has been one of the most popular practices that people use.

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The Benefits of Gratitude Journaling 

The reason why so many people are so fascinated about practicing gratitude, is that it has been proven to have benefits to multiple areas of a person by scientific research.

The core benefits of practicing gratitude journaling includes:

  1. Increase happiness
  2. Increase positivity
  3. Reduce stress (1)
  4. Improve self-esteem
  5. Improve physical and mental health (2)
  6. Improve sleep quality
  7. Experience even more gratitude
  8. Reduce pain (3)

In the Law of Attraction teaching, gratitude also plays an important role in:

  1. Raise a person’s energy level. (or Vibration)
  2. Catalyze manifestation.
  3. Attract more similar experience. (Like attracts like)

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gratitude journal

How to Start Writing your Gratitude Journal?

I would highly recommend you to have 1 journal or notebook specifically for the purpose of writing your gratitude list.

And remember it is supposed to be the treat time of your day. It’s a time to relax and to gather the moments of joy and gratefulness in your day.

Don’t ever try to force yourself to write an essay or long paragraph unless you want to. This practice is aimed to be easy and chill.

Here are a few more tips to help you get started.

  1. Be grateful for small things.
    Big things are easy to be noticed and be grateful for.
    But small things can give you the same dose of gratitude. The best thing is, small things happen more often than you can realize.
  2. Be specific about what makes you feel grateful.
    While you are writing your journal, be more specific on the Who, What, When, Where, and Why can help you be more engaged with the gratitude feeling.
    For example, compare the following 2 statements:

    • “I am grateful for the smooth commute this morning.” 
    • “I am grateful for the smooth commute this morning that makes me feel so peaceful and relieved for the whole day.”
  3. Dig a little deeper over 1 subject.
    Try to find out more aspects that make you feel grateful over a person / a thing / an event. Usually it is easier to feel more gratitude towards 1 subject that you are already thankful for.
    And, you can feel even stronger feeling of gratitude which bring more positive benefits to yourself.
    Here’s an example:

    • I am so grateful that Elaine had helped me out on my project today.
    • It is not the first time she has helped me out, I’m so glad I’ve known her.
    • I’m so grateful for all the good times with her and she has been such a close friend with me over the years.
  4. Be grateful for adversities that you have been through.
    Going through hard times in life always helps us understand life a little bit more by learning new skills, gaining a new perspective or learning a life lesson. Isn’t it worth being thankful for the lesson so that we become who we are today
  5. Give yourself enough time for the section.
    Again, this is your treat time. At least spend 15 – 30 mins a day on your gratitude journal. Doing it right before bed would be the best.
  6. Don’t just write. Feel it.
    Very often after we make gratitude journaling a routine of our day, we just want to phone it in and forget the main purpose of the practice. So, make sure you spare yourself enough time to attune the feeling.
  7. Be consistent.
    Despite the fact that gratitude journaling can bring lots of improvements in multiple aspects of your life, the effect does come bit by bit. Consistency is the key to get the most of this practice.

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What Are Gratitude Journal Prompts?

Gratitude journal prompt is the best tool in guiding you to think about what to write in your gratitude journal.

It helps you to attune in the gratitude mode quickly and reminds you what is worth thankful for in different aspects of your life.

A good gratitude journal prompt can assist you to extract moments or subjects that you are grateful for effortlessly.

Here are some good gratitude prompt ideas:

gratitude journal prompts ideas

 

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50 Gratitude Journal Prompt Ideas

  1. Write about 1 small thing / event that you are grateful for. (E.g. someone opened the door for you)
  2. Write about 1 good event or experience that makes you feel good today. 
  3. Write about 1 personal quality or skills of your own that helped you through the day.
  4. Write about 1 decision you are glad you have made today.
  5. Write about 1 event that seems like an adversity but ends with a good outcome.
  6. Write about a simple pleasure that you are grateful for. (A cup of coffee or a piece of dark chocolate?)
  7. Write about 1 nice surprise you have today.
  8. Write about 1 thing that always puts a smile on your face.
  9. Write about 1 thing that you are grateful to have today that you didn’t have a year ago.
  10. Write about a place that you are glad you have been there.
  11. Write about 1 accomplishment you are proud of.
  12. Write about 1 of your personality traits that you are grateful for.
  13. Write about 1 talent or quality you have that you are grateful for.
  14. Write about 1 learned skill you have that you are grateful you have learned it.
  15. Write about 1 skill you have that you are glad you can use to help others.
  16. Write about 1 thing about your body or health that you are grateful for.
  17. Write about a piece of clothing or accessory you own that you are grateful for.
  18. Write about 1 possession that makes your life easier.
  19. Write about 1 thing in your home or your room that you are grateful for.
  20. Write about 1 thing you are grateful you can do with the money you made.
  21. Write about 1 good thing that has recently caught your attention to make you realize how fortunate you are.
  22. Write about 1 thing you are doing well currently.
  23. Write about 1 time that pure luck or grace has saved you.
  24. Write about 1 thing that you are grateful for your career or job.
  25. Write about a meal(s) that you enjoy making or eating.
  26. Write about a book that you are grateful you have read. 
  27. Write about a time you have made the right decision because you listen to your heart and you are grateful for it.
  28. Write about 1 difficult decision you have made that you are grateful for.
  29. Write about 1 thing you have been given that you are grateful for.
  30. Write about 1 nice thing another person did for you today.
  31. Write about 1 nice thing you did for another person today.
  32. Write about 1 thing in nature that you are grateful for. (e.g. the earth is spinning perfectly)
  33. Write about 1 public service that you are grateful they exist.
  34. Write about 1 thing you love about the neighborhood or the city you live in.
  35. Write about a happy memory.
  36. Write about 1 thing you witnessed recently that made you feel heartwarming.
  37. Write about 1 thing that made you laugh this week.
  38. Write about a day that you think was the best day in your life.
  39. Write about 1 person or 1 thing in your life that you are happy to have let go.
  40. Write about 1 person who has ever made you feel unconditional love.
  41. Write about 1 place you have traveled that you are grateful you have been there.
  42. Write about 1 thing that you bought recently that you are grateful for.
  43. Write about 1 thing that you made/created recently that you are grateful for.
  44. Write about a family member that you are grateful for.
  45. Write about a friend that you are grateful for.
  46. Write about a teacher or mentor that you are grateful for.
  47. Write about a time someone went out of their way to help you.
  48. Write about 1 adversity that has happened to you that has helped you become who you are today .
  49. Write about 1 mistake or failure you have made that you are grateful for.
  50. Write about 1 struggle you experienced in life that you have overcome and how it makes you feel grateful for.

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Printable Gratitude Journal Templates

Resources for printable gratitude journal templates:

Research Reference:

  1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-014-9578-4
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12585811/
  3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2019.1627397?journalCode=rpos20

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