Gratitude Journal Prompts
Gratitude is kind of amazing. It's hard to define, hard to quantify, and seems obvious. But science is showing incredible benefits to being grateful. It's good for your mental health, it's good for your happiness, it's good for other people, it's good for your community…it's even good for your physical health.
Imagine an easy and free way to reduce stress, feel grounded, and increase joy. All that positive impact because of a simple daily practice. You'd try it, right? Of course you would. We completely agree.
Just for one example among many: In the study linked above, researchers found that study participants who were practicing gratitude were more likely to report that they had offered someone else in their life emotional support. That's right—your gratitude practice even helps other people!
How to Start Practicing Gratitude
For best results, make it a habit. That's why we say we want to practice gratitude. The more you practice something, the more of a habit it will become. And mental habits are no exception!
Set Yourself Up for Success
Choose somewhere to do your gratitude journaling. It can be a blank book, a gratitude journal, the backs of an increasingly large pile of envelopes, or anything else that will actually get you to do it. We use a phone app that we think is pretty. (We use Presently, but any app on the app store of your choice that speaks to you would work.)
First, you don't need journal prompts to help you get started. Just take a moment and write down three to five things you're grateful for, every day. You can get into the gratitude prompts below later.
Establish a Habit
For the first week, experiment with times of the day and methods. Maybe your morning bus commute to work gives you a few minutes to reflect. Maybe you want to keep your journal next to your bed. Maybe you lose the envelopes on Wednesday and switch to an app. Give yourself space to sort it out.
For the first couple of months, help yourself make gratitude journaling a habit. Set a reminder on your phone, put a sticky note on your coffee machine, or put a habit tracker on your bulletin board.
Dig Deeper
After you've established a gratitude journaling habit, challenge yourself to go deeper. You might have to get out of your comfort zone a little. It's great that you're grateful for your sister. What about your sister are you grateful for? Could you write down five things instead of three? Could you spend five minutes of your free time reflecting instead of two minutes? This might also be the time to try a gratitude journal prompt.
And that brings us to...
Gratitude Journal Prompts
Now you know that gratitude is a key part of our quest for more joy, better mental health, better sleep, and less overwhelm in your life. And that's why we highly recommend keeping a daily gratitude journal to express gratitude for the everyday things you appreciate.
But it's nice to also sometimes dive a little deeper as you practice gratitude. So grab your journal and choose one of the following gratitude journal prompts to help you focus. And enjoy!
13 Journaling Prompts for Your Gratitude Journal
1. Reflect on five people you're grateful to have in your world. Write about why.
2. What do you love most about your home or favorite place in nature? It can be big or small, something that brings you joy or makes your life easier. Make a list or write about why you like one thing in particular.
3. Describe your favorite small daily ritual. What is your favorite part of the day? Write about why you enjoy it and the associated simple pleasures. Why are you glad this favorite thing is part of your day to day life?
4. Write about what community organization (e.g., library, club, or church) you feel gratitude for. What are three aspects of it that you truly appreciate? How does it make a difference to your life and to other's lives?
5. What career advice are you most thankful to have been given? How has it helped you? That is, what do you feel gratitude for having done because of it?
6. Write about a friend who's been there for you over the past year. Who are you grateful for, what was the thing that happened, and how did they show you kindness?
7. Who is someone that you feel grateful to work with or to have worked with?
8. Write about a family member you feel grateful to have in your life. Include a favorite holiday or other happy memory from your lives together that makes you smile.
9. Leave a thank-you note for your mail carrier (or someone else you count on in your everyday life). Or find another similar way to express gratitude for all they do.
10. Describe three things about your body or health you feel thankful for. Write about them.
11. What are some of the things about your significant other (or other family member or loved person that you explore life with) you're grateful for or proud of? When was the last time you told them?
12. What life basics are you thankful to have in your daily life? They can be big or small. Start by thinking about the past week and the things that you've used.
13. Imagine if, by chance, you hadn't met your significant other (or some other positive, life-altering event hadn't happened). How would your lives be different? Describe how different things would be without your person. Now write about everything in your life resulting from that meeting for which you are grateful.
Gratitude Meditation Journal
Here's another idea for your gratitude journal: start, track, and make notes on (if you want) a gratitude meditation practice. (We even have some printable trackers if you need to download one! Or just create one in your journal.)
The life benefits—mental and physical—of practicing gratitude are not a secret, even if they're somewhat underrated. But your gratitude practice doesn't have to be massively time-consuming, and you'll get benefits even after a short time!
For example, look at this study of 65 women conducted in 2015. The test subjects kept a gratitude journal and practiced mindfulness meditation for three weeks—three weeks! Compared to the control group, the test subjects saw an increase in happiness and a decrease in both depression and stress. The researchers concluded that further study is warranted. Three weeks!
So that's where gratitude meditation comes in. If you're new to meditating, there is a whole world of guided options on whatever apps, like Calm, or listening device you prefer. Here are a few on YouTube that we've tried. We looked for shorter options to get you started focusing on your grateful feelings without getting too overwhelmed.
Gratitude Meditation Options
10 Minute Gratitude Meditation (10:10)
The usual advice for meditation is to find a quiet, comfortable spot where you won't be interrupted. Trust us when we say that this is key. What works best for us is to get up earlier than the rest of our family and putting aside a few minutes then…after feeding the cats. No doubt someone with more focus can ignore the climbing, meowing, and head-butting of a cat who has just remembered he has never eaten before in his life, but we find it a bit distracting. Give him his favorite food first and let him join you in being grateful (or at least feline contentment).
What's Next?
How do you want to keep your grateful heart blooming?
Share the Love
Gratitude journals make a thoughtful gift if you want to share the gratitude journaling habit with your friend or favorite person. And of course, writing a note or doing something small that will make their life easier to express your feelings is a kind gesture. (Feel free to share these gratitude journal prompts too, of course!)
More Journaling
If you're finished with these gratitude journal prompts but you like your new journaling habit, you might be looking for more journal prompts! Don't worry; we have SO many writing prompts to help. They’re right here!
