As someone who enjoys writing and deep reflection, when a friend of mine told me she kept a gratitude journal and felt an inner transformation from this new hobby, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.
I’m someone who is a dreamer and loves thinking about the possibilities of the future while dwelling and reminiscing on the past—I am truly nostalgia’s biggest fan. But a goal I had for myself going into the big ’25 was to be more intentional in my everyday life, and a way I wanted to do that was by getting into gratitude journaling. I wanted to realize how much I have to be grateful for even on bad days, and discover things I didn’t even know I was grateful for until I wrote them into existence.
Here are 5 tips on how to effectively journal gratitude and what I’ve learned from it!
Tip 1: The five-minute rule
Start a page a day. Make 5 minutes for yourself—it’s the biggest form of self-care and helps set your mind in a positive mindset. It works well at the beginning of the day, but you can also do it at night before sleep. I like to have a candle near me to set the vibe! Neuroscience research suggests gratitude practices can actually change brain patterns, activating regions associated with reward, social bonding, and stress relief. A study from the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley found that people who wrote gratitude letters showed greater activation in the medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in fMRI scans. This effect lasted three months after the writing exercise.
Tip 2: Accessorize & decorate
Don’t be afraid to accessorize your gratitude journal! I love decorating my stationery and books to make them cuter and more appealing, so I pick them up and write in them more often. If that resonates with you, feel free to get some cute stickers, washi tape, and decorate the front cover however you’d like. For my gratitude journal, I used Canva to design a scrapbook-like title, “Gratitude,” to print and paste on my journal to add that extra flair! I even have a dedicated pen, and sometimes, I’ll stick photos of people I love in there and write affirmations with visuals. Treat your gratitude journal with love, too!
tip 3: The more specific, the better
The more specific, the better. When beginning the gratitude journaling process, it’s okay to start big and general. Still, typically the best results come when you’re really specific and intentional about what exactly you’re grateful for. Instead of writing “I’m grateful for my family,” try “I’m grateful for the way my mom texted me this morning to check in” or “I’m grateful for the laugh I had with my sister over dinner.” Specific moments make gratitude feel more real and help you relive those positive feelings. This shows how deeply you are reflecting on a day-to-day basis, taking you to the next level of incorporating gratitude as a daily practice in your life.
tip 4: every day is different
You won’t have big things to write about every day, so don’t pressure yourself. Some days, your journal entry might literally just be “I’m grateful for my morning coffee” or “I’m grateful the sun was shining”—and that’s totally okay! No matter how big or small the event or interaction you had, gratitude is everywhere, and we all have it existing deep inside of us. The small things are what make life beautiful, too.
Tip 5: Challenge yourself
Whenever you write an entry, challenge yourself. How does this look in terms of gratitude journaling? Try to reflect and look for surprises. Sometimes, there are things you might usually overlook—like someone holding the door for you when you rushed to a lecture, meeting a friend that you haven’t seen in ages, a song that came on at the perfect time (giving the main character energy), or even just having a moment of peace in your dorm. This habit of recognizing moments to appreciate trains your brain further in gratitude and leaves you feeling more thankful.
Gratitude journaling is initially hard to get into, and like any new habit, it requires patience and consistency. Just setting aside five minutes of your day to write about what makes you feel grateful or appreciative can go a long way and bring you closer to attaining that ideal version of yourself. My gratitude journal has become a collection of all the little things that make life worth living, and I can’t wait to keep writing more pages.
So, what are you grateful for today? Literally take a moment right now and think of three things. That’s all it takes to start. Whether you write them down in a fancy journal or just in your notes app, the practice is what matters, and it can go a long way!