My posts may contain affiliate links, meaning if you buy something through one of these links, I'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own.
It’s easy to focus on the negative things in life. The things that go wrong. The people you lost. The jobs you didn’t get. But life is about so much more than the negatives. There’s an upside to every situation, and practising gratitude can help you focus on the positives of every situation. Use these 35 journal prompts for gratitude to help shift your focus from everything that’s wrong in your world, to everything you do have.
Why Should You Keep a Gratitude Journal?
The benefits of keeping a gratitude journal are endless. Practising gratitude can improve all aspects of your life, including your health, happiness and relationships.
I believe that everyone should keep a gratitude journal. No matter how positive you may already be, everyone can benefit from a daily gratitude practice. It takes just 5 minutes a day, and you can notice the benefits almost instantly.
What Are The Benefits of a Gratitude Journal?
Studies have shown that keeping a gratitude journal has a host of benefits to your mental and possibly even physical health. Let’s dive into a few of them:
1. Increased Happiness
Practising gratitude is a simple yet powerful way to increase your general happiness. And it makes sense – those who express gratitude for everything they have rather than focus on everything they want will naturally be happier with where they are in life.
Those who focus on the negatives in any situation will always react negatively to anything that happens to them. They believe they’ll be happier if they have more stuff, but the reality is they’ll never be happy until they learn to be grateful for what they have. If they don’t, they’ll always find more stuff to want.
2. Improved Health
Studies have found that practising gratitude has a range of health benefits, from lowering stress, anxiety, and improving sleep quality.
3. Improved Relationships
Those who practise gratitude are generally much better to be around. They’re happier, friendlier, and react more positively to bad situations.
4. Reduced Materialism
Practising gratitude can help you appreciate what you have, and realise that you don’t need more things to be happy. This can help save you money, as well as prevent unnecessary clutter in your home.
How To Start a Gratitude Journal
Starting a gratitude journal is incredibly easy – all you need to do is write down 3 things you’re grateful for at the end of every day. My top tips are to use a dedicated journal, use your gratitude journal every day, and to use gratitude journal prompts to delve deeper into your thoughts and feelings.
Let’s take a deeper look into how to start an effective gratitude journal that will help you boost your happiness levels.
1. Use a Dedicated Journal
You’re welcome to use your existing journal to practise gratitude, but I highly recommend investing in a dedicated gratitude journal. A new notebook is inexpensive and allows you to give your gratitude practice the dedication it deserves. Check out these beautiful notebooks from Etsy if you’re looking for some inspiration:
If you don’t want to invest in a new journal, or if you use a digital notebook or planner, then read to the end for a free gratitude journal printable! I created it for my own personal gratitude journal and I’m excited to share it with you.
2. Use Your Gratitude Journal Every Day
You should write in your gratitude journal every day to see the best results. Practising gratitude can shift your perspective on life and can help you become a happier, more positive person. But in order for this shift to happen you’ll need to dedicate time to your gratitude practice.
The most effective way to do this is to do a little bit every day. Spending a few minutes every day to practise gratitude can help change your entire mindset. It can help you focus on the positives when things go wrong, and therefore help you deal with challenging situations better.
3. Write Down 3 Things You’re Grateful For at the End of Every Day
The most important thing you can do is write down 3 things you’re grateful for at the end of every day. It takes 5 minutes, but completing this at the end of every day can help you become a much happier, more grateful person.
4. Use Journal Prompts for Deep Journaling
I recommend using gratitude journal prompts on top of using your daily gratitude journal. This will help you delve deeper into your inner thoughts and make the most out of your gratitude practice.
You don’t need to use journal prompts every day, as answering prompts is a much deeper process than daily gratitude and will take up more of your time. But the effects of deep gratitude journaling are much more beneficial than your simple daily gratitude routine.
35 Daily Journal Prompts for Gratitude
- Write down 10 things you’re grateful for today. Why are you grateful for each of these things?
- What are your favourite qualities about yourself?
- How did your childhood shape who you are today?
- Write a list of all the people in your life. Describe your best memory with each of these people.
- What’s your biggest achievement in life so far?
- Write a timeline of all the events in your life that led to you getting this achievement?
- Have you travelled anywhere beautiful?
- What good things do you have that you didn’t have this time last year?
- Write about any books that have changed your life.
- Have you been through any difficult times? Write about how they’ve made you a better person.
- What skills have you learnt over the past year?
- What skills have you learnt over the past 5 years?
- Write about any artists or musicians you’re grateful for.
- What’s one thing you like about your job?
- Write down one good thing that happened to you today.
- Write about one person you’re grateful to have in your life.
- What are you looking forward to this week?
- Write about someone who helped you in a time of need.
- What’s something that made you smile today?
- Write about someone you feel comfortable around.
- Are there any strangers you feel grateful for?
- Write down 10 small pleasures you’re grateful for.
- What’s your favourite TV show or movie? Why?
- Are you grateful for any of your failures or losses?
- Write about any musicians you’re grateful for.
- What’s your favourite food?
- Who do you think you’d be if you lived in a world without sadness?
- How have you grown over the past year?
- Write down all the things you’re grateful that your body can do.
- What’s your favourite hobby?
- What’s your favourite time of day?
- What are three things you love about where you live?
- Which of your mistakes have actually been blessings in disguises?
- What’s something that’s made you laugh recently?
- What’s your favourite place to go to relax?
Looking for More Journal Prompts?
- Journal Prompts for Self Discovery
- Self Reflection Journal Prompts for the New Year
- Journal Prompts for When You Feel Down
