How to write a gratitude list

When life gets busy, which it often does, we can forget to stop for a moment and think about what we’re grateful for.

Having a regular gratitude practice can be a beautiful addition to incorporate into your day. It can help shift your awareness into a more positive way of thinking, which may in turn help to attract more positivity into your life. Here, we share some of our top tips on how to get started writing your daily lists, so you can reap the benefits of a regular gratitude practice.

Top tips for writing your own gratitude list

• Have a dedicated notebook for your gratitude lists – it’ll feel more special and meaningful, and you’re less likely to misplace it than if you were writing on scrap paper or post-it notes.
• Keep it short ­– You don’t need to write a lot of words. It doesn’t need to be an essay, as simple sentences may actually be more effective. As long as it means something to you, that’s all that matters.
• Use bullet points to keep your mind focused, especially if you want to go back and re-read your lists as it will be concise and organised.
• Aim to write at least five points every morning when you wake up, and over time you’ll watch your list gradually develop. You might even surprise yourself with how much you have to be grateful for!
• When you first start your list, you’ll probably be writing about broad topics such as being grateful for your family, pets, your home, the sun, but don’t be afraid to get into the nitty gritty and focus on specifics.
• Throughout your day-to-day life you might reflect back to your gratitude list, or you might start noticing new things to be grateful for, that you then have to write down. This is just one of the amazing benefits!
• Remember that there’s no right or wrong – the most important thing is that it’s personal to you, so try not to write what others would expect you to feel grateful for. Find your truth and be honest.
• Don’t overthink it – as each thought manifests itself, write it down instead of focusing on how to phrase certain things.
• If the weather allows, you might find inspiration is more likely to strike if you take your morning cup of tea and gratitude list outside. There’s so much in nature to be grateful for, and spending time in nature can help you to feel a deeper sense of connection.

If journaling isn’t for you- that’s okay, you can set yourself ‘cue’s’ by having a gratitude rock or stone. This doesn’t need to be anything fancy- it could be a stone that you find when out walking, or a crystal you already own. Whenever you hold the rock, try to think of one thing that you’re grateful for, and really visualise it. Again, you can do this at any time of day, but sometimes it can be nice to do this before you go to sleep, by thinking of the best thing that happened to you during the day.