How to Start a Gratitude Practice in 6 Easy Steps

Below I’m going to detail how to go about starting your own practice, which I have discussed the science behind it here and have detailed my experiences with it here.So this article is designed to help you start the practicalities of doing this for yourself.It can seem a bit ‘hippy’ or a bit ‘cheesy’ to start such a practice, and the embarrassment of thinking about doing a gratitude practice might actually hold you back from doing it. So get over yourself and try it out. You’ve nothing to lose.

1. Start by making an intention of doing a gratitude practice and decide how and when you’ll do it. Personally, I choose first thing in the morning and in a special book specifically for the task. So go choose a notebook or pad to note your thoughts on.
2. Make the journal personal to yourself. I got my artistic daughter to colour in and put some designs on the cover and inside page. When I see her contribution, it automatically changed my state to warm and fuzzy!
3. Write the date and start out with what your intention is behind the practice. Write it down – it always helps to reflect later on what you were thinking and feeling, and as you progress in your gratitude journey, you’ll be interested in seeing how your thoughts and feelings change and develop.
4. Put the date and start with something like “Things I am grateful for”, or “things that I am grateful for”. Make sure you write in sentences rather than one-word answers, to whatever you decide to use as your cue.
5. Write at least three every day. And number each one. If you find that you get stuck, or blank, allow that sensation and stay with your task. Almost always I find I come out of it writing something that surprises me. Like a deeper level of thought arises rather than the obvious surface ideas. Don’t worry about going blank – just ride through it. Allow yourself space to ponder.
6. After a few weeks of doing it, I went to an online site that picks random numbers and I got it to select 3 numbers, which I then went back into my journal and reviewed what I had written on that day. Sometimes it is eye-opening, for example, the thing that I wake up in the morning thinking about, is reflected in a previous posting I made a few days ago about. It sometimes feels like I am talking to myself from the past. Like I was meant to read it again on that day. This expands the range of the journal by allowing you to review past gratitudes and see how you relate to them in the present.

After this, simply keep going. Start to make the practice a regular habit in your daily life. If you find it isn’t sticking as a practice, Atomic Habits author James Clear suggest building a new habit into an already existing habit. So, when you brush your teeth every day, make it is the next thing you do straight after. Tie the new action in with an old, already formed habit to embed it quickly in your routine.Enjoy the process and if you don’t for any reason, don’t be harsh on yourself. Rather than thinking you should be doing it, reflect on why you want to. After all, no-one wants to think they should do something – there is little resistance to something that you want to do.Overall see it as an opportunity to learn something about yourself and be grateful for that!