Blog Short #278: The Simple Morning Habit I’ve Kept For 10 Years
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Every morning, I write down ten things I’m grateful for. I do it alongside my morning coffee before getting up for the day. I’ve been doing it for over ten years, and I’ve found it to be one of the most powerful and beneficial habits I’ve ever practiced. I want you to have the same experience.
Today, we’ll quickly review the research-backed benefits of gratitude journaling, and then I’ll give you guidelines for starting your journal. There are specific things that make it more powerful.
The Benefits
There are six benefits that have been verified across various research studies.
1. Increased Optimism and Positivity
Regular gratitude helps you notice what’s going well in your life, even in the face of struggles and obstacles. When you make it a habit, especially a daily habit, you attune your brain to notice your blessings as much as, and maybe more than, your burdens (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
It’s an exercise in perception. Giving equal time to what’s going well significantly affects your overall sense of your world and mindset.
2. Reduced Negative Thinking
We have a natural negativity bias, which can lead to overthinking, ruminating, and obsessing over obstacles and issues.
Gratitude doesn’t remove burdens or real concerns, but it does help you avoid prolonged toxic thinking that doesn’t serve you well. It counteracts runaway exaggerated perceptions and helps you regulate your emotions.
3. Increased Emotional Resilience
Gratitude journaling has compound effects (Wong & Brown, 2017). The longer you do it, the more positive effects you feel.
Like any habit, you’re training your brain to notice opportunities to feel gratitude. Noticing and feeling gratitude gradually become automatic. Your perceptual field shifts and widens.
You aren’t as bogged down by the trials of daily living or future fears, not that they’re gone. You just feel more capable of handling what comes your way because you have regular, conscious memory of how you’ve done that in the past, and how you’ve been helped by others.
4. Greater Desire to Help Others
When you focus regularly on feeling gratitude, you’re more likely to want to extend your help, kindness, and selfless behavior toward others (Barlett & DeSteno, 2006).
Sometimes you’re extending help to someone who’s helped you and to whom you’re grateful. But you also will likely help someone else in need because it feels good to do so, and you understand what it feels like to receive help unexpectedly when you need it.
Gratitude, especially daily, has a “pay it forward” effect.
5. Physical Benefits
Research has linked gratitude practices with some benefits for cardiovascular health, stress, inflammation, and sleep.
For example, one specific physical benefit is that feeling and expressing gratitude lowers diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number in your blood pressure reading (UCLA Health, 2023). It helps slow and regulate your breathing to synchronize with your heartbeat, thus lowering physical stress.
Another benefit is that some people who practice gratitude regularly have reported better sleep. Both falling asleep and staying asleep.
6. Leads to Other Healthy Habits
Another benefit is that cultivating a regular gratitude journaling habit can lead to other healthy habits, such as exercise or a better diet.
Therapists sometimes include it as a recommended exercise along with psychotherapy. Other times people discover benefits for themselves that haven’t been researched yet.
One Reddit user wrote that he was surprised to find that writing daily in his gratitude journal increased his productivity. He procrastinated less and felt more motivated. He was more likely to tackle his to-do list and take on new challenges.
I have had those same benefits.
Habits that produce other good habits are called “keystone habits.” Exercise is one of those, as is meditation. But gratitude is also one. Most people don’t think of gratitude that way because its effects operate under the radar. The benefits sneak up on you, and they’re usually a very pleasant surprise.
Now let’s look at how to start a gratitude journal and get the most benefit from it.
How to Set Up Your Gratitude Journal
There are four factors to consider:
- When to do it
- How much to write
- What to write
- How and where to record it
WHEN?
You can choose any time you want, but most people write either before bed or first thing in the morning.
My preference is first thing in the morning. It sets your mindset for the rest of the day. Even if you have a stressful day planned or have to do something you don’t want to do, the sheer practice of writing down what you’re grateful for helps you navigate your day, regardless.
It can shift your mood when you need it to. And it helps regulate runaway emotions such as dread, anxiety, or fear.
It helps you approach your day with more presence. You feel encouraged to be productive and meet the day’s challenges.
If you want to go to bed on a positive note, you can still do that by reviewing your day mentally and noting at least three things that went well or that you accomplished. Combining that with your morning gratitude journal keeps your positive momentum going.
HOW MUCH?
This varies depending on how much time you have, but I recommend ten things. The reason is that three or four doesn’t always penetrate your morning mood.
For instance, if you get up grumpy, you might still feel grumpy after writing three things down in your journal. But when you write ten, you give your brain enough time to make a transition to a different mood state.
I’ve been doing this for many years, and inevitably, my mood shifts around the seventh or eighth entry. I’m always amazed by this. I’ve told myself many times when I start out that my mood won’t shift, but it does anyway. That’s the beauty of it!
WHAT?
Anything and everything is okay, as long as it’s in your best interest. For example, you don’t want to write down that you’re grateful your arrogant office mate got reamed out by the boss yesterday! You may feel that way, but that probably shouldn’t be one of your entries.
It can be something as simple as you’re happy the sun came out today, or you appreciate your presentation going well the day before. I often just write that I’m grateful for my warm coffee!
Seriously though, think about it, but not too much. You don’t want this to be work. You want to enjoy it.
WHERE?
This is a totally personal decision based on how you like to write. Some people swear by the value of writing it out by hand. They feel it’s more personal and has more impact done that way.
Others like to type it. I’m one of those. Writing by hand is taxing to me. I use my iPad. I have it set up in a document. And I use a different one each month. The last few years, I’ve added emojis to each entry. I have no idea why that makes it better, but I love it.
Do whatever works for you. The point is to keep it accessible, easy, and with no prep. If you like pretty journals to write in, get one! Or type it. Make it workable for you.
One Last Fact That Will Interest You
When you express or receive gratitude, you get a hit of dopamine. This connects your behavior (writing out gratitude) with feeling good.
Try it out every day for one month. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly. Just notice what happens, not only while writing, but during the other 23½ hours of the day. You may find yourself noticing more of what’s right before your brain has time to tell you everything that’s wrong.
That’s what happened to me. Ten years later, I’m still doing it.
Give it a whirl!
That’s all for today!
Have a great two weeks!
All my best,
Barbara
FOOTNOTES
Bartlett, M. Y., & DeSteno, D. (2006). Gratitude and Prosocial Behavior: Helping When It Costs You: Helping When It Costs You. Psychological Science, 17(4), 319-325. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01705.x
Cregg, D.R., & Cheavens, J.S. (2021). Gratitude Interventions: Effective Self-help? A Meta-analysis of the Impact on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 413–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00236-6
Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003, Feb.). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 84(2), 377-89. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.84.2.377
UCLA Health (2021, March 22). Health Benefits of Gratitude. UCLA Health. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/health-benefits-gratitude
Wong, Y.J., Owen, J., Gabana, N.T., Brown, J.W., McInnis, S., Toth, P., & Gilman, L. (2018 March). Does gratitude writing improve the mental health of psychotherapy clients? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial. Psychotherapy Research Journal, 28(2):192-202. http://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1169332