Enjoy these daily gratitude journal prompts!
Surrounded by constant little reminders of how the world is falling apart, you have more on your to-do list than time to do and your week consists of rushing from one thing to the next.
But you don’t want that anymore.
You are ready to step off the autopilot life and start to practice gratitude because it is one of the easiest things you can do to gain back control of your mindset.
“Every day of your life you will find reasons to complain and every day of your life you will have reasons to be thankful. These two themes, complaint and gratitude, pull at the heart of each of us. They form fundamentally different ways of viewing yourself.”
-Paul Tripp
Did you catch what he just said- complaint is an identity issue.
Well, hmm.. I think that leaves us to one very important question-
How do you see the world?
Going through these 29 gratitude journal prompts will help you shift into a mind of thankfulness.
How to Start a Gratitude Journal
If you are looking for gratitude journal prompts because you are about to start for the very first time, you might still be wondering how you actually do this whole thing, right?
Good question!
-get yourself something you can write (or type if that’s your style) on each day
Write. Preferably you will write daily.
Write the answer out to the prompt and let your heart lead the way! I suggest writing more than 1-2 words, but you’ll learn more about that later on in this guide to gratitude journaling.
Does this seem easy?
Good! There is no need to overcomplicate this because odds are, you don’t have time for one more thing to be overcomplicated in your life, am I right?
Benefits of Gratitude Journaling
Practicing gratitude isn’t just a shiny new object.
It will literally transform your view of the world.
Daily gratitude practice can help you stop your habitual way of thinking (which is often negative believe it or not!) and give your brain a new story to focus on.
And that story just happens to tell you that there is so much in your life to be thankful for.
So before I share with you the science behind gratitude journaling and why it works, trust me when I say practicing daily gratitude will transform your life.
I got started with gratitude journaling a few months after I started prayer journaling.
Practicing gratitude has changed the way I see the world and has helped me reprogram my habitual way of thinking so my ‘new normal’ is a much shorter reaction period to negative experiences or disappointing situations.
God never promised us that life would be easy.
Therefore, I don’t expect that the negative ‘life triggers’ that surround us will go away.
But by practicing gratitude, you will grow your ‘gratitude muscle’ which will give you the strength each day to keep the negativity away from impacting your life.
Firstly, it’s science not just my own personal experience.
Secondly, you’ll thank me later 😊
So why does shifting our outlook to one of gratitude work?
Accordingly to a study in 2003 , the practice of gratitude impacts 2 areas in out brain: the hypothalamus and ventral tegmental area.
Your hypothalamus regulates stress and your ventral tegmental area is a part of the reward system that produces pleasure.
As my brain interprets the science stuff, it pretty much means that as you being to follow along with the gratitude journal prompts I’ve provided you below, you will be “pushing” the stress regulation and pleasure button in your brain every day.
What a powerful result you will start to experience every day with something so simple!
3 Principles to Guide Your Practice
Make sure to incorporate these 3 principles as you start following the 29 gratitude journal prompts:
Make it a routine
I suggest your routine includes daily practice of gratitude!
Try and aim for the same time in the day so it can start to become a habit and part of your daily routine. I find that when I start the morning off with my own moment of gratitude, my brain wants to keep looking for more positive things throughout the day, so if you can make sure and aim for morning practice of gratitude!
Be a realist
The practice of gratitude isn’t about lying to yourself or naïvely looking at the world.
With repetition, you will start re-wiring your brain to see the positives among the challenging moments.
Your brain will become used to hitting the stress regulation and pleasure centers, instead of the panic button more each day and in that act, you will begin to rewire the way your brain is programed.
Lean In
Don’t write 1-2 words about what you are grateful for and then move on to the next thing on your to do list.
Write in detail and allow yourself to get lost in the moment. Writing a few sentences as you journal will help you really cement the new picture you are painting for your brain.
With these 3 key principles guiding your way and the 29 gratitude journal prompts I’ve designed for you below, you are one piece of paper and pen away from a happier (and less reactive) you!
Did you know that you can practice daily gratitude with your kids too?
29 Gratitude Journal Prompts
Each day use one of these gratitude journal prompts to guide your writing.
Also consider bringing this topic to the dinner table and have you family share their answers too!
What are you thankful for today?
What 1 thing do you love about your job?
Name 3 things you love most about your spouse.
What strength are you thankful for?
What burden has God recently lifted?
What Bible verse are you thankful for?
What is your favorite physical appearance of yourself?
What do you love about your best friend?
What every day object are you grateful for?
What vacation memory brings you the most joy?
How has God provided for you when you were worried?
What is your favorite treat?
What helps you relax?
Who are you most grateful for in your life?
What is your favorite part of your morning routine?
What is your favorite part of your evening routine?
What holiday tradition are you most thankful for?
What goal are you thankful for accomplishing?
What about today has brought you joy?
Today send a thank you note or text message to 1 person you are thankful for and tell them why you are thankful
What about your home or neighborhood are you thankful for?
Recall a time when you received a compliment, what about it made you thankful?
What season of the year are you the most thankful for?
“I am thankful for the ability to….”
“I am thankful my friends and family turn to me for …”
What personal growth change in the last year are you the most thankful for?
What are you grateful for today?
“I am so happy and grateful now that..”- Write a goal you want to accomplish in the future and explain that vision in great detail.
What about completing 29 days of gratitude journaling are you most thankful for?
Gratitude Journal Printables
Enjoy these 29 gratitude journal prompts to help you strengthen your gratitude muscle and keep the daily negativity at bay!
Learn how you can blend your faith with personal development techniques like gratitude journaling by joining our free faith based, personal development mini series:
Where You and God Connect!
