The Surprising Power Of Gratitude Journaling

A note to my readers: Thank you so much for spending time with my latest article, “The Surprising Power Of Gratitude Journaling.” I hope it helped you! I don’t know about you, but I'm excited 2023 has arrived.?If you’re looking for support with social impact communication programs or strategy in the New Year, do reach out!?DM me here on LinkedIn or send a note to?[email protected]. No pressure, no hard sales, just a note that I’m here to encourage you in your pursuit of excellence.?

As a Missouri transplant, I’ve adapted my ways such that you must show me to convince me that something is real or helpful. This makes my recent conversion to the practice of gratitude journaling all the more remarkable.

For years, I heard people I respect talk about what a difference it makes to start each day by writing down gratitude. I had a few objections:

• It sounds like a bunch of hand-waving.
• I’m grateful already. Why should I restate the obvious? And into the void of a journal no one will ever read? What’s the success metric here?
• Of all the things on my overpacked to-do list, this one will never make the top 10.
• I enjoy an early morning start, but I get up before others to avoid my crankiness damaging others. Is bleary crankiness really the best mental state for expressing gratitude?
• What will people think of me? (How they’d find out I’m doing this, short of this post, I’m unsure. We seldom act logically, do we?)

But I really wanted to make some monumental changes in 2023, not some half-energy lunges. So I gave it a go.

And—my stars!—it worked.

Let me explain. When I started gratitude journaling, it was an experiment. My mental soundtrack went something like, “This is goofy. I feel like an idiot. I’m going to try this for a few days and see if I feel any different. This is silly. I’m so embarrassed.”

Again, it’s as if I have an auditorium of people sharing my living room with me at 5 a.m. I don’t, but it’s the story I tell myself. You might relate.

As I kept at it over a series of days, what I discovered is that this practice can make me feel better. I became more appreciative, more kind and more energized to do good. In addition:

• My day now begins on a positive note.
• Writing down things for which I’m grateful takes mere minutes, yet its mental effects can be felt throughout the day – and referenced anew each morning.
• I can clearly see the unlimited ways I’m being blessed.
• I have greater clarity on how I’m going to infuse my life with recognition of these gifts. I experience less anxiety, depression and fixation on everything that’s wrong with [fill in the blank].
• I deliberately displace other activities with a wholesome activity that feeds my thoughts and behavior. It prevents me from sending work emails or advancing project work. It keeps me from consulting the laundry list of fears I have pinned on the cork board of my limbic system.

It’s admittedly early, so perhaps I’ll fall off the wagon and my name will be mud before the digital ink dries. (Three cliches in one sentence!) But something feels different about this. For the first time in I don’t know how long, a greater percentage of my thoughts are concentrated on what’s good about my life, my community and my world.

It still sounds hand-wavy. But if you’re a social impact communicator looking for a way to level up and get more joy out of each day, I recommend it.

It will make everything you do that much better.?