A Week’s Worth of Insightful Prompts For Your Gratitude Journal

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Writing Can Help You Find Happiness

Everyone has something to be happy about (although you may also need to rethink what your idea of that is). Perhaps they have a loving partner, good health, great kids, a satisfying job, close friends, interesting hobbies or enough food to eat. As time passes, however, it’s easy to forget about everything we have to be thankful for, which is why gratitude journals are such a good activity to help you count all of your blessings.

This gratitude journal template will encourage you to write about topics that will help create a happier future. The gratitude journal should be completed on five days of the week, with each entry taking just a few moments. Maintain the diary for one week. According to scientific studies, you should quickly notice the difference in mood and happiness, changes that may persist for months.

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Monday: Write What You’re Thankful For

There are so many things in life to be thankful for. These might include having close friends, being in a wonderful relationship, benefiting from sacrifices that others have made for you, being part of a supportive family, and enjoying good health, a nice home, or enough food on the table.

Alternatively, you might have a job that you love, have happy memories of the past, or recently have had a nice experience, such as savoring an especially lovely cup of coffee, enjoying the smile of a stranger, having your dog welcome you home, eating a great meal, or stopping to smell the flowers.

Think back over the past week and list three of these things that made you smile.

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2. Tuesday: Reminisce

Think about one of the most wonderful experiences in your life. Perhaps a moment when you felt suddenly contented, were in love, listened to an amazing piece of music, saw an incredible performance, or had a great time with friends.

Choose just one experience and imagine yourself back in that moment in time. Remember how you felt and what was going on around you.

Now spend a few moments writing a description of that experience and how you felt. Don’t worry about your spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Instead, simply jot down your thoughts.

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3. Wednesday: Imagine Your Future

Spend a few moments writing about your life in the future. Imagine that everything has gone really well. Be realistic, but imagine that you have worked hard and achieved all of your aims and ambitions.

Imagine that you have become the person that you really want to be, and that your personal and professional life feels like a dream come true. This exercise will help you take small steps into creating the life you have imagined for yourself. You may find it helpful to create a signature affirmation, too. 

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4. Thursday: Write A Letter

Think about someone in your life who is very important to you. It might be your partner, a close friend, your child or a family member. Imagine that you have only one opportunity to tell this person how important they are to you. Write a short letter to this person, describing how much you care for them and the impact that they have had on your life.

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5. Friday: Review Your Week

Think back over the past seven days and make a note of three things that went really well for you. The events might be fairly trivial, such as finding a parking space, or more important, like being offered a new job or opportunity. Jot down a sentence about why you think each event turned out so well.

Take note of how your feeling at the end of the week. Did you live in the present? Are you in need of an Instagram detox? Adjust accordingly for next week.

Excerpted from 59 Seconds Copyright © 2009 by Richard Wiseman. Excerpted by permission of Random House Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All Rights Reserved.