Thanksgiving is only a few hours away. While this holiday is all about giving thanks for everything and everyone you have in your life, most of us tend to drop this practice as soon as Friday morning rolls around.
But it shouldn’t be that way — especially when something as simple as gratitude journaling can reap so many benefits. This is the reason why many successful entrepreneurs have adopted a gratitude journaling practice that they incorporate into their daily morning routine. If you’re not a paper-journal type of person, that’s okay! There are lots of gratitude apps that you can have on your phone, so you can log your entries on the go.
Here is a list of 20 benefits of gratitude journaling, among many more:
1. TRAINS YOUR BRAIN TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
When you’re thinking every day about things you’re grateful for, you are exercising your brain in a way that will train it to look for the silver lining. This positive way of thinking will seep into other aspects of your life.
2. PROVIDES CLARITY AND FOCUS
When you write down the things you are grateful for, it helps keep your priorities in check. You’ll find yourself a lot more focused on these things. For example, if you write down every day that you are thankful for something related to your family, you may find yourself prioritizing spending time with your family more, because you will realize how important it is to you.
3. LOWERS STRESS LEVELS
Being grateful for what you have now can do wonders for your stress levels. That’s because there’s no better comfort than knowing you already have so much —especially when you’re working every day — maybe too hard — towards getting more. It’s easy to lose track of what you already have.
4. INCREASES MINDFULNESS
An entrepreneur who is mindful and present in the moment can achieve a lot more than an entrepreneur who is always anxious and living in the future. When you’re focused on the now, you can make better-calculated decisions. Mindfulness has other numerous benefits, like enhancing your memory and improving your focus.
5. DEVELOPS GREATER RESILIENCE
When you think back on your life and everything you went through as you search for new things to be grateful for every day, you’re revisiting the past in a way that allows you to realize all of your accomplishments. This allows you to recognize the hurdles you’ve surpassed, develop your resilience, and give you the power to keep moving forward.
6. DECREASES CHANCES OF BURNOUT
Studies show that people who regularly practice gratitude journaling have a significantly lesser chance of burning out, likely due to all the things on this list. And if there’s one thing entrepreneurs should be worried about, it’s burning out.
7. INCREASES SATISFACTION WITH LIFE
When you’re highly aware of what you have in your life instead of what you don’t have, you will find yourself to be a lot more satisfied with your life. Gratitude journaling is the perfect way to keep this awareness at the front of your brain.
8. PROMOTES HAPPINESS
Similar to life satisfaction, when you focus on the things you’re grateful for, you will naturally have a better outlook on life and feel happier. Happiness can mean a lot of different things to different people, but when you are constantly reminding of the good parts of your life — whatever that means to you — you will feel happier more often.
9. KEEPS YOU HUMBLE
There’s no better way than to check yourself every day to keep a certain sense of humility. At the end of the day, no matter how much you think you may have, you’ll figure out quickly enough that the things which matter the most and that you are grateful for can be easily taken away from you at any moment. That keeps you humble.
10. BOOSTS CONFIDENCE
When you express gratitude towards what you have in your life, you’re stacking up a list of your accomplishments. This is a reminder of everything that you can reasonably be proud of, and will no doubt boost your confidence.
11. HELPS YOU SLEEP BETTER
When you are happier, less stressed, and more confident altogether, you’ll find that catching some Z’s is a lot easier. Your sleep will be another aspect of your life that benefits from your gratitude practice.
12. IMPROVES YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Whether it be your spouse, your children, your coworkers, or your friends — you will find that your relationships with others will improve once you start to express gratitude towards the important people in your life. This will boost your ability to deepen those relationships, which contributes to happiness, life satisfaction, and decreased stress.
13. SPARKS CREATIVITY
When you’ve been gratitude journaling for months on end, you might be running out of new things to be grateful for. Luckily, this skill you’re developing as you look for answers to your morning journaling practice is transferable to other aspects of your life such as your career. You’ll find yourself to be a lot more creative in finding solutions to your problems. This kind of journaling is a way to build in a few minutes of creative thinking to your busy days.
14. INCREASES PRODUCTIVITY
As noted in #10, gratitude boosts your confidence. As a result, you’re using less of your mental resources on things such as insecurities, worries, and “what if” scenarios. You get to use your full brainpower on your craft.
15. HELPS YOU LEAD MORE EFFECTIVELY
Working your gratitude muscle will make it easier and more likely for you to give praise at work which further enhances the performance and productivity of your team. We can all relate to how awful it is to have a boss who is never grateful for hard work. Don’t be that boss.
16. MAKES YOU MORE LIKEABLE
When you’re happier overall, people tend to gravitate toward you and like you more. No one enjoys spending time with a Negative Nancy — and even less working with one.
17. IMPROVES YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
Studies show that a gratitude practice can significantly increase your levels of immunoglobulin A. This serves as the body’s first line of defense against viruses. With the winter season coming up, you’ll want all the protection you can get.
18. SPIKES YOUR SOCIAL CAPITAL
Gratitude tends to soften you up a bit, making you more approachable. This helps with developing new relationships and deepening them. When it comes to business, this couldn’t be better news for your networking activities.
19. KEEPS YOU ACTIVE
If you find yourself recognizing your overall health as something you’re grateful for, you are a lot more likely to exercise to protect your health. Not to mention it’s easier to stay active when you are getting better sleep, working more productively, and feeling happier — all other benefits of gratitude journaling.
20. ELEVATES YOUR BUSINESS
If you bring together all of the 19 benefits we mentioned above, this creates the perfect state of mind for you to bring your business to the next level. These habits can improve your business’ bottom line.
Starting a gratitude practice may feel like a big task to undertake every morning, but it doesn’t have to be. Simply pick up a journal and write down a short list of things you are grateful for. It could be 3 things to start and you can eventually build that up to 7 things.
If you want some more guidance, we recommend a gratitude journal like this one with daily prompts, or downloading one of the many gratitude apps.
The important thing is that you get started! The sooner you start, the sooner you get to reap the benefits.