The Power of Gratitude: 5 Simple Ways to Start Practicing Today
“The simple act of practicing gratitude, consistently, is your invitation to a new life. Accepting the invitation is now up to you.”
—The Gratitude Jar: A Simple Guide to Creating Miracles
There are several ways to practice gratitude, and I’ve included a few of my favorite practices below.
For best results, I suggest doing any one of these practices for thirty days, then continuing longer if you feel inspired.
If you’d like to learn more about how practicing gratitude transformed my whole life, watch the video below.
Watch Now: The Amazing True Story of How Practicing Gratitude Changed My Life
1. Create a Gratitude Jar
INSTRUCTIONS
Find a special container to store your gratitudes. You can use a mason jar, old coffee can, or purchase a gratitude jar online like this one.
Cut up several slips of blank paper.
At the end of each day or very beginning, reflect on what you’re most grateful for.
Write it down on your slip of paper and put it in your gratitude jar.
Put the jar in a prominent spot of your home to serve as a visual reminder your blessings.
EXTRA CREDIT: Read The Gratitude Jar: A Simple Guide to Creating Miracles to get inspired!
Seeing your gratitude jar with all your slips of gratitude in it is a great visual reminder of all the good things you have in your life.
2. Write in a Gratitude Journal
INSTRUCTIONS
Get a notebook, blank journal or guided gratitude journal and write down what you’re most grateful for at the end of each day.
If you want to spice it up a bit, you could try a variation like:
Write 3 things you’re grateful for, or 5, or 10 each day. You could write them in sentences and go into detail about each one, or just choose a single word like, “coffee” or “sunshine”.
Draw your gratitude. Or, paint them. Sing them. Dance them. Make a collage. Whatever suits your fancy.
Share your gratitude practice with someone else. Make the commitment to practice together. It’s SO powerful to share this practice with someone else—which is why the gratitude journal I just published has TWO blank pages for each day, so you and a loved one can share in this life-changing practice together.
3. Send a Gratitude Letter
INSTRUCTIONS
Get a stack of thank you cards or stationery (blank paper works too), and write a letter to someone telling them how thankful you are for them and why.
Mail the letter or deliver by hand.
Send a gratitude letter to someone every day, for the next 30 days (or more!)
This practice was inspired by a man named John Kralik who transformed his life by writing a thank-you letter to someone every day for one full year.
John’s book, A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life is super inspirational and I highly recommend it!
4) Try a Guided Gratitude Meditation
INSTRUCTIONS
Find a quiet time in the morning or evening for this guided gratitude meditation.
Try it for 30 days, and notice how much better you feel. You may see benefits in as little as one session!
Simply go here to listen to this guided gratitude meditation.
P.S. If you would like a PDF gratitude meditation script to help you follow along or teach it to others, you can download the script for free right here.
5. Give a Gratitude Gift
INSTRUCTIONS
I've given several of the following gratitude gifts out to the special people in my life, and I still hear from them, years later, how much these gifts have meant to them.
Each of these gifts is beautiful, inspiring, and will continue to bless the person receiving the gift for years to come—plus each one is a beautiful way to practice gratitude.
