Even if the last article convinced you that you need more gratitude in your life, it may still be unclear on how to approach the practice tactically. Don't worry, I got you. I'll share how my practice emerged than evolved over time, then talk about 5 ways you can get active with it.
Even if the last article convinced you that you need more gratitude in your life, it may still be unclear on how to approach the practice tactically. Don't worry, I got you. I'll share how my practice emerged than evolved over time, then talk about 5 ways you can get active with it.
Even if the last article convinced you that you need more gratitude in your life, it may still be unclear on how to approach the practice tactically. Don't worry, I got you. I'll share how my practice emerged than evolved over time, then talk about 5 ways you can get active with it.
Even if the last article convinced you that you need more gratitude in your life, it may still be unclear on how to approach the practice tactically. Don't worry, I got you. I'll share how my practice emerged than evolved over time, then talk about 5 ways you can get active with it.
Even if the last article convinced you that you need more gratitude in your life, it might still be unclear how to approach the practice tactically.
Don't worry, I got you.
In this one, I'll share how my practice has evolved over time, then talk about how you can get active with it.
To practice gratitude, I've drawn hand turkeys, used physical and digital journals, built a gratitude database in Notion, and currently use Roam Research.
Here's the progression I suggest working through:
Beginner: Be intentional; 1 gratitude entry per week
Medium: Start gratitude journal and make daily entries; review entries weekly; reach out to people you were grateful for
Advanced Tactics: Create/use gratitude database
I've generally transitioned from analog to digital and simple to sophisticated methods and over time.
Let's take a look.
Beyond my folks forcing feeble "thank yous" out of me to strangers or reminding me to "count your blessings" when I was younger, my first experience with intentionally expressing appreciation probably came at Thanksgiving.
At Thanksgiving, while growing up, I traced many of my small hands onto paper. I wrote in the outline what I was thankful for at that moment or, ostensibly, what I was grateful for that year.
I even traced a bigger hand at my big age last year.
Those hand outlines eventually became hand turkeys or Thanksgiving Trees that held and displayed the entire family's gratitude.
Thanksgiving is a solid gratitude practice because it creates an intentional environment with group participation. It also introduces regularity to your practice.
After high school, I enrolled at Morehouse College. I'll save the details for another time, but "we had a ball."
I met life-long friends, had a lot of success fall my way professionally, and learned a lot about myself.
Those positive outcomes are likely why spending four good-uncomfortable weeks in China immediately following the conclusion of this successful first year put me over the edge in feelings of gratitude.
Having caught the creative bug — that summer was the first time I really put a camera to work — I was inspired to explore a blog as a medium to express my gratitude. In fact, it was part-blog, part-public gratitude journal.
From July 26th, 2017, to September 22nd, 2017, I made 19 gratitude posts on this joint.
Check it out here.
I was able to incorporate gratitude into a creative pursuit I was excited about: creating a personal website.
Shortly following the gratitude blog era, I switched to a gratitude wall.
My first room in Robert Hall, room 204, had this old door that, once upon a time, was conjoined with the next room over, room 203. The door had since been sealed up.
I'm not exactly sure what sparked this one either; I'm guessing it was a right-place, right-time thing. I had the sticky notes laying out, an open space, and something I was appreciative of that I wanted to get out.
From mid-fall semester to at least April 4th, 2018 (This was the last date I could find), I added 82 "entries" to that OG sticky note.
Whenever I was in my room and thought about something I was grateful for, I would stop what I was doing to throw it up on the wall.
On top of that, I developed a routine: write down the entry number, what/who I was thankful for, then throw it up on the wall.
Finally, having it out in the open was a constant reminder of how much I was grateful for and a prompt to add more.
The summer after sophomore year, I started journaling using this app called Perspective. It categorizes entries by day, provides simple prompts, and allows users to add images or drop in their thoughts.
Without the same Gratitude wall, I folded my gratitude practice into my journaling routine. I would simply write what I was thankful for every time I journaled.
Here's an exemplary entry from the end of the summer after junior year.
While there are better tools for gratitude journaling, Perspective helped me build sharing into my gratitude routine.
Every Sunday, it would prompt me to review my entries from the past week, and I would reach out to anyone who popped up to share what I was grateful for, except for folks on my no-fly list.
I used Perspective from June 21st, 2018, to July 28th, 2019. At an average of 3 per day for around 4 days per week over that period, we can estimate I made ~680 entries.
Habit bundling and going digital. Looping in one routine with another increases the chances you can complete it. Journaling on my phone decreased the friction to getting out my thoughts.
Admittedly, I loafed for a few months after coming back to Atlanta from the Bay.
Moving broke my Perspective routine, and, at the same time, I was on the hunt for something better.
I tried Day One, but folks were trying to get to my pockets. I kept searching for something more sophisticated than Perspective but also free.
Late in the fall of 2019, my first semester of junior year, I started using Notion to journal.
Notion is what they call an "all-in-one workspace." It's a flexible note-taking app that can be customized to be as simple as a to-do list or as complex as a habit tracker, project manager, or gratitude database.
Here are a few entries:
Journaling in the same place I did so much else — class notes, task management, and life design — reduced the friction to journal. Moreover, having Notion available on any device, not just my phone, helped me get my entries up.
In mid-March, I built out this gratitude database to share and catalog my entries more efficiently.
It linked to my Notion journal, Notion address book (aka People Database), and Notion interaction log.
I haven't used this since moving to Roam, and it required a lot of manual input, but I think it had the correct elements and interactions.
Here are a couple entries:
From March 16th, 2021, to April 3rd, 2021, I made 38 entries.
The Notion Gratitude Database is the best tool I've used for attribution. It made Sunday afternoons a breeze; I would just filter to show entries from the last week, write out the note I planned to send to each person, then send that message to everyone listed.
Currently, I use Roam Research for journaling, among other things. Roam Research is what they call a "bidirectional tool for networked thought." The bidirectional system is the best I've seen at finding and linking words/information you drop into Roam.
I switched because Roam offers the best search capabilities of any tool I used.
Here's what it looks like:
From April 5th, 2021, to today, I've made entries on 124 days, with each day having between 1 - 15 things.
Roam is great for getting thoughts out of your head quickly. The lack of structure, especially compared to Notion, helps me write more.
However, the linking feature is Roam's best feature for me.
You have the most control over your mindset.
Do: Be intentional when practicing gratitude.
As explained in James Clears' Atomic Habits, the two-minute rule says that we should start with something so easy we can't fail.
As Kev and I say, "It's too easy!"
You can apply the two-minute rule to your gratitude routine by writing or saying 1 - 3 things you're grateful for. Think about a feeling, an object, people, actions someone took on your behalf or places you're thankful for today or in this moment. Simple.
But you must set your goal at 1 - 3 things and one time per week when first starting out. You can increase as you get tighter with the routine.
Do: Start with 1 entry a week, then gradually increase to every day.
Once you get regular, you can start recording. A gratitude journal or log is a way to regularly express your appreciation by writing or via video, voice, or another form.
All you need is a pen and paper or a digital equivalent to start. Remember, the best solution is the one you'll use.
Do: Make a daily entry of 3 - 5 things you're grateful for. Be specific.
Reviewing what you've been grateful for is a big boost.
Take time to digest what you wrote, and as the voice on my mediation app says: "sit in these feelings of gratitude."
Do: Pick a day--I suggest the beginning or end of your week--to review your gratitude entries. Build this into your routine.
It's important to share your gratitude with people: loved ones and randoms alike.
Depending on the context and the recipient's communication preference, you can:
Do: Reach out to everyone you were thankful for each week.
A gratitude database is a navigable, searchable catalog that keeps track of who you've been thankful for.
Navigable means it's easy to jump back to a specific time.
Searchable means you can easily find entries related to anything: people, places, things, and feelings.
Some personal CRMs can do this, but I haven't found any product that does this exceptionally well.
Do: Create a database or attribution method to automatically track gratitude to people.
There's more than one way to skin a cat.
Experiment with different methods to get regular and get nice with gratitude.
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