Making Gratitude Your New Normal

Make gratitude the new normal in your life.

January can be a time of uncertainty, resolutions, frustration, maybe even depression, right? 

It's also an opportunity for a fresh start.  Let's focus on that!

One very powerful way to embrace a fresh start is to begin practicing daily gratitude and make it a habit – your new normal. 

There are many benefits to making gratitude a daily part of your life. Hundreds of studies have proven it improves your health, helps you sleep better, extends your life, and increases feelings of happiness and self-worth. 

Gratitude will do more than just add joy to your life, it will also help you build your resilience, by focusing on what is important right now and putting things out of your control in the proper perspective.

Here are two ways to make the power of practicing daily gratitude your new normal.

1. Make a daily mindset shift.

Using gratitude is a skill that needs to be learned and practiced. It is a mindset shift that changes your perspective from focusing on the negative in your life to embracing what’s going right in it.

In times of stress or overwhelm, it’s even more important to seek out gratitude pick-me-ups that can help us shift to a happier, more optimistic mindset.

To make a mindset shift, you must seek out and practice it in your life, every day. You’ll find it will be the small, yet important things, in our lives that will help you do this.  Like appreciating running hot water for a shower, a safe place to live, hugs from kids, our health, and so much more.

2. Start a Gratitude Journal.

An organized way to help build the habit is to use a journal. I recommend mine, Intentional Gratitude, that includes 52 prompts to help you but even a blank journal to write in will work!

Studies have found that spending just 5 minutes a day with a journal writing down what you are thankful for can increase your long-term well-being.

Keeping a regular journal is one of the easiest ways to practice regular gratitude. But the benefits you’ll get doesn’t happen overnight. Stick with it - it takes a few weeks for the habit to start to make a difference in your life.

Start Today

So, friends, I challenge you to start or step up your daily practice of gratitude today.

If you don’t have a copy of my Intentional Gratitude journal – or want one to give to a friend or family, you can order them from Amazon here.

Even without a journal, you can get the same benefits by doing the following every day:

• Before you get out of bed, begin your day by naming three things that you’re grateful for.
• Spend time during your day to notice and celebrate small moments of joy.
• End your day with gratefulness for what went well during the day and count your blessings instead of your trials.
• Communicate often with loved ones, encourage your neighbors and friends, and live a life of gratitude!