Glad to see this. I’ll offer that I got into the habit of thinking of 10 things daily I was grateful for (this was triggered by a walk I took across campus every day) and just counting them on my fingers. Also, I tried not to repeat anything, ever. This means that over the course of several months I thought of over a thousand things I was grateful for.
I’ve tried keeping a journal too, and I found this to be much nicer as a daily practice as it took place during downtime, plus if it didn’t happen I could do it while on my way to sleep at night (tip: raise your hands above your head and hold them there until you’re done. Pretty good at keeping you awake and focused while you think of things, unless you’re very sleep deprived.)
Also, trying to constantly think of new things I was grateful for, instead of just writing “my family” every other day made this an exercise in noticing and creativity as well. I had to really probe into different areas of my life and different events in my day to find new sources of gratitude. I noticed a subjective shift in my mindset after a few months of doing this, where I would start to notice things I was grateful for when I wasn’t doing the exercise, and become more grateful for having mistakes I could learn from. Not that I made more mistakes, I just responded in a more positive way.
Glad to see this. I’ll offer that I got into the habit of thinking of 10 things daily I was grateful for (this was triggered by a walk I took across campus every day) and just counting them on my fingers. Also, I tried not to repeat anything, ever. This means that over the course of several months I thought of over a thousand things I was grateful for.
I’ve tried keeping a journal too, and I found this to be much nicer as a daily practice as it took place during downtime, plus if it didn’t happen I could do it while on my way to sleep at night (tip: raise your hands above your head and hold them there until you’re done. Pretty good at keeping you awake and focused while you think of things, unless you’re very sleep deprived.)
Also, trying to constantly think of new things I was grateful for, instead of just writing “my family” every other day made this an exercise in noticing and creativity as well. I had to really probe into different areas of my life and different events in my day to find new sources of gratitude. I noticed a subjective shift in my mindset after a few months of doing this, where I would start to notice things I was grateful for when I wasn’t doing the exercise, and become more grateful for having mistakes I could learn from. Not that I made more mistakes, I just responded in a more positive way.