Use gratitude journal prompts to start your day off right. 

Journaling is my jam. And one of the simplest ways to jumpstart your journaling practice is through gratitude journaling. 

Each morning you can simply start your day by making a list of things you’re grateful for. 

Benefits of Gratitude Journaling 

When facing challenging times in life, it may be difficult to practice gratitude, but it’s during these tough times that gratitude journaling could be most helpful. 

According to Positive Psychology, gratitude journaling can improve your happiness and your health. Studies show that expressing gratitude reduces stress, increases optimism and even changes your brain. Research has found that gratitude journaling can reduce inflammation in your body too. 

According to a white paper by the Greater Good Science Center titled, “The Science of Gratitude” (2018), the benefits of practicing gratitude include the following:

  • Increased happiness and positive mood
  • more satisfaction with life
  • less materialistic
  • less likely to experience burnout
  • better physical health
  • better sleep
  • less fatigue
  • lower levels of cellular inflammation
  • greater resiliency
  • encourages the development of patience, humility, and wisdom

Related Reading Gratitude Journaling Can Change Everything

Gratitude Journal Prompts 

You can take your gratitude journaling to the next level with journal prompts. And prompts can be especially helpful if you’re having trouble getting motivated to write daily gratitude lists. 

Here are 10 prompts to get you started:

What are 3 amazing things that have happened to you this year?

What have you accomplished that would make your 11-year-old self proud?

Write a letter thanking your body for all that it helps you do and experience. 

Who are you closest to in your family and why? What friends do you have who are like family?

What lessons have you learned from life’s greatest challenges?

In what ways have you changed for the better in the past five years?

What character traits do you like most about yourself? 

What closed doors or missed opportunities of the past turned out to be blessings in disguise? 

Make a list of 30 things you love right now.

Write a letter to your younger self or from your future self.