5 Easy Ways to Make Gratitude a Habit and Why You Should

By Tricia Copeland

Does incorporating one more habit into your daily schedule feel overwhelming? AI tells me that it takes an average of sixty-six days to build a habit. Is two months of calendar reminders, phone alarms, or sticky notes on a mirror going to improve your life? Do you believe incorporating gratitude will increase your sense of well-being? Can a practice of naming the things you are grateful for build happiness?

On the heels of a very emotional year, including losing a friend to breast cancer and two dear friends moving, 2020 struck. A middle school friend succumbed to the virus, and a fire destroyed over 1000 homes in my community. And then my sister died. Many of us have similar stories.

I’d been introduced to the concept of practicing gratitude, especially through Amy Collette’s The Gratitude Connection, and I felt it held value, but I didn’t make it a regular practice. However, in my grief I craved any reminder that good things were still happening around me. I hung signs in my office to remind myself. They read: Thankful, Grateful, Blessed. I felt a tinge of relief at times, but the feelings were fleeting. My psyche was still anticipating the worst.

It wasn’t until talking to a friend one day, and being fed up with being in my slump, that a light bulb came on. If we practiced gratitude together, made it a staple each time we met, then it could help both of us. We committed to listing three things we were grateful for each meetup and started the practice.

In the beginning, we made it our routine to list our gratitude items first. This forced me to think about good things in my life before our meetup. Sometimes it felt hard to list three things, but just our happiness of being together and feeling supported was something to be grateful for. Practicing gratitude in this way didn’t mean we couldn’t vent about other things or work through issues with each other, and it didn’t mean that we weren’t feeling all the other emotions of our lives. But it did mean that we made sure to point out the good.

This practice became habit. We shared it with other friends and more and more of my meetups included naming things we were grateful for. I’d expanded my once a week practice to two or three times that, or more. I caught myself replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, creating a sustainable feeling of positivity in my life.

My 5 Easy Ways to Make Gratitude a Habit

• Find a gratitude buddy – Ask a friend to do it with you.

• Start small – A once-a-week practice can change your outlook.

• Name three things – Start with listing three things. Even if one of the three things is being grateful you’re remembering to be grateful, it counts.

• Make it a challenge – Sometimes “I’m grateful for my dog” hits the list. Three things is our rule, and we list three no matter what. Challenge yourself and stick to the goal.

• Add in other practices – Once you’re reaping the benefits of increased positive emotions, other practices like manifesting, meditation, or journaling may flow naturally and might not seem so daunting.

If you’re feeling stuck, reach out to a friend and ask them to start a gratitude practice with you. It can be a text, an email, a phone call, or a conversation at the gym. Having another person as part of my journey helped me stick to my gratitude practice, which has in turn immensely increased my sense of happiness and well-being. Wishing you gratitude and happiness in the new year!

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www.triciacopeland.com