How to Journal Consistently: My 365-Day Gratitude Habit

I’ve always wanted to be a great—and consistent—journaler. Even a pretty great and consistent journaler would be amazing. But…I’ve struggled over the years to be consistent at journaling. I’d do great for a while, and then I wouldn’t do so great, and the thought of having to get caught up writing about what I’d missed during the not so great period actually kept me from writing anything. Even from writing about what was going on right then.

Then I’d get a new journal, thinking, “This time will be different!”

And it was…for a while…

I’ve got a lot of journals with only a few pages that have any writing on them.

While I’ve shared this experience before, I’m going to share it again because it made such a huge impact on me and on my journaling!

One day I was listening to a podcast where Greg McKeown, one of my favorite authors, was the guest, and he talked about how he’d been journaling for 10 years straight. Not one missed day.

That got my attention!

Then he explained his process:

• Lower limit: 1 sentence
• Upper limit: 5 sentences

That’s it. 1-5 sentences and done. ✔️

Greg said he does write more now that this habit is so ingrained into his day, but on “those” days, 1 sentence gets the habit done.

I thought, “I could totally do that!”

So, I did. But I tweaked Greg’s process a bit to fit my own needs:

• Write 5 things I’m grateful for. Then…
• Lower limit: 1 sentence about the day
• Upper limit: 5 sentences about the day

Some days, I really only write one sentence, and some days, that sentence has been…

“It was a crappy day.”

But finding 5 things to be grateful for always made a crappy day not quite so crappy.

Other days, I’ll write about what a really great day it was and why.

But, if I only write 5 things I’m grateful for and 1 sentence about the day, I’ve completed that habit for the day. D.O.N.E.

This journaling process has been amazing for me! In fact, on Sunday, January 30, 2022, I hit day #365/365!

I wrote every single day for THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS—ONE whole year!!! (I feel all caps are definitely warranted for this.;)) #happydance 💃 #celebrate 🎉

So, I guess I’m a great journaler. Even a consistent one. Because…365 days in a row!

As I’ve been thinking about the past year of consistent journaling, I’ve come up with six keys to my success (and these keys can be tweaked to work for any habit you’d like to develop!):

1. I kept it super simple. Like, something I could do every single day no matter what happened that day. Even on “those” days.
2. I’d keep a note during the day in my phone of things I’m grateful for as they happened so I wouldn’t forget them.
3. I kept my journal on my nightstand so I could see it before I go to bed + I never put anything on top of it.
4. I took my journal with me when I traveled, and as soon as I got to my destination, it came out of my suitcase and went straight on to my nightstand or pillow.
5. If I even think there’s a tiny chance I still might forget, I’ll put it on my pillow before getting ready for bed.
6. I used a journal I absolutely love, even after a whole year. That one thing definitely makes journaling every day easier! (I got my all-time favorite journal, shown below, from Shaka Tribe, a small business run by a group of Brigham Young University-Hawaii students).

Here’s the deal:

• If I hadn’t made the process super simple, I wouldn’t have gotten to day 30…if that.
• No, I’m not capturing everything that’s going on in my life, but, I am capturing something that’s going on, and something is way better than nothing.
• If any of my future grandchildren, great grandchildren, or even 4xgreat grandchildren happen to read these journals, I feel they’ll get to know me better and understand what’s important to me just from reading about what I was grateful for every day. I know what a blessing it’s been to be able to read about and learn from my ancestors, so I hope I’m leaving something of value for my future grandchildren for decades to come.

Writing down those 5 things I’m grateful for every day has been such a huge blessing for me too!

• Watching for things to be grateful for—and then to write about—has helped me to notice more things to be grateful for that I don’t think I would’ve noticed otherwise.
• Being grateful can quickly turn anything bitter into something sweet.
• I really do have soooo many things to be grateful for, every single day, no matter what. And how can I have a bad day or week or month when I have SO much to be grateful for?!

I just started my 3rd refill, and I’m pretty darn proud of that. Now I want to see how many refills I can finish, so here’s to 365+ more days of journaling, 5 gratitudes + 1-5 lines at a time.

And who knows? I might even find myself writing more than 5 lines some days.

Interested in becoming a consistent journaler? I’ve shared some more tips in this post.

Do you journal? What’s your secret to success?