14 Gratitude Exercises to Try for Happiness, Abundance & Opportunity
These 14 gratitude exercises will help you cultivate appreciation, build a gratitude habit, and create more happiness, abundance & opportunity in your life. Try a different gratitude exercise each day then integrate one or more into your daily life. This practice is life changing. You can even use them to create your own DIY gratitude challenge.
Would You Like More Happiness, Abundance & Opportunity in Your Life?
Gratitude has the power to change your life. Truly.
According to an article on the Harvard Medical School website, cultivating appreciation has a powerful correlating effect on mental and physical health.
"In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships."
We all want more happiness. Right?!
And we want better health, resiliency, and stronger relationships.
If something as simple as gratitude has the power to give us the truly important things in life, then let's do this gratitude thing.
Plus being thankful is free. It's easy. And it doesn't take much time.
It just takes intention and practice.
Why Try These Gratitude Exercises?
I put together this list of 14 gratitude exercises so that you can try out and experience a variety of unique ways to build thankfulness into your everyday life. (You can even use them to create your own DIY version of a Gratitude Challenge.)
My hope is that you will experience the life-changing power of gratitude within these next two weeks. But also that you will find some gratitude practices that resonate with you to incorporate into your life going forward.
Gratitude can change your life. And it can change the lives of those around you. Everyone who practices more gratitude in their life will create positive ripple effects in the world.
Gratitude Exercise 1: Watch a Gratitude Video
To get excited about the transformational power of gratitude, I encourage you watch one of the following videos.
Gratitude Video #1
This first video is Louie Schwartzberg’s TED Talk on gratitude:
Gratitude Video #2
This second video is An Experiment in Gratitude by The Science of Happiness:
Aren't those inspiring?!
Feel free to keep going and watch more videos (there are many TED Talks just on gratitude, for example) or just find a different gratitude video to watch. Or even a movie!
Gratitude Exercise 2: Write Down 10 Things You're Grateful For
Prime the pump by writing down at least 10 things you are grateful for right now. This can be anything—people, objects, experiences, accomplishments, situations, nature, or qualities you appreciate about yourself or another.
Add Details
This exercise is especially powerful if you write down specifics about why you’re grateful for those things.
For example, instead of writing, "I am grateful for Nick," you can write, "I am grateful to have Nick in my life. His crazy sense of humor always makes me laugh. And I love that he always knows exactly the right thing to say when I'm feeling down."
Gratitude Journal, Napkin, or App?
Where to write down your gratitude list? It's up to you!
You can dedicate a fancy journal to your gratitude practice. And if you have one already, great. But rather than wait until you pick out your just-right journal, I suggest you simply write your list on something you already have. A notebook. The back of a napkin. Whatever.
You can also use a gratitude app on your phone, if you like to keep things digital.
Me? I like to write out what I'm grateful for by hand, with a .7 Pilot gel pen in a spiral-bound notebook or journal. I believe there's a lot of power in writing out what I'm grateful for the old-fashioned way. And the words flow for me better this way.
But you do you. The important thing is to write them down.
There are a few other writing exercises on this list, so consider choosing something that you can add to over time. Add a notebook to your shopping list if you need to. Or purchase a special gratitude journal.
Gratitude Exercise 3: Random Acts of Gratitude
How many times can you say thank you in a day? How many ways?
Take every opportunity you can to express appreciation and gratitude throughout your day today.
And while you’re at it, put as much intention into it as you can. Pause, look the person in the eye, say thank you with sincerity, and add a sentence about why you’re thankful.
Say thank you to the check out lady at the cash register for her patience with the line.
Express appreciation to your significant other for being so supportive and always having your back.
Say thank you to your kids for brightening your day.
Thank their teachers for their dedication and hard work.
Leave a comment of appreciation on a social media post or send the author a DM.
Say thank you to the teenager at the drive through window.
Thank the customer service rep on the phone or chat form.
Express appreciation to the trees and sun.
Thank yourself in the mirror.
How many different WAYS can you express appreciation today?
Make a batch of cookies for a neighbor.
Leave post-it notes of appreciation around town.
Smile your appreciation.
Drop a thank you note on someone's desk.
Give a hug.
Drop flowers off for a friend.
Slip a note into a lunch box.
Send a text to your brother.
Call your mom.
Gratitude Exercise 4: Memory Lane
Look through some old photos, whether on your phone or in a shoebox of childhood memories. Choose one or more that depicts a favorite memory.
Use the photo as a prompt to relive that memory and feel grateful for it. Here are some ideas:
Display and share the photograph
Display the the photograph you chose where you’ll see it regularly (print it first, if it's digital). Pin it on a bulletin board, tape it up on your wall, or slip it into a frame.
Share the photo on social media with a caption about why that moment was special.
If others are captured in the photo, consider sharing it with them.
Use the photo as a journal prompt to write down your memories and feelings.
Gratitude Exercise 5: Do a Guided Gratitude Meditation
Listen to a guided meditation on gratitude today.
Search for one on YouTube or try this one:
There are many guided gratitude meditations on YouTube, so feel free to find another one that resonates with you.
Gratitude Exercise 6: Appreciation Boomerang
The appreciation boomerang is a one-on-one conversation & exercise to do with your significant other, child, bestie, or someone else important in your life.
This powerful exercise creates a container for expressing and receiving true appreciation and gratitude.
How to do the Appreciation Boomerang
Take turns telling each other something that you appreciate about the other.
Be thoughtful and sincere when it’s your turn to express appreciation. And switch to complete listening and receiving mode when the appreciation is turned on you.
Keep going. Express appreciation for anything and everything!
Gratitude Exercise 7: Practice Gratitude as You Wake Up & Fall Asleep
Think of three things you are grateful for first thing in the morning—before you even open your eyes, if possible.
And as you fall asleep at night, think of three things you were grateful for that happened during the day.
This simple exercise is the easiest and quickest way to incorporate a gratitude practice and yet also one of the most powerful.
Gratitude Exercise 8: Start a Gratitude Jar
Create a gratitude ritual that the entire family (or office) can participate in.
Select a jar and add a label with the word “GRATITUDE” then put a notepad with pen next to it. Invite everyone in the family to write down something they are grateful for each day on the notepad and drop it in the jar.
Periodically read them out loud together.
Gratitude Exercise 9: Write a Thank You Letter
Write a thank-you letter to someone who has positively impacted you. Let them know what exactly you appreciate about that person and their role in your life.
Then send it, whether via snail mail, email, or text.
Gratitude Exercise 10: Participate in the Public Gratitude Journal
Read a few entries of the public gratitude journal to be inspired and touched by what others are grateful for.
Add your own entry about what you are especially grateful for today.
Or, if you prefer, share your gratitude in a social media post as a different way to share your gratitude publicly.
Gratitude Exercise 11: Celebrate the Small Things
Think of something small that you normally take for granted—such as a pen, water, your phone, or the light bulb—and write down all the reasons you’re grateful for it.
Some examples of not-so-small things to be grateful for:
Water, plumbing
Light bulbs, electricity
Pens, paper
Cell phones, computers, internet, email
Tires, cars, engines
Windows, doors, locks
Heat
Sunlight, air, trees
Can you imagine what your life would be like without these ubiquitous things that you usually take for granted?
Choose one and briefly think about what it would be like if you didn't have it in your life. Then think of all the ways that it makes your life better and write them down.
Some questions to ask yourself:
How does it enrich your life?
What does it enable you to do?
How does it make the world a better place?
Keep writing and truly feel thankful for this small unsung miracle in your life.
Gratitude Exercise 12: Write a Letter to Your Past
Write a letter to your past self, thanking yourself for getting you to where you are today.
What is it that you are grateful to that younger version of you for? Courage, determination, grit, lessons learned, actions taken, habits formed or broken, choices made?
And while you’re at it, is there something that you need to forgive your past self for? Perhaps there is a lesson learned or other outcome from that experience that you can actually be grateful for instead?
Gratitude Exercise 13: Write Testimonials
Express appreciation and gratitude by writing reviews and testimonials for everyone and everything that you can think of today.
Write a review or testimonial for:
Your favorite cafe or coffee shop
The appliance repair technician
Your therapist or coach
The podcast you listen to every day
Books you’ve read that have changed your life
The board games your kids love
Online courses you've taken
What do you appreciate about them? How have they improved your life?
Make sure to send or post the reviews in the right places, such as Yelp, Amazon, or iTunes. Send them via email if appropriate.
Gratitude Exercise 14: A Grateful Year
Look back over the past year and think about at least one thing that went well that you are especially grateful for. Write about how your life was positively affected by that experience or event.
Keep going...What is one thing that didn’t go the way you would have chosen, but that you have learned from. What can you be grateful for about that experience?
If you'd like to take it farther, what would you like to be grateful for a year from now?
A DIY 14-Day Gratitude Challenge
I invite you to create your own DIY 14-Day Gratitude Challenge by doing doing one of these exercises a day over the course of the next two weeks.
Use the ideas and exercises in this challenge over the next 14 days and carry the ones that resonate forward into your daily life.
This is just the beginning!
Start today and begin building a life-changing practice of appreciation.
Spread the Gratitude!
Share this post or these gratitude exercises with your friends and family or on social media. Everyone who participates creates positive ripple effects in their lives and those around them.
Gratitude makes the world a better place for all!
