The 16 Best Gratitude Journals to Transform Your Life
Have you ever heard the term “like attracts like”?
What you put out into the world, whether it be kindness, compassion, positivity, or something more negative, is what you draw to yourself.
Ronda Byrne explains this more in-depth through her book The Secret revealing the law of attraction as a “great mystery of the universe”.
So, why does this matter and why am I mentioning this here?
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I want to answer that question with another one. Have you ever heard of gratitude journals?
What is a Gratitude Journal?
Gratitude journals are designed to help you create habits that directly, and positively, affect your overall happiness and productivity. These journals allow you to write down, in your own way, all that you are grateful for.
Ok, so how does that relate to the law of attraction?
If you haven’t already realized, practicing gratitude, focusing on the positive aspects of your life and putting positivity out there into the world attracts more (you guessed it) positivity and happiness!
Journaling may not be your “thing”, and you may not think of yourself as a writer, but creating a consistent habit practicing gratitude can change your life.
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Benefits of Gratitude
Psychology Today published an article about the scientifically proven benefits of practicing gratitude, including that it can improve both physical and mental health, helps you sleep better, reduces stress, improves self-esteem and so much more!
And on top of all of those awesome reasons, focusing on the good in your life is known to increase your efficiency and productivity, and who doesn’t need to get more done in a day…
Why you should use a gratitude journal: gratitude journal benefits
While you may not see yourself as a writer, journaling can be very therapeutic. A gratitude journal is a great place to purposefully focus all of the things you are really grateful for.
By writing down these positive aspects in your life, you are creating a reusable resource that you can refer to in the future.
How to use a Gratitude journal
Not all gratitude journals are created equal, some are full of journaling ideas with prompts to get you started.
While others have actionable exercises and positive affirmations – these types of journals work best for those who are not all that fond of writing.
Here are a few ways you can use your journal:
- As a diary: You can use the pages to write out the aspects of your day focusing in on the parts that really made you feel blessed.
- Personal development: Track your personal successes, accomplishments and even small feats in your life.
- Life-changing experiences: Write down experiences that changed your life in a positive way. They can be huge or small, but they were moments that really affected your life.
However, most of the time the journal will have instructions on how best to use it so you can just follow these directions.
Ultimately, how you use your journal is up to you and the type of journal you choose.
How to practice gratitude daily with a gratitude journal
You don’t need to struggle with this. The point of the journal is to reduce stress and focus on the positive.
Carve out time that you can spend reflecting and try and make it a daily habit.
My guide below is meant to help you in your search for the perfect journal. Make it one that you will love writing in, that way you will look forward to your daily gratitude practice rather than seeing it as a chore.
The best gratitude journals
The journals below each appeal to different writing styles. Some are meant for more organized and scheduled minds whereas others are for the more creative.
There are journals with prompts, questions, inspirational quotes, positive affirmations, and more. Others are full of blank pages or bullet points.
Choose the journal that speaks to you. That’s the most important thing.
UPDATE – Two more amazing journals have come to my attention that I wanted to add!
UPDATE ADDITION 1: A Garden of Gratitude: A 52-Week Daily Gratitude Journal
This is a stunning journal that gives space for you to write down four things you’re grateful for every day of the year PLUS has additional pages so you can do some deeper journaling as and when you need.
The creator of this journal was kind enough to send me a copy and I can officially say it’s absolutely fantastic! You can check it out here!
UPDATE ADDITION 2: The Bro Journal | Daily Gratitude & Self-Development Journal For Men.
This is a gratitude journal just for guys! How cool is that!
It includes 60 themed and unique days of gratitude and self-development prompts, along with practical tips, motivational quotes, and daily planning. You can have a look at it here!
1 – The 90-Day Gratitude Journal: A Mindful Practice for Lifetime of Happiness
This journal provides prompts through three daily questions. Two of these questions repeat each day, and the final is a “wild card” question that asks you to think about specific parts of your life. They provide you with a nine-step process for turning gratitude journaling into one of your favorite daily habits.
Out of all of those listed below, I think this one is by far the best one to get started with and for seasoned journalers alike. You can check it out here!
2 – Gratitude: A Journal Diary by Catherine Price
Although this journal is a slightly cheaper option, it really holds its own against the rest!
Inside this book is months and months’ worth of insightful prompts, inspiring quotes, and room to reflect on all you are truly grateful for.
3 – Instant Happy Journal: 365 Days of Inspiration, Gratitude, and Joy Journal
The point behind this journal is to open your mind to more of life’s wonders and thus notice more of the positive details in your own life.
Every page contains a specific intention, inspiring quote, scientific fact, or question.
It also contains fill-in dates so not only can you move at your own pace, you can look back and remember where you have been in a chronological fashion. Great if you want both a journal to act as a memory keepsake and to help you improve your happiness!
4 – The One-Minute Gratitude Journal
The pages are full of inspirational quotes while still offering you the room to write or draw things you are grateful for.
They recommend writing three to five things for each entry making it quick and easy to journal if you are someone who has very little time!
5 – Gratitude Journal: A Journal Filled With Favorite Bible Verses
Brenda Nathan created a more religious-focused gratitude journal, perfect for if your faith is a big part of your life. Each page contains popular Bible verses from the KJV.
If you find more inspiration through religion, this is the journal for you!
6 – Tiny Buddha’s Gratitude Journal: Questions, Prompts, and Coloring Pages for a Brighter, Happier Life
This journal is filled with prompts and questions to kick-start your creativity. The founder of TinyBuddha.com created this journal to help readers reflect on everything that is worth appreciating in their lives. There are even coloring pages, which can be so relaxing!
7 – 52 Lists for Happiness: Weekly Journaling Inspiration for Positivity, Balance, and Joy
Social media maven Moorea Seal intended to inspire her fans to cultivate their own happy and fulfilling lives through lists. I absolutely love this idea as an avid list maker myself!
This journal is perfect for all of you other list lovers out there containing 52 listing prompts to help you reflect, acknowledge, and invest in yourself. Transform your life through the power of lists, I’m onboard!
8 – Panda Planner – Best Calendar and Gratitude Journal to Increase Productivity, Time Management & Happiness
This planner is based on scientific studies of what we need to do each day to change our lives for the better.
You can finally balance your life while taking time to write about what you are grateful for, this multi-purpose planner will keep all of those important pages in one place and be your go-to for everything you need on a daily basis.
9. Grateful Moment: Productivity, Self-Awareness and Gratitude Journal
The pages of this book are full of inspirational quotes and daily affirmations. There is an area for daily to-do lists, positive affirmations, and daily gratitude, combining a traditional calendar diary with a positivity and gratitude journal!
Plus doesn’t it look stunning?
10 – Good Days Start With Gratitude: A 52-Week Guide To Cultivating An Attitude Of Gratitude
This is a self-exploration journal where you can focus on being thankful and discovering more about yourself.
Each spread contains an inspirational quote, space to write three things you are thankful for each day, and a weekly checkpoint to give an overview of how things are going.
11 – Erin Condren Gratitude Journal Bundle
If you’re already a fan of Erin Condren’s planners then you will love this gratitude bundle developed to help you become more positive in your life!
You can decorate and personalize this book to make it truly reflect your personality and feelings as there is also free sticker sheet included, who doesn’t adore free stickers?
12 – Knock Knock Okay Fine, I’m Grateful Inner-Truth Journal
I really love the journals and planners from Inner-Truth. Hilariously honest, this journal is perfect for the reluctant journaler who will appreciate the slightly sarcastic humor all while dipping their toes into gratitude journaling.
13 – The Happiness Project One-Sentence Journal
Gretchen Rubin believes that happiness can be found in one sentence a day focused on gratitude and I like the sound of that!
Whether you’re pressed for time, or just aren’t ready to commit more than a minute or two of your time to journaling each day this is the perfect, science-backed journal to get you started.
14 – The Secret Gratitude Book
Do you remember The Secret book I mentioned earlier? Well, this is the gratitude journal that goes with it!
There are insights and wisdom from Rhonda Byrne throughout and the pages within provide the framework for practicing the power of gratitude every day and attracting positivity into your life.
15 – Start Where You Are: A Journal for Self-Exploration
This is a really beautiful journal both inside and out (the illustrations and quote pages are gorgeous!) This journal is interactive in that it provides plenty of interesting prompts and exercises to help you get to know yourself and deal with day to day life overwhelm.
16 – Law of Attraction Daily Planner
I actually love this planner, and I think this would be my personal favorite! It combines a daily dairy keeping you uber productive with big reflection pages to work on your gratitude and positivity.
Plus the cover design… Be still my beating heart! I just love the different star sign drawings giving it a bit of a witchy look, which I love!
It contains a foldable vision board, morning and evening power questions, mind maps, reflection pages, calendar pages and so much more!
So what is the best gratitude journal?
The short answer is, YOURS.
Everyone is different and we all have slightly different needs, wants and expectations of our gratitude journals.
Choose the journal that you WANT to pick up every morning, the one you are excited about.
Although if I had to choose I would say my favorite is number 16, the Law of Attraction Daily Planner. But that’s because I love the multipurposeness of it – it acts as both a productivity tool and a journaling tool. And that it’s based on the law of attraction, which I’m very into!
But maybe you don’t want a calendar, or journal combination, maybe you only have a minute or two to spare each day, or maybe you want to get super creative… As I said
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We all have different wants and needs, there is no “best” gratitude journal, just the one that works best for you!
