30 DAY CHALLENGE #2: START A GRATITUDE JOURNAL

30 Day Challenge #1: Meditation

Who completed the meditation challenge? I’ve had a few messages from people who have completed it and experienced wonderful benefits. If you didn’t complete it then feel free to try again. No one’s keeping score or judging. 

Now that you’ve graduated to 10 minutes a day of meditation, I want to recommend a new program I’ve discovered called HeadSpace. It features guided meditation with some challenges. 

It’s a new month so lets move on to the next challenge if you’re ready.

Keeping a Gratitude Journal

It’s 2014 and I think it’s harder than ever to be happy. 

Why?

– Advertisement’s more prevalent than ever. We’re always chasing this, we need to buy that. 
– Social media has us comparing our everyday lives to the BEST parts of others. It’s even worse when you’re following multiple celebrities. It seems everyone’s living an epic life except you.

With this next challenge I want to tackle happiness and come up with a challenge to help improve it. I’ve done some research and it seems the easiest method is to express gratitude. 

Why is it that most of us only express “thanks” once a year when it’s Turkey time? 

Gratitude lets you appreciate what you do have and everything it took for you to get here. 

The Benefits of Gratitude

Starting Your Journal

We’re going to keep a record of what we write each day. Here are 3 simple ways:

a) Post it notes on a board

b) An Evernote Notebook

c) Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Posting daily can help keep you accountable.

I will be posting 1 thing I’m grateful for each day on my Twitter. If you want to join then hashtag #gratitudechallenge

We’re going to keep it simple and just come up with 1 item each day. Try to make each entry unique. 

One thing I’ve always been grateful for is the opportunity I have from being in America. I don’t know where I’d be if my parents had never immigrated here.

Actions

1. Pick a method to log your gratitudes
2. Set a time each day for your practice. I’m going to do this each morning as part of my morning routine. If you need a reminder then set a trigger on your phone to ring.
3. We’re keeping it simple. Pick 1 thing you are grateful for each day and spend 5 minutes reflecting on it. If you’re grateful for your mom, think back on what she has done for you. What can you do to show her how much she means to you?
4. Once you start logging some days in, feel free to look back at your journal. It’s a great source of motivation. 

Commit

At the end of June, I will be posting each day and entry I’ve completed. I encourage you to do the same in the comments.