How to practice gratitude every day

Gratitude is partly a feeling, the warm sense that something good came to you, often through someone else. It is also a habit of attention that you can practice. Researchers have tested a handful of simple exercises again and again. None of them is magic, and the measured effects are usually modest. (Davis et al., 2016) But they are free, quick, and pleasant, and many people find they make ordinary days feel richer.

Here are twelve ways to practice gratitude, starting with the ones that have the most research behind them.

Five research-backed gratitude practices

1. Three Good Things

Each night, write down three things that went well that day and why they happened. In a well-known online study, people who did this every night for one week reported more happiness and fewer depressive symptoms for six months. (Seligman et al., 2005) Full guide to Three Good Things →

2. A gratitude journal

Write a few specific things you’re thankful for once a day or a few times a week. This is the most-studied form of gratitude practice. (Emmons & McCullough, 2003) How to start a gratitude journal →

3. A gratitude letter or visit

Write a letter to someone who helped you and never got a proper thank-you, then deliver or read it. In the same study that tested Three Good Things, the gratitude visit produced the biggest boost one month later. That boost had faded by three months. (Seligman et al., 2005) People also tend to underestimate how much the recipient will appreciate it. (Kumar & Epley, 2018) How to write a gratitude letter →

4. Mental subtraction

Think of something good in your life and imagine, in detail, how it might never have happened: if you’d never met your partner, or never moved to your town. It sounds backward, but in experiments, imagining an event’s absence lifted people’s mood more than thinking about its presence. (Koo et al., 2008)

5. Saying thank you, specifically

Expressing gratitude does something for relationships. In one experiment, people who got a short thank-you note were more than twice as likely to help again (66% vs. 32%). (Grant & Gino, 2010) Researcher Sara Algoe describes gratitude as helping us “find, remind, and bind” the people who are good for us. (Algoe, 2012)

Seven small daily habits

1. A morning gratitude moment. Before you check your phone, name one thing you’re looking forward to and one person you appreciate. The Sunrise Journal gives you a new prompt each morning.
2. Gratitude at meals. Pause before eating to name where the food came from, the people who grew, carried, and cooked it. Families of many faiths say grace. A silent pause works too.
3. The doorway pause. Pick a doorway you pass through daily, like your front door or office. Each time, notice one good thing.
4. A weekly thank-you text. Every Friday, text one person something specific you appreciated that week.
5. Savor one thing. Once a day, stretch out a pleasant moment, like the first sip of coffee or the sun on your face, for ten extra seconds.
6. Gratitude walk. On a walk, look for things you’re thankful for: a well-kept garden, a friendly dog, a clear view. Our gratitude meditation page has a short walking script.
7. Bedtime review. As you settle down, recall one moment from the day you’d like to keep. In one large study, more grateful people tended to have more positive thoughts before sleep and to report better sleep. That link was correlational, not proof of cause. (Wood et al., 2009)

How to make gratitude a habit that sticks

• Anchor it. Attach the practice to something you already do every day.
• Keep it tiny. One honest line beats a page you dread writing.
• Keep it fresh. Rotate practices, or use 365 gratitude prompts. Routine can dull the effect. (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon & Schkade, 2005)
• Do it with someone. Share one good thing at dinner, or take the 30-day gratitude challenge with a friend or family member.
• Set a reminder. Add a free daily reminder to your phone’s calendar.

What gratitude is not

Practicing gratitude does not mean pretending everything is fine, ignoring injustice, or staying in situations that harm you. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t want things to be better, either. Healthy gratitude makes room for honest feelings. Clinical psychologist Susan Albers puts it this way: “Gratitude should make room for pain, not cover it up.” (Cleveland Clinic, 2025) If you’re going through something painful, see gratitude in hard times.

A realistic word about results

You’ll see bold claims online that gratitude “rewires your brain” or “cures anxiety.” The research is more modest. Reviews of many studies have found small improvements in well-being. Gratitude exercises often do about as well as other pleasant activities, not dramatically better. (Davis et al., 2016) A 2023 review of 64 trials found fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression, but the authors rated the certainty of the evidence as low. (Diniz et al., 2023) That’s not a reason to skip it. Gratitude is free, quick, and pleasant. It just isn’t a substitute for medical or mental-health care. Read the full evidence summary →

Not medical advice. This page shares general information from published research. It isn’t a substitute for care from a doctor or mental-health professional. If you’re struggling, please reach out to someone you trust or a professional. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Common questions

Sources

Every study below was checked against its publisher or PubMed record. Links open the original.

1. Davis, D. E., Choe, E., Meyers, J., Wade, N., Varjas, K., Gifford, A., Quinn, A., Hook, J. N., Van Tongeren, D. R., Griffin, B. J., & Worthington, E. L. (2016). Thankful for the little things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(1), 20–31. doi.org/10.1037/cou0000107
2. Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410
3. Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(2), 377–389. doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.2.377
4. Kumar, A., & Epley, N. (2018). Undervaluing gratitude: Expressers misunderstand the consequences of showing appreciation. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1423–1435. doi.org/10.1177/0956797618772506
5. Koo, M., Algoe, S. B., Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). It’s a wonderful life: Mentally subtracting positive events improves people’s affective states, contrary to their affective forecasts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1217–1224. doi.org/10.1037/a0013316
6. Grant, A. M., & Gino, F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 946–955. doi.org/10.1037/a0017935
7. Algoe, S. B. (2012). Find, remind, and bind: The functions of gratitude in everyday relationships. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(6), 455–469. doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00439.x
8. Wood, A. M., Joseph, S., Lloyd, J., & Atkins, S. (2009). Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 66(1), 43–48. doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.09.002
9. Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 111–131. doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111
10. Cleveland Clinic. What is a gratitude journal? Benefits and how to start (with Susan Albers, PsyD). Health Essentials. health.clevelandclinic.org/tips-for-keeping-a-gratitude-journal
11. Diniz, G., Korkes, L., Tristão, L. S., Pelegrini, R., Bellodi, P. L., & Bernardo, W. M. (2023). The effects of gratitude interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. einstein (São Paulo), 21, eRW0371. doi.org/10.31744/einstein_journal/2023RW0371