A Gratitude Journal Is A Way To Get What You Want From Life

Joe Vitale explains in "Life's missing instruction manual" that it is extremely important to be thankful for what we already have, before we can start getting more of anything.

Time to write

A gratitude journal can also help you greatly to keep a positive attitude, because you stop daily (ideally several times) to record those things you are grateful for.

Because you actually stop to write what you are thankful for, you do dedicate some time to reflect about it.

You take the time to count your blessings, which is key for maintaining a positive attitude.

You can make an entry in the morning and another at night, or you can even carry the gratitude journal with you and write anytime you like, or when you feel grateful for anything.

You can even make an entry first thing in the morning, "I am thankful for all the possibilities that the new day brings", to set you in the mood.

You can keep a special gratitude journal or you can record what you are grateful for in your usual agenda or notebook, if you keep one.

You can make long and detailed entries or you can just write a few words naming what you are grateful for. For example:

• June 8th. Thankful for: my time today to enjoy the sunshine; meeting with friend Joe; phone call from my father; found a couple of coins; tasty new coffee.

• December 19th. I am very grateful for having shelter, food and good people to share times with daily. Today I'm specially grateful for my good health.

Thankful for...

You can be thankful for a million of things. They can be directly related to you, like people you speak to, events that happen to you, or things that you have and acquire.

You can also be grateful for things that simply "are" there and you happen to enjoy, like the sunshine, the flowers you smell, a beautiful animal, or a peaceful landscape.

You could also be thankful for the good fortune and blessings that other people have. This not only takes away jealousy and envy, but also if you do this truly you will be attracting blessings to your own life.

Notice your blessings

Whether you've made only an entry at night or several during the day, take the time to read what you have written at the end of the day.

Realize that you probably are blessed with many more things that you thought at first. Give sincere thanks for all that you have.

Taking it forward

Taking into account that you will ideally be grateful first for what you already have, you can make entries similar to this one:

"I am thankful for my current job in the customer service team. I work with wonderful people and I earn a good salary. I bless my current job. I now want to have a different job, as a sales representative, where I can work on my own. I am thankful already for it."

Your possibilities of getting what you want increase enormously when you are thankful in advance.

You now realize the importance of being thankful always. Be creative! Use your gratitude journal according to your own rules.

A variation of the gratitude journal is a scrapbook with pictures and text about those things you want to have or experience, bringing forward the feelings of gratitude that you would have for those things when they have manifested.

The power of a scrapbook is explained clearly in "Infinite Possibilities".

Thanks, I'm a positive person

You can place yourself in an optimistic frame of mind by being grateful. It also helps you to welcome abundance and good things to your life.

Besides, a grateful person is a joy to others - and I am sure that we all prefer to be nice to people.

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