How To Build A Gratitude Habit

A few years ago, I read the international best-selling book 'The Little Book of Hygge' by Meik Wiking, and it changed my life.

hygge /ˈh(j)uːɡə,ˈhʊɡə/

noun

A quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

We have all seen the research suggesting that 'Denmark is the happiest country in the world', and '5 reasons Danes are happier than us' etc. I was incredibly intrigued by this concept and wanted to learn how to achieve that level of Scandanavian cosiness in my life.

The book outlines that there are 10 aspects of 'Hygge', but the one that I wanted to focus on the most was number 5. photo credit

Wiking suggests that keeping a record of the everyday things that we are grateful for can help us to adopt a more positive outlook on life. In May this year, it will be 3 years since I started writing weekly entries in a grateful diary.

The calendar on my phone has a special space reserved every Sunday to fill up with notes and happenings from throughout the week, that I was particularly grateful for. It features things as minor as 'I made it into work on time despite missing the bus', to major things like 'I had my advanced eye exam which I was worried would show me something terribly wrong with my health, and it was all good.' Every Sunday, I spend some time before I go to bed where I transform the notes into full sentences and it's such a wonderful time of reflection and positivity for me.

You might remember from my recent stationery post, (aka what may as well have been called My Paperchase Obsession), that I have recently started using a gorgeous 'the future is happy' notebook for my new grateful diary, as I'd filled up an entire notebook front to back with gracious memories. I love the bright, yellow colour and the holographic inspirational message on the front, which improves my mood just by looking at it.

You can fill in a grateful diary daily, or on any day of the week that you choose if you journal weekly like I do, but I love doing mine on a Sunday. Looking back at the past week with gratitude really sets me up with a positive mindset for the next week ahead - 'a Sunday well spent brings a week of content' and all that!

It's so easy to focus on the negative parts of life, but I can honestly say that doing this for almost 3 years now has really helped me to become more appreciative of the everyday, mundane things I would've overlooked in the past, and I thoroughly recommend giving it a go.

Which aspect of Hygge do you want to embody in your life this year?