Start a ​‘​Good Things​’​ Journal

Quick Win

Paying attention to the positive may ease stress. How to start? Create a “three good things” practice​​​​! 

More Ways to Benefit

View All

MEMBERS ONLY

View Benefit

MEMBERS ONLY

View Benefit

MEMBERS ONLY

View Benefit

MEMBERS ONLY

View Benefit

MEMBERS ONLY

View Benefit

Previous Next

1. Related Benefit 1
2. Related Benefit 2
3. Related Benefit 3
4. Related Benefit 4
5. Related Benefit 5

Try This Today 

• Focus on the positive. In a notebook or journal ​—​ or your planner ​—​ write down three good things that happened today. (If it’s early and not much has happened yet, circle back in the afternoon or evening.) 
• Be specific. Instead of “I took a hike with my sister,” capture the details: “On a hike, my sister and I saw a great blue heron and reminisced about our favorite family vacation.” As you’re writing, relive the positive emotions you felt.  
• Make it a habit. Choose a dedicated place to keep your journal, and decide on a time of day to write in it. Plan to do a weekly review to revisit all 21 good things that happened. 

Why

Homing in on threats helped early humans survive. That may explain our tendency to focus on what’s going wrong — what research psychologists call “the negativity bias.” But recording happy experiences may help you foster a sense of gratitude and a positive outlook. Cultivating gratitude was linked to improvements in perceived stress and depression in a review of nine studies published in 2021 in the Journal of Occupational Health. And optimism was linked to numerous mental and physical health benefits, including resilience to stress, in a research overview published in 2010 in Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health.