Gratitude practice
Writing down a few specific things you are grateful for, daily
A short daily list of specific things, not "my family" but a particular moment. Specificity is what appears to make it feel real rather than performative. Reasonable trial evidence on wellbeing, about two minutes, often bolted onto journaling.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Daniel AmenDoes it
Psychiatrist · Change Your Brain, Change Your Life
In bed he asks what went well today, and says he puts himself to sleep celebrating the best part of it. He has kept the habit for years, including the night his father died, and says he cannot remember a day it turned up nothing that made him smile.
Source: Thirty Minute Mentors: Dr. Daniel Amen“I say a prayer. And then I go, what went well today? … So I put myself to sleep celebrating the best part of my day.”
Thirty Minute Mentors: Dr. Daniel Amen (opens in a new tab) · 26 Feb 2021 - Dave AspreyDoes it
Biohacker · Bulletproof Coffee
Every night he sits with his two kids and each of them names three things they are grateful for, plus the day's wins, about ten minutes all told. He pairs gratitude with forgiveness work and says both are built into his 40 Years of Zen program.
Source: Dave Asprey blog: Use Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain“Every night, before bed, I sit with my two young kids and I ask them three things they’re grateful for. Then I share three things I am grateful for.”
Dave Asprey blog: Use Gratitude to Rewire Your Brain (opens in a new tab) · 28 Nov 2019 - Dwayne JohnsonDoes it
Actor and former WWE champion · The Rock
Talks about coming back to gratitude as an anchoring foundation after his father's death, and about raising his daughters to say what the family is grateful for, especially while they are young. He also describes mana, the Polynesian idea of spirit and power, as bound up with feeling grateful.
Source: WW: Oprah's 2020 Vision Tour with Dwayne Johnson, full transcript - Greg McKeownDoes it
Author · Essentialism
Gratitude is the skill he credits with carrying his family through the crisis he describes on the show. He used to file it under soft principles, he says, and no longer does.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #510 transcript“But what I learned about gratitude was this; if you focus on what you have, you gain what you lack. And if you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #510: The Art of Effortless Results (opens in a new tab) · 27 Apr 2021 - Mark WahlbergDoes it
Actor and producer · The 2:30 a.m. daily routine
The kneeling prayer is partly a gratitude list. He describes it as expressing gratitude, reflecting, and thinking about what he should be doing that day. All of it in the quiet before the family is up.
Source: Fox News: Mark Wahlberg is prioritizing 'recovery' instead of 'intense workouts' as he gets older - Mel RobbinsDoes it
Author and podcaster · The Let Them Theory
Before sleep she scans the day for a few things to be grateful for. She never goes to bed without it, she says. She began with a written three-minute night journal, citing a UC San Diego study, and says she has done it so long now that she can simply run back through the day.
Source: The Mel Robbins Podcast: Discover what gratitude really is. - Novak DjokovicDoes it
Tennis player · Record 24 Grand Slam singles titles
Treats that same waking moment as an expression of gratitude for being alive and getting another day. He ties it to the prayer rather than running it as a separate exercise.
Source: Khel Now: Novak Djokovic reveals his morning routine, shares mantra for fitness - Oprah WinfreyDoes it
Talk show host and producer · The Oprah Winfrey Show
Five things a day, written down, for a full decade without missing one. The ritual slipped once her schedule filled up, she says, and rereading a 1996 entry showed her how little delight she was letting herself feel. Going through the day looking for something to be grateful for was the part that worked, in her telling.
Source: Oprah.com: What Oprah Knows for Sure About Gratitude“For years I've been advocating the power and pleasure of being grateful. I kept a gratitude journal for a full decade without fail … I just made gratitude a daily priority. I went through the day looking for things to be grateful for, and something always showed up.”
Oprah.com: What Oprah Knows for Sure About Gratitude (opens in a new tab) - Ryan HolidayDoes it
Writer · The Daily Stoic
Part of the second notebook each morning is a few lines on what he is grateful for. He says he sometimes picks deliberately unpleasant subjects, a lost friendship or a big setback, and asks what he got out of them.
Source: RyanHoliday.net: This Is The Most Important Thing You Can Do Each Morning - Tiago ForteDoes it
Productivity writer · Building a Second Brain
Once a year rather than daily. He lists everything from the past twelve months he is grateful for, usually 60 to 90 items, and calls it his longest standing yearly ritual, kept every year since 2008.
Source: fortelabs.com: The Annual Review is a Rearchitecture“This is my longest standing yearly ritual, which I’ve done every year since 2008. It’s also the simplest: I sit down and I make a list of every single thing I’m grateful for from the past year”
fortelabs.com: The Annual Review is a Rearchitecture (opens in a new tab) · 7 Jan 2018 - Tim FerrissDoes it
Author · The Tim Ferriss Show
Gratitude gets a short written section in the morning routine, specific moments rather than general categories.
Source: Tools of Titans - Arnold SchwarzeneggerRecommends
Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club
Step three of his one-week Zero Negativity crash diet: write down one real thing you are grateful for every day, no toxic positivity allowed. He says he is grateful even for his hard upbringing because it made him.
Source: Arnold's Pump Club newsletter: Arnold Schwarzenegger's Crash Diet - Steven BartlettDiscusses
Entrepreneur · The Diary of a CEO
Gratitude comes up repeatedly with guests on the show, though his own written habit is not documented publicly.
Source: The Diary of a CEO podcast
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under stress.
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Daily meditation
10-20 minutes of formal practice, most days
On record from 21 of 62 tracked people: 17 do it, 1 recommends it, 3 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Daily walking
A long walk most days, often without headphones
On record from 19 of 62 tracked people: 14 do it, 5 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Journaling
Writing to unload the mind, usually first thing or last thing
On record from 14 of 62 tracked people: 13 do it, 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Deliberate solitude
Regular time with your own thoughts and no other inputs
On record from 12 of 62 tracked people: 9 do it, 3 recommend it - HabitFREE, no cost
Daily prayer
A fixed time for prayer each morning, before the phone and before the day starts
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it - HabitFREE, no cost
Personal mantra
A quote kept where you will see it before you perform, taped up or written on your gear
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.