Gratitude Journal: Can your iPhone Drive Happiness?

• April 9, 2015

Gratitude is a powerful driver of health and happiness that we should include in our armory of healthy habits.

Science teaches us that it takes on average 42 days to entrench a new habit. Whether you’re good at gratitude, or not, I invite you to take a 7 week journey in gratitude. You’ll either start to enjoy the benefits of gratitude, or strengthen your habit. Both will be good for you!

A multitude of apps and websites make this task easier for us. I like the Gratitude Journal (the original). This simple colorful app lives quietly and appreciatively on your iPhone. The aim is that you enter 5 things a day for which you are grateful. Whether it’s your morning cup of coffee, your 10,000 steps, or a surprise hug from your spouse, it all counts. By expressing your appreciation, and chronicling your gratitude, you elevate your mood. Over the long term, you build health and happiness.

The app is not overloaded with tricks and unnecessary functionality. Gratitude is simple and central. I love that you can add photos to your posts, bringing color and personalization to the entries. You can link with others, sharing your appreciation contagiously with friends and family. Most powerful is that all your posts are captured on the in-app calendar. We can so easily become trapped in moments of sadness on our journey. The intensity of a negative experience has the power to distract us from what is really a very good life. In dark moments like this, reflecting on our daily journal of happiness can be very powerful medicine.

Download the app today. Carla White, the founder and chief “Gratitude Pusher” suggests 3 weeks of daily use to get hooked. We know from scientific research that this is long enough for some people to form an enduring habit. My preference is 7 weeks, because I know that this will get the majority of us into a sustainable, enjoyable, healthy habit.

Be thankful. Be happy. Be healthy. That’s BodyWHealth.

Have fun,

Roddy

If you’re interested in reading further about the power of gratitude, I commend the social scientists of Cal Berkeley for their inspiring and pioneering work. Explore their research and teaching online here.