Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, you’ll have heard, or know someone that keeps a happiness journal. Similar to a diary, a happiness journal is your own private space where you can explore and understand your own mind, your feelings and emotions, which ultimately leads to a happier life.

However, if you haven’t done anything like this before, it can be difficult to know where to begin, but don’t worry, you’re not alone. Today, we’re going to explore everything you need to know in order to start your very own happiness journal, allow you to start a new chapter in your life.

Choosing a Personal Space

You can start your happiness journal any way you like and feel comfortable with. You might like to go out or search online for a dedicated notebook. You might like to start out on a Word document. You might like a mixture of both.

However you want to start, you need to make sure that you feel comfortable and can easily express yourself in the best way that you know how.

Here are some quick tips on how to journal.

1. Write for gratitude.

One of the biggest problems we face in our everyday lives is the fact that we don’t appreciate the things we have. We’re constantly subjected to the media and advertisements showing us what we don’t have but what we do ‘need’, such as a new house, car, holiday or gadget.

However, in your journal, try and start each entry with a list of three things that you’re grateful for each day, whether that’s the birds singing, the music on your Spotify playlist, a friend or even dinner on your table.

2. Write for quality.

Of course, you can write any way that you see fit and are comfortable with writing. However, aiming to write quality and detail will be far more beneficial to your well-being. Even if you’ve only written a paragraph (a few sentences) but you’ve explored a feeling deeply that you’ve been subject to for a while, this is much better for your mind that a list of 50 vague items.

3. Write about your day.

Since you’ll want to try writing in your journal every day, it’s only natural that you’ll want to write about the things that happened. However, it’s easy to fall into the trap of only writing about the bad things that have happened.

“While this is good for venting and getting it all off your mind, it’s far better for your happiness if, for every bad or negative thing that you write, you also write a positive thing. This is a great way to show yourself that not everything is bad, it’s just a case of your own perspective,” shares Sarah Cattle, a writer for Assignment Help.

Writing the Perfect Happiness Journal

While most of us write in some form or another every single day, the actual skill of being able to write may still elude us. However, there are many online tools you can use to improve your writing skills, allowing you to express yourself properly;

Cite It In; Word Counter: These are two free online tools to help you format your happiness journal entries, or for setting daily word count goals.

Grammar Check; Via Writing: Two online tools and blogs to help you improve your general grammar skills.

UKWritings: This is an editing tool, as reviewed by Best British Essays, to help you communicate your thoughts and feelings accurately.

Academized; Write My Paper: As recommended by the Huffington Post, these are two professional proofreading tools that can help you write accurate, error-free content.

State of Writing; My Writing Way: These two blogs are full of writing guides to help you enhance your overall writing skills.

Forming the Habit

The longer and more regular that you write in your happiness journal, the more likely you are to fill the benefits. Ideally, you’re going to want to write in it once a day, but that doesn’t matter if you only do it for ten minutes a day, you’ll still start to feel happier.

Try creating a ritual for when you write to make it easy to form the habit. You could write as soon you as wake up, or the last thing you do before you go to bed.

For those of you who believe that you don’t have time to write in a journal, consider how many hours a day you spend on social media, and you’ll soon be able to find the time. However, if you’re truly finding it difficult, even starting to write once a week and then, over time, increasing that to several times a week, can be a huge step in the right direction.