We all have moments where we sort of realize just how sucked into the flow of life we are. The sun goes up, and it goes down. You get up, do your thing, and go to bed. Get up again, do your thing, again, go to bed again. Now multiply this hundreds of times.

It’s easy to get lost in the rat race.

You get so caught up in your grind that the grind wears you down to a nub.

A lot of people struggle with this every day. Life starts to seem pretty dull and bland after days, months, and years of doing the same thing. We yearn for a sense of fulfillment and joy. We search for something that gives us that.

Many people turn to stimulants to help cope with the day to day stress and grind. These stimulants can be anything from binge watching a TV show or endlessly scrolling through social media to alcohol or other illicit substances.

We all seek to inject joy into our lives in different ways, and that’s fine. Everyone has their thing. But what I want to share with you today is an immensely simple but often overlooked trick, tool, method, or tactic (whatever you want to call it) that can help you to experience more joy and appreciation in your life.

Practice Gratitude

A big official dictionary definition of Gratitude: the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

A normal human being’s definition of Gratitude: Looking around you and noticing the good.

Practicing gratitude is fantastically beneficial to your life and fantastically simple to do. There’s always something to be grateful for in your life, you may just have to do some searching to see those things.

Some of you may be in a position in your life where you truly feel as though there is nothing to be grateful for. If that’s the case, I understand. I was in that situation myself only about a year ago.

I have struggled with depression for years, and last year I slipped into a particularly dark place, a darker place than I had ever been. It was difficult to see any light anywhere.

It took some help for me to realize what gratitude really is, and what you can really be grateful for. I started a gratitude journal, and for one week I wrote down one thing I was grateful for.

The first thing I wrote was “I woke up today.”

It’s something seemingly minuscule, but shift your perspective and it can be something to really appreciate. Your life really is a gift, and it’s up to you to make it what you want it.

From that first entry of waking up, I was able to see other things to be grateful for. Now I try and take just 1 minute each day to think of something I’m grateful for. Practicing gratitude can add a new level of joy to your life because it allows you to take time to look up from the grind and see the good things around you. That’s amazing for your mental well-being.

How Can I Practice Gratitude?

So how can you practice gratitude in your everyday life and begin to experience more satisfaction and joy? There’s a few different ways that I like, all of which are super easy to implement and take minimal effort, but have enormous impacts on your overall happiness and well-being.

Keep A Gratitude Journal

A gratitude journal is a quick and easy way to jot down things that you can be grateful for. Like in the story I shared above, a gratitude journal is my personal favorite method of practicing gratitude. I’ve written about using a journal to deal with anxiety before, and I’ll probably talk about the benefits of journaling in a different context later. It takes less than two minutes of your day to create an entry. Write your entries at the end of the day. Make it one of the last things that you do before heading to bed. This ensures that you at least end your day on a somewhat positive note.

It’s also very helpful to take time to look back on previous entries. It allows you to be reminded of the good in life because you have everything organized and laid out in journal format. If you had a bad day, or a bad week, you can revisit your gratitude journal to be reminded of what is still good in your life and what still brings you joy. That’s a powerful tool to have.

Grab a cheap journal off Amazon, or just break out a notebook and get writing!

Practice Gratitude Throughout The Day

This method takes slightly more effort than keeping a journal, but it’s even faster than writing a journal entry and it also doesn’t really require you to do anything except think. The idea of this method is to stop every once in awhile throughout your day and remind yourself of what you are grateful for.

This can be difficult at times, because we know how easy it is to get lost in your day, but if you can take time every once in awhile to meditate on something good in your life, it can truly give you a boost, or provide motivation for you to keep going.

If You’re Grateful for People, Tell Them

This can have a huge impact on the depth and connectivity of your relationships. It’s nice to be complimented, and it’s even more nice to be told just how much you mean to someone. If you have someone in your life that you care about, let them know. Shoot them a quick text, or tell them in person. It means a lot, especially if people are going through their own issues, it can be really great to understand that there’s people in your life that you can go to, and that that person has a person in their life that they can go to.

It also just feels great to extend that kindness to another human being. Seek that connection. Allow yourself to experience that joy.

Gratitude is a key to happiness. Take time to regularly think and meditate about the things that make you happy, the things in your life that bring you joy, and the things that are going well for you. Amidst the rush of life, and the various ups and downs we experience, remind yourself of those things.

Practicing gratitude helps to consistently bring more joy into your life. You can hold the things that matter to you in your head while the vortex of the world rushes by and tries to eat away at you.

And eat away at you it will, but you’ll be okay. Because you’ll know that you have things in your life that you like and love. You’ll know what matters most to you. And taking time to appreciate and be grateful for those things can make life just a little bit happier. Practice gratitude each day, and you’ll find more joy in each day.