Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a PDF version and other notes.
If you’re new to Daily Prompts, you may want to start at the beginning of the series here.
Year______ Month_______Day______Consecutive Practice Days_____Missed Days______
Day 1
A single degree of change each day means you’ll do a 180-degree turn around within 6 months. A dramatic change is possible with the accumulation of very small ones.
No need for grand, Herculean efforts. We’re just going to practice. Not for war, but to dance.
The first subject we’re going to explore and practice is Gratitude. When success gurus talk about achievement, there tends to be an over-emphasis on future-thinking. The message is something along the lines of: Today is work, tomorrow is the reward. This is a dangerous trap as it places your happiness in the future. What we sometimes forget is that the future isn’t real. The future is a concept that we use as a tool to guide our actions today. But really, right now is all that exists. This is why I’m not a fan of “Delayed Gratification” as a way of life and success. Waiting for the next thing can become such a habit that you can end up wasting your whole life in anticipation of future happiness.
What if we were to look at happiness, contentment, and peace of mind as a set of skills rather than emotional reactions? Skills can be developed. Skills can be practiced. So let’s start practicing happiness now!
For today’s journal entry- keep it short and simple. This should not be strenuous. List one thing you’re grateful for today. This need not be some big heavy life-dependent thing. You can choose some low hanging fruit for now. Maybe you’re grateful for your breakfast, or having a comfortable place to sleep. Perhaps you’re grateful for a recent act of generosity from a friend or a stranger. Maybe you’re grateful to yourself for purchasing this journal and taking some time for yourself.
Anything that comes to mind is fine. Just write a sentence or two about one thing you’re grateful for right now.
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Now, before you move on with your day, take a moment or two to think about this thing (or person or action or whatever) that you’re grateful for. Dwell in the feeling of gratitude for a bit. If you can remember to, try to think about this feeling of gratitude a few times throughout today. If you forget- don’t worry about it. I’ll see you here tomorrow.
Daily: (The pdf version below contains three lined pages for your daily journal)
NOTE:
The above is an excerpt from the upcoming The Lyceum Course Journal. We will be releasing it here for free as a Daily Prompt blog post. If you would like a physical copy, we will link to it here once it is released.
Suggested Use:
I realize a daily journal prompt on a blog is a little weird. This is how I would suggest using it: Open your favorite note-taking software such as Evernote, copy and paste this post into it, and write your daily entries there.
OR
Download a PDF version of this post here. Feel free to print it out, or access it through a PDF editor where you can type in your daily entry.
Collaborate With Me!
This post series is a first draft of the future book. If you have suggestions, comments, or see errors, please reach out so that I can make the final product more valuable for you and the rest of the community. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
