Storing your wins: an easy journal spread for gratitude journalling

It’s a new month, and I’d like to share a little bullet journal spread I use for recording positivity.

I intend to use it to record my “wins” (a Slimpod essential), but at the moment I’m using it for gratitude journalling. Gratitude journalling is something that is promoted my many mental health professions and leaders, and there are solid benefits for your mental health and personal success. From Emma Watson to Tim Ferriss, there is a massive community of people who use gratitude journalling to maintain positivity and balance in their life.

What is gratitude journalling?

Gratitude journaling is simply writing down things you are grateful for. While it sounds like a basic idea, it’s remarkably impactful. The simple act of reflecting – every day – on what you have to be grateful for helps you maintain a positive mindset, which in turn leads to more resilience, better productivity, and overall wellbeing.

Over time, practicing gratitude journalling has been shown to boost your mood, reduce stress and anxiety, improve your relationships, and enhance your overall sense of happiness and satisfaction. By making gratitude journalling a regular part of your routine, you train your brain to notice and appreciate the abundance of blessings in your life, leading to a more positive and fulfilling outlook.

How to get started with gratitude journalling

To start a gratitude journal, set aside a few minutes each day to reflect on your day and identify things that you’re grateful for. It might be something remarkable about the day, such as getting an unexpected free coffee, or a regular occurrence that you appreciate, such as your dog always greeting you at the front door when you get home.

Where you record these is up to you. Many people use apps like Happyfeed, or 3 Good Things. While I am usually the first to go straight to the online option (I’m very app-happy!), I find that handwritten journalling makes me feel more connected to my thoughts. The added benefit of the classic handwritten journal is that I can flick through the notebook and easy see (and appreciate!) how many amazing this are happening in my life.

My favourite way to visualise my gratitude journal

So what is my favourite way to visualise all of this? Bricks. There is a phrase that Podders will know about “stacking and storing” wins. This phrase stuck in my mind and lead me to think of Lego blocks, and stacking them together to make a strong wall of positivity. So I tested it out in January. I tried some different spreads in the following months, but this is my favourite! I’m not neat with my colouring or handwriting, but this layout give me the visual appeal without me needing to magically be tidy!!

Step 1: Work out how to fit 91 blocks on your page.

I counted the rows on a page of my notebook. Then I took my ruler and worked out how many widths of it I could fit across a row. In my case, I can fit four. But bricks overlap, so the row with four would only fit three above it. But a quick count confirmed that I could fit 93. (Mathsy bit: 26 rows divided by 2 is 13. 13×4 plus 13×3 equals 91, which means I only needed to add 2 more to the top space to make 93 (three wins a day for a 31 day month).

Step 2: Draw the blocks and number them

I found it easiest to do all the rows of four first, and then the rows of three.

Step 3: Write three things you are grateful for every day and colour in three blocks every day

Writing down your gratitudes records the exact things that you are grateful for. But colouring in the blocks every day adds to this by giving you a visual representation of how much positivity is in your life and how quickly it can all build up!