14 gratitude journal prompts for kindness toward yourself

The 14 questions

The tone you keep for others, turned toward yourself.

1. What went well for you today, even if nobody noticed?
2. What can you thank yourself for today?
3. Where did you go easier on yourself today, even a little?
4. What was good for your body today — warmth, movement, food, sleep?
5. Which moment of the day is worth living again, slowly?
6. What small relief in the course of the day made a difference?
7. What was enough today — with nothing to fix?
8. Who was gentle with you today?
9. If one thing you do for yourself were missing, which would you miss most?
10. What small thing done for yourself — coffee, a shower, five minutes of quiet — landed just right today?
11. What could you feel with your senses today that was worth staying with?
12. Whose kind word about you still comes back to you?
13. What recently turned out to be a smaller mistake than it seemed?
14. What from the past days do you want to thank yourself for — and why that?

The tone you keep for others

Most people thank others easily. Thanking yourself feels odd, even a little vain. These questions practise it in small steps.

They begin with what went well. Question 1 asks: “What went well for you today, even if nobody noticed?” Question 2 asks what you can thank yourself for. Question 3 asks where you went easier on yourself today, even a little.

Some questions are about the body and the senses. Question 4 asks what was good for your body today: warmth, movement, food, sleep. Question 10 asks which small thing you did for yourself landed just right: a coffee, a shower, five minutes of quiet.

Two questions move against the habit of fixing things. Question 7 asks: “What was enough today — with nothing to fix?” Question 13 asks what recently turned out to be a smaller mistake than it seemed.

Kindness also comes from others. Question 8 asks who was gentle with you today. Question 12 asks whose kind word about you still comes back to you.

How to answer when it feels awkward

Write the way you would speak to a friend. If a friend told you they finally finished a hard task, you would not say “it was nothing”. Give yourself the same sentence.

Keep it small. “I went to bed before eleven” is a good answer. So is “I asked for help instead of pushing through”.

Do not grade the day. A day can be messy and still hold one thing you did well. The questions ask about that one thing, not about the whole day.

If nothing comes, start from question 7. Look for one thing that was enough as it was.

Why start with what went well

The first questions here come from the “three good things” exercise. For at least a week, you write down three things that went well each day. For each one, you write why.

In a 2005 study, people who did it were happier a month after that week and still six months later (Seligman et al., 2005 · American Psychologist). The questions here ask about one thing at a time, and they point it at you.

Where to go next

If kindness toward yourself is hardest at work, try the prompts for work without burning out. If you need a slower pace first, try the prompts for more calm. For the basics, read how to start a gratitude journal.

On a path in the app

These are the questions of the first path in the theme “Kindness toward yourself”. In GratefulMe you answer them one at a time, at your own pace: the next question comes once you answer the one before. After step 7 and step 14 the path pauses for a reflection on your own answers, and the theme goes on with further paths. Steps 1–7 are free; Premium adds the reflections and steps 8–14.