At the start of this year I decided to keep a daily diary of “Three Good Things” that had happened each day. I had already started to do this in the car on my daily commute into work in order to help me start my day in a positive way.
During the winter months I struggle each year with the long dark nights and I find my mood dips and I cannot muster any motivation. By highlighting to myself each day three good things, I found this was one of the things which helped to lift my mood. It refocused me on the good times and stopped me dwelling on what wasn’t good.
Three Good Things is quick and easy to do and helps you to capture the highlights of each day in a concise way. I’ve never been any good at keeping a full diary, it takes too much time and I forget to do it. This is a much simpler alternative but can capture the best part of your year.
At the end of each day, I jot down in my diary the three good things which I have seen, or have happened to me, things I’ve enjoyed, eaten, done or been given. It only takes a moment but then you have a permanent record of the good stuff that happens to you. Its surprising how much good there is.
An alternative method which I have done before is capturing three word which sum each day. I got the idea from Drive Time with Simon Mayo. Some of these can be quite funny. When you read them back later they immediately bring back what happened on a particular day.
It’s good to be able to remind yourself on tough days that world is not such a bad place really. It can help you to acknowledge when a good deed has been done. A diary is a great source of reflection and family history and can help you put life into perspective if ever the dark days strike. It’s a great way at tracking your progress and helping you to realise just how far you have come, what and who have helped you on your way.
Life can be tough but if you search for good stuff, it can make the journey more enjoyable and makes you want to get up, shake yourself off and discover more.
Taking a few minutes each day to sit down and reflect on what your day has been like, who you have seen, where you’ve been and what you have experienced is an easy way to check in and declutter your head ready for the next day. This time can be very relaxing and enables you to capture the spirit of your day and be mindful in the moment.