It’s not always easy to be grateful but, with practise, you can bring more gratitude into your daily life. It’s a skill that requires some dedication, but it can also include the whole family.

Here are four ways to bring more gratitude into your life:

Create a Gratitude Reminder

It’s a good idea to create a cue to remind you to practise being grateful. Place a picture on the fridge or on your work desk that will prompt the process. Or you can tie in your daily gratitude practice with another ritual such as eating dinner, brushing your teeth, or going to bed. If you’re going to work on your gratitude practice as a family, place the reminder somewhere everyone can see it.

You could also create a daily reminder on your phone if you’d like so you can be reminded at the same time each day, no matter where you are.

Write it Down

A great way to practise being grateful is to write it down in a journal or notebook. Be specific though. Don’t write I’m grateful for the sunny weather. Write: I’m grateful it is sunny today so I can go for a long walk and feel the sun warming my skin. Start a gratitude journal to record your daily thoughts – it could even be one the whole family shares.

Another fun idea is to have everyone in the family write down great things that happen on small pieces of paper. You could do this every day or just on certain days – whatever works for your family. Put all the pieces of paper into a jar. On New Year’s Eve, pull all the notes out and read them together as a family to celebrate your year.

Do it Everyday

The best way to get good at something is to practise. Gratitude is no different. The more you do it, the better at it you’ll become. Creating a daily ritual means you’re more likely to find gratitude becomes a habit too and you will be able to incline your mind to look for the positive and happy elements of any situation without too much effort.

Stick with it, even on those days when you don’t feel like it. Those are the days when a gratitude practice will benefit you the most.

Keep it Simple

Gratitude is a complicated concept for children so try to keep things as simple as you can if you’re including them in your practice. Ask, “what was the best thing that happened today?” rather than expecting them to be able to identify items or events to be grateful for. Help them identify small and specific things among the larger events of the day to refine their gratitude-seeking skills.

Whichever way you decide to include some gratitude into your daily life, you’re sure to notice a difference in the way you think and feel if you’re able to make it a regular practise.