Gratitude: A Simple resolution
We’re now halfway through January. And my resolution of sending my newsletters and writing my blogs out at the beginning of the month has already fallen short. And if you’re being honest with yourself, you might already feel that some of those shiny New Year’s resolutions have quietly slipped away as well.
And just to reassure you, that is absolutely normal!
I always say that January is the worst time of year to create new habits and set grand resolutions. If only we lived in the southern hemisphere, we would find getting up early, exercising, eating salads and fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner in January a breeze. But we don’t, we live in the UK, and we would rather hunker down, hibernate and have duvet days without any guilt until Spring arrives – which again is impossible.
After the Christmas and New Year break, motivation often fades once real life resumes — routines return, energy dips, and the pressure of “doing it all right” can feel overwhelming. But this is where I want to gently offer something much simpler… and far more sustainable.
The Power of Small, Gentle Change
Rather than starting again with big, ambitious goals, what if this month became about one small, doable habit — something that requires very little time, no special equipment, and no pressure to be perfect?
That habit is gratitude.
Gratitude isn’t about pretending everything is wonderful or ignoring life’s challenges. It’s about intentionally noticing what is already okay — even on ordinary days.
I came across Hannah Fry recently on instagram @frysquared who refers to baseline happiness — the understanding that even when life isn’t extraordinary, many days are quietly good. Nothing dramatic has to happen for a day to count as a good one. Even when we have incredible highs, when life is amazing or when life throws the ultimate curve ball and our world feels like it is falling apart, these feelings of complete joy or despair do not last forever and eventually we return to a baseline of every day happiness. And that baseline is something we should be aiming for as much as we can.
If I have ever taught you Tapping, I use a scale of -10 to +10, with -10 being the worst you could feel and +10 feeling wonderful, full of energy and happiness, but I say we often spend our lives in the middle between -2 and +2 where things are OK, not amazing, not awful but just OK and alright – our baseline happiness.
Hannah encourages us to look at each day as being a good day and saying 5 simple words, based on Hedonic Expectation, that encourages our brains to look for the positives in our day, allowing us to return easily to our natural happiness baseline – and the five words to say everyday are: “These are the good days”.
Why Gratitude Matters
Gratitude isn’t just a feel-good notion — it’s a science-backed mental health tool. Research shows that gratitude is consistently linked with greater happiness, improved mental health, and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. People who practise it regularly report higher life satisfaction, stronger relationships, and a more positive outlook on life.
Moreover, a large meta-analysis of gratitude interventions found that developing habits around gratitude correlates with improved well-being and fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The Power of Writing Three Things Daily
One of the most effective gratitude practices — and a fantastic New Year’s resolution — is writing down three things you’re grateful for each day. This simple ritual, often referred to as the “Three Good Things” exercise, has been widely studied in positive psychology. Here’s why it works:
✔️ It trains your brain to notice the good.
Our minds are naturally wired toward negative thinking (a survival instinct). Regularly focusing on positives helps retrain your attention so that you begin to notice more of what’s going right rather than what’s going wrong.
✔️ It shifts cognitive patterns.
Detailing positive experiences — especially with a “why this mattered” reflection — activates memory, emotional processing, and reward pathways in the brain. Over time, this builds more positive habits of thought and experience.
✔️ It can reduce symptoms of depression and stress.
Gratitude journaling supports a shift in cognitive style that increases positive states and reduces negative affect, as shown in intervention studies. Even brief gratitude reflection practices have been linked with lowered stress and improved mood.
Gratitude, Presence & Manifesting
Cultivating gratitude naturally draws your attention into the present moment. When you focus on what you have right now — even small, seemingly ordinary things — you anchor yourself in the “here and now,” rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. This ability to be present not only enhances your everyday experience but also makes space for clarity, creativity, and intentional manifesting.
Whether we believe in it or not, we are manifesting all the time, through our choices, our actions, our thoughts and our state of mind. How often have you said to yourself “I knew that was going to happen, things like that alwayshappen to me” when something goes wrong? We are really good at noticing the negatives that we manifest. But, if we can manifest or notice the negative things in our life, it must surely work the opposite way and we can notice / manifest positive things.
The more you notice the positives, the more positives there are to notice.
Many people find that the practice becomes self-reinforcing — once they start intentionally spotting moments of goodness, more moments of goodness begin to show up. This doesn’t mean ignoring challenges — it simply helps open your awareness to a broader, richer slice of life.
Make It a January Resolution
Here’s a simple way to bring gratitude and maybe even manifest more positive things into your daily life this month:
Your January Gratitude Habit:
✔ Each evening, write down 3 things you were grateful for today, things that went well or small things you noticed.
✔ Include why each item mattered (this deepens the impact).
✔ Aim to do this for at least 21 consecutive days — long enough to begin forming a new habit.
You might notice a shift: more positive emotions, gentler self-talk, and a brighter view of your daily life. Some people even find that this simple resolution sets the tone for the whole year — making you more resilient, mindful, and hopeful, right from the start.
Here’s to a very happy 2026, filled with more positivity and happiness.