Secret Sauce to a Happier Life

Last week, I shared a simple trick to help change my life to be more joyful, mindful, and thankful by practicing gratitude daily through journaling. CLICK HERE to catch up.

Being a mom is tough. There are a lot of joys, but also a ton of responsibilities. And you aren’t just a mom; you are also a wife, a friend, an employee, an employer, a daughter, and a neighbor. It’s easy to get burned out when you take on all of these roles and responsibilities. That happened to me.

So, how did I go from burned out to living my best life? What is my secret sauce to a fuller and happier life? Can you achieve the same happiness? (Spoiler alert: You can!)

Go from burned out to best life

As I mentioned last week, my husband had been discovering the practice of gratitude through meditation. I saw a transformation in his attitude and appreciation for the people and things around him. I was encouraged by his change, and decided I would try mediation as well. By practicing gratitude I found myself seeking out things I was thankful for instead of focusing on everything negative. By changing my mindset to look for things I was thankful for each day I began to notice an improvement in my patience level with my children; I was more optimistic; I responded to my children rather than reacting to their behavior; my stress level decreased; my appreciation for people and things in my life increased; and I became mentally stronger.

This transformation did not happen overnight (I began to feel a change after a week), but by making the practice of gratitude a daily habit I have been able to shape my mind to be the best mom I am meant to be.

Secret sauce to a happier life

So, how do you practice gratitude to achieve a richer life? I will share my routine to help inspire you to start your own gratitude journey.

In order to make sure practicing gratitude would become a daily habit I had to convince myself to wake up before my kids woke up because I knew it wouldn’t happen if I got busy with “mom life.” So, I wake up at 4:30am each day. I would much rather sleep in, but I found that waking up this early allows me to have a few hours of quiet, uninterrupted, productive, me time. I also choose to journal during my gratitude practice because my mind tends to go off on tangents unless I am centered. Writing in a journal helps me do that.

First thing I do when I wake up is start my day off on the right foot by reading a daily devotion. Personally, I enjoy reading the devotions from the Proverbs 31 Ministries. Then I take out my gratitude journal and write down 3 things I am grateful for. Sometimes I like to focus on things from the past I am thankful for, like a lesson I learned or a goal I accomplished. Sometimes I like to focus on the people I’m thankful for, like my husband that does the dishes for me or the children that call me mom. Sometimes I like to focus on something in the present to be thankful for, like a sweet picture my son drew for me or that my daughter didn’t have an accident in her big girl panties. And sometimes I like to focus on things in the future that I’m thankful for, like the opportunity to go on a vacation. After I write down my gratitudes, I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and say my gratitudes to help them sink into my heart.

I find it helpful to write down a goal for the day. This is not a “to do” list. This is something that I really want to make sure I accomplish for the day. This goal can be to complete a project for work; wash, fold, and put away laundry all in the same day; plan meals for the following week; spend 30 uninterrupted minutes playing with my kids; or even to rest. Writing down my goal helps me to not get distracted by the little things that pop up throughout the day, and stayed focused on accomplishing that goal.
I also like to write down a long-term goal to help remind me what I want for myself and my family’s future. It also helps me to make sure that my short-term goals, or daily goals, are driving me to achieve my long-term goal.

Being a mom, it’s easy to get bogged down with mom-guilt or judge ourselves very harshly for all the things we aren’t doing right, so I like to write down 2 daily affirmations each day to help remind myself about the things I love about myself. I think about the physical, mental, or personality attributes I love about myself and write those down.
I then finish my morning gratitude session by taking time to talk to my Creator by writing down a prayer. I thank him for the things He has given me or the ability to accomplish my goals. I also use my prayer time to ask for guidance, wisdom, or healing.

At the end of each day I like to write down a win I had from my day. A win is something that made my day extra special, like accomplishing my goal, getting kids to bed with no tears, not eating sugar, or putting my phone away after 6pm. This helps me to finish my day on a positive note. I also like to think about if there was a lesson I learned each day and write it down; for instance, I should count to 10 before reacting to my kids’ behavior or it’s ok to take a 20 minute nap to recharge. This helps trigger my memory the next time I am faced with a similar situation to change my reaction so that I have a better outcome.

Can you achieve a richer life too?

As a mom, it’s very easy for our minds to be filled with mom-guilt, so I find it helpful to journal about the things I am thankful for and the positives that I am doing as a mom to help break the mom-guilt cycle in my mind. I think practicing gratitude through journaling would be beneficial for other moms, so that’s why I created The Full Life Gratitude Journal for Moms. I want other moms to experience a happier and richer life too.

I know all of this sounds time consuming to do each and every day, and at first it is because it’s hard to find those positive things in your life when you aren’t used to seeking them out, but once your mind starts to shift to seeing more positives than negatives your journaling time can take as little as 10 minutes a day. It’s not a requirement to complete each step in the journal to lead a more thankful life. This is just the secret sauce I have found to be most beneficial to my own transformation. I want the best for you as well, so that is why I want to share The Full Life Gratitude Journal for Moms with you. It will release on December 30!

The Full Life Gratitude Journal for Moms will include inspiring quotes, uplifting Bible verses, and weekly challenges to motivate you throughout your journey!