A tested exercise
Three Good Things
Three good things from today, numbered, written down before bed.
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The study
In 2005, the psychologist Martin Seligman and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania tested several short exercises online, against a placebo exercise of writing about early memories. One was to write down, each night for a week, three things that went well that day and why they went well.
The people who kept it were happier and less depressed than the placebo group, and the difference was still there six months later. Many kept the habit long after the week was over.
Why it might work
Bad things get noticed without any help, but good ones are easy to let pass. Writing them down makes you look for them, and writing why they happened adds a second look: what you, or someone else, did to make them go well.
How the module works
Three numbered lines on the daily page, headed Grateful For. Write each good thing, small or large, and a few words on why it happened. Do it at night, when the day is complete.
Sources
- Martin E. P. Seligman, Tracy A. Steen, Nansook Park and Christopher Peterson, "Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions," American Psychologist 60, no. 5 (2005), pages 410 to 421.
Put it in your planner
Start your plannerFind Three Good Things in the module drawer, under Growth. Free, and no account needed to try it.