The three blessings exercise is about changing your mindset.
Let’s not sugar coat it.
This year has been horrible in many ways; it’s been stressful and hard to navigate. We’ve all wanted a reset button for 2020. People have wanted to get to the end of the year just to be done with it. People are looking forward to getting back to “normal .”
The problem with this mindset is that we focus on the negativity of 2020 over the blessings that 2020 has given us. The truth is that even in the midst of all of the chaos and loss, most of us have had little moments of victory.
We’ve learned about what really is a priority for us.
I’ve spoken to many people over social media this year who have told me they are struggling with gratitude this year. It’s hard to write a gratitude journal on days when you hear about a friend who has been hospitalized, days when the best you could manage was that no one in your home got hurt. It’s hard to be grateful for moments where you feel your life has been turned upside down.
Understandably, some days we won’t always be grateful for how our day goes in these types of situations. Still, because of prolonged exposure in this new world we live in, we forget to even look for the little things that went well in the midst of hard situations. This is where the 3 blessing exercise comes in.
It’s actually a simple concept, and for those of you who find it hard to be grateful some days, this may give you a more manageable starting place. The exercise is to write down 3 things at the end of every day that went well, that worked out or that you count as a win or an accomplishment. Some days this may be a simple as you were able to get the laundry done. Other days it could be a meeting that went well or that all the kids got out the door on time with lunches. It can be as complicated as you wrote a book or started to renovate your house.
Every day make a list of 3 things that count as a win. Then ask yourself why they were a win (if you can). What made it a win? What about it made it a good thing with a good outcome?
It’s that simple. By asking yourself these questions, you start to see how you can change each of your days to support positive outcomes. You start to look for little things throughout the day that counts as a win, and they add up over time. Your attitude about each day slowly changes over time to look for positives. This changes your focus and your mindset over time as you do this exercise more and more.
You begin to approach each task, each day looking for the good things. It may not always be something you are grateful for, but each day will always have a win, no matter how big or small. So give it a try and see how it goes.
