The Nightstand Gratitude Journal
- Reeshta
- Apr 2, 2025
- 8 min read
Genuine gratitude begins within.
Practice gratitude! You have to be grateful to manifest abundance! Just be grateful for what you have!!!
It’s almost cruel how a crucial element to visualisation and successful manifestation is genuine gratitude but how do we even begin to pretend to be grateful when everything seems to be falling apart?
Sure, it’s easy to be grateful when everything is falling into place but what about when it’s not? What if nothing has gone right for so long that it’s hard to even remember a time when we weren’t in pain or some form of desperation?
On one hand, we need gratitude to get out of the reality we’re in but on the other, our current reality is the very reason we can’t feel gratitude.
Here’s some wonderful news!
Before we FEEL gratitude, we can begin by training our minds to make looking for gratitude a habit instead because for better or for worse, we are destined to find whatever we’re looking for.
At any given moment, we have the power to dramatically change our lives, and with wisdom, for the better. I believe that that wisdom begins with introspective gratitude through empowered solitude.
Most gratitude journals focus on appreciating the world around you.
At a Glance
Through simple yet powerful daily prompts, this 90-day journal trains your mind to seek gratitude not just in the external, but in who you are and how far you’ve come.
Keep reading to learn about my thought process behind the conception and design of this cherished creation.
Designed for...
The "Journals Make me feel Worse about Myself" Person
This journal was made for those who feel like gratitude journaling just isn’t working for them.
Maybe you’ve tried before, only to find yourself staring at prompts that make you feel worse instead of better. Prompts designed with extreme productivity in mind—“Did you exercise today?” “Did you eat anything healthy today?”—as if missing a day means you’ve failed at life.
But what if just existing today was the best you could do? What if brushing your teeth, getting out of bed, or simply making it through was worth celebrating? Because it is.
This journal honours the reality of your journey, not some impossible standard of success.
The "My Brain Hurts, I Don't want to Think More" Person
This is for those who don’t have the mental energy to answer journal questions that feel more like a pop quiz than an opportunity for calm introspection.
You don’t need to impress anyone here.
The questions are the same, day in and day out, because repetition is power. The mind learns by doing, by seeing, by experiencing over and over again.
And with each simple, straightforward prompt, you’re not just writing—you’re rewiring. You’re embedding new messages into your subconscious, shaping your thoughts in the quietest, most profound and (most importantly!) SIMPLEST way.
The "Honestly, who has the Time for that?!" Person
This is for those who don’t have time to sit and pour their soul onto a page every night.
Life is chaotic.
Maybe you’re a parent juggling a million responsibilities, a student trying to stay afloat, or someone just trying to balance the demands of simply being alive.
You don’t need another task that feels like work. Just three short questions, twice a day. That’s all it takes.
The "I'm Tired of this Life" Person
Make no mistake—this journal isn’t just about gratitude for gratitude’s sake.
It’s for those who are determined to live an intentional life.
For the ones who have dreams but struggle to keep them in focus.
This isn’t a journal filled with random, feel-good prompts. It’s designed to guide you back—back to what matters, back to the life you’re working toward, back to the strongest form of gratitude there is: actually living the life you’ve only ever dared to imagine.
Which is why the very first task in this journal is to help you figure out your most urgent dream and every page after that is dedicated to helping you accomplish it ONE task, ONE day at a time.
Why Start of Day & End of Day?
What most people who mock manifestation don't understand is that manifestation isn’t just about wishing—it’s about aligning, acting, and being ready to receive.
Our past sets the tone for our present and our present sets the tone for our future.
On that note, I believe that how we begin our day sets a powerful tone for the rest of our day and how we end the day sets the tone for how well the next day begins.
The most underestimated moments of your day—right when you wake up and just before you sleep—hold incredible power.
This journal helps you take control of those moments, setting the tone for the day ahead and anchoring your progress before you rest.
When you start and end your day with the intention of building a life you’d personally envy, you’ll be amazed at how naturally the pieces begin to fall into place.
This journal can be your most precious foundation if you'll let it.
So, remember to take the word "Nightstand" seriously and place this journal on your nightstand or anywhere within arm’s reach from your bed.
START of Day
The pattern I’ve found most wholesome for myself is
Step 1: Aligned Intentions
Step 2: Aligned Emotions
Step 3: Aligned Actions.
You can watch my full explanation on YouTube if you wanna learn more!
Question 1: The Daily Goal
We begin with intentions first and our intentions must begin from our internal world; our intrinsic motivations. Hence, the Daily Goal.
As soon as I wake up, my brain goes through my "list for the day" made of a gazillion (or at least it felt like it!) tasks.
My first draft initially had a "To-do-List" to help me brain dump those gazillion tasks.
Then, I whittled it down to 3 daily goals (I tend to work best with "The Rule of Threes") but then decided that might be too much thinking for someone (me!) who tends to only get 3-5 hours of sleep the night before.
Then, I finally whittled it down to just one.
Just ONE task, daily.
In a world where something always needs to be done, one task seemed approachable and achievable.
The daily goal draws our innermost intentions for the day.
What we really, truly need/desire to accomplish.
Question 2: Thanking the Support System
Now that we’ve looked within, we can look to our external world, and we begin with people. I believe people are Messengers, Projections and Patterns sent for our wholesome evolution to self. So, we always begin with looking at the people in our immediate environment.
It is incredibly easy to fall into a dangerous pattern of overlooking how significant the people around us are for our well-being. This unsuspecting question has the capacity for you to truly reflect on ANYONE who has done something even remotely kind for you.
Maybe it’s the neighbour who helped collect your parcel when you were unable to?
Or perhaps it’s a friend who takes you to doctor’s appointments, so you don’t have to go alone?
What about the kinds stranger who helped open the door for you at the bakery?
Thank someone, anyone.
Question 3: Three Good Things
This was inspired by an activity to improve self-esteem.
Essentially, you'd look into a mirror, look straight into your own eyes and say three things you loved about yourself.
I still do this after my morning and night showers and it was only natural that this became the last part of both START and END of Day portions of our journal.
Just like how I say three good things about myself in the mirror before facing my day, I wanted people to experience the profound feeling that comes with naming goodness aloud (or in this case, putting pen to paper) before they went out and faced their day.
No matter what The Universe may throw their way, I wanted people to know that just that morning, there was goodness in their life.
It can be ANYTHING.
Maybe it’s the gift of sight that allows you to take in the pretty Christmas tree at the mall?
Maybe it’s your beloved furbaby healing beautifully from surgery?
Maybe it’s the supportive mattress you woke up on?
I promise, there’s truly nothing too small to be deliriously joyful about.
END of Day
Question 1: Reflecting on the Daily Goal
The first thing we do is reflect on the first thing we set out to do, our daily goal.
Did we accomplish it?
Did we not? Why?
One of the key decisions I made here was on the words to use.
My initial draft was inspired by Scrum Retrospectives "What went well, What could be improved, what went badly?" but it felt too "distant and impersonal" as if the daily goal was just another corporate KPI. Yuck!
So I changed the language to "I" to encourage self-focus and turning inward. The phrase "I set for myself" was also intentional to encourage personal responsibility. The quality of your life is YOUR responsibility.
Nobody forced this goal on you.
You chose this specific dream (there's an exercise right at the beginning of this journal which guides you with this).
You chose this daily task at the start of the day.
You are accountable to yourself.
Nobody can do the work necessary for you to live the life you desire, especially if you are starting from zero like me.
Question 2: Thanking Yourself
You are the most overlooked person in your life.
True gratitude begins within. Most journals used to make me feel awful.
Here are some of the questions I remember vividly: I took care of myself by taking time for reflection/meditation.
Nope, I planned to meditate but I stayed in bed the whole day instead.
Did you go outside for some fresh air?
Nope, I didn't even brush my teeth today because I couldn't stand the thought of looking at my reflection in the mirror.
An act of a kindess I did for someone else today was...
Nothing. Did I mention I couldn't bear to get out of bed today?
I. HATED. IT
So I knew that my journal would celebrate a person even if all they managed to do that day was breathe. You inhaled and exhaled? I love that and you should to. In fact, you should love it so much, you need to end the day by thanking yourself for it.
This is definitely my favourite question and I'm unbelievably proud of myself for thinking of it.
Question 3: Three Good Things
Just like the START of day portion, this was inspired by the same self-esteem activity.
This journal is about long-lasting transformation and that requires solid habit-building. That requires repetition hence, the same questions day-in and day-out.
If you knew you had to list three good things later that night, you'd be more likely to be extra perceptive and keep an eye out things to write about. Whether a blessing or a curse, you are destined to find what you seek. Seek goodness, find goodness.
I will share a personal anecdote to end this section on a cute note:
One time, I had a cherished colleague leave a Subway cookie on my work desk before I arrived and let me tell you recalling that moment for my journal later that night had me giggling and kicking my feet like a little girl. It WORKS!
Experience the Magic for Yourself
You’ve waited long enough.
You’ve doubted yourself long enough.
You’ve told yourself you’ll start someday—but deep down, you know someday is just an excuse.
The truth?
Your future is being built right now, in the small, quiet moments of your day—the ones most people overlook. That’s where transformation begins. That’s where manifestation actually happens.
The Empowered Solitude Nightstand Gratitude Journal isn’t just a journal—it’s a portal. A way to step into the version of yourself you know you’re meant to be. A way to rewrite the narrative, to start seeing yourself not as someone who wants more, but as someone who already holds the power to create it.
No more waiting. No more wishing.
Just small, deliberate actions that shift everything.
This is more than just gratitude. It’s self-recognition. Self-trust. Self-ownership. And it starts with a decision.
Are you ready to start showing up for yourself?
Because the life you envy doesn’t come from daydreams. It comes from moments like this—where you decide to claim it.
So go ahead. Turn the page. Your future is waiting.
It takes all kinds to make a world!
So remember, I am entitled to my beliefs and you are under no obligation to believe me.
Use your wisdom, take what resonates and treat the parts you disagree with as a fairytale.
Thank you for reading and wherever you are in the world, I wish you a worthy day!
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