[HN Gopher] Show HN: Three Things Daily - Make gratitude a daily...
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Show HN: Three Things Daily - Make gratitude a daily habit
Author : crystalcamarao
Score : 103 points
Date : 2021-03-31 12:02 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (threethingsdaily.xyz)
(TXT) w3m dump (threethingsdaily.xyz)
| dhumph wrote:
| I like the idea of this, but frankly the necessity of a login is
| too big of a barrier for me.
| npsimons wrote:
| I've never understood dedicating a whole darn website to such
| simple concepts. Perhaps that's why I'm not rich.
|
| It's three things! Just write them down somewhere. Heck, put
| them in a text file and check it into git.
|
| I ran into a similar mindset with someone asking about BMI on
| another forum I frequent and someone suggested a website. It's
| two math operations! Just open the calculator on your phone
| (yes, even flip phones have one), or _on the computer you 're
| reading this on_.
|
| ETA: For those wondering, here's the three things as I heard
| them: 1. Something that made you smile or
| happy: 2. Something you are grateful for: 3.
| Something you did well:
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I guess part of my idea was to build a community committed to
| practicing gratitude. Yes, it's perfectly simple to do it on
| your own. But you'd be doing it on your own. :) Thanks for
| sharing!
| kibleopard wrote:
| FWIW I like this idea - seeing other peoples' gratitude
| serves as a good reminder for the things I should be
| grateful for in my own life. Lovely app!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes it is a good reminder, isn't it. Thanks for sharing!
| dhumph wrote:
| Thinking about this more... the barrier is big for me because
| this type of social sharing i dont find value in. for those
| that do, i suspect that enabling them to share on platforms
| that are more popular could be useful.
|
| Or, is there value in aggregating things that people say to
| help those who are struggling to find a reason to be grateful.
| .. turn that into a weekly trend line. are people more grateful
| for their health during a pandemic? are people more grateful
| for their spouse in the summer? that sort of stuff could be
| interesting.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| That makes sense. Social sharing is enabled at the single
| post page level.
|
| As for the trends idea, that sounds brilliant. Will consider
| it for the future. Thanks for sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I understand, I was thinking of adding guest/anonymous posting
| too. Thanks for sharing!
| micdr0p wrote:
| ditto
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I see it is a common opinion. Will definitely look into
| adding guest posting, thanks for sharing!
| JFKKFJ wrote:
| Interesting. Similar to this 'played by e-mail' Game of Joy:
| https://bricioledigioia.neocities.org/index.html#ilGiocoDell...
| king_magic wrote:
| Research shows that if you list at least three things you're
| grateful for everyday, you will significantly improve your mental
| health.
|
| Does it _really_ , or does this line just sound good? If you're
| going to make a claim like this, you should probably link to
| peer-reviewed research that backs this up.
| floverfelt wrote:
| As best as we know it does:
| https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-...
| neonological wrote:
| https://www.prevention.com/life/a20434535/how-being-
| selfish-...
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Any particular reason you shared this? A bit confused how
| it's relevant.
| king_magic wrote:
| That's great, exactly what I was looking for. OP should link
| to something like this.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes, that's a very good suggestion. Thanks for sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Thanks for sharing! Here's something I found to add to that:
| https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313845439_%27The_Th.
| ..
| kilroy123 wrote:
| Mandatory, this is anecdotal...
|
| I do this every morning when I wake up and have for a good year
| or so.
|
| I honestly don't notice much of a difference.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Sorry to hear that. Thanks for sharing!
| yboris wrote:
| Not anecdotal, please see links to research in other
| comments.
|
| Furthermore, just because something doesn't work for you,
| doesn't mean it doesn't work for others. Additionally, unless
| you've been keeping a log before and after you started the
| interventions, you should be at least skeptical about the
| difference you expect. It's entirely possible you got better,
| adjusted to the norm, and just think you feel as good as you
| normally do - while your "normal" is better than before.
|
| Finally, the effect is more likely to be pronounced in people
| feeling worse than average. If your life is fantastic, you
| might not get much of a benefit from an intervention that has
| otherwise strong effects on people.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
| wunderflix wrote:
| I am a bit skeptic when it comes to these things. But, I have
| been doing a 1 min "prayer" every day while taking a shower in
| the morning. I remind myself how well I am off compared to many
| people and what a great family I have etc. It has really helped
| me to start the day with a calmer mind.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes, I think it does help. Thanks for sharing!
| gkilmain wrote:
| I hear what you're saying but ... have you tried it? Seems like
| a simple enough exercise. Heck, maybe I'll try it.
| BeetleB wrote:
| I have, and I disagree.
|
| Maybe it's because my outlook is generally one of being
| grateful, so I may have already received the benefits without
| this exercise.
|
| In any case, I'd be wary of any claims like this unless
| someone tries it for _at least 6 months_. I expect initially
| one will get benefits but after N months it fizzles away.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Maybe it depends on a lot of factors. Thanks for sharing!
| gkilmain wrote:
| I'm going to give it a go with the old pencil / paper.
| Hopefully, if it works and then fizzles away, it'll fizzle
| because i've gained the benefit. Six months tho - might be
| tough.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Good luck and thanks for sharing!
| krrrh wrote:
| I've tried it a few times when I've been in periods of
| relative depression, either with the paper 5 minute
| journal or with the app of the same name. The habit lasts
| for a week and then fades away as I start to get engaged
| in life gain. Maybe that would have happened without the
| journaling, but it's such a low cost exercise and it
| _feels_ like it makes a difference.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes, it does feel that way for me too. Thanks for
| sharing!
| spaceprison wrote:
| This is anecdata but I know a lot of people that AA has worked
| for (tens of years of sobriety) attribute a portion of their
| success and sanity on doing a daily gratitude list.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| That's nice to know. Thanks for sharing!
| billfruit wrote:
| Even peer reviewed research won't make me believe claims like
| that. Experimental psychology seems a field plagued by
| replicability crisis, and frankly I think the field is just a
| self perpetuating paper mill for those in it, and a futile
| pursuit.
|
| Psychology in my view needs a theoritical approach. Did Freud,
| William James etc need to do experiments with 30 graduate
| students to study about the working of the mind, and behaviour
| of people?.
| b3kart wrote:
| With no experimental validation my theory is as good as
| Freud's theory for all intents and purposes. Maybe we should
| be thinking around improving experimental methodology
| instead? _Then_ we can try to come up with complex theories
| and test them.
| billfruit wrote:
| Without resorting to experiments, theories can be valuable
| in themselves, their soundness of argument, their
| coherence, and them not leading to confounding and
| condtradictory predictions can guide us as to their
| validity.
|
| There is value in approaching problems analytically rather
| than resorting to empirical methods.
| euthymiclabs wrote:
| Modern psychology is heavily driven by both theory and
| empiric techniques. The theories themselves are rich and
| generally cohesive, but without empirical validation,
| they are essentially bare philosophy. Of course they
| aren't as water tight as the theories and observations of
| physics, but if you spend any time in the core
| psychological literature, you'll find a ton of
| theoretical work.
| KerryJones wrote:
| Been doing this for a couple years now... I still have no idea if
| it actually makes me happy, but I enjoy the practice of it. I
| also write three things I accomplished in the day, no matter how
| large or small.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I do that too! Most of the time my gratitude journal consists
| of the things I accomplished that day, because I'm grateful I
| even get things done (I have a disorder). Thanks for sharing!
| Mrnothing_ wrote:
| I the only one who feels worse than before, it like all shit,
| sometimes life is shit. I'm not Cristian but I feel this frace
| encapusale my feelings Mark 9:24"I do believe; help my unbelief!"
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Sorry to hear you feel that way. :(
| floverfelt wrote:
| Hey neat! I actually made something very similar but as a Chrome
| extension [1].
|
| The issue I saw with doing this as a web app is there's nothing
| in a web app to actually force you to do the logging. You have to
| remember to do it which I didn't like.
|
| [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/three-
| gratitudes/p...
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes that makes sense, my workaround with that was a daily
| reminder email. I'll have to test if it works though. Thanks
| for sharing! Your app seems awesome!
| thirtythree wrote:
| What tech stack did you use?
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Hi! I made it by mostly using no-code tools. It's built using
| Wordpress. I used the plugins WP User Frontend Pro and Advanced
| Custom Fields Pro.
| xyzelement wrote:
| I am grateful for all the tools available to create quick
| websites :)
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes, I am too!
| mncharity wrote:
| Fwiw, I fuzzily recall a paper some years back, which suggested
| some benefited more from gratitude journaling weekly, rather than
| daily.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I'm no expert, but will look into it. Thanks for sharing!
| tppiotrowski wrote:
| One recurring theme: people grateful to wake up for another day.
|
| Definitely something I take for granted. It's good to be reminded
| each day is a gift.
| cmehdy wrote:
| The real recurring theme is that "I", "me", or "my" ends up
| appearing a minimum of one time per person and day.
|
| After decades of severe depression, it isn't entirely
| surprising to me that there must be an "I" to experience
| positive things in order for gratitude to give a lasting impact
| to the mood.
|
| "I'm grateful for people who remove landmines, for talented
| artists creating beauty in the world, for little caring
| gestures that strangers have for each other." But this reads
| more abstractly than when there's a person to actually
| experience its consequences directly, and it feels very
| different from the inside too as it holds little connection to
| the self.
|
| It's a good habit nonetheless, because if anything it is a
| mechanical workout to cultivate a capacity for empathy (for
| self in healthier people perhaps, but in general otherwise).
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| You make a good point! Being grateful for things that, as you
| put it, hold little connection to us surely helps because it
| makes us better people. Thanks for sharing!
| pitspotter wrote:
| Cotton sheets help to remind me. I don't know what people slept
| on in history (tho I hear that heather was good) but clean
| sheets and cotton pyjamas are fantastic.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Ah, that makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
| loceng wrote:
| "Is the cup half empty or half full?"
|
| "Be happy you have a cup!"
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I never thought of it that way. Thanks for sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Hi! Yes, it's something we all take for granted. Thanks for
| checking it out!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Hi,
|
| Do you want to become better at being grateful?
|
| I built a simple site where you can list 3 things you're grateful
| for that day.
|
| Research shows that being grateful makes you happier and
| healthier. I want to help people be more grateful, especially
| people who are depressed.
|
| I'd appreciate your comments.
|
| Thanks!
| yboris wrote:
| I also like that it's 3 rather than "list 10". There's some
| research on this: when people try 3, it's rather easy to
| succeed. If they try 10, they might find it hard, and if they
| run out of "good" things to list before finishing, they may
| erroneously conclude they have it pretty bad.
|
| Psychology is rather funny - good to study it empirically! I'm
| so thankful there are so many Ph.D. researchers who take it
| seriously and contribute to the general knowledge by writing
| books for the general public.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Great insight! I guess it's part of why it's doable as a
| habit. As James Clear pointed out in Atomic Habits, "make it
| easy". Thanks for sharing!
| ducharmdev wrote:
| Very minor suggestion, but using bullets and numbering is a bit
| visually redundant. I would probably choose one or the other vs
| both.
|
| Beyond that, really fun idea. It makes me happy to see an app
| idea with a more humanistic goal.
| yboris wrote:
| There's a lot of great research on the topic of happiness -
| it's the field of _Positive Psychology_
|
| A great "how to" book is: _The How of Happiness: A New Approach
| to Getting the Life You Want_ by Sonja Lyubomirsky (a Ph.D.
| researcher in the field of study) http://thehowofhappiness.com
| -- this book shares the specific advice you share in your
| comment.
|
| A lot of great books I can recommend as well, e.g. _Stumbling
| on Happiness_ by Daniel Gilbert and _The Happiness Hypothesis:
| Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom_ by Jonathan Haidt.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing! I'm adding that book
| on Goodreads now.
| danaliv wrote:
| This is awesome. I've wanted something like this for years.
| Thanks so much for building it.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Awww. Thanks for making my day!
| TriNetra wrote:
| I have used Black Lotus app [0] and on multiple occasions, its
| novel framework called RARE (Reflect, Act, Reinforce and
| Evaluate) has helped me come out of the stress/anxiety I'd
| suddenly found myself trapped into.
|
| There are different kinds of RARE goals depending on what you're
| going through at the moment (stress/lack of
| focus/mindfullness/etc) and each has its own duration (typically
| 21 days), during which you daily perform such activities like
| guided meditation, a guided breathing exercise, a random act of
| kindness, reading of some wisdom article/inspiring RAK story and
| many a times, expressing gratitude.
|
| 0: https://www.blacklotus.app/
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Sounds great! All those sound like good habits. Thanks for
| sharing!
| carols10cents wrote:
| I've been using The Five Minute Journal [1] (on paper) for a
| while (definitely not every day) and it has a gratitude
| component. I do enjoy how it helps prompt me to change my
| perspective :)
|
| [1] - https://www.intelligentchange.com/products/the-five-
| minute-j...
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Can I ask how it prompts to change your perspective? I might
| want to implement that. It's not clear to me based on the link
| you gave. Thanks for sharing!
| maxrev17 wrote:
| Oh man, why oh why...
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Care to elaborate?
| haram_masala wrote:
| My suggestion is that you gameify this. Add daily challenges,
| unlock achievements, and compete with others using the app in
| your area. Crush your friends at staying grateful and you get
| exclusive skins to download for the app. Really, engagement is
| the key.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I was thinking of that too. Thanks for sharing!
| StacyC wrote:
| Very nice! Gratitude is good for the soul.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Hi! Yes it is. Thanks for checking it out!
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| Our family's religious tradition incorporates this type of
| communication every evening.
|
| It is a delight as a parent to see how much joy it brings our
| children when they share with others what they are thankful for.
| It can be as simple as "blankets" and "blocks", which I have
| witnessed and smiled about.
|
| It brings me comfort knowing that our kids will have specifically
| communicated their gratitude in this way about 5000 times prior
| to entering high school.
|
| In our area of the world, a large percentage of high school
| students are on anti-depression medication and the rates continue
| to rise. I hope this activity is one way to lean against that
| trend.
| sarabad2021 wrote:
| This. We pray and give thanks as a family multiple times per
| day. Not in an empty monotonous prayer but we all chime in
| things and people that we're thankful for. Simple and genuine.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Simple and genuine is the key. Thanks for sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| That's a very good thing to teach your children. Thanks for
| sharing!
| DC1350 wrote:
| I don't want to read what other people are grateful for because
| it just reminds me that the things I'm missing are actually
| important. A piece of paper and a pen works better.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I understand, the goal isn't to compare yourself with others
| but to encourage each other. Thanks for sharing!
| plauribre wrote:
| I think you'd find that a slight shift in perspective on this
| will do wonders. Try imagining that the person posting is your
| best friend on a good day. Or your mom. Or your dog. Or
| anyone/thing else you unconditionally hope receives good things
| in life. That might turn some of them into _boosts_ to your
| happiness (I want good things for person x: imagine good things
| happening to person x = good thing for me).
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| That's a great perspective to have! Thanks for sharing!
| talmr wrote:
| Seems like the site is an outlet for gratitude. So many people
| are practicing gratitude there!
|
| Don't doomscroll through their gratitudes if that's distracting
| for you, and if pen and paper works better for you then that's
| amazing!
|
| Goal is to just be grateful :)
| DC1350 wrote:
| It's just toxic positivity and bragging. Gratitude is useful
| for people with bad lives to find something small to cheer
| themselves up. It's not for healthy people who love their
| jobs and their family to flex on the people who can't think
| of anything better than overnight oats to be grateful for.
| This site is not useful for anyone who actually needs help
| and I hate it.
| mensetmanusman wrote:
| Just FYI that this post comes across quite aggressively. I
| assume it wasn't your intention.
|
| Hope you have a good day.
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Looking at the best in everybody. Nice. Thanks for
| sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| I don't believe it is anyone's intention to brag here.
| Being grateful and expressing that grattitude does not
| necessarily equate to showing off. In fact most of the
| users use pseudonyms so if they really wanted to brag they
| would've done so using Facebook or something. Just my 2
| cents. Thanks for sharing!
| crystalcamarao wrote:
| Yes that makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
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