Got 3GT?

How three good things at the end of the day can help you feel happier

Think fast: what’s something good that happened for you yesterday?

What else happened good?

And one more thing?

My research shows the presence of three good things (3GT) in your life can help you be happier. And who doesn’t have at least three good things that happened for them at the end of each day?

Here are three good things that happened for me yesterday:

• I stood in the wrong line for my food yesterday. A nice stranger smiled at me and let me go in line where I was supposed to be instead of waiting behind him. He saw me struggling and decided to be kind to me.

• My wife scanned in some documents I needed to be scanned in before I left for two weeks so I could focus on other things. This happened because she loves me and because I asked.

• A random stranger smiled at me and said “thank you” after I handed them a shopping cart that was stuck. I think this happened because I was smiling when I handed them the cart.

Nothing huge. But definitely good things.

And they all three make me smile.

So now I’m going to add this to my daily practices. I already do 3DG (Three Daily Gratitudes), so now I’ll add in 3GT (Three Good Things). And it’s simple to do:

At the end of the day, before you fall asleep, write down three good things that happened that day and reflect on why they happened. I’d encourage you to put it on the same page as your daily gratitude practice, or share a new post to social media, even if you save it for just you to see later like I sometimes do with my daily gratitudes.

If your day wasn’t as great as you’d hoped it would be, go back and look at another day’s 3GTs or 3DGs for a reminder of the good things that have happened, then try again to come up with your three good things.

It’s hard to be anything but happy when you’re thinking about the three good things that have happened for you.