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25+ Gratitude Quotes for Your Planner

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25+ Gratitude Quotes for Your Planner

Celebrating #NationalGratitudeMonth

Considering that November is #NationalGratitudeMonth I plan on focusing more thoughts and time to developing gratitude. Do you feel like it’s something you could improve in your life, too?

I found some great quotes on gratitude and I wanted to share them with you. Feel free to use any of them in your planner. Many of these quotes would work well in your planner or bullet journal. In fact, many of them would work well inscribed on a wall.

Gratitude isn’t just for #NationalGratitudeMonth in November. I know I need to include the practice of celebrating gratefulness more often in my life. In fact, I’d like to make it a daily practice, more so than I do right now. But what better time to start than now?

Want More Random Holidays?

Find my stash of random holidays here.

If you’re coming across this post whether it’s November, February or June or any time between, these gratitude quotes are a great starting point as a reminder to stop and appreciate the world around us and the things we have in our lives. My challenge to you is to find some way to elevate your expression of gratitude. I’d love to know about your adventure.

If you use any of these quotes in your planner, I’d love to see and share them so tag me on Instagram @ChocolateMusingsCreates.

Subclasses of Gratitude Quotes

After reading many of these quotes, it occurred to me that I could classify these gratitude quotes into sub-categories. I’d love to get some feedback from you – if I should move a quote to a different sub-category or create a whole new sub-category for these reminders of gratefulness, please leave me a comment below!

Also, I’d love to know if I skipped over any of your favorite gratitude quotes. Drop me a line and let me know!

25+ Gratitude Quotes Perfect for your Planner or Bullet Journal | ChocolateMusings.com #planning #journaling #gratitude

Gratitude Quotes – World Around Us

When you view your world with an attitude of gratitude, you are training yourself to focus on the good in life. – Paul J Meyer

Give yourself a gift of five minutes of contemplation in awe of everything you see around you. Go outside and turn your attention to the many miracles around you. This five-minute-a-day regimen of appreciation and gratitude will help you to focus your life in awe. – Wayne Dyer

The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. – Mary Davis

Some people grumble that roses have thorns. I am grateful that thorns have roses. – Alphonse Karr

The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes. It has enough lush forests, flowered fields, and sandy beaches. It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day. What the world needs is more people to appreciate and enjoy it. – Michael Josephson

Personal Transformation

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward

The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated. – William James

Gratitude is one of the strongest and most transformative states of being. It shifts your perspective from lack of abundance and allows you to focus on the good in your life, which in turn pulls more goodness into your reality. – Jen Sincero

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more, it turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melody Beattie

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. – Henry Ward Beecher

When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears. – Anthony Robbins

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. – Willie Nelson

If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily. – Gerald Good

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. – Albert Einstein

Happiness

I am happy because I’m grateful. I choose to be grateful. That gratitude allows me to be happy. – Will Arnett

I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness – it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. – Brene Brown

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Dennis Waitley

Gratitude & Action

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy

Enjoy every moment.

You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Abundance

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. – Cynthia Ozick

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. – Zig Ziglar

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault

The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement. – Charles Schwab

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. – Dalai Lama

“Enough” is a feast – Buddhist Proverb

If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get. – Frank A Clark

Want More Quotes? Here’s My Growing List

Quotes are and forever will be among my favorite things in this world. So I will strive to share more with you. View my list of quote-related blog posts.

Which Gratitude Quotes Do You Like the Most?

After reading some of these quotes, I know I am lacking in the gratitude department and will strive to live with an attitude of gratitude. Which ones are your favorite or how would you classify the gratitude quotes?

If what they say is true, gratitude will help enhance your life, bring more meaning to your days, make you see clearly the true blessings in your life and enhance the peace you feel.

I am all for these things, and if you are too, let’s try adding a little more gratitude every day to our lives. Rather than feel guilty, let’s become more grateful. We can do this, together.

Because I want to be sure that expressing more gratitude actually works, I plan on writing either a sentence or a word that I’m grateful for every day in November. Either dedicating a page in my planner for the word or phrase or writing it in my journal. Do you want to express more gratitude as well? And as a result of your gratitude experiment, what do you think it will do to your outlook on life?

Want to start planning or bullet journaling? Here are some of my favorite supplies to get you started.

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

9 Motivational Shakespeare Quotes for Your Planner

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9 Motivational Shakespeare Quotes for Your Planner + Bonus Quotes

Motivational Shakespeare Quotes for your Planner - Get the printables in the Shop! | ChocolateMusings.com #motivationalquotes #shakespeare

To celebrate “Talk Like Shakespeare Day” on April 23rd, the April Instagram Challenge consisted of a few favorite Shakespeare quotes. Who knew that Shakespeare was also a motivational speaker? Woven into his tragedies and comedies, you find snippets of inspiration for every day – find a few of my favorite Motivational Shakespeare Quotes + some of my other favorites below.

I know I’m not the only quote geek in the planner world, so I wanted to share a few of the motivational quotes I revisited recently. It’s fun to use quotes in your planner or for practice if you’re working on penmanship or learning how to letter. That’s what I did in April!

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!

P.S. I made printables for every quote – check them out in my shop!

Add Quotes for Motivation & Handlettering Practice

I find that adding quotes to my planner reminds me to slow down and remember what’s important to me. A bonus is practicing my lettering!

Throughout April, I used many of these quotes to develop my pointed pen techniques. If you’re just getting into the world of lettering, a pointed pen is usually a pen with a removable tip called a nib that you dip in ink. Similar to what they did in the times of Shakespeare. Comparable to brush pens, you can get beautiful thick and thin lines.

  • What's in a Name? Romeo & Juliet Quote - Quotes for your planner | ChocolateMusings.com #quotes
  • Forever and a Day Quote William Shakespeare Quotes for your planner | ChocolateMusings.com #quotes
  • This above all: to thine own self be true - William Shakespeare quotes for your planner | ChocolateMusings.com #betrue #quotes #motivational
  • This above all: to thine own self be true - William Shakespeare quotes for your planner | ChocolateMusings.com #betrue #quotes #motivational

I feel that writing with a pointed pen is so therapeutic. Some people love the sound of a scratchy nib on paper as they write. What I love is the way the page feels after I write and the ink is dry. The dried ink leaves a raised texture on the paper. And I love it.

I prefer an oblique pen to a straight pen with a nib. (See ‘forever and a day’ picture above.) All I have is a simple one, right now. I’d love to buy a fancy one someday soon. Once you get the hang of pressing down for thick lines and lifting for thin lines, the words become mesmerizing. When I created the Mother Theresa Printable a few months ago, I kept blobbing the ink on the first two lines. After I got past those lines, I was finally able to write the entire thing, and it was so incredibly satisfying!

Sometimes it takes several tries to get it the way you want it. As you can see above, it took me quite a few tries to write “to thine own self be true” with a glass nib pen. Learning & messing up is just part of the process.

Pointed Pen vs. Brush Pens

I find that the technique for using a pointed pen translates back and forth for brush pens and pointed pens. You press harder when you want a thick stroke, and use the tip of the pen/nib for thin strokes. If you need some fantastic quotes to try with your brush pens or pointed pen, try some Shakespeare.

Everything feels fancier when you write Shakespeare’s words. ~Tricia @ Chocolate Musings. In case you’re wondering, that’s an original quote by me. You could put that in your planner too if you wanted.

  • Quote Ideas for your Planner If Music be the Food of Love, Play On - Williams Shakespeare with Music Note Wreath | ChocolateMusings.com
  • Quote Ideas for your Planner If Music be the Food of Love, Play On - Williams Shakespeare Floral Wreath | ChocolateMusings.com
  • Quote Ideas for your Planner Nothing will come of Nothing - Williams Shakespeare Floral Wreath | ChocolateMusings.com

Here are a few Motivational Shakespeare Quotes to include in your planner:

All That Glitters is Not Gold. – The Merchant of Venice

Be not afraid of greatness. (You could end it right there if you wanted – but it continues)

Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. – Twelfth Night

Nothing will come of nothing. – King Lear

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This above all: To thine own self be true. – Hamlet

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. – All’s Well That Ends Well

No legacy is so rich as honesty. – All’s Well That Ends Well

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. – Julis Caesar

Be great in act, as you have been in thought. – King John

We know who we are, but know not what we may be. – Hamlet

All of these quotes remind me to pursue amazing things in my life, but the last one is a distinct reminder never to forget where I genuinely want to go and not to sell myself short. Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! I’d also love to hear if you have a different favorite quote!

Bonus Quotes

I couldn’t stop there. Some of my favorite Shakespeare quotes wouldn’t classify as motivational, but some words speak powerfully to me, and I want to share them with you.

  • Forever and a day. – Taming of the Shrew (I added a twist to this one, too)
  • The course of true love never did run smooth. – A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • If music be the food of love, play on. The Twelfth Night
  • What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. – Romeo and Juliet
  • They do not love that do not show their love. – Gentlemen of Verona

I want to paint the quote ‘forever and a day’ above my bed on my wall. Not now, but when we move. I’m secretly making plans for the new house we will eventually buy, and collecting quotes is definitely part of that plan! I think instead of just saying ‘forever and a day’ I would paint “I will love you forever and a day.”

Which ones would you include in your planner or on your wall?

Check out my shop for printables for your wall or planner!

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!

2019: Phrase of the Year

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There’s a lot of things I didn’t do before I started bullet journaling. One thing I added to my life since starting this little adventure over two years ago, I included ‘words of the year’ to my life. In 2018, I focused on the word “grow.” A quick assessment of the past 12 months, I can say that I did indeed grow. I’m still the same height (and even a little less width), but my soul grew by leaps and bounds.

Word of the Year: Grow | A quest to love myself and be better | ChocolateMusings.com #wordoftheyear Word of the Year: Grow | A quest to love myself and be better | ChocolateMusings.com #wordoftheyear

2019 Phrase of the Year

This year, I decided on a phrase. My phrase of 2018 is “Fake it Until You Make It.” Funny phrase, but the confidence and power behind faking it until I make it is quite substantial. So many times I feel like I don’t belong where I’m trying to go. Impostor syndrome is a real thing (this is despite your accomplishments or talents you’re afraid others consider you a fraud.)

Fake It Until You Make it - Phrase of the Year | ChocolateMusings.com Get the Printable!

Like this print?
I created a wall printable
& a planner printable

ChocolateMusings.com Shop - Find it in the shop!

Impostor Syndrome – Does it Affect You?

An article in Time suggests that 70% of people experience impostor syndrome! For years, I wished that I didn’t feel like a complete and total impostor, but a majority of people suffer from this phenomenon. My phrase of the year “Fake it Until You Make It” gives me the confidence boost enough to ‘just try.’

Simply telling myself to ‘fake it, and just try’ shifts my mindset and empowers me to push aside those pesky doubts and do the things that I want to do.

Recently, I tried my hand at faux watercolor portraits. Nothing in my life could be more classic of ‘fake it until you make it’ attempts. But here’s the thing, all I needed to do was try. I tried it, I liked it, and I’m going to keep developing that talent plus any others.

Have you done anything to ‘fake it till you make it’ and ignore that nagging feeling of impostor syndrome? The feeling is indescribable and freeing.

Custom Digitally Painted Watercolor Family Portraits | ChocolateMusings.com #watercolor #portrait #painting #custommade

I plan to try all sorts of new things in 2019, specifically in developing my talents.  If it’s outside my comfort zone, I’ll tell myself ‘fake it until you make it’ and do it anyway.

question mark - chocolatemusings.com

What is your word or phrase of the year? How do you feel about ‘faking it until you make it?’

~Tricia

Expecting Perfection

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Expecting Perfection

Here’s some inspiration from #homwork from the lettering community aficionado. This #homwork assignment was to letter a phrase elegantly that was kind of dirty or ugly. My expression was “Expecting Perfection Always”. A little about the creator of #homwork: she inspires thousands of people to use their imaginations and create something unique.  That’s what my monthly challenges are about as well! Create your own works, be your own self, but expecting perfection is not a requirement.

Become a Master

To become a master of a craft or skill, it takes 10,000 hours or roughly 10 years of practice. That’s what I’d always learned, and doing a light bit of research confirmed that 10,000 hours is the consensus to become a master. Whether it takes 1000 hours or 10,000 hours, we are not perfect in just a few tries.

I think we get stuck with expecting perfection at all times, but until we have put in those 10,000 hours to become a master, we need to give ourselves a little slack. And After those 10,000 hours, we will be a master of our own craft, and I believe it is at that point we will know that mistakes still happen. But we will have spent the time to know when to scrap our work and when to continue because it just needs refinement.

Why are We Not Equal?

We are willing to allow others to make mistakes, but not ourselves? Or forgive someone else when they’ve wronged us directly?
Why don’t we give ourselves that same break? That is a question I have asked myself for a very long time. Longer than I care to admit.

I believe that life is a journey and in that winding road of life, there are setbacks and lots of mistakes. Don’t get lost on NOT being perfect, instead, focus on learning from mistakes. My favorite mistakes to learn from are the mistakes of others. 🙂 That way I don’t have to make all the mistakes. If they outright tell me what mistakes they made and what they learned – even better!

plan your life so you live beautifully

Plans, Ambitions & Attitude of Gratitude

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Alright March, I’ve heard you come in like a lion…let’s do this thing. I’ve got ambitions and a bullet journal set-up to prove it. I’ll post the bullet journal set-up later.

Plans, ambitions & attitude of gratitude
Inspiration for picture layout: Patti @as_a_rye AsARye.com

February Review

Unfinished Projects Bullet Journal Spread

One day, because we’re kind of nerdy, my husband and I looked up why February was shorter than all the other months. What I remember of that brief Google search is that they hated that month. Farmers didn’t like that month, and it was a month to be cast aside and anticipate what was coming next. Well, this year, I can’t say I disagree.

My February mid-month habit check was pathetic (my habits and I were on a break) and nothing seemed to work well last month. After some introspection, I discovered that I was not writing things down and I was just trying to keep it all in my head.

Why?

Partially because I was moving to a new notebook and I wasn’t making consorted effort to keep track of all my projects. So I just got frustrated. Then I was frustrated that I was frustrated. Have you ever been there? I know am not alone. A minimalistic mind map layout showing my unfinished projects seemed to clear the fog.

Plans Do Not Have to be Linear

My February weekly spreads are distinct and different week to week! I recorded videos and walked you through how to create them. I even did real-time freehand drawings so you could see more of the process. Well, guess what? I never posted them. During my slump, I wondered if it would even be worth posting. The month ended, and it wouldn’t be ‘in the month that I created it.’

So is it worth it to post? Absolutely! I figure you wouldn’t have used it in February anyway.

I’m Thankful for SunshineRandom thoughts and great ideas bullet journal spread idea tracker brain dump

Thankfully the cloudy thoughts parted, and figurative sunrays enlightened my mind. I realized that just because the week has passed, the information is still useful! So I will post those weeks later. I got so caught up ‘in the moment of relevance’ that I forgot to take time to ‘be in the moment.’ Posting my March welcome page the day before or the week before on Instagram isn’t necessary. I realized that I love seeing past month’s posts from others and it doesn’t matter to me if it is for that month or not. Inspiration doesn’t need a timeline to be inspiring.

There’s so much I want to share with you! Pages and pages of ideas scatter through my notebooks. I hope you come here hungry for inspiration because I want to serve you a feast.  My ambition is to live by the concept of the design rather than the date in my notebook.

My Inspiration:

I have to credit a couple of people for this inspiration. One is my friend at TheAniKay.com – Ani and I got to meet when she was here in Atlanta for work. We got dinner at one of my favorite spots (Tacos & Tequilas), and then we went to Michael’s. It was a good day! When Ani posted her change of mindset on her blog (read it here), and it got me thinking. I am not one to follow the crowd and never have been.

Tales of a 6th Grade Nothing:

In 6th grade at lunch one day, I remember one of the popular girls asked me to sit at her table (an outsider’s dream!). At first, my heart pumped, and I could hear my heartbeat throbbing in my ears with excitement. But then I told her no.

When I told her no in that split second, I knew that I didn’t want to do what the other girls at that table did. Their hair was the same, and their clothes were from the same store, they even talked the same. I didn’t want to be a copy. Most of all I didn’t want to act the way they acted, they weren’t very nice.

Ambitions: What’s coming:

Since then, I have thought a lot about what I wanted to do. I love posting my monthly & weekly spreads, quotes, mantras, etc. That will continue, but maybe not in the order of creation.

I’ve also wanted to curate inspiration from all over to get your creative gears turning. That is, after all, the goal here.  I will be adding a ‘favorites day.’ I want to share with you what inspires me and what my favorite things are.

Who I am & what I like to do, a definition of me, Bullet journal Collection

Instagram Does Not Rule My Life

Instagram’s algorithms display my content days or weeks later than I post. So why does it matter when I post the content? I am not going to live and die by the way Instagram decides to serve (or not serve up) my content. If I am busy living life and don’t get to post something the day I should according to the current platform algorithm, well, good for me. I’m living life.

What Does that Mean?

That means my posts won’t be timely when it comes to weekly & monthly layouts (posting the week/day before the date occurs on the calendar). But I think that timelines are irrelevant when it comes to that anyway. You can recreate a spread from my March into your October or December journals without caring that it came from my March spread.

You can use an idea from a collection and turn it into a tracker or another spread.

This blog is meant to inspire. If it is only inspirational right this minute, well, that’s a lot of effort for just a moment. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and let that take over.  I have three kids, a husband, a house, a job, a cat, church responsibilities. I drive like a civilized human being, I try to smile at strangers (I have an ongoing battle with RBF), and I am trying to make the best of things in my life. Following my advice: plan your life, so you live beautifully. Sometimes living beautifully means that I live on my schedule and I go to the park instead of edit a video.

Ambitions: Help You Find Your Inner Muse

I love creating content for you. Hearing that I helped make a difference in your life and ignited your inner muse is AMAZING. I lived through years of what I call the ‘dark ages’ where I never touched a paintbrush or picked up a pencil. When I finally rediscovered my inner muse, I vowed never to let her go. I intend to help others find their inner muse and enjoy life too.

Life is complicated and messy. My bullet journal has helped restore some order to my life, and for that I am grateful. I am also grateful to create and be creative.

I hope that no matter when you find this content, you will be inspired in some way.  And the figurative sunrays will find their way through cloudy thoughts and lighten your day.

My goal in life is to be happier. I read books on the subject, make goals, create habit trackers, all to lead a happier, more fulfilling life. Forgive me if I am behind on posting my weekly or monthly layouts. I am working on forgiving myself for it too.

Here’s Your Challenge:

Decide who you are and be that. Choose what you do, who you talk to, your friends, when you post to social media, and how you live your life.