What is the Difference between Gratitude and Abundance?
It’s the wellbeing battle of the Titans.
Gratitude can actually change your life.
Abundance mindset may just be the key to the future you feel is out of reach.
A future you really, really want.
But you’re not sure if you should be grateful or abundant, because, well, what is the ACTUAL difference?
And, let’s be honest, it all feels a bit out of touch with the daily grind. Those people citing both as responsible for amazing success in their life feel just a tad ick somehow.
If you want to understand exactly what these two wellbeing power houses are, this article will answer your questions:
What is the difference between Gratitude and Abundance?
What is Gratitude?
What is Abundance?
Which one do you need to use?
How do you use them in a journaling practice?
Has anyone ever told you to be more grateful and you’ve found yourself silently counting to ten?
You too? Really! (I’m so glad it’s not just me.)
How about you’ve been struggling to stretch the budget to the end of the month, and someone starts talking about abundance mindset?
Yeah, that’s pretty annoying too.
“Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take.”
It’s definitely not just you. Let’s unpack why these well-meaning nudges can feel so jarring, and what you can do about it.
The sticky-fingered discomfort with gratitude and abundance is two-fold:
Firstly, the words are often used interchangeably. In fact, often in the same sentence. Because of this, their value is generalised, not specified.
Secondly, they are used in a way that suggests they are quantifiable assets in the arsenal of your life. But you can’t hold grateful. You can’t pay abundance into the bank.
Both gratitude and abundance are mindsets, not assets.
But they are very different mindsets.
With very different energies and results.
Engaged through a process (in this article I will be focusing on journaling as that tool, but you could use meditation, visualisation or intentional practice amongst others) they can help to change your life.
So let’s start with understanding their difference.
1 What is the difference between Gratitude and Abundance?
Imagine this…
You are stood in the open doorway to your home.
You have no major pressing needs to attend to, either your own or anyone else’s.
Do you close the door to cherish what’s inside?
Or do you step out to see what might arrive?
These are the distinct paths of gratitude and abundance mindset.
Gratitude is a retrospective mindset. It closes the door and takes delight in what is already within the circumference of your life space.
The energy of gratitude is like giving your life a great big hug.
Abundance is a prospective mindset. It encourages you to take a step out of the door, down the garden path, peer round the gate and up and down the street. Abundance knows that more good stuff is incoming all the time.
The energy of abundance is like opening your arms to welcome the universe.
(And doing so with the confidence that you can stand on your front doorstep, arms wide open, and not feel an absolute idiot.)
((So, basically, the confidence of a five-year-old.))
BOTH HAVE EQUAL VALUE.
But they have different functions.
Gratitude journaling can be a useful tool to shift a negative mindset. It can be a healing practice during difficult times. It can support you in being a greater version of yourself through life’s challenges. It can help you to find even greater peace and joy in your current circumstances. It is an act of appreciation for what you have, a magnifier to the bounty already within your life and a way to refresh your wonder and delight.
Abundance journaling can help you courageously plan for future possibilities. It can shift you out of survival mode and into thrive mode. Abundance journaling is an act of faith in what is incoming into your life. An expression of self-belief and self-worth that changes how you act and show up in the world.
BOTH ARE CHALLENGING TO PRACTICE.
But they are challenging in different ways.
So let’s get into the details of each mindset.
2 Gratitude is your best friend.
Your real best friend, that is.
The one who knows you well enough to know when you’re being hard on yourself AND when you’re fighting a losing battle.
If you’ve been following my one-woman mission to get the world journaling for any length of time, you might already know that I hated gratitude journaling when I first began doing it.
I spent at least the first three months raving about the quality of my coffee.
Hmmm.. okay, it was six months.
I had to practice gratitude for a long time before it began to work for me.
But slowly, it did begin to make a difference.
My inability to execute gratitude journaling reflected back to me how I was focused on the negative aspects of my life to the exclusion of all else. A mindset I had become entrenched in through frustration. Because I couldn’t ‘fix’ my challenges, I had become resentful.
By changing my focus, I was able to work out those things in my life that had value and those things that I needed to accept I couldn’t change. Resentment and negativity were my way of avoiding hard choices.
Here are some qualities of a gratitude mindset:
It generates a calming, comforting energy. Soothes stress and anxiety.
It alters your understanding about what feels intolerable.
Encourages you to enjoy the journey rather than racing onto the next goal.
Disrupts a pattern of mental negativity bias, helping to decrease anxiety and depression.
Encourages generosity and compassion; ‘do good’ emotions that can empower and uplift you.
Builds resilience and optimism.
Helps to improve interpersonal relationships by focusing on value rather than conflict.
Enhances self-esteem and defeats self-pity.
Improves physical wellbeing through mind-body connection.
Clarifies the source of true unhappiness in order to allow necessary change.
Gratitude won’t cure all your woes.
But it will absolutely improve many aspects of your life and focus your energy where it is really needed.
For many years now, I am an A** Gratitude Journal Aficionado…
COVID and I were Gratitude besties.
I was able to Gratitude journal my way through the trauma of suicide loss in my life. (In fact, I’d say gratitude was one of the key tools that helped me navigate trauma.)
I can Gratitude the hell out of a twenty-minute argument with my teenage daughter about the nuances between mash potato and jacket potato.
I can even Gratitude journal about my current commitment to quit coffee.
But I hadn’t tried Abundance journaling.
Until early in 2024.
When I hit another brick wall.
The boundary to the land of self-belief.
The land that lies beyond the front door threshold.
3 Abundance is your personal trainer.
The one who knows exactly what you want, and what it’s going to take to get there.
Who knows you have to commit to the process, without being able to control the results.
Abundance is the art of a) committing to a future vision of yourself and your life and then b) expressing (through journaling or another tool) how that is already showing up in your life.
The first part is about sitting with yourself and getting crystal clear on what you want. That means looking honestly at what you are settling for. Working out what you’ve been told (personally or culturally) that you deserve and shedding those limiting beliefs. It’s about creating, through words or pictures or statements, precisely the magnitude of the life you want to live.
The second part is about then releasing that vision into the magnitude of the universe without attempting to control it, and counting how abundance is showing up in your life ALREADY. It is shifting from seeing lack to seeing plenty. To seeing the reality of your future already embedded in your daily thoughts, words and actions.
It is, in my humble opinion, the art of holding fresh air in your hands and not dropping it.
But what brought me to the decision to turn my wonderfully successful gratitude practice into an abundance practice?
I became aware of passing another threshold in my life.
One where I was aware that I was pushing away some exciting ideas in order to keep focusing on gratitude for all that I had. The front door wanted to open, and I kept shutting it.
Partly because I had learned gratitude through some very tough times; COVID, relationship separation, suicide loss and trauma.
Gratitude had become my Survival Superpower.
But focusing too much on valuing and cherishing what we have can limit us to what may be around the corner.
This is especially true when we are over-exposed to stress in the external world.
Post-COVID we need to actively release the ‘Survival’ mindset, and this is challenging in a global and political environment that feels threatening and unstable. It feels hard to embrace that we can ask for more, let alone believe in it before we receive it.
Here are some qualities of an abundance mindset:
It generates a confident, can-do energy. You can actually feel it in your body.
Alters your understanding about what you are worthy of.
Dismantles limiting belief systems and self-sabotage.
Swells courage and excitement for new adventures.
Sees what you already have as evidence that more will follow.
Encourages sharing of resources (skills, networks, energy, generosity) with others because resources are infinite.
Generates a ‘Go-Giving’ enthusiasm that what you put out into the world is returned.
Encourages confidence in the future, believing in the good yet to come.
Releases fear and the need for control, deepening trust in the unknown nature of life.
If all this sounds like some form of fantasy magic, take heart. Abundance has scientific evidence to back it up. Check out this video with Dr Tara Swart. You are actually rewiring your brain.
If you’ve already mastered gratitude but feel uncomfortable about shifting gears, don’t be afraid to switch your habit if changes in your life encourage it. At its heart, abundance is not a competitor but a team mate to gratitude, and I’ll explain why soon.
4 Which one do you need to use?
Here then is the core difference between these two mindsets:
Gratitude is, at its heart, the ability to change your mindset about an existing situation. It is also the ability to discover which situations you cannot change your mindset about.
In contrast, Abundance is the ability to change your situation through your mindset.
And this is how you could use these two forms:
If you can’t seem to [or don’t want to] change the situation, use gratitude journaling to change your mindset and reawaken your connection to what is valuable in that situation.
Allow this process to improve your mental wellbeing and teach you what you CANNOT change your mindset about.
When you can’t change your mindset, use abundance journaling to change your situation.
Here are some additional ways to choose what is best for you:
As a guideline, it is incredibly hard to practice abundance mindset from a place of survival emotions. If you are in a hard place in your life, gratitude journaling is going to be a lot more accessible to you.
But let’s not underplay this profoundly awesome practice; gratitude is not JUST about dealing with the negative, it is about deepening your connection to what is already within your life. You know how if you take a picture of something familiar, like your own home, you see it in a different way? That is what gratitude journaling can do for you in a positive place that maybe just feels a little lacklustre.
If you are in a place of wanting to be braver than you feel, you will benefit more from engaging the powers of abundance journaling to rewire your sense of self-worth.
If you are reaching for a persistent goal but just not managing to get there, curating an abundance mindset will help shift the vestiges of scarcity thinking that may inadvertently be holding you back.
Which one you choose should be based on your current mental wellbeing needs as well as the specific challenges that are inspiring you to explore both options. If you have multiple knots, gratitude is a wider angle lens. If you have a singular focus, abundance is a laser.
5 How do you use them in a journaling practice?
Now you’ve got an idea of which one is for you, how can you start?
If you are already journaling, develop a dedicated section for your new adventure into either gratitude or abundance. This can be a portion of your existing habit. You can tag it on at the end or try beginning your entry with it to really stir up your mental processes.
GRATITUDE: If you’re not sure what to focus your gratitude journaling on, take a few deep breaths as you begin and imagine your life as a huge set of scales. On one side you are going to put down the things that are worrying or distressing you. Before you start writing, mentally release these worries and woes. Take a few deep breaths as you imagine it. Allow the scales to drop as far as you need to. Then use some of the following prompts to tune into the details of your day and write out the things you are grateful for that are going to balance out the scales.
Here are several opening Gratitude statements that you can use:
Complete this sentence: Today, I pay attention to…
Complete this sentence: Today, I appreciate that…
Rewrite this sentence as many times as you can and complete the sentence a different way each time. Focus on all the sensory experiences you have had during your day: Without today I would not have…
Focus on a singularity: Write about a small event today that was a surprise. Either a meeting or a conversation. Something you did not expect. Recall as many details from it as you can.
Exercise: Choose one from the following areas of your life: PEOPLE, HOME, WORK, HEALTH, WEALTH, ASPIRATIONS. Write a list of all the things you are grateful for about it. If your mind brings negative thoughts up, jot it as a single word on the side, and then continue making your list. Practice daily for at least a week. Challenge yourself to make the list longer each day. Each day, see if you can cross another word off your side list by finding gratitude for it. Your goal is to reduce that side list to nothing. If you can continue after the week, aim for a fortnight. Then a month. See how long you can go with always adding another item to your list. (You are allowed to repeat things, writing them out again and again will rewrite their value in your thoughts.)
ABUNDANCE: Before you begin your abundance journaling, imagine you are stood at the threshold of your life. Whether you are writing in the morning or in the evening (very first thing or very last thing at night are impactful times to journal) imagine you are putting your thoughts in order just before you step out of the door. Then use some of these prompts to marshal your thoughts and energy into harmony with your plans beyond the doorway.
Here are several opening Abundance statements that you can use:
Complete this sentence: Today I was rewarded with… (it can be a gift, a bargain, a conversation, a decision, a memory, a result, a new idea, a sudden clarity, anything that felt extra). End the sentence with… and I fully deserved it.
Complete this sentence with all the evidence of your trust that abundance is a cycle of giving: Today I enriched…
Rewrite this sentence as many times as you can and complete the sentence a different way each time: I am shedding old habits and draining disbeliefs to make way for new adventures and deep truths. Today I…
Focus on a singular thought: Take a thought you had from today that was part of your old scarcity mindset. Write it down in full detail, then cross it out. Now write out as many different versions of its opposite, abundant self as you can. Expand its ambition and daring every time. At the end, choose your favourite statement and, every time you feel your confidence lurch for the next week, write it out in a notes app on your phone.
Exercise: Craft a statement that creates a complete picture of the future you desire. Be brave, own your true desire with no holds barred. Make this statement quantifiable, concrete, set in time and place. When will this happen? What will it look like? Where will you be? Use all of your senses to create the picture. For the next week, practice writing out this statement in the present tense. Begin each sentence with ‘I am…’ and the final sentence with ‘I feel…’ This is the Visualise part of your Abundance statement, write it at the start of your journal entry. The Second part is expressing your existing abundance. For this, conclude your journal entry with the sentence, ‘My life is already abundant in…’ and complete it with solid evidence of what is bountiful and abundant in relation to your Visualisation. At first the second part of this may feel harder, but as you examine your day, your actions and intentions, you will begin to find opportunities that you can journal about.
Need more? Here’s a FREE download to give you a month’s introduction to abundance journaling.
Now, remember how I said that these two powerhouses are really team mates, not competitors? There’s one final idea below to help you use them most effectively.
But the true best practice?
Begin with one, finish as a team.
One reason that gratitude and abundance are often confused is that, as you may have realised as you worked through the prompts for abundance, an important aspect of abundance mindset is showing gratitude for what you are currently receiving that is evidence of the future you deserve.
Understanding their difference is key in making sure you begin with the right practice and establish a good habit.
Understanding their symbiosis is being able to harness both powers at the same time.
Gratitude journaling encourages a calming, wonder-capturing energy. Abundance journaling is an optimistic, energising joy in life.
Use both together and your chariot of wellbeing and life value will go further than it will on one wheel.