Writing down a few good things each day is one of the most studied habits in positive psychology. In a well-known 2005 study by Martin Seligman and colleagues, people who wrote down three good things each day for one week reported feeling happier for months afterwards.
The hard part was never the gratitude. It’s remembering to open the notebook on a tired Tuesday, finding the words, and keeping it up past week two. A friendly call takes all of that away. It comes to you, at the time you chose, and all you have to do is answer and talk.
Saying it out loud helps too. Speaking slows you down, so the small good moments you’d skip in writing get noticed, and the best of the day stays fresh in your mind.