Coaching practices for Examen Gratitude Step

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Examen Gratitude Step, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• When I sit down at night to look back on my day with God, I tend to jump straight to everything I did wrong
• The second someone genuinely thanks me I rush to brush it off
• Whenever I review my own day I quietly spin everything to make myself look better, and I know it
• When I look at how I actually behaved today I can only ever do one of two things
• The second I sit down to look back on my day my mind goes straight to everything that went wrong, and the whole review curdles into beating myself up

Practices that may help

1. Become aware of God’s presence and give thanks
   Open the review by pausing, settling, and naming specific gifts from the day.
   The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
2. Practice receiving gratitude without deflecting
   When someone expresses genuine gratitude to you, resist the reflex to minimize it — receive it fully.
   The Gratitude Visit: Telling Someone They Mattered
3. The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day
   The Examen is a short, structured evening review from the Ignatian tradition: you replay the day with gratitude and honest attention to where you felt drawn toward or away from your values, then carry one resolve into tomorrow. It is a centuries-old contemplative practice; its benefits are best described as mechanistically plausible and widely reported rather than established by controlled trials.
4. The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
   The Ignatian Examen is a five-step daily prayer and reflection practice developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola: give thanks, ask for clarity, review the day, face what fell short, and resolve what comes next. As a structured reflection method it is centuries-old and widely practiced; its benefits are supported by the broader research on gratitude, emotional review, and implementation intentions, not by trials of the Examen itself.
5. Ask for clarity and honest perception
   Before reviewing, pause to ask for the capacity to see honestly rather than defensively.
   The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
6. Look honestly at your responses
   Face where you fell short and where you acted well, without spiraling into either.
   The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day
7. Begin with gratitude
   Start the review by recalling specific gifts and good moments of the day.
   The Daily Examen: Reviewing the Day
8. Write one brief gratitude note per week to a real person
   Each week, send one specific thank-you to a person whose contribution you actually noticed.
   Counting Blessings: The Psychology of Grateful Reflection
9. Face shortfalls with honest sorrow, not shame
   Name where you fell short today without either minimizing it or spiraling into self-punishment.
   The Ignatian Examen: Five Movements of Daily Review
10. Practice micro gratitude visits for smaller acknowledgments
    For everyday appreciation, develop a habit of specific, direct acknowledgment in the moment.
    The Gratitude Visit: Telling Someone They Mattered

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.