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Community Counseling, Education, and Research Center

Three Good Things by Mike Gross and Lila Olson

January 25, 2021

Have you found yourself going to bed at night thinking about something that did not go as planned during the day?  It can cause us to lose sleep, focus on self-judgement, and increase our anxiety. Memories of good and bad experiences are tricky. The good experiences slip away, while the bad ones stick like Velcro.

The Three Good Things exercise retrains our brains so that we can remember the good things and our role in bringing them about. People who have used the Three Good Things exercise have experienced better sleep quality, increased positive relationships, and an increased focus on positive life experiences.  Research has also shown that many people who practice the Three Good Things experience a decrease in depressive symptoms and improved  coping with challenging life events.

The Three Good Things Exercise:

STEP ONE:  Just before going to sleep, write down three good things on paper that happened during the day.

STEP TWO:  Write down what you did to help make those good things happen.

STEP THREE:  Practice the Three Good Things exercise for one week and see what changes you experience.  You can try measuring the quality of your sleep from 1-10 (1-worst sleep ever and 10-best sleep ever)  at the beginning and end of the week to see the impact of Three Good Things.

To learn more watch the YouTube video by Dr. Seligman, an expert on Three Good Things. The link is below:

Dr. Seligman explains the Three Good Things Exercise

Changing your life doesn’t always happen overnight, but taking the time to positively reflect on your day can lead to better sleep and a clearer mind.

The Community Counseling, Education, and Research Center (CCERC) of the NC State Counselor Education Program provides short-term and affordable counseling services to individuals, couples, and families that focus on healthy personal, emotional, social, and career development.

The core values that ground our work at CCERC are a world-class standard, love ethic, wellness focus, multiculturalism and social justice, trauma-informed care, and research and scholarship.

 For more information about CCERC and the counseling services we offer, please visit go.ncsu.edu/ccerc or call us at 919-856-9233 Ext. 107. Our CCERC @ the WELL offices are located on the ground floor of the WELL building.