What does being grateful mean to you?
For me, gratitude is about appreciating what you have in life. To shift our mind’s natural focus from “what is missing” to “what is abundant”. It is a pathway to contentment, peace, and tranquility.
Right now in this moment what are 3 things you are grateful for?
For the ability to make a living doing what I love while simultaneously 
helping thousands of people who use my app.
For my family – dad, mom, brother, and sister.
For my health.
Who is the first person that comes to mind when you hear, “Someone in my life that I’m grateful for and why?”
I am in a marketing mindset right now, so the person that has helped me most in this niche is “Seth Godin”.
His books, blog posts, and podcasts opened my eyes on how to do generous marketing. How to create and sell products, not only for profit but for bringing the best out of people.
What is your morning routine like?
The first thing I do every morning is a 30-minute meditation. Focusing on my breath and opening to the present moment helps me ground myself. It sets the foundation for a great day. Then, I open up the 365 Gratitude app and respond to the daily message.
What inspired the 365 Gratitude app?
365 Gratitude was inspired by a personal struggle – a moment of existential crises. When my mind was wrapped up in a sea of chaotic thought, I came across a simple exercise of “write a letter of gratitude”.
The moment I started writing the letter, the suffering dissolved and I was woken up to a sense of calm. The shift was immediate – it happened in a matter of just minutes. I was astounded by the effect of this simple practice and it motivated me to create an app and share the benefit of gratitude with more people.
Did you encounter any obstacles with 365 gratitude app?
Developing the app was challenging, required a lot of work. I never thought it would be as popular as it is today, but I am grateful for all the people who have supported the app.
Creating a thriving community is one of the biggest challenges. Most people were reluctant to share their personal gratitudes initially. Through careful prompts and small nudges, I was able to build the foundation for a thriving community.
Would you mind sharing how many users your app has reached?
The app has been downloaded over 500,000 times combined on iOS, Android and Desktop.
Is there anyone post that stuck out to you are for some reason you remember over the others and why?
Each post presents a different perspective of gratitude. I find all of them to be insightful, but there is one that stuck with me. In the below post, Preetpal Singh shares how a simple shift in mindset radically changed his life.
I used to be miserable because of my job. I live in Johor, Malaysia and work in Singapore. Its 3 hours commute to work and another 3 hours back. Thousands of commuters sweating, pushing and shoving in long queues to go through customs on both sides. Once we have cleared the customs, a long journey on the train or bus.
I wake up at 3am so that I can reach the office at 7 am. I leave the office at 4pm and reach home at 7pm. I hated the job itself. Being an IT Team Lead, I deal with irate users all the time. Adding all this up together with my negative mindset, I became so stressed that I started suffering physically from severe tension headaches, body tremors, anxiety, tinnitus. No medicine worked. I was put on depression pills but I refused to go down that road.
Then I discovered gratitude. I changed my thoughts, mindset, and perspective.
My job allows me to have a comfortable living. By waking up early I get to enjoy longer days, my commute is my time for motivational/educational audiobooks, I get to workout with long walks without the need to go to the gym, I get to enjoy the wonderful food from both countries, I get to meet so many different people on the commute.
Although it is tiring, there are millions of people who will consider me lucky 
and more than happy to take my place. Today I feel joy when I wake up. Thank you universe for this wonderful life, thank you for my job, my long commute, the peace, and serenity in these 2 countries. Thank you for the abundance in delicious food. The choices we have here is mind blowing.
Truth is we self inflict a lot of pain, misery, and diseases by our thoughts. No school teaches us the most important thing in life which is gratitude. Initially, I never thought a word like gratitude meant anything. I was so wrong.
To the newcomers here, give it a go. Give it time to heal. Practice it every day. It changed a miserable man like me, I am sure it will change you. Peace, joy, and serenity to all of you!!
What is your affiliation with The Gratitude Podcast and how did you get introduced to Georgian Benta?
A few years ago, Georgian reached out with a collaboration opportunity. We have been working together to spread gratitude to people around the world since then. Every month, I select a “Circle of Joy” winner from 365 Gratitude community and Georgian interviews the winner on his podcast.
Are there any other affiliates you would like us to check out? Sites, Apps, Blogger?
Right now, we are just working with “The Gratitude Podcast”, however, we are planning to open an affiliate program to partner with positively minded people around the world.
(Listen to The Story Behind The Popular 365 Gratitude Journal App – Justin Sebastian episode 98 on The Gratitude Podcast HERE.)
Any future plans as far as the app goes? Any others in the works?
We just published a gratitude journal book, that is now available on Amazon HERE.
As far as the app goes, the near term goal is to improve the existing functionality, especially the community. Make it a smoother and fun experience for the users.
In closing, What advice would you give to people out there struggling with gratitude?
Make it a daily practice. Looking at the positive is not natural, our default is to search for the negative and ruminate. Finding gratitude requires consistent practice – even if takes just 5 minutes to note down what is making you happy once a day. With practice, I think we all have the capacity to find joy, peace, and contentment in each moment.
Connect with Justin and the gratitude community
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