Soon after I started this site, I discovered Thank You Thursdays.
On Thursdays, you can write a thank-you message to a friend, family member, boss, coworker, or someone else that you are thankful for. When expressing your gratitude on social media, you could tag the post with #ThankYouThursday.
Who Started Thank You Thursday?
I was not able to find an answer to this question. The idea has been around for many years.
One of my first encounters was with Matt McWilliams and his Thank You Revolution. In his revolution, he encourages people to handwrite someone a thank-you note every Thursday.
I tried this out for a few weeks and didn’t stick with it. I felt discouraged when I wrote a thank-you note to a co-worker, and he did not acknowledge it. In reflection, I learned from that situation that it doesn’t matter if people acknowledge the note or not. We are writing notes to express our gratitude. The goal is not to be thanked for thanking someone.
Thank You Thursday encourages people to say thank you on Thursdays but doesn’t include any history. Maybe this is a social media event where the origin cannot be accurately traced.
Getting Started with Thank You Thursday
If you are interested in Thank You Thursday, there are a few sites you can check out (in addition to this site, of course!):
♦ Read Matt McWilliams’ post on 9 ways to be more thankful all year. He wrote this post for Thanksgiving, which in the United States always falls on Thursday.
♦ Modern Servant Leader has a great article about who to thank, how to thank, and why on Thursday.
♦ Read A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life by John Kralik. You will very likely be inspired to write more thank-you notes. My review of the book is here.
Thank You Thursdays Example Messages
Almost any thank you message could be used for Thank You Thursday. You can customize your messages based on who and why you are thanking them. Browse our list of thank you messages by topic for hundreds of examples.
Here are a few messages that would work for almost any Thursday:
- Thank You. Happy Thursday! – This could be used as a response on Thursdays when thanking someone.
- This Thursday I’m thankful for ______.
- Another Thursday of Thanks! I’m grateful for _____ today.
- Share a story where you felt grateful recently and tag it with #ThankYouThursday on social media.
Your note will be better if you mention something specific you are grateful for. And when sending someone a text or email, to thank them you don’t have to mention that you are thanking them because it’s Thursday.
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