Whenever there’s a birthday, an anniversary, or any sort of occasion, my mother comes to me with her phone and asks me to write a message for her friends.

I’m happy to do so, but I wonder why she wouldn’t write it herself. When asked, she says, “I don’t know what to write.”

As someone who’s written letters for years, it perplexes me. But then, I realize that not everyone naturally feels confident expressing themselves through words.

When I recommend journaling to a friend of mine, she also says the same thing - I don’t know what to write, and I’m not sure if what I’m writing is correct or not.

Writing meaningful thank you notes falls into this category, and shines in it. It’s so confusing and daunting when we’re expressing gratitude to another person.

So, let me guide you today. As someone who’s written hundreds of thank you cards for people in the Gratitude app, and written letters to her friends, family, and even herself, I’m going to provide you with a template that you can follow whenever you share your thankfulness.

Here it goes:

How to write a thank you note

• Part 1: Greeting
• Part 2: Intention
• Part 3: Reason
• Part 4: Hope
• Part 5: Sign Off

(Or, GIRHS, if I'm trying to sound clever 😋)

Let’s start with two examples of thank you notes and analyze them in their parts.

The first one is for someone that you’re very close with and share a loving relationship, so the feelings are quite vulnerable and whole.

"Sweet Alex,

I want to take this moment to tell you how grateful I am for you. Ever since you’ve come into my life, everything has become more beautiful.

Your innocence, wisdom, trust, and boundless love is the greatest gift of my life. I have the best days with you.

I lovingly look forward to being with you in all the days to come. I wish you the greatest happiness in life.

May you always be as peaceful, healthy, joyous, and perfect as you are.

Eternal love,
Aarushi"

The second example is for someone that you are friends with, a coworker, or a relative. People that you genuinely like and admire.

"Dear Mugdha,

Today I’m writing this to share my gratitude with you. It was quite a lucky chance to meet you and I’m grateful that I did.

I’ve had immense fun and laughter with you, and I’ve also learned a lot. I feel happy to know you as you inspire me greatly with the work you do every day, so dedicatedly.

I hope you see all of your dreams come to life, sooner than you imagine. Hope to meet you soon!

Best,
Aarushi"

Let’s analyze them now :)

Part 1: Greeting

“Sweet Alex,” / “Dear Mugdha,”

It’s super basic but important. Start with a greeting. You can customize it depending on the relationship that you share with the person.

For super close relationships, you can use:

• My dearest Rashi
• Lovely Elyza
• Sweet and lovely Mommy
• Hey funny man aka Papa

There’s quite a lot of freedom here. You can mention a particular characteristic about them too.

For example, my dear friend has amazingly crooked teeth that I adore, so I write - My Crooked-Teethed Queen. It’s so fun!

With other relationships, you can use the regulars like, “Hey Aarushi!”, or “Dear Robyn”

Read more: Meaningful Ways to Say "I Appreciate You" - It's Meaning and Why

Part 2: Intention

“I want to take this moment to tell you how grateful I am for you.”/”Today I’m writing this to share my gratitude with you.”

This part is one that I really like to use as I think it gives more weight to the note and makes the other person feel special.

Starting with intention means to state what this note is for, why you are writing it.

You can even be quite specific here, like I sometimes write where I am, for example, “As I sit in my bedroom where we’ve had so many long talks, I want to thank you.”

Part 3: Reason

“Ever since you’ve come into my life, everything has become more beautiful.

Your innocence, wisdom, trust, and boundless love is the greatest gift of my life. I have the best days with you."

/ “It was quite a lucky chance to meet you and I’m grateful that I did. I’ve had immense fun and laughter with you, and I’ve also learned a lot.

I feel happy to know you as you inspire me greatly with the work you do every day, so dedicatedly.”

Here is where you can go long and in detail.

Tell them why you’re grateful for them, the experiences you’ve had, how you feel about them, and about the things they’ve done.

Really get into the nitty gritty of why this thank you note exists, why you felt the desire to write a gratitude letter to them.

Part 4: Hope

“I wish you the greatest happiness in life. May you always be as peaceful, healthy, joyous, and perfect as you are.” / “I hope you see all of your dreams come to life, sooner than you imagine. Hope to meet you soon!”

This is the part where we start to wrap up. Here you can write about what you hope for this person and your relationship.

Send them blessings and well wishes. Mention the things that you know are important to them in their life. Write about good hopes for the future.

Part 5: Sign Off

“Eternal love, Aarushi” / “Best, Aarushi”

This is the part where you close.

And, much like Greetings, you can customize it for close relationships. You can also write the name that that person calls or your relationship with them.

Here are some examples:

• Your best friend, Aarushi
• Only a call away, Jagriti
• Your cheerleader, Kriti
• The one who always picks up, Shrey
• Immense love & gratitude, Abhishek
• Everlasting love, Áurea

And, for other relationships in your life, you can use these:

• With gratitude, Aarushi
• Best wishes, Muskaan
• Kind regards, Anoop
• Wishing you well, Aruna
• Lots of love, Rena

And, that’s it! This is how you write a nice, meaningful, and memorable thank you note. I wish you the very best and hope that you’ll enjoy writing these notes, I know I do.

Also, you can use our very handy Gratitude app to write these letters. The best part is that you can attach photos and it really helps personalize them.

Take care :)

👉 Continue Reading: How to Say Thank You Meaningfully

The 11-day Thank You Challenge

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Aarushi Tewari

The writer and affirmations speaker at Gratitude, Aarushi believes that one of the most effective ways of feeling inner peace is by being grateful and having a loving self-relationship.